Tower and Town, July 2024 (view the full edition)Running The ClubNew courts and clubhouses don't come cheap; the site is now worth around £1m. Recently the club became a Charitable Incorporated Organisation, which has new build, donor advantages and helps us with our 'Opening Tennis up for Everyone' purpose. The club has provided free tennis for disadvantaged groups such as Ukrainian refugees and local children. We are fortunate and grateful to have some kind benefactors who have provided long term loans in addition to the LTA, who supported the new courts with £100,000 loan. All this needs to be paid back of course, whilst ensuring that we save enough each year into a 'sinking fund' which will clean, maintain and renew the courts we have. After loans and saving, our largest outgoing is rent.. Then there is electricity (clubhouse and on-court lighting), water, insurance, not to mention tennis balls where we spend around £1585 a year. Our membership fees need to generate enough funds each year to cover all these expenses and more, so rather than adopt the standard tennis club model of fixed membership year from 1 April to 31 March, we have adopted a 'rolling membership' model. The day you join is your start date and you will be a member for 12 months. Also, we have been an early adopter of automatic direct debit payments and we are now offering a 'spread the cost over three months' direct debit option for our three highest cost packages, helping with the cost of living whilst keeping the cost for under 18s rock bottom, in order to encourage them into coaching and activity. Unique in the area is our 'Pay and Play' LTA Rally offering, where we have two courts which can be booked online by the hour (with some restrictions on timings). It is not unusual to find a couple of friends on our courts who both live in opposite directions, but have chosen Marlborough to meet up for a game. 'Pay and Play' brings funds to the club, but is also useful for the casual user, or someone home for the holidays. Bookings have come from as far as Manchester and France! Unlike other clubs, we encourage our members to bring a friend or relative to play, up to four times, before they join. We do ask for a contribution for each guest, which is voluntary, but also adds to our funds. Even with 300 or so members there is still plenty of court time available, so we allow members to book up to two hours a day, up to 10 days in advance. So, if you have been thinking about playing tennis, are inspired by Queen's, Eastbourne or Wimbledon or just want to come and check out the courts and clubhouse, email newmembers@marlboroughtennis.co.uk check out the website https://clubspark.lta.org.uk/MarlboroughTennis or call Peter May 07508 818237 |