Chestnut End
Halton Village
Nr Aylesbury
Bucks HP22 5PD
Tel : 01296 623453
www.haltontennis.co.uk
HVLTC
haltontennis@btinternet.com
17 February 2016
Dear Member
CHAIRMAN’S REPORT
I would like to start my report this year with a ‘thank you’ to the many people who have given their
time and expertise to help run & improve our club. The Club committees (Main & Playing)together
with the many enthusiastic members who have volunteered their support and time, (especially those
who do the Mix Ins at Club Sessions plus Team Captains who work hard to make our team tennis so
enjoyable) have all helped to make it another busy and successful year in challenging economic
conditions. Thank you for your invaluable commitment to the club.
One of our aims is to provide a fun, relaxed social environment in which everyone feels at home and
where everyone is a host as well as a guest. We regularly receive feedback from new members,
about how welcome they have been made and what superb hosts our members were on club sessions;
two of whom kindly agreed to describe their experiences on video clips for our new website. Thank
you to those who have helped maintain this incredible level of support to new members, it makes
such a difference.
I would also like to congratulate our tennis/fitness coaches Jemima Hayward and Stefan King who
married this summer.
On Tuesday 12th March 2013 there will be a members Open forum evening at 8pm – an
opportunity to get together and discuss ideas and ways of improving our club. Drinks & nibbles will
be provided and all are welcome.
We continue to work hard to contribute & support Halton Tennis Centre (HTC) and have again
included in section 10 some excerpts from this year’s Trustees Report in particular the section on
'achievement and performance' plus other items which may be of interest including how we work on
keeping our charity status.
Halton Tennis Centre is the umbrella organisation that provides the management/operational,
financial and facilities support for each of the 6 activities (Club Tennis, Coaching, High Performance
Academy, RAF Tennis, Health & Fitness and Pavilion Bar/Catering).
This structure provides us with both stability, consistency and a professional input – the current
team provide a combined experience of over 70 years at Halton & been involved since 2002 when
HTC was set up to combine the interests of the club and RAF tennis.
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Sustainable development; during the year we have continued to develop our work and investment in
this area and have completed a rigorous audit of the centre. In January 2012, Halton committed to
a future of Sustainable Development. What this means in reality is very simple – when we make any
plans or decisions, either day to day or through strategic planning, we consider the impact on our
environment.
Our first important step was to audit our existing set up in 7 key areas:
Waste
Water
Transport
Procurement
Building (new & refurbishments)
Energy
Education for all our staff and members
Our aim is to gradually change the culture at Halton by developing an ethos of social and
environmental responsibility, so that everyone thinks about it in everyday activities. We welcome
any suggestions or comments to help us push this important initiative forward.
AGM
The date of our next AGM is Wednesday 9th January 2013 at 8pm.The theme will be
people/profit/planet – sustainable development as mentioned above. Your views and ideas will be
most welcome.
Most if not all the news and activities of the past 12 months have already been published in our
monthly e-newsletters, and website. I have therefore restricted my report to the main highlights
and the challenges that we and other tennis clubs face next year.
1. FINANCES
Our 3 challenges remain as ever- increased electricity & gas prices, the costs of indoor courts and a
relatively small membership. A key benefit of being a part of Halton Tennis Centre, is the number
of income sources such as the Catering, Gym & the High Performance Centre which give us more
stability than many other clubs. Thank you to Gill Roe, Netty James and Monica Maguire our
accounts team, for all their hard work and keeping us on track.
We all love and appreciate our indoor courts – very few clubs in the UK have any let alone 6. They
are however a major cost; each indoor court costs some £10k per year to run and a further £10k pa
sinking fund to replace them as and when necessary. We continue to enjoy a strong relationship with
the LTA; they provide us with a substantial yearly coaching grant for the High Performance juniors
of @£80k. This helps in particular to pay & sustain the extra operating costs of the 6 indoor
courts which we can all enjoy.
HTC Finances: Every month HTC places £9k into reserves (£108k per year), to be used to replace
existing facilities as and when they wear out. With loan repayments to the LTA/Members a surplus
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of £140k is required each year to remain sustainable. Above that figure new projects are
considered by the trustees.
CLAY COURTS
Please use the drag mats every time you play – (go net/baseline direction only) it only takes a
few minutes at the end of your game, but helps keep the courts in good condition, they last
longer and of course you get much better and more even bounces
ACRYLIC COURTS
Please be very careful not to hit the playing surface with your racket – the soft acrylic we
chose for our knees (!) is easily cut by improper use of the tennis racket
2. MEMBERSHIP
Adults: Our membership levels have remained similar over the last 12 months (with new members
matching those leaving). We currently have 211 full adults, 34 off peaks, 34 RAF and 8 Country;
evenly split between Men & Ladies. Whilst it is not our intention to grow much beyond current
levels, it is a low membership for the size of our facilities; we could cater for about another 20 full
adult members without affecting value, and will continue to promote the club in our local community.
Our Novice/Rusty Rackets schemes continue to be a very popular way of joining the club.
Juniors: Our junior section has some 162 members and 185 Mini members. We also have 21 students.
3. INDOOR COURTS
Having indoor tennis is a significant financial challenge for any club, and was the subject of a
detailed review and discussion at last year’s AGM especially its impact on our subscription rates.
We now enter the 5th year of having 6 indoor courts and a mini zone. We are very conscious of all
the various groups of membership and stakeholders and will endeavour to share the facilities as
evenly as possible, but we have to make the courts pay to keep us economically sustainable.
The resurfacing last year of the acrylic courts (£55k) and new skin for our Old Dome (£150k), now
mean we are well set up for the next 10-15 years with no major capital expenditure but must put
aside funds each year in readiness.
Whatever the challenges, I think we would all agree that we enjoy a fantastic tennis facility and one
that every other club in the UK would love to have.
4. IMPROVEMENTS
At last year’s AGM we discussed all the items we hoped to improve. I am pleased to report that we
have achieved the following:
1. Clubhouse - internal redecoration , double glazing frontage, new lighting, honours boards,
veranda tiling and major roof repairs
2. Block paving & flower beds at side of clubhouse
3. New Patio furniture
4. New Website
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5. Court 3 - Astro court replaced
6. New storage facilities (behind the hitting wall)
Looking ahead to 2013, we are looking at ideas to improve the area between the clubhouse and
changing rooms & also combine the tennis & gym administration in one location to help offer better
coverage and service to members.
Our main aim is to keep the club feel; although we have grown our facilities, our membership
numbers have remained roughly the same, and your feedback has always been that “retaining the
club feel” is very important.
Thank you to Pete Taylor for keeping our tennis club looking magnificent throughout the year and
Miranda/Sue/Yvonne for keeping up with the constant cleaning challenge.
The team of some 35+ people who work at the club, whether it’s the gym, catering, admin or
coaches, all play an important part in your enjoyment of the club. We have invested a considerable
amount of time and money in supporting individual training, & development during 2012 and will be
continuing to do so in 2013.
5. HEALTH & FITNESS
I would like to say a special thank you and pay tribute to the achievements of Jon Price (now in his
10th year with us), who continues to successfully lead our Health & Fitness Club through a very
difficult economic period and achieve strong results both financially and increased membership.
The Health & Fitness team can now boast a combined “Halton experience” of over 50 years!
The club has completed its 3rd year in its new larger home and enjoys continued growth and success
with a current membership of some 365, up from 320 last year. The facility and environment is the
best around and much better value for money than other gyms. Congratulations also to Dave Hudson
on another successful year operating the Physiotherapy business within the club, ably supported by
Elaine.
2013 will see a re branding from Core Strength to Halton Health & Fitness Club. The concept of
core strength will remain a key focus in the delivery of personal training.
A warm welcome to Gemma, who came on board in September in a full time capacity as a trainer with
a speciality in Strength & Conditioning and Rory as our new Sports Massage therapist.
The team are always on hand to support you in getting the most out of your tennis game or gym
training. So if you require physiotherapy, sports massage, Pilates, health and dietary advice or would
like to improve your tennis game by up to 20% without hitting a ball, then don't hesitate to contact
them!
December - don’t forget is the month of opportunity for tennis members to use the gym
free of charge to help prepare for Christmas!
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6. SOME HIGHLIGHTS OF THE YEAR
Adults
 Ladies 1 came 5th in Aegon Team Tennis National Competition. Jemima King, Celia
Cornforth, Julia Bone, Lereesa Easterbrook and Kathryn Sharples
 Bucks Shield champions - Ladies 1 won for the 5th year in a row
 Bucks Mixed Knockout Champions (again!)
 County Week – our players again featured strongly in the Senior Bucks Men’s & Ladies
teams with the Ladies runners up in Group 1. Tor Pisani won Frances Charlton award.
Awarded for effort, energy throughout County week &team player supporting on and
off the court. Alison Longfield the captain wrote “you were unanimously voted for
because of the 100% effort you put in this week and the support you gave to the team
whenever possible. Your 2 wins in the third pair with Kathryn were amazing and
having watched numerous 3rd pairs come and go without a win over the last few
county weeks, that was something to be very proud of. You also improved over the
week in your play and confidence - I hope those toe blisters recover”
 Another successful Rusty Rackets tour to Spain saw 28 members enjoy 4 days of
tennis in the sun of Callahonda – thank you Andy Maclean
 Tennis Jeannie – a singles/doubles box league competition for adults & juniors
continues to attract over 150 members. Thank you to both Mike & Emily Quin
 The busiest ever (most entries) Club festival of tennis
 Disability tennis program really took off with lots of activities and gaining of LTA Hub
Status and significant grant funding
Juniors
Katy Dunne ranked 30 in world juniors U18 and playing at Junior Wimbledon
Barney Smith representing Great Britain
Highest ever number of children being funded by the LTA up from 6 last year to 8
We have achieved NO 1 status in the Region & top club in UK for regularly competing
juniors with over 300 children playing more than 6 matches in the year and over 100
playing 20+ matches
 All our senior full time players passed their GCSE and A level exams successfully
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Teams
Whilst most of our teams have had an enjoyable year, on the downside, we have again struggled to
always put out Men’s teams and fulfil our fixture commitments. This has resulted in 2 Men’s teams
being defaulted in the Bucks shield and another deducted points. The Playing committee have looked
at the situation, and decided to reduce our men’s entry next year by one team to reduce the
pressure. Representation to Bucks County Tennis is also being made as the rules appear somewhat
draconian and not in the interests of tennis.
Charity support
Charities that we supported include Great Ormond Street Hospital, Iain Rennie Hospice at Home,
Florence Nightingale Hospice, Happy Days Charity, MS Society, Stoke Mandeville Hospital Special
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Care Baby Unit, Interserve, Children in Need & Action Medical Research. In addition, the EBI
Coaching team have also provided financial support to players and parents over the last year.
Disability Tennis
Under the leadership of Tom Wood & Alex Barnes, 2012 saw Halton achieve LTA Disability HUB
status and new funding to embark on a series of new tennis experiences for children & adults with
special needs, including wheelchair, Visually Impaired, deaf and education special needs. We now
provide tennis at Stoke Mandeville & Stanmore Spinal Units and 2 local Special Needs schools as
well as at Halton where we hosted a fantastic festival day of tennis in October for 60 children.
7. SOCIAL CALENDER 2013
Many congratulations and thanks to Ellen North, who has superbly organised our social calendar
activities during the year, the highlight being our Summer Ball.
Planned Social Events/dates for 2013 are shown in Appendix A
Please note introduction this year of 2 Member Pro Am tournaments where members will be able to
play with our top Academy juniors and a Murder Mystery Night in August.
8. CLUBHOUSE & CATERING
Many congratulations to Julia & Steve (now in their 8th year with us) and their team for another
very busy and successful year and in particular the number of parties and events held on a Saturday
night at the club. Every month over £10,000 is spent by members and guests in the Pavilion.
Our current Catering/Bar team now boast over 25 years of serving customers at Halton!
Thank you all for using our catering /bar – we try to keep it open as much as possible (every
lunchtime and evening) but it remains a major challenge to run a small club catering operation whilst
remaining financially sustainable.
Julia has achieved this for the 3rd year running and I congratulate her and offer a big “Thank you”
to her, Steve and their team for all their enthusiasm and hard work, especially over the busy
summer months; we know it has been very much appreciated by the members.
9. COACHING & EVERYBALL INTERNATIONAL ACADEMY
We hope you'll agree that our coaching programme (now in its 10th year under the leadership of
Mike & James) continues to move from strength to strength. 2012 has been its busiest year ever
and at the last count we had a record 14 coaches working at Halton
Our current coaching team now boast over 80 years of coaching at Halton!
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We are very proud of this record, with almost every coach who has joined us deciding to stay (a
very rare occurrence in the coaching industry).
The Friday night 'FUN' EVENING WITH COACHES’ have gone very well, and we will continue to
schedule these every few months (dates are in the Social calendar).
The regular Junior & Family member Saturday club session (4-5.30pm) continues to be very popular.
The introduction of a Saturday morning coaching session for parents whilst their children have
their lessons has been a new & very popular addition to our offering.
Mini Tennis continues to thrive under the direction of Sam Start and Camilla Hayward, and we
welcome Neale Proud to the team as our new Head of Mini tennis. Alan Hutcherson is doing a super
job at developing our more ambitious youngsters in the Aspirantes programme.
As 'Holiday Camps Director' Danny West has done another superb job this year and the 'Multi
Sport Summer Camp' was especially popular. Over 600 children have attended this year.
Schools Tennis; there are 5 local primary schools that Halton has a relationship with; Griffin House
(formerly Ladymede), Haresfoot, Aston Clinton, Weston Turville and Halton. We are about to
embark on a new ambitious plan to introduce tennis to over 1200 local school children.
Our High Performance programme continues to receive plaudits from the LTA as an outstanding
example of best practice as well as producing a steady stream of talented players; currently we
have our largest ever number of LTA funded players (8).
Particular recognition is due Pete Thorne & Dom King who have been instrumental in
coaching/training Katy Dunne - winning 3 titles & making 7 finals in the last 6 months (playing the
top tier of tournaments on the world junior tour) and is now ranked 31 in the world.
To supplement our team, we welcome on board from Barcelona in Spain, a new performance coach
Javier Gutiérrez Polo (Guti).
In 2012 we will be doing even more work in the area of talent identification at the under 10 age
group.
AASE (advanced apprenticeship in sporting excellence)
We had 4 Halton students graduate this summer in the Advanced Apprenticeship of Sporting
Excellence Scheme (AASE). A further 5 students are following closely in their footsteps under the
watchful eye of Phil Hill our AASE Programme Manager. Over 20 of our youngsters have
participated in this scheme over the last 5 years. Many thanks to Phil Hill who has led the AASE
programme since outset.
This scheme is an NVQ-style programme financed by the Skills Council and available to any children
over 16 in full-time education, who are serious about their tennis. There are also considerable
financial benefits to students with their squad coaching costs.
The coaches would like to thank you all once again for supporting them, and look forward to another
fruitful year with you on the courts.
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10. TRUSTEES REPORT (Halton Tennis Centre)
In summary, our objectives as set out in the governing document are to provide appropriate
management & facilities, to ensure the smooth organisational and strategic well-being of the Halton
Tennis Centre (HTC), ensuring its financial sustainability. In addition, we offer a willingness to help
people when they are unable to afford to play, through supporting bursaries for both adults and
children.
Our aims are articulated in the Vision Statement (Appendix B), but in essence are to offer the
“Complete Tennis Experience” now, but also to look ahead to 2020 and start thinking about the long
term future.
Achievements and performance
The past year has been successful both in terms of remaining financially stable despite a challenging
economic environment and also operationally by continuing to grow our tennis offerings. In particular
our children play more matches than at any other club in the UK, as we actively encourage them to
play short timed tennis matches throughout the year and provide additional court space and
organisation (i.e. tennis Jeannie box leagues).
We have maintained the No 1 status in the Region for RCJs with over 300 children playing 6+
matches per year and over 100 playing 20+.
The Gym has grown its membership, support for performance players and specialist training &
rehabilitation offerings. We are also working closely with our local MS Centre to share resources
and expertise.
Adult tennis for the local community has continued with the successful Novice section to encourage
daytime play for mums with young children at school. Rusty rackets has been heavily promoted to
encourage people back into tennis and free places were offered during the summer/Wimbledon.
Tennis is delivered in 5 local schools as well as 2 special needs schools. Disability tennis is now a
firm fixture at Halton and we also work at Stoke Mandeville & Stanmore spinal units. High
performance tennis has flourished with superb on court results including our national U16 Girls
champion.
We were proud to be selected to host 2 more National Grade 3 events for U12/14 and Mini
competitions, and our funding/status as a HPC 1 (one of just 8 in the UK) was confirmed for a
further 5 years.
Financial review
The principal sources of funding are from membership subscriptions and coaching incomes from
parents. A grant of some £85k to support performance training for talented children has
encouraged parents and the club to spend an additional £200k on performance training and
competition activities. Indoor tennis is very expensive and is a heavily subsidised element of the
subscription accounting for some 71%. However holistically all the elements are intertwined and
inter dependent upon each other. Net income of £50,751 (2011 £189,450) for the year and
reserves stand at £1,079,140 (2011 £1,028,389) in total
The Trustees consider the financial position of the Charity to be satisfactory.
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11. THE KTDA GROUP
High Performance Junior Tennis costs a lot of money and as such we are always looking at ways of
supporting it and helping to KTDA keep the dream alive of a Halton player one day walking onto
Centre Court at Wimbledon; any help that you can offer to make this possible would be greatly
appreciated by joining the group. Thank you especially to Alec Clapperton who has organised the 100
Club, the profits of which go towards KTDA. This is how other members can help get involved.
1. Giving - financial gifts via Gift Aid. Over £1500 has been raised from the 100 Club during the
past 12 months
2. Brainpower - business expertise/contacts to assist in Fund raising
3. Pastoral - helping with the social and educational development of our young players
4. Practical support - being there, blowing their trumpets, cheer leading
12. SPONSORSHIP
We would like to take this opportunity to thank our Club Sponsors – Ellen North (Kado), Garry King
(Kings Farm shop), Andy MacLean Carpentry, Watersmeet Chartered Surveyors, Grant & Stone
Building Suppliers and the Holiday Inn who have supported the Club, not just financially, but also
with their involvement and enthusiasm for what we are trying to achieve here at Halton Tennis Club.
And finally….!
On a personal note, I would like to thank everyone who has helped at the club this year, and whilst
there are too many people to mention all by name, I would particularly like to thank Nick Leighton,
Gill Roe and Mike James for their exceptional work and commitment to improving our club. Their
massive contribution is the real reason we have made so much progress over the last few years and
I know they will continue to seek to improve everything we do as we move on to plan and execute
ideas (including those ideas proposed by members) in the next 10 years.
Also I would not wish to miss this opportunity to thank our RAF colleagues who have worked closely
with us to keep the club and tennis centre moving forward.
John Walker
Chairman
Appendix A - Social Calendar 2013
JANUARY
JULY
Saturday 5th: Junior & Family Club Session
6th/7th Wimbledon Finals
Friday 25th: 7pm Fun Night with the Coaches
Friday 12th : 7pm Fun Night with the Coaches
FEBRUARY
Saturday 13th: Mini Club Championships and
Junior & Family Club Session
Tuesday 12th: Quiz Night
Saturday 16th: Junior & Family Club Session
R.A.F. Championships 23-27th
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MARCH
AUGUST
Saturday 2nd: Junior & Family Club Session
Sunday 11th: Chairman’s Cup
Tuesday 12th: 8pm Members’ Open Forum
Saturday 24th: Murder Mystery Night
Saturday 16th: Members Pro Am Tournament
Monday 26th: Lefties Tournament
Friday 22nd: 7pm Fun Night with the Coaches
SEPTEMBER
Saturday 30th: Terry’s Tournament
3rd – 7th Festival of Tennis
APRIL
Saturday 7th Finals Day, BBQ and Party Night
Sunday 7th: Open Season Tournament
Rusties’ and Members’ Trip to Croatia (tba)
Sat/Sun 20/21st : RAF Inter Services Tournament
OCTOBER
MAY
Sunday 6th: End of Season Tournament
Friday 10th: 7pm Fun Night with the Coaches
Saturday 19th: Adult & Child Tournament
Saturday 11th : Adult & Child Tournament
Wednesday 23rd: Quiz Night
Saturday 18th: RAF Peregrines Dinner
Saturday 26th: Members Pro Am Tournament
Tuesday 21st: Wimbledon Draw Night
NOVEMBER
27th – 1st June: National Junior Tournament
Friday 8th: Fun Night with the Coaches
JUNE
Saturday 16th: Junior & Family Club Session
Saturday 8th : Performance Players Exhibition
Tennis & BBQ
DECEMBER
15th-22nd: Junior Tennis Europe Tournament
Monday 24th: Wimbledon starts
Saturday 7th: Minis’ Christmas Party
Sunday 15th: Adults’ Christmas Lunch
Appendix B - Halton Tennis Centre 2020 Vision
"To be the first organisation that, by our attitudes, actions & behaviours, sets a new standard in
Europe for the enjoyment & pursuit of excellence in tennis, related sports and physical health,
supported by a social experience where we help people connect with each other; and in doing so play
a leading role in the growth of British tennis through the power of our influence"
Mission
What we look like if we are “on purpose”
Create a growth environment which builds
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a. A culture which welcomes everyone and delivers on our ethos
b. Superb tennis & sport science facilities
c. An inclusive coaching / education for everyone from beginner to world class
d. A delivery team who demonstrate a personal commitment to each other and their
customers
e. A Leadership team that inspires performance and a management process in which
everyone supports each other’s growth and potential is recognised & nurtured
f. Opportunities for individuals to develop & grow their own business within an
environment of Inter Dependence’ supporting the economic sustainability of HTC
Strategy
Deliver our mission by developing the ultimate learning culture by
1. The out workings of Eupsychia: a focus on attitudes and behaviours needed to deliver world
class performance through Deep Practice
2. Developing a culture that rewards learning from experiences, gives permission to try and fail
3. Supporting personal & professional development through the “Owners Eye”
4. Researching and developing world class practices – both on & off court
5. Partnerships with our key stakeholders; HVLTC, RAF, LTA and our local community
6. Everyone to demonstrate by their actions that they buy into the above
7. Create an Ethos for each business around superior value
 HTC - each talented each different but all valued
 EBI - educate, motivate & inspire to be the best you can be
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 Core Strength – realise your potential
 Pavilion Catering – no one cares how much you know until they know how
much you care
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