HVLTC
November 2004
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HAIRMAN’S REPORT – 2003/2004 Season
We have been working hard this year to improve your club. The Club committees, coaching
team, operations team and staff, together with the many enthusiastic members who have
volunteered their support and time have all helped to make it a fantastic year for us all.
Thank you.
Having achieved our core 2002/3 challenge of creating financial stability for the club, 2003/4 was
the start of our journey to deliver the newly created Club Vision - namely to create THE ‘COMPLETE
TENNIS EXPERIENCE’ i.e.
1. A full choice of tennis activities, both social and competitive, for all our members
2. A fun, relaxed social environment in which everyone feels at home and where every club
member is a host as well as a guest
3. Superb playing, training, social and support facilities
4. A complete coaching programme for every player from the adult beginner to the world ranked
junior, delivered by a world Class team of coaches
5. A first class catering service
6. A Leadership, team and management process in which everyone supports each other’s growth
7. Customer service that is second to none
8. And in doing so we will become economically and socially sustainable, help the cause of
British tennis, provide a valuable service to the local community and contribute to the
future of Halton village
This report reviews our work on each of the 8 elements of our Vision. I hope you find it of
interest.
1.) A full choice of tennis activities, both social and competitive, for all
our members
R
ECORD SUMMER SEASON FOR HALTON TEAMS !!
Halton is celebrating one of its most successful seasons, both in local, regional and national
competition and my sincere thanks to the Men’s and Ladies Captains (Graham Tallyn & Vicki Walker),
the truly inspirational Leadership of Alan Hutcherson in revitalising the Mens tennis and all the Team
Captains for their hard work and perseverance during the year.
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a) In the Mens Bucks Shield, the top four men’s teams have won their
– an amazing result. The Mens’ 1st team only dropped one
the Premier Division, confirming them as Champions and
the sought-after Bucks Shield. The successful squad included
Hutcherson (captain), Aidan Graveson, Peter Thorne, John
Matthew Brown, Danny West, James Morgan, James
Stephen Dunklin.
divisions
match in
winners of
Alan
Edgar, Mike James,
Woodwards and
b) The 2nd team, under the outstanding captaincy of Andy MacLean, were the Champions of Division 2,
winning all their matches and gaining promotion for the second year running. The successful squad
included Andy McGrath, Graham Tallyn, Nick Leighton, Phil Bernard, Mark Lane, Phil Duffy, John
Hinchliff, Adam Goodman, Neil Block and Stuart Lovell; they now look forward to the challenge of
Division 1 next year with great confidence.
Halton’s 3rd team were equally successful – winning all their matches in Division 6A – and guaranteeing
their promotion to Division 5 next season. The victorious team included Phil Mayhew (captain), Ken
Holroyd, Ralph Holliday, Neil Twogood, Barry Foxcroft, Roy Spindler, Gerard Lys and Kevin Redford.
The 4th team won 5 matches out of 6 in Division 6B, which was just enough to win the division, beating
Hambleden by the narrowest of margins of half a rubber - they will also be promoted to Division 5
next year. The successful squad were captained by Paul Hayes and included Kirk Redford, Roger
Furley, Gerry Walsh, Nick Smith, David Andrew, Nick Viollier, Marc Trojacek, Matthew Dixon, Colin
Read, Jim Hetherington, Alan Pickett, Marty Morgan and brothers Andrew and Matthew Tallyn.
Illustrating the depth of talent and enthusiasm for competitive tennis at Halton, two 5th teams were
entered in the Bucks Shield for the first time this year. Both the Mens’ team (led by Peter Strong)
and Ladies’ team (captained by Ruth Sawyer) included players who had no experience of playing
competitive matches but have enjoyed the challenge and look forward to next season with greater
confidence. Well done to both teams – Jen MacLean, Lyndsey McGrath, Florence Glenister, Mariko
Francombe, Ellen North, Kathy Frazier, Barbara Wilkinson, Barbara Thomas and Kathy Russell, Peter
Taylor, Simon Jennings, Paul Barter, David Herring, Chris Eyre, Robert Pearce, Jon Price, Stuart
Morris, Kevin Clausner, Richard Hutcherson, Roger Bolton, Jon Hill, Jonathan Lillycrop and John
Rudge!
c) The Ladies’ Bucks Shield teams have also enjoyed considerable success this summer.
The 1st team are champions of the Premier Division, winning all their matches against Chesham Bois,
Gerrards Cross Bull Lane (1st and 2nd) and Stony Stratford. This is the 2nd year running that they have
won the Bucks Shield. Players who contributed to the success were Nicola Pitt (a great captain – with
a winning touch year after year!), Celia Bristow, Sarah Butcher, Jemima Hayward, Alice Taylor, Emily
Quin, Helen Lawson and Claire Hamilton.
The 2nd team (led by Pam Knight) were promoted to Division 1 last year and have come up against very
stiff opposition.
The 3rd team are Champions of Division 4B winning 6 out of their 7 matches, so now look forward to
the challenge of Division 3 next year. The successful squad included Camilla Hayward (captain), Claire
“The Complete Tennis Experience”
2
Roberts, Gill Roe, Val Trowell, Kathy Hill, Pooh Ballantine, Christine Stones, Ann Cooke, Penny Jeffery,
Janis O’Connor, Anne Cobley, Sarah Tricks, Jenny Webley and Sylvia Firnberg.
The 4th team under the captaincy of Tracey Strong finished the season strongly, winning 3 out of 5
matches and coming a creditable 3rd in Division 5B. The squad of Tracey, Judy Fitch, Jill Dodds,
Alison Job, Stacey Taylor, Sam McCaffrey, Helen Parisi, Emma McGrath, Rachel Barnes, Kaye
Lillycrop and Jane Chambers have shown a lot of team spirit and are determined to improve on their
position next year.
d) In the Senior Bucks Mixed Knockout Competition Halton won the final against Haddenham (victory
for the 2nd year running)
e) In the Aylesbury & District League, Halton have also been very successful, with at least four
teams winning their divisions. Ladies 1 (captained by Fay Acott-Smith), Mens 1 (led by Ken Holroyd)
and Mixed 1 (captain – Graham Tallyn) have all won Division 1. Veterans Mixed 2 (captained by Terry
McGrath) were unbeaten to win Division 2 and the successful squad who included David Cheek, Gill
Roe, Camilla Hayward, Janis O’Connor, Jan and David Andrew, Gail Nicoll and Steve Ottridge now look
forward to joining Veterans Mixed 1 in Division 1, where Ralph Holliday’s team retained their position
winning 5 out of 7 matches.
The Mixed 1 team, including Alan Hutcherson, John Edgar, Nicola Pitt and Celia Bristow beat
Chesham Bois in the Aylesbury & District League Final to win the Mixed Knockout Cup.
f) The highlight of the Club’s season was Halton Ladies’ success in the KIA National Club
League competition. The event started in April with 8,000 clubs across the country, with Halton
winning through rounds and regional finals to be included in the top 8 clubs at the Final – an
outstanding achievement for a relatively small village club compared to all the other finalists.
The team, superbly captained by Celia Bristow, had won the South Region division without losing a
match. To reach the Finals, they had first to beat last year’s national runners-up Esporta Croydon in
the regional play-offs. Jemima Hayward got them off to a good start by beating former UK No. 1
Lizzie Jelfs, and after some very close matches, the team of Jemima, Celia, Sarah Burrows, Nicola
Pitt and Sarah Butcher beat the odds to win the match 4-2, securing them a place at the National
Finals in Bournemouth at the beginning of September.
Supported by a loyal band of Halton Club members, the
Halton team of Julia Bone,
Jemima Hayward, Celia Bristow and Nicola Pitt performed
extremely well.
Halton had a tough draw and met the No. 2 seeds,
and eventual
runners-up, Holcombe Brook (Lancashire) in the
quarter finals.
Despite Julia playing an amazing match and beating a
player ranked 480 in
the world, Halton lost the match
2-4. The following day Halton played Hallamshire (Sheffield) in the play-off for 5th to 8th places.
Again, Halton were up against a team with higher-ranked players. Julia and Jemima both won their
singles. With the score 2-2 after the singles, Halton had to win both doubles matches to secure the
match. Nicola and Celia overcame the loss of the first set to come storming back in win in 3 sets,
while Jemima and Julia beat Hallamshire’s No. 1 pair 7-6 6-3, which meant that Halton had won the
match 4-2 and finished in an impressive 5th place.
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RESULTS
TEAM
CAPTAIN
DIVISION
RESULTS
Ladies National Club League 1
Celia Bristow
REGIONAL
5th in UK
Ladies National Club League 2
Sarah Butcher
Division 1
5th
Mens National Club League 1
Alan Hutcherson
County Premier
Champions
Men’s National Club League 2
Andy McGrath
DIVISION 1
Champions
Ladies Shield 1
Nicola Pitt
PREMIER
Champions
Ladies Shield 2
Pam Knight
DIVISION 1
7th
Ladies Shield 3
Camilla Hayward
DIVISION 4
Champions
Ladies Shield 4
Tracey Strong
DIVISION 5
3rd
Ladies Shield 4
Ruth Sawyer
Division 5
8th
Men’s Shield 1
Alan Hutcherson
PREMIER
Champions
Men’s Shield 2
Andy MacLean
DIVISION 2
Champions
Men’s Shield 3
Phil Mayhew
DIVISION 6
Champions
Men’s Shield 4
Paul Hayes
DIVISION 6
Champions
Mens Shield 5
Peter Strong
Division 8
6th
BUCKS KNOCK OUT
Champions
Ladies 1 Aylesbury & District
Fay Acott-Smith
DIVISION 1
Champions
Ladies 2 Aylesbury & District
Claire Roberts
DIVISION 2
7th
Men’s 1 Aylesbury & District
Ken Holroyd
DIVISION 1
Champions
Mens 2 Aylesbury & District
Roy Spindler
Division 7
Champions
Mixed 1 Aylesbury & District
Graham Tallyn
DIVISION 1
Champions
Mixed 2 Aylesbury & District
Nick Leighton
DIVISION 1
7th
Vets Mix 1 Aylesbury & District
Ralph Holliday
DIVISION 1
3rd
Vets Mix 2 Aylesbury & District
Terry McGrath
DIVISION 2
Champions
Juniors (see junior newsletter)
*Our junior teams have had a sensational year – succeeding at National level – well done !
F
ESTIVAL OF TENNIS - CLUB CHAMPIONSHIPS
I would like to thank Mike James and his team for the smooth operation, which culminated in
one of the best WEEKENDS ENTERTAINMENT anyone can remember at the club. Winners
were
Mens Singles - Pete Thorne
Ladies Singles – Leressa Easterbrook
Mens Doubles – Graham Tallyn & Phil Duffy
Ladies Doubles – Nicola Pitt & Celia Bristow
Mixed Doubles – Mike James & Nikki Jeffryes
Vets Mens singles – Graham Tallyn
Vets Ladies singles – Ricky Gershon
Vets Mens doubles – Barry Foxcroft & Ralph Holliday
Vets Ladies doubles – Nikki Jeffryes & Fay Acott-Smith
Vets mixed doubles – Ralph Holliday & Pam Knight
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We also held the inaugural Halton Open Tournament – won by our very own Mike James and
Jemima Hayward!
RAF CHAMPIONSHIPS
The RAF Champs were a major success, and supported by great weather, the players were
delighted with both the facilities and warm welcome extended by the Club members. For the
second time, the RAF held their whole tournament at Halton, and we were able to host them both
tennis and socially. The event was a huge success, with Finals day attended by the Chief of the
RAF, the Director of the RAF Sports Board, Air Vice Marshal (r’td) Chris Davison and RAFLTA
President – Air Marshal Sir Joe French.
M
ID WEEK TENNIS
One of our tactical objectives is to improve our daytime tennis offering. During the
summer, organised Tuesday morning tennis became very popular, and I know that many of
you will continue to play at this time. We will continue to work hard in this area throughout the
winter season
I would like to express my thanks to Danny West for doing a great job managing this area
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LUB NIGHTS
Our organised sessions continue to be a success, and the extra floodlights have ensured that
the quantity as well as quality of tennis has been in evidence.
I would like to thank all the volunteers who have helped to organise club nights/Sunday mornings.
F
IXTURES PLANNING
Sarah Tricks has done a great job for us in the past year and on behalf of everybody, I
would like to express our thanks for managing this very complex task for us.
2.) A fun, relaxed social environment in which everyone feels at home
and where every club member is a host as well as a guest
S
OCIAL
We have run a number of very successful and well-attended events this year. In particular,
the very busy period around our Finals Day and hosting the RAF in July for the Pig Roast
was great fun.
Terry’s tournament in September was as popular as ever, with the event oversubscribed. We all
had a great afternoon’s tennis – very well organised, (many thanks Terry) followed by an excellent
three course meal in the Clubhouse (many thanks Alan & Fiona).
Looking forward, we are planning our 2nd Coaches Quiz night on 4th November following the brilliant
night we had in March and Adult/Child doubles tournament on 20th November and finally our Xmas
Party on Saturday 18th December.
After 5 years in post, Rosie Stevens has stepped down as social secretary due to work
commitments. I would like to thank Rosie for all her hard work and enthusiasm. If you have any
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5
suggestions for events, please contact Michael Hill our new Social secretary. Michael will be
canvassing opinion for events next year – so let him know what turns you on !
3.) Superb playing, training, social and support facilities
A detailed Facilities programme is in place for the next 5 years (working with the RAF). We are
committed to improving all areas of the Club in line with our Vision, to ensure we have the very
best playing, training and support facilities.
This year we have completed
1. Floodlights for 3 additional courts
2. A major landscaping project, clearing the old hedges and trees at the far end of the
grounds which has opened up courts 7&8 and made them an integral part of the club. Your
feedback has been very positive on this change in particular.
3. Courts 7&8 have been changed to Artificial Grass from hard courts.
4. The clubhouse has seen a major refurbishment (almost completed) of the kitchen, lounge
and bar areas.
5. Courts 9&10 now have a continently style open plan look, with access at the centre.
6. Gym - expanded into the area, formally the Sauna.
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ourts
It is our ambition to have the very best playing facilities available, and in particular, we are
focused on:
1. Changing our 2 hard courts to a Performance Clay court surface
2. An additional Artificial Grass Court
3. Cover courts 7 & 8, offering us 5 indoor courts in total
The success of our Juniors in National and International competitions has in particular led us to be
courted by the LTA, and we are now in a position to discuss grants and interest free loans with
them to help us achieve our Vision.
There is a lot of further planning and discussions still to take place over the coming months,
particularly regarding security of tenure, before we can embark on some of our larger projects,
but we are confident that we have the right process and people involved to support these
initiatives.
The new floodlights on our first 3 courts have already made a significant difference to the club,
and despite many difficulties encountered with our electricity supply, they will I am sure make a
massive difference to our Winter Playing capability.
G
ym
I am pleased to announce that the Gym has had a successful first year, so much so, that it
has now been
expanded in the area which was formally the Sauna. Jon
Price is doing an
excellent job leading this new element of the Club. He
has taken on the
challenge of helping us all improve our fitness with
great enthusiasm! We
are very fortunate to have someone who is not only
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6
very knowledgeable, but goes about his work with real passion. We also wish him a continued
speedy recovery from the accident that has kept him out of action recently. There are currently
some 60 members (we still need more please!), and the feedback from everyone using the facility
is excellent.
A message from Jon and Vickie Price
“thank you to everyone at the club for your love and support through what has been an
exceptionally hard time for us both. We have found incredible comfort living within such an
exciting community. As you have seen, Jon is making a brilliant recovery and is currently easing
himself back into work. “
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lubhouse & Grounds
The brilliant volunteer work on the clubhouse is continuing
well – led by Andy MacLean and Barry Foxcroft – a big
thank you. This is an ongoing project, and any other member who
would like to help, please let me know.
Behind the scenes, the Kitchen has been retiled (walls and floor) and
further substantial improvements made to the electricity supply. We
hope to install central heating at some point. The Men’s toilets will
also be refurbished shortly.
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rounds Maintenance & Cleaning
It takes a big effort to keep the facilities to the high standards that
we now enjoy, and I would like to thank Kathy, Frank and George for
all their hard work.
M
ens Changing room
We are looking at options to reconfigure & maximise the space. Current considerations
are to reduce the number of showers/toilets, improve the quality – and create a
dedicated room for Sports Therapy/massage treatments.
4.) A complete coaching programme for every player from the adult
beginner to the world ranked junior, delivered by a World Class team of
coaches
The coaching team’s mission is to provide the
best possible environment and opportunities in
which all players, regardless of age or ability,
become the ‘best they can be’.
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The coaching team have been meeting once a week for in service training in a commitment to
provide world class coaching.
The team have been working closely on developing a common language and philosophy.
Uptake on courses has been very high from Mini Tennis to our Adult beginner and Intermediate
courses held indoor on a Monday evening. A fantastic spin off from the Adult classes are the
number of private doubles matches/games we now see players engaged in during the day. Our
Performance Programme continues to improve as we learn from each passing term and our top
juniors have performed very well in a number of events, including Robert Mariconda’s superb
achievement in reaching the final of the National U13 Clay Court Championships.
Our summer camps were the most successful ever, both in terms of numbers and in providing the
local community with a valuable service for young people. A couple of Courts will always be made
available to members during the camps – so if you have come down for a hit and it looks busy –
please ask one of the coaches.
James Morgan our Head Coach – going for the UK’s top coaching award !
James started the LTA’s Performance Coaches Award course in October 2003, and is now almost
finished.
The content of the course covers technical, tactical, physical and mental components and analysis of
what makes an effective performance coach.
Extensive follow up projects are then completed which James passed in full, and presentations are
given on every workshop. James is now required to attend 1-2 more days of the course before passing.
James is chairman of the Playing committee for the club (comprising Gill Roe, Vicky Walker, Richard
Hutcherson, Barbara Wilkinson, Camilla Hayward and Sarah Tricks) dealing with all playing issues re
teams and events, including the resurrection of the Halton Mixed Open Doubles tournament.
James also chairs the junior committee, which has a vision to provide more than just tennis for the
juniors. There are now 11 parents on the committee, which help to organise Mondays (junior night),
fundraise and organise trips. (See junior newsletter for more details)
Summary of our Junior activities
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Programme
Mini Tennis Red
Mini Tennis
Orange
Players
72
Description
Introductory level of Mini Tennis played on small court
with soft balls – 3 levels (approx age 4 – 6 years)
24
Mini Tennis played on ¾ court and mini Orange Ball(approx
age 6 – 8 years)
Junior Green
25
Junior Bronze
12
Junior Silver
12
Junior Gold
20
Performance
Squads
44
F.I.T Academy
Young Guns
12
Played on the full court with slightly softer than normal
ball (still classified as Mini Tennis by LTA – approx age 7 –
10 years)
For juniors progressing from Green. Developing the
fundamental technical and tactical skills on the full court
with normal ball. (approx age 9 – 11)
Players show proficient basic skills and are seeking to
develop finer skills – spin, doubles movement, increased
tactical awareness (approx age 10 – 13)
Players seeking to compete for the club in Bucks Leagues
(approx age 13 upwards)
Invitation Only. Young Players aged 7-17, committed to
county, national or international competition. training with
the coaching team
A ‘bridging’ squad between the Halton Performance
Programme and the F.I.T Academy. An opportunity for top
club players to learn about the ‘Academy’ ethos and
environment
The Fone International Tennis Academy at Halton. Players
committed to international competition – Tennis Europe,
ITF (International Tennis Federation) and Senior World
Ranking Events
Mini
Ten
nis.
Sarah
Butch
er
has
F.I.T
6
mana
Academy
ged
our
TOTAL
227
Mini
Tennis Programme identifying young up and coming talent and providing them with some fantastic
opportunities to develop their games both in training and fun competitions.
Thank you Sarah.
We are also pleased to report on our progress with the LTA, regards Performance Accreditation and
Sponsorship for our Juniors. Following a recent review with the LTA, Halton has been singled out as
having the potential to be within the top 5 Performance Clubs in the Country! This translates into a
grant of £10k this year from the LTA, and probably £25k in the future.
I would like to thank Mike James our Director of Tennis who has assembled such a passionate team of
coaches and I know they look forward to improving their service and skills to a point where our
programme is recognised as one of the best in Great Britain.
A message from Mike:
“We always welcome your feedback as members:

What can we do better?

Are we meeting your personal coaching needs?
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We have also enjoyed our new member lessons. It has been a great way for the team to meet new
members and help them overcome any fears or concerns they might have whilst first joining the club.
Linked to this, our new beginner member’s scheme is proving to be a very positive step in helping
players to get the most out of their membership.
F
.I.T ACADEMY - INTERNATIONAL PLAYERS
2004 saw the launch of the FIT Academy at Halton
The on court results have been outstanding, outperforming every
other Club based Academy in the whole of Great Britain !
Many congratulations to the Academy coaching team; Shane Fone,
Peter Thorne, Mike James, Derek Bone and Jon Price and the full time
Academy players - Robert Mariconda, Amanda Carreras, Simon Childs
and Julia Bone. The players dominated during the summer with Julia
winning an International event, Amanda moving into the Top 100 in
Europe, Robert making the Final of the Nationals and Simon won a National Grand Prix event.
Amanda has just received her first U18 International Tennis Federation World ranking
The standards they set, both on and off court are contributing enormously to the development of the
Club Junior section, and it is a pleasure to have these young people at our club. Twice a year, the
Academy will be holding an open session for members to come and watch and hit balls with the players.
The financial costs of becoming a world-class player are considerable, and as a Club, we are
100% committed to supporting the Academy in everyway we can.
If any member is interested in sponsoring/investing in the future of our top juniors, please
contact Mike James.
5.) A first class catering service
a) A major focus for us in the next 12 months is the delivery of an excellent catering and bar service
to members. Earlier this year we agreed a new Catering charter Catering Charter
Our Aim is to provide a 1st class catering
service to members and guests
To achieve this we will:
 Learn and use everyone’s name
 Warmly welcome everyone entering the bar
 Introduce guests and new members to
other people
 Offer a wide variety of home produced
food
 Provide fine wines and cask ales
 Actively seek your feedback on menu selection
 Ensure our prices and quality beat local competition
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b) We recognise the constraints within which Alan and Fiona have to operate in, and in order to help
them, in September 2004, the Catering Team was born !
Nick Leighton – Mike Hill - Pauline Shorthouse – Barbara Muston – Di
Marston – Jen MacLean
Our specific areas of focus are bar/food prices, Menu choices and equipment
(crockery etc), Wines and Food ordering, customer service and music. Please
feel free to talk to any of the team with your ideas/feedback.
We have held many successful events, the highlight of which was the superb
Dinner that followed Terry’s tournament; a big thank you to Alan, Fiona and their team.
c) The Pavilion Bar contributes to the financial success of the Centre, through the payment of a
franchise fee, contributions to all capital expenditure in the kitchen and also rental income on behalf
of the Club for all functions held.
d) A message from Alan & Fiona:
“It has been a challenging year. The highlights have been the RAF championships, the club finals day
and of course Terry’s tournament supper. The sheer volume of business has grown extraordinarily and
in fact between 1stSeptember and 18th December there is not a free Saturday evening. Any members
wishing to book anything for next year please do so as soon as possible.
We have recently passed our environmental health check from Aylesbury Vale and hope to have the
refurbishment of the bar completed soon, including new bar stools! We are also in the process of
buying a Cappuccino machine.
We would like to thank all the members of our staff, Julie Griffin, Jane Goodwin, Matthew Tallyn,
Hayley Tallyn, Luke Geddes and Ali Tatum. A special thank you to Kathy Tallyn who has been
invaluable.”
e) Charity
Events held at the club have raised over £9.5k for charity this year. Vickie Walker through two
tournaments has raised £3k for Action Medical Research. Linda Petrons held an auction, and
tremendous party which raised £5.5k (£5k went to Cancer Research and £500 to Stoke Mandeville
Hospital). Terry McGrath raised £1k from his tournament and supper that went to Happy Days
Children’s Charity. This is a fantastic achievement, which I think we can be immensely proud of, and
many congratulations and thanks to everyone involved.
6.) A Leadership, team and management process in which everyone supports
each other’s growth
Good Leadership and management is vital to our economic and social sustainability, and behind the
scenes at the Tennis Club, there is a clear focus on three key areas:
1. Building relationships and working closely with the RAF
2. Internal Leadership & Management of our Club
3. Improved Customer Service
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I would like to take this opportunity to welcome on board, Gill Roe, joining on her retirement - to look
after our Customer Services, and also to thank Lyndsey McGrath who is now supporting Mike James
and the Coaching Programme
How are we doing this?
1. Our Operations Team (John Walker, Nick Leighton, Gill Roe, Mike James & Alan Geddes) meet
every week, to ensure day-to-day issues are addressed.
2. Nick Leighton is the main link with the RAF, and holds regular meetings with Wg Cdr Tom
Wood (RAFLTA secretary) and Sqn Ldr Damian Gange (Facilities & Development). Nick and
John are regular participants at the RAF Committee meetings, to ensure that our Strategies
remain aligned, and we have the support of the RAF Sports Board.
3. Our main Club, Playing and Junior committees meet monthly, and the Catering team quarterly.
4. We have talked to the Local Council, shared our Vision with them, and have received their
enthusiastic support for what is happening at the club.
5. We have recently met twice with the Lawn Tennis Association to work on our plans for
improved facilities and Performance funding of our juniors.
6. We regularly provide Personal Development Coaching for all key staff at the club.
7.) Customer Service that is second to none
F
eedback
The management of the Club is guided by your feedback, and we actively seek it at every
opportunity. We have greatly appreciated the time members have spent completing the
feedback forms, and in attending the 2 Open Forum evenings. It has provided us with subjects and
issues for a customer driven agenda, which we will implement as time and finances allow.
M
embership
I am pleased to report that the Open Days held were successful and it is great to see so
many new faces around the club. Thank you to everyone who helped with the Open Days. Our
current membership numbers are sufficient to enable us to be financially sustainable and continue to
invest in the facilities.
We continue to limit full membership to ensure that membership numbers and facilities are properly
matched, to enable everyone to enjoy their tennis and other club activities.
E
mail addresses & any Change of details
We regularly use email to communicate with members. Could anyone not receiving information, or
have changed their address /telephone numbers or home address, please contact Gill Roe
(membership secretary on 01296 425243 or haltontennis@btinternet.com) or leave her a note in the
admin office.
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W
eb Site
Our Web site www.haltontennis.co.uk contains lots of
information and updates on performances. I would like to thank
Nick Smith for all his efforts. If you have any suggestions, or wish to
put information on the site, please let the admin office know.
P
ress Coverage
Our Press Secretary – Camilla Hayward
with all the on court success keeping
Club appearing with some regularity in the
superb 2 page spread in ACE magazine
has been a real star this year –
her very busy with Halton Tennis
local press! The Club also had a
8.) Economic and Social sustainability
a) To achieve economic sustainability we need to create regular surpluses to fund asset replacement
and improvements. I am pleased to report an operating surplus before depreciation and extraordinary
items (landscaping, fencing, new TV, gym etc. ) for the partnership of £60k (50% up on last year) You
will also see from the balance sheet at the 30th September that we had joint cash reserves of £37k.
Although our cash balance is still good, it is down on last year because we have invested so much in
facilities. Capital expenditure in the year was £62K
b) We achieved these results by improving our income streams (by 20%) but also we very much
appreciate the grant of £17,000 per year from the RAF Sports Board. The Sports Board has
committed to this for a further two years. We plan further improvements and investments in our
facilities in the future. Our cash flow is getting stronger which will enable us to cover these
important investments (we have investment plans of £500K over next few years) and we need to go on
improving our income to fund this.
c) Our people are our most important asset; we are building a professional team, but still depend
heavily on a few people (volunteers) to take on very burdensome roles in the Club. The work by
volunteers has made an enormous difference and I would not want to miss the opportunity of thanking
these individuals, and also members who have donated their support in other ways, such as supplying
the club with various equipment.
d) Our Operations Team have worked well this year. I would like to thank Nick, Gill, Alan and Mike for
all their hard work and a special thank you to Nick Leighton for his contribution in delivering the Club
Vision.
“The Complete Tennis Experience”
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S
ponsorship
Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to thank our Club Sponsors – Mark Hayward of
Hamnett Hayward, Property Consultants and Estate Agents and Andy MacLean Carpentry who
have supported the Club, not just financially, but also their involvement and enthusiasm for what we
are trying to achieve here at Halton Tennis Club.
A. MacLean Carpentry
tel/fax 01296 632622
mobile 07789433803
e-mail: andy.mac@bigfoot.com
John Walker
Chairman
“The Complete Tennis Experience”
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