There is a coffee and cake morning and sale of lockdown crafts, plants/seedlings and preserves at the tennis club tomorrow morning, Friday 21st May, 10am to 12.30pm ish. This is to raise money for the Macmillan charity. You can support us in raising money for this worthy cause by coming to the sale or simply making a donation by visiting: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/gmltcmacmillan2021

The sale will go ahead in the clubhouse rain or shine and we will serve coffee and cake indoors and out. All proceeds from the morning will go to Macmillan and COVID rules from May 17th will apply.

Kate
kate1miller@aol.com

Thanks for complying with covid rules as of Monday 17th. A few reminders and a correction are needed:

- Masks must be worn when inside all areas of the clubhouse, apart from when sitting at tables consuming drinks or food
- Rule of 6 applies indoors: no more than 6 people (unless it is 2 households), socially distanced around one table and please stay in that 6. No table swapping!
- All members / guests over the age of 16 using the clubroom for any catering / bar service must swipe in at the door or scan the QR code as part of the mandated test and trace process.
- Table service only for bar drinks and when bar and kitchen are serving (e.g. Suppers / Pie Night).Please do not queue at the bar.
- Correction: table service only applies to when the bar is open. Friday morning coffee / cake can be served from the kitchen counter with social distancing and masks being worn when ordering.

Thanks!

Our contractor starts the cleaning and decompaction of our 9 clay courts next week. This will take place over 3 separate visits as follows:

Monday 24th May: Courts 1, 2 & 3 renovation & leveling
Thursday June 3rd & Friday June 4th: Courts 8, 11, 12, 13, 14 & 15 renovation & leveling
Wednesday 16th & Thursday 17th June: Courts 1, 2, 3 ,14 & 15 - deep vacuum, clean and drag.

These dates are weather and ground conditions permitting as the clay needs to be dry. Hopefully they can start on Monday!

Please be flexible with which court you play on when the work is going on. Coaches will need to use other courts on June 3rd and 4th during the day. There should be no impact on evening use of the courts.

Many thanks to the ~ 30% of members who have renewed so far. We know that others have arranged payment to be made on June 1st. New members who joined since January do not need to renew until June 1st next year.

Renewal bills and a separate email containing the Renewal Letter / Notice were sent on Friday 7th May by email. The Renewal Letter has helpful information on our plan for the year ahead, how to pay and what your choice is about what to pay. It may address some questions you have.

If you do have any questions about your renewal, contact Mary at membership@gmltc.com. If you are planning to not renew do also let Mary know why that is and so we can avoid chasing you! It is very helpful for us to know why members do not renew.

Many thanks!

As we let out our clubroom to pliates and yoga teachers we need to keep the clubroom clean and tidy. To the gentlemen present on Tuesday night...there was a lot of sand and food on the floor after Tuesday nights BBQ and bar! It is not Joost's job to clear up!

When you have finished in the club room can you please ensure the tables and chairs are pushed to the sides and the floor is cleaned of sand from the clay courts and any food debris. These is a vacuum cleaner in the foyer cupboard. We do have cleaners who come in three times a week but we cannot synch their visits perfectly following member use of the clubroom and the paid for classes.

Many thanks for helping keep the clubroom clean!

We had our first 7 cash prize winners last month in the monthly 100 Club draw that helps to raise funds for the club for investment in projects for the enjoyment of present and future members. We need more joiners!

Here's a reminder of how the 100 club works:
* Each entry costs £10 per month per number / ticket.
* £10 collected monthly via Standing Order or single annual payment of £120 by cheque or BACS before the first draw
* More than one number can be held in the draw (in multiples of £10) and syndicate holdings are allowed.
* Each entrant must be a current member of GMLTC.
* Members will retain their initial number(s) for the full year.
* Draw fund is split each month into 60% cash prizes and 40% retained in the club's Heritage Fund
* Monthly draw results will be advised to members via newsletter and notice board in the Clubhouse. Winners will be notified directly by e-mail.

You can set up a Standing Order or deposit the annual amount directly using the GMLTC Heritage Fund account details as follows:
Barclays Bank, account name: GMLTC
Sort code: 20 02 06
Account number: 10001848
Please use payment reference: [YOUR SURNAME]100CLUB

Let Mike know if you have set up a SO or made a payment or if you have any questions on the 100 Club prize draw or in participating in the Heritage Fund Committee.
Mike Doran 07977 512920, or email doranmik@yahoo.com

The club will be running Junior and Adult club championships this year. The Adult competition will run once we have got through the renewal period in June, more details on this soon. The Adult CLub Championships Finals Day will be Saturday 25th September.

Chris Graham and Mike Doran will communicate to parents on the Junior competition plan next month.

As previewed in the Newsletter of 29th April, Rock Up Sunday Tennis ("RUST"!) starts next Sunday, 30th May. John Muir is championing this new social session of mixed doubles on a mix-in basis on Sunday afternoons that will be between 2.30pm and 5.30pm. It is an open invite for all adult full playing members and will be pitch up, mix in, have some fun, re-mix and then retire for bar refreshments or tea / coffee. There may also be the odd cake now and again!

The emphasis is on having a fun social knock and meeting fellow members, with a bit of refreshment to your taste during and after! Meet near the clubhouse, mix in and get playing!

Contact John if you have any questions, john.muir@willistowerswatson.com

Many thanks John for championing this!

The good news is that the grass courts are well watered and growing well! The bad news is the wet weather makes it difficult to cut the grass in the required stages to get them ready for play! Come on, let's have a bit of dry weather! Hopefully the grass courts will be open soon.

I hope you have all enjoyed your return to tennis over the last seven weeks. The club has been busy and Mary continues to receive inquiries about new memberships. We are now 640 members and hoping very many of you will renew for another year of tennis with us.

We will soon be doing some necessary improvements to our facilities - clay court maintenance as detailed above, new automatic pathway lighting from the bottom to the top clubhouse, new machinery access gates for our grass courts, web cams to show court usage / weather (once we have sorted out some tech issues with our new router) and a water tap up by Court 16. I have yet to hear when the puddling problem will be resolved on Court 17 & 18 - the wet weather has stalled the work they need to do.

The Committee met last night and heard an update from the Padel Tennis sub-committee. They have investigated padel court options and costs, possible locations at the club and what other clubs have done and are doing. We understand that Chesham 1879 are planning 2 courts as is Holmer Green. An LTA webinar on padel tennis this week was attended by over 100 clubs - there is a lot of momentum behind introducing padel tennis at many clubs in the UK. In a few years we expect it will be more commonplace at tennis clubs. There is more work for the sub-committee to do over the summer before we can review their recommendations and decide what project and level of investment to put to the membership for voting on. In the meantime we will create a padel page on our website so members can get acquainted with what it is.

The CT coaching team have been busy since our restart and participation numbers are up for Juniors and Adults. We discussed and agreed to introduce coach-led, free, new member integration sessions a couple of times per week. We will communicate more on this soon when details and timing are ironed out. We also have plans for a skills session for members - more on this to follow.

I realise that club communications are coming frequently. There is a lot to communicate as we restart, manage the membership renewal process, comply with covid, ramp up social activity and keep you up to date with news and our plans.

Happy hitting, and may the jet stream move back to where it is supposed to be and allow some warm and dry weather in!

Neil
07771 660343, neil1miller@aol.com