Some ideas on raising funding for the indoor court project were recently circulated to members. Following further review, the management committee have decided to promote the "member's special loan" arrangement that has been used in the past by the Club.

Members are invited to loan a sum of money to the Club and benefit from a reduction in membership fees. Key points of this arrangement are

• minimum loan period of 3 years
• up to 4.6% reduction in membership fees i.e. up to £46 reduction on fees for every £1K loan placed with the club *
• minimum loan of £1,000
• maximum loan - the loan cannot be so high as to result in a reduction in fees that would exceed the value of the membership/s  - example. A loan of £20K would mean a reduction in fees of up to £920 per annum. This loan could be accepted if there were family memberships totalling at least that value but it could not be accepted if there was only one gold membership at £595

* The club is prepeared to give "up to" 4.6% reduction in fees for each £1K loaned. However if members wish to help support the club by opting for a lower rate then this can be indicated on the special loan agreement form. that is completed when lodging the loan with the club.

If you are interested in a "special loan" then please contact Bily Kerr, General Manager at the Club. 01962 854028

WIMBLEDON TICKET DRAW - DRAW NIGHT SUNDAY 25th APRIL @ 7PM
 
The Club receives an allocation of tickets for Wimbledon each year from the LTA that can be passed on to any club members who would like to buy them. I am pleased to say that as a result of the high uptake of British Tennis Memberships by our members, the club has a healthy allocation of tickets available for Wimbledon 2010.

Demand is of course still much higher than the number of tickets available so the Club operates a ballot and draw process to allocate the tickets to members who would like to go.
 
Please note the policy on ticket allocation below

• Any club members in the ballot or draw MUST be registered British Tennis Members

• The ballot and draw is open to all our club members who are registered British Tennis Members – this extends to all membership categories and to junior members age 9 and over.

The Club's policy this year for the allocation of Wimbledon tickets is as follows:

OPEN BALLOT
50% of the club allocation will be available through an open ballot process – there is no need to sign up for this ballot. Names will be drawn from our British Tennis Membership List and successful members will be contacted and offered a pair of tickets. If they do not want the tickets, they will then be offered to another member drawn from the ballot.
 
NOTE - tickets are not transferable - they must be used by the member that they have been allocated to. If you can't use them, please return them to be redrawn.

CLUB DRAW NIGHT
The remaining 50% of the club allocation will be drawn on the "club draw night". This year's draw is on Sunday 25th April at 7PM. Again, fully paid up club members who are also registered British Tennis Members are eligible to take part in this draw. If you are not able to attend on this evening, you are able to ask another member to represent you. Note the draw night which is normally held in May has been brought forward this year to April as required by the LTA.

Please note that members who are successful in the first "open ballot" will not be eligible for the draw night ballot

...........................................................................................................................
 
......So as long as you are a fully paid up club member (if your membership is due for renewal on 1st April, you must have renewed by 15 April to qualify for the ballot /draw) and are a registered British Tennis Member, your name will be included in the ballot and you can attend the draw. Check the list by clicking on the PDF file – this is the most recent list of names provided by the LTA of Winchester Tennis and Squash Club registered British Tennis Members.

Winchester British Tennis Members

NOT on the list? It is not too late.... You can register as a British Tennis Member for free at

http://www.lta.org.uk/BritishTennisMembership/

Think that you should be on the list? – maybe you are registered as a British Tennis Member through another club – you can register more than one club on your British Tennis membership profile, just log on to the LTA website and update your profile. (let us know though as you may not be showing on our list for the draw)

INDOOR COURT UPDATE

The final arrangements for construction of the 4 indoor courts are now in place and work will start on site on Tuesday 6th April.

The contract went out to tender in January and the tender process was coordinated by the project managing company, Lee West Associates. Dove Construction were successful in the tender bid process and we are pleased to say that the tender costs are within the original forecasted costs of £800K.

Dove Construction, based in Cheltenham, have worked closely with Summit Structures (who manufacture and provide the fabric frame structure) on a number of projects and are therefore very familiar with the requirements of our development.

The confirmation of LTA funding has also been finalised and there is some very significant positive news to report in that the ratio of grant to loan funding has been changed.

Our financial projections were based on a grant of £140K and an interest free loan of £260k. The actual funding offer that we have received is for a £300K grant and an interest free loan of £100K. This is a significant improvement and immediately reduces our annual repayments to the LTA over the 10 year payback period by £16K.

The construction period is projected to last 25 weeks and we will have the courts ready at the start of October in time for the 2010-11 winter season. The next consideration is how the club operates over the next 6 months while the construction is going on.  We will be working closely with the contractors to minimise any inconvenience to members and will aim to keep members well informed throughought the construction period.

We have a great promotion this month. If you introduce an adult member to any area of the club and they join up, you’ll receive a voucher worth £30 for

El Sabio Restaurant.

(applies to gold, fitness, squash or tennis adult memberships)

Great food, great atmosphere and a chance to treat yourself to a lovely night out.

Just make sure that your friend puts your name down as the member referral when joining.

We have just launched our new cafe bar menu, and Jake, our bar and catering manager, hopes that you will all come along and try it out.

And don't forget that we are now doing breakfasts on Saturday and Sunday Mornings....!

club menu jan 2010