Totnes Community Tennis Club
Registered Charity 1169109
Annual Report and Accounts for the year ending 31 December 2025
Chair Report
As I look back on 2025, I want to begin by acknowledging something beyond tennis. We are a community club, and I am acutely aware that many of our members and those connected to the club have faced personal challenges over the past year. To anyone dealing with illness, bereavement, or other difficulties, I offer my sincerest condolences. I know from experience that sometimes the simple act of coming to the club, meeting fellow members, and enjoying the sport we love can be exactly the tonic we need, albeit sometimes temporary and without the added gin! I would ask that we all continue to look out for one another and support wherever and whenever we can.
in our first year as a new committee. This includes the resurfacing of Court 4 to match Courts 1–3, improved external shed storage, and an ongoing programme of enhancements to the clubhouse, with further improvements planned for 2026. Throughout this report, you will see the breadth of work the committee has undertaken.
As I said last year, acknowledging individuals is always difficult because so many people contribute to the club’s success. However, I would particularly like to thank Abi Hawman for her continued support with team coordination and social media, despite
not being a committee member. My thanks also go to all our team captains, permanent or interim, who stepped up to manage their teams so effectively. A big thank you as well to all the volunteers who have supported club sessions and iPlay30.
I would like to highlight the support Oliver del Mar has provided as treasurer this year. Unfortunately, he is unable to continue the role long-term, so we are looking for an able replacement. My apologies to anyone I may have missed, the list of contributors is long.
- refreshed programme planned for 2026. You will also notice one off building control and planning consent costs in the accounts, carried over from the previous clubhouse project. While that project is not closed, it is currently dormant while I prepare recommendations for the committee and trustees on the best medium-term strategy for our facilities and use of funds. The cost of resurfacing Court 4 has been a timely - reminder of the importance of ring fencing funds to maintain the core of our club: safe, - secure, high quality tennis courts.
Our AGM will take place in April 2026 at The Seven Stars in Totnes. A formal invitation will follow, with date and time, giving a minimum of two weeks’ notice.
Finally, I would like to thank my fellow trustees and committee members for giving up their time and for the roles they have played in ensuring Totnes Community Tennis Club remains a vibrant part of Borough Park and the wider community.
Martin Loader
Chair
Note
In this report you will note that I have asked fellow trustees and committee members to report in their respective roles. Our Trustees and committee members are detailed below.
Trustee and Committee members
Martin Loader, Barry Barber, Paul Clayton, Hilary O’Leary, Sarah Edwards
Committee Members
Katharine Bourke, Jerry Hawley, Jack Clancy (Jack Clancy is standing down at next AGM)
The Trustees are pleased to present their annual report together with the accounts for the year ended 31 December 2025.
Membership
Membership fees were held at £130 again this year and for most of the last year we have been at full Adult membership at 170 members. We have 11 Full Junior members, who are able to book courts for themselves, and 10 Junior (12 years and under) members, along with 3 Student members.
This year, when we had a few months at less than full membership, we set up Trial (one month) Membership allowing people to book courts and join club sessions to try out the Club for themselves. Six were set up in all, one of which then joined as a full member as there was space available.
Waiting List: As we have been at full membership for much of the year, we now run a waiting list (which currently stands at 7). They will be prioritised for membership once the annual renewals are completed. We wholeheartedly recommend that members ensure that they are registered with their LTA account. If anyone finds issues logging in, this is usually the cause. Please email membership@totnestennis.co.uk and Kath will be happy to help resolve things. We are learning more and more about ClubSpark with every new challenge that arises!
Tidying up of contacts: We now have 762 listed contacts after de-duping and clearing of all older than two years since last contact; 115 are unregistered - 66 of which apparently are current members, so we will see how that changes at renewals time. Emergency contact information: A large number of members have not fully completed their emergency contact info and if this is you, we ask you to do so in case we should need to contact someone on your behalf.
We are keen to develop more active juniors and will keep you posted on our plans as these develop. We are a busy club so there are not many times when we could set aside specific junior playing sessions although we would like to offer this. If anyone would like to support this plan, please contact the club secretary at secretary@totnestennis.co.uk.
Kath Bourke Membership Secretary
Competition Summary
This year has been a fantastic year for competition at The Club.
women’s team and three mixed teams. Totnes won the Men’s, Women’s and Mixed division 1 titles, making Totnes the undisputable champions for 2025! With further great results for the other teams, including the Mixed B team winning division 2, 2025 can be considered nothing less than a huge success for the teams.
Managing the teams is not possible without the help of the team captains. Thank you very much to this year’s captains for doing such a great job. I’d also like to specifically thank Abi Hawman who, continues to put in a lot of time and effort in helping the club and captains keep on top of things, attending league meetings and generally providing a point of contact for league matters.
Following on from this, we had a wonderful amount of entries across the draws for our closed Club Championships, culminating in some exciting matches on finals day. This year’s champions are:
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Women’s Singles Champion Ione Harris
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● Men’s Singles Champion: Fred Burgess ● Women’s Doubles Champions: Sarah Edwards / Lisa Bruynseels ● Men’s Doubles Champions: Greg Robinson / Rud Sawers ● Mixed Doubles Champions: Lisa Bruynseels / Joe Bruynseels
Finally, the winter mixed doubles league - which is still ongoing - saw two teams entered, with the A team currently leading the table.
Public Use of Courts
The club remains committed to keeping the courts open for public hire - a condition of our lease and in the spirit of a community club - on a pay and play basis. This remains an important part of making tennis accessible to all, enabling people to play and access this great sport with as few barriers to entry as possible.
Income generated from these public bookings for the year totalled £4,723.
Paul Clayton Club Secretary
Maintenance and Grounds
As you may be aware the extension for the club house which had been planned has been put on hold, awaiting further possible developments, monies and planning withstanding.
After consultation it was agreed to resurface Court 4 in the same manner as Courts 1-3. This all went successfully and it has opened up Court 4 to wider use. Courts 1-3 were also re-sanded and cleaned as they will be every year. We are still awaiting on our contractors First Serve to fix a few snagging issues once the weather improves.
We also purchased and installed a new shed to house the tractor, new mower, blower and other sundry items. This one is much more secure and was needed because the last one was broken into and vandalised.
The net on Court 1 was replaced and the net wires on Courts 1-3 were also replaced.
Thanks to all who have helped with court cleaning and a special thanks to Frank who painted and repaired benches and woodwork and continuing thanks to Paul Brannan who regularly cuts the grass and keeps the whole place looking tidy.
Jerry Hawley
Maintenance Officer
Welfare and Safeguarding
The LTA undertook a safeguarding visit with the LTA Regional Safeguarding Officer coming to the club to meet with me in May 2025 and with particular focus being given to the welfare of juniors and vulnerable adults. The visit went well, with a good outcome and very positive feedback being given by the regional officer who was happy that the club had all the necessary policies and procedures in place and that there was recognition of the need to prove a safe environment for everyone who comes along to play and enjoy their tennis. In the feedback given for the junior programme she stated that she felt the programme was very well run and that the club was fortunate to have such an experienced coach.
At the time of the visit, we were experiencing a safeguarding issue with teenagers in the park congregating on the picnic table in the garden next to court 4 using offensive language and smoking which could be overheard and smelt by junior and adult members when on court. This issue was discussed during the visit and the regional officer made recommendations which were followed up. Sadly, this did continue to be an ongoing issue for some time and there have been occasions where it was also necessary to inform the local police of the behaviour of the teenagers and ask for assistance in helping to move them away from the garden area. With the removal of the picnic table and the new skateboard park this now seems to have become much less of an issue, and I hope that this will remain the case during the summer months this year.
iPlay 30 Disability Tennis
I am really pleased to report that the iPlay 30 sessions with Bidwell Brook and Lifeworks continue to go from strength to strength. A huge thank you goes to Tonia who leads the sessions so expertly and to all the fantastic volunteers, which now includes 2 new members, who come along each week to offer their support. Tonia gets to know the ability level of each of the students very quickly, putting together a programme to meet individual needs and the volunteers then work under her guidance one to one with students who need extra support The level of concentration from all the students and the joy on their faces during the sessions is truly amazing to see and they clearly really enjoy their time on court, we’ve even had a student who doesn’t laugh at all in college openly laughing away during one of the exercises.
James from Lifeworks gave this feedback at the end of 2025 when we broke up for Christmas. ‘Thank you all for the last 16 weeks it has been great, the students really enjoy the sessions, and their progress has been amazing’ and Tom from Bidwell Brook said ‘thank you to everyone for all your hard work and we are so pleased to be able to continue this fantastic opportunity for our pupils’.
Hilary Oleary Welfare Officer
Club Sessions
Club sessions are provided for members to play tennis with people they might not otherwise have the opportunity to meet and play with. The usual format of doubles tennis of six games duration allows members to play with different people during a session and supports the social focus of these sessions.
All adult members are welcome to participate in club sessions; there is no need to book, just turn up at any point during a session to play and there is no cost for participation in sessions. The sessions are well supported and are held throughout the year in all but the most inclement of weather.
Three sessions are held weekly for players of all abilities: Sunday 09:00-13:00 Wednesday 18:00-21:00 Thursday 14:30-17:00
A further 'Happy Hitters' session is held to bring together members of a similar level and experience to build confidence on court: Friday 13:30-15:00
organising the Club Sessions, and for those members too numerous to acknowledge) who step forward to facilitate the sessions when those who usually run them are unavailable. Thanks also to all participants in these sessions for their commitment to maintaining the inclusive, friendly, and relaxed atmosphere of these sessions.
Barry Barber Deputy Chair
Coach Report
2025 has been a great year for the coaching programme in Totnes. Both the juniors and the adults have continued to thrive. Personally, as the coach I continue to learn and discover new, fun and interesting ways of introducing the game to newcomers and further developing more experienced players. I endeavour to keep it enjoyable and progressive.
Juniors
We have children as young as 3 years now coming onto the programme, and teenagers up to 19 years old. It is extremely rewarding to see the benefits the children get from participating in tennis. I continue to attract children from all the local schools and with time permitting would like to reach out to more.
wonderful to see how much the younger children have benefited from, and enjoy being helped by the older players. These volunteers are always a valuable asset. Thank you to those who have participated.
Adults
Adult groups are continuing to be well attended and it’s great to see them joining the club and enjoying what the club has to offer. I continue to offer small group coaching and 1-2-1 lessons.
As always, a big thank you to the tennis club committee for their invaluable work. Also, a very big thank you to Rob Mitchell and Amy Carson for their amazing input into the coaching programme.
Thank you to Paul Hailey who helps and advises on racket selection and stringing. Last, but not least, thank you to all the players and parents who are committed to the programme. They make my role so rewarding, thank you.
Tonia Gooderham
LTA Level 4 Coach.
Financial Review
Overview
shown in the Receipts and Payments table on the final page of this report.
£27,528 monies spent.
Without the cost of the court 4 works, the club would have been in surplus by £23,383, which is similar to the surplus of £26,260 in 2024.
December 2025.
Bank balance & bond maturity
The bank balances, with the maturing bond being added to it, are as follows:
| 01/01/2025 (main account) | £125,464.29 |
|---|---|
| 18/02/2025 (bond added) | £32,559.93 |
| 31/12/2025 (main account) | £162,992.43 |
| Net change | £-4,968.21 |
Reserves policy
The committee have agreed to hold a general fund at a level of 9-12 months operating expenditure, with the remaining funds held as designated funds. The designated funds will be used for future developments at the club.
The sinking fund for the refurbishment of the courts and perimeter fencing remains at £50,000. The development fund remains at £105,000.
Restricted funds
The restricted funds held at 31 December 2024 were allocated to iPlay30 sessions in 2025 and now stands at £0.
The accounts are shown on the last page of the report.
Analysis of year-on-year changes and new accounting system
At the beginning of 2025 a new Treasurer was appointed (Oliver Del Mar) and requested that the outgoing Treasurer (Sara Widdecombe) implemented the accounts into Xero accounting software. Sara has done an excellent job of doing this, and as a result much of the club’s accounts are automated.
From next financial year it will be possible to undertake analysis of the differences in annual receipts and expenditure.
Independent Examiner’s Report to the members of Totnes Community Tennis Club
I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts, of Totnes Community Tennis Club (“the club”) for the year ended 31st December 2025.
Responsibilities and basis of report
As the charity trustees of the club, you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 (“the Act”).
I report in respect of my examination of the club’s accounts carried out under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying out my examination, I have followed all the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the Act.
Independent Examiner’s statement
my attention in connection with the examination which gives me cause to believe that in, any material respect: the accounting records were not kept in accordance with section 130 of the Charities Act; or the accounts did not accord with the accounting records; or the accounts did not comply with the applicable requirements concerning the form and content of accounts set out in the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 other than any requirement that the accounts give a ‘true and fair’ view which is not a matter considered as part of an independent
I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.
Karen Williams ACA, ICEAW Dorsley Barton Harberton Totnes
19[th] March 2026
Receipts and Payments
For the year ended 31 December 2025
| Account | 2025 | Restricted funds |
2025 Total funds |
2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Receipts | ||||
| Court hire – members | 8,400.95 | 8,400.95 | 13,568.00 | |
| Court hire –public | 4,723.00 | 4,723.00 | inc | |
| Events / Tournaments | 102.28 | 102.28 | 994.00 | |
| Fundraisingincome | 76.06 | 76.06 | 3,189.00 | |
| Grants & Sponsorship | 0.00 | 0.00 | 3,550.00 | |
| Interest Income | 1,314.93 | 1,314.93 | 2,744.00 | |
| Sundryincome | 0.00 | 0.00 | 200.00 | |
| Jackpot club | 564.00 | 564.00 | ||
| Lights | 696.00 | 696.00 | ||
| Membership- Adults | 22,055.10 | 22,055.10 | 22,427.00 | |
| Membership- Juniors | 670.00 | 670.00 | 925.00 | |
| Membership- Students | 585.00 | 585.00 | inc | |
| Other Revenue | 77.00 | 77.00 | ||
| Sales | 5.00 | 5.00 | ||
| Total Receipts Payments |
39,269.32 | 0.00 | 39,269.32 | 47,597.00 |
| CoachingiPlay30 | 992.00 | 198.00 | 1,190.00 | 2,329.00 |
| Cost of Goods Sold | 73.55 | 73.55 | ||
| Event costs | 334.84 | 334.84 | 1,217.00 | |
| Fundraising/Jackpot Expenses | 200.00 | 200.00 | 1,410.00 | |
| South Devon League fees | 42.00 | 42.00 | 42.00 | |
| Tennis balls Advertising& Marketing |
813.35 74.40 |
813.35 | 964.00 | |
| 74.40 | ||||
| Bank / Stripe Fees | 938.29 | 938.29 | 461.00 | |
| Cleaning | 375.00 | 375.00 | 853.00 | |
| Entertainment-100% business | 95.85 | 95.85 | ||
| Garden Project | 138.50 | 138.50 | 2,397.00 | |
| General Expenses | 76.38 | 76.38 | 87.00 | |
| Insurance | 884.55 | 884.55 | 836.00 | |
| IT Software and Consumables | 285.72 | 285.72 | ||
| New Clubhouse | 3,912.84 | 3,912.84 | 5,894.00 | |
| Rent | 60.19 | 60.19 | ||
| Repairs & Maintenance | 33,338.57 | 33,338.57 | 4,107.00 | |
| Subscriptions | 580.00 | 580.00 | 740.00 | |
| Total Payments | 43,216.03 | 198.00 | 43,414.03 | 21,337.00 |
| Surplus /(Deficit) | (3,946.71) | (198.00) | (4,144.71) | 26,260.00 |
| Total funds brought forward | 165,995.00 | 198.00 | 166,193.00 | 139,933.00 |
| Total funds carried forward | 162,048.29 | 0.00 | 162,048.29 | 166,193.00 |
| General fund | 7,048.29 | |||
| Restricted fund - iPlay30 | 0.00 | |||
| Designated - Sinkingfund | 50,000.00 | |||
| Designated - Development fund | 105,000.00 |