2023-12-31-accounts

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Reference and administration details

Charity Name	Great Ayton Tennis Club
Other names charity is known by	GATC
Registered charity number	1170990
Charities principle address	16 The Dorkings, Great Broughton, Middlesbrough, TS9 7NA

Names of the charity trustees who manage GATC

	Trustee Name	**Office (if any) **	Date acted if not for whole year
1	Allan Dixon	Chair	Appointed to Trustee Jan 2023 and to Chair at AGM 2023
2	Denise Essex	Secretary	Appointed to Trustee Feb 2023. Ratified at AGM 2023
3	Barry Adamski	Treasurer
4	Wayne Stephenson
5	Sid Blackmore
6	David Joy		Appointed to Trustee Feb 2023. Ratified at AGM 2023
7	Marian Matthews
8	Sarah Dixon		Appointed to Trustee Jan 2023. Ratified at AGM 2023
9	Tim Ryan	Chair	Resigned Q1
10	Irene Reah		Resigned at AGM
11	Martin Press		Resigned Q2

Structure, governance and management

Type of governing document	Constitution adopted 5th January 2017
How the charity is constituted	Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO)
Governance	The club complies with Privacy (GDPR) legislation introduced in 2018. Furthermore the club is an LTA registered venue and has in place policies to include Safeguarding, Diversity & Inclusion and Whistleblowing. The club has a trained Welfare Officer who oversees safeguarding in the venue. The Club Rules and all policies are highlighted to new members; displayed on the club noticeboard as well as being available to all on the GATC website. All coaching staff undertake Criminal Records Bureau checks and are required to maintain relevant Emergency First Aid and Safeguarding Training in line with LTA accreditation.

Welcome

2023 for Great Ayton Tennis Club was a busy one!

GATC proved again that it is a welcoming club and strong membership numbers are reflected in the 2023 figures. A positive culture runs strongly through the club and there is a firm commitment to ensuring that members have the opportunity to play at club sessions, Thursday Morning Coffee, represent the club competitively in local leagues and simply play along with family and friends.

A much longed for Club Hut refurbishment was completed in 2023 and this facility has enhanced provision offered by GATC.

A full audit was undertaken of all required club policies with updates approved at the end of the year. It was agreed these would be formally adopted from 1st January 2024.

Many hours have been spent in negotiation regarding the lease, which expired in 2017, placing the club in a position of risk. By the end of the year the terms of a new lease had been agreed and a solicitor appointed to finalise the documentation and to liaise with the landlord’s solicitor.

Migration to the LTA’s membership and website platform (ClubSpark) continued during the year and concluded with the transfer of membership data from our old website in order to carry out our membership renewals for 2024, including the option to pay by card or direct debit for the first time. This move has given the club a much improved and modern website whilst also saving significant costs. The ClubSpark website should be the first port of call for all members and potential members to keep themselves up to date on club activities. During 2024 the court booking system will also move to the ClubSpark platform.

Volunteers again worked together in all aspects of the club life: looking after the grounds and clubhouse, organising and helping with social events on and off the courts, captaining teams as well as ensuring the club fulfils its LTA requirements. So, thanks go to all involved.

And, finally, thanks to all the members for their continued support of Great Ayton Tennis Club.

Membership

Membership remained robust during 2023 and it was agreed to keep the annual membership fees the same as in 2022

	2023	2022	2021	2020
Adults	174	188	220	153
Juniors	72*	73	94	55
Total	246	261	314	205/8
New members	35	66	117	-

Adults include Honorary, Senior, Guardian, Students18+. Juniors include under 18’s and Freebies (under 5/6 i.e. pre Y2 school year)

• For 2023 the figure only includes actual members and not non-members who only attended camps/lessons

Preview of style change: From 2024, reporting will be based upon the membership package individuals have joined under

	2023
Adult	123
Family	63
Guardian	5
Infant	6
Junior	33
Student	7
Honorary	9
Total	246

Social Events and Fundraising

• A Quiz in February was followed by the Big Bash in March, Prosecco Day in June, Strawberry Tea and a BBQ in July. The last social event of the year was another Quiz at the end of September.

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• A new fundraiser was held in September – A Call My Bluff Evening. This occasion was hosted by club member Mike Sharman and proved to be very popular and was greatly enjoyed by all those who came along.

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Call My Bluff Evening – a full hall of members and friends.

• Easyfundraisng continued to provide extra income throughout the year. In 2023, £452 was raised through this initiative.

• A membership raffle also helped funds along.

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• Thursday Morning Coffee Group on their Awayday at Tennis world in December

A special thank you to the Social committee (Marian, Irene, Amanda, Denise, Sarah & Rachel) for all their hard work during the year.

Club Tennis and Teams

Club Tennis - another very positive year on the courts for GATC with an abundance of playing opportunities.

• The Club Championships took place with Claire Sheridan and Jo Joy victorious for the Ladies and Denise Essex and Mark Huggins gaining the honours for the Mixed competition. Unfortunately, the Men’s Doubles was not able to be finished owing to players’ commitments.

• Tuesday and Friday nights (and during the darker days, afternoons) continued to be designated for Club Tennis.

• To cater for those members who work, a Saturday morning Club Tennis session was introduced. From December it was agreed that the first saturday of each month would include either a competition or coffee and croissants.

• The Jacqui Foster Tournament took place in June.

• Thursday Morning Coffee Group went from strength to strength, and it wasn’t unusual to see all five courts in use. This weekly session, under the guidance of Denise Essex, has helped beginners improve to a point where they felt confident to join in Club sessions. The social aspect of the group also flourished with a Christmas outing to Tennis World, with two hours of activities, followed by bacon rolls and mince pies. A special thank you to Denise Essex who continues to inspire and encourage the Thursday Morning Coffee Group.

Great Ayton Tennis Club continued to establish links with other clubs, namely Danby Tennis Club and Castleton Tennis Club…

• On a sunny morning in September, a dozen or so regulars from our Thursday morning Social Tennis Group, visited Danby Tennis Club. The weather played its part, with a sunny warm day, which made the stunning views even more attractive. Some excellent tennis was played and our hosts at Danby could not have been more hospitable. Everyone enjoyed a picnic afterwards and one or two (or perhaps more!) enjoyed a glass or two of prosecco - not the designated drivers of course.

Thank you to Denise, Barbara and all those who helped make a very enjoyable day happen.

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• The second event was also in September with a Ladies Friendly v a combined Danby and Castleton Team. Again, the weather was kind with warm sunshine. Four couples took part from each team. The result was a diplomatic draw. It was great to see families staying to support this event. Thanks to the organisers.

And also, a strong link with our local school continued with Marwood School taking over the courts for their annual visit in the summer term. Thanks to Sara Papworth and helpers on the day for organising.

In 2023 GATC fielded:

Teams

• 11 teams in the Cleveland Tennis League

• Men’s A also participated in the National Premier League

• Men’s A participated in the Cleveland Cup

GATC achieved outstanding success winning both The Cleveland Cup and The Cleveland Autumn League

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Congratulations to the Great Ayton Men’s A Team who were victorious in The Cleveland Cup beating Eldon Grove 6-0 in the final.

Team	League	Captain	Division	Position
Ladies A	Cleveland League	Jane Joughin	Division 1	6
Ladies B		Louise Rayner	Division 2	2
Ladies C		Irene Reah	Division 3	5
Men’s A		Wayne Stephenson	Division 1	2
Men’s B		Wayne Stephenson	Division 1	6
Men’s C		Martin Press	Division 4	5
Men’s D		David Joy	Division 6	6
	Mixed League
Mixed A		Miriam Fawcett	Division 1	5
Mixed B		Craig Sheridan	Division 3	2
	Vets’ League
Mixed A		Jane Bourne	Division 1	2
Mixed B		Craig Sheridan	Division 2	4

Particular thanks to all team captains for their selfless management of the squads and to all players who represented the club during the season.

Coaching

Our thanks go to our coaches – Mark Barras and Nic Weschenfelder. GATC was able to provide a comprehensive range of coaching sessions for adults and children, both for individuals and groups. It has been good to see all groups making progress, as well as many members from these groups starting to organise their own sessions and coming along to club sessions.

Adults

• A Cardio session, mainly to improve fitness, continued on Saturday mornings. This family session was popular but inclement weather reduced the opportunities to get together.

• Group Adult coaching sessions expanded in response to demand with both beginner and intermediate standards catered for throughout the year. Numbers increased in 2023 with adult coaching on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday evenings.

• Coaches also provided 1:1 coaching for Adults & Juniors.

Juniors

• Coaching for junior groups was well supported with several groups each week throughout the year .

• Junior coaching continued on evenings along with Tennis Camps held in the school holidays.

Maintenance

The maintenance team headed up by Sid Blackmore were very busy throughout the year. An enormous thank you to Sid for the many hours dedicated to the club.

• The major achievement in 2023 was the interior refurbishment to the Club Hut. With reconfiguration of the space; a new kitchen; flooring and decorating, we now have a much-improved space for members’ needs – making drinks, match teas and meetings. And …of course; sheltering from the rain!

• Complete internal rewire to club hut

• New path laid to store, new store door fitted and painted

• New refurbished tennis ball machine purchased

• Two rotten and unsafe cherry trees removed

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The Ladies ‘c’ Team having tea in our newly refurbished hut after playing a match against David Lloyd.

• ★ Courts 1,2 and 3, although professionally cleaned, continue to exhibit water retention issues with many days lost. This has been reported to Fosse (the company who carried out the installation work) with a request for an inspection and diagnosis of the underlying issue.

Treasurer's Accounts Summary & Report GreatAyton Tonnis Club Incom• and eX￿ndIt￿l0 Accourt 1•t J•nuary 2023- 31st 0gC8mbèr 2023 B•ln¢• l•t. J•nu•ry CuroniA(thuni C88h 2022 2023 £19 922 02 E27.776.32 £51606 £45 74 Totsl: £20A40m £27.821. In¢)m•: 2022 t14.387. 2023 £15.156.02 84.33 £56 IK) £1 036[ Exp•ndlturn: 2022 £833 33 £1,443 VO £1.10791 £10497 £927 81 £1,797 42 £1,415.00 2023 £1.668.66 E8sy Fundiry £2 387 24 £1045L È860. £l.e78.10 É15.ClJ £619 96 EO. Ub1￿8$f¢wKll tax min It)omM R•rtMn&Jrar Balls￿oUl￿￿t Lea9￿ feeslLTA Webse £997 3 £71 33 £1.053.04 £1,079 82 £945 CNI £526 80 £8.256 93 £72 CKt Lyhll M&t¢h Fo Coad Court Hife Fund 518itvJ £1.610.30 £2.936 9) £3.925 01 £129.09 Tot•l In¢oTh: J7182 £210YJ.IS Total El￿d6t￿n. £13.W.B4 £14M70.92 hx¢n•. Exp•ndltum.' £7.385.98 riA19.23 Balance lex.loan) CutTeftiAxount £27 TT6 32 £35,205 91 Cash" £49 74 £39.38 To¢•1 £27 826 ( £35.245 29 LTAhx." £4 18e.87 £2,gXI.01 Net •nd ol Year Balan¢•: £23.659.39 £32.74S.28 John H¥r￿*•N ALKJilor Treasvpr .c142F

Treasurer's Report for 2023 The club started the year with just under £28,000 which was an increase of £7.000 over the previous year. The main Sour￿ of income continues to be from members, 5ubs(xiptions which amounted to over £15,000. Also an outstanding effort by the social committee, supported by many members and non members. raised £2,900 for club funds. Other income came from the coaches. £1 ,600. and from payment for the lights. £1,000. Part of the income from I￿hts has to be off-set against an increase in electricity bills. A large part of expenditure continues to go towards rent. utilities. insurance etc.. However, £4,000 was spent on the much needed refvrbishment of the hut and £2.000 on cleaning courts 1.2 and 3, which along with the cutting back of the laurel hedges brought the total expenditure to over £14.600. The club finished the year with just over £32.700 when the outstanding LTA loan of £2,500 is taken into account. Future Expenses The state of the poroflex courts is a cause for con￿rn and it will probabty cost a great deal of money to improve their drainage. The renewal of the lease is still under discussion but On￿ agreed the annual rent will increase to £1.000. The hut's roof is beginning to show signs of age and probably will need some maintenan￿ work done to it. Further work is planned to cut back the laurels. The cost of utilities, equipment and general rna1ntenan￿ has increased. n ss with regret. therefore. that the trustees have had to increase subscriptions in order to cover future costs. However, with the introduction of the running of the club's webstte and subscription payment through Club Spark it is hoped money can be saved. This. along with the continued support of members means there can be no doubt that the fvtuie success of the club is assured. Barry Adamski ffreasurer) 1210r2124.