2023-03-31-accounts - Hythe Lawn Tennis Club

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Hythe Lawn Tennis Club Annual General Meeting 2023 Held at Hythe Lawn Tennis Club on Tuesday, 18th April 2023 at 19:00.

Chairman: Gareth Coombes-Olney

Committee: Andy Mcleish (Treasurer), Tracy West (Membership Secretary), Fiona Michie (Match Secretary), Peter Ingelbrecht (Welfare), Karen Ingelbrecht (Social), Chris Hollands (Coaching), Dave Hounsell, Alfie Adcock, Harvey Mashiter-Yates and Alex Stroud.

Members present:

Jim Gore, Alison Stroud, David Vale, Martin Bryer, Julian Keet, Emma Tordoff and Simon Ingelbrecht.

Apologies:

Hilary Casey, Helen Seamer, Pauline and Ed Curran, John and Christine Peters, Diana Ward, John Lewis, Maureen Lewsey and Pam Jones.

Minutes

Welcome by the Chairman.

There were no matters arising from the minutes of the previous AGM on 27th April 2022, which were made available to view on the club’s website.

Chairman’s Report - Gareth Coombes-Olney

Well, another year has flown by and here we are again at the AGM. Our membership continues to be strong, and we are now offering a much greater range of tennis across the area, not just at the club. With coaching in Hythe, Folkestone, Hawkinge, Hayne Barn and many schools across the area we have really tried to bring tennis to everyone. We also have diverse types of tennis, from tiny tots, juniors, adults, wheelchair, home school, walking tennis, cardio, ladies', and age group sessions and for community groups like Age Concern and Mencap and Give It Your Max.

More people have access to tennis than ever and that makes me feel proud. HLTC members have been extremely generous, as always, in supporting local events and of course our annual charity The Pilgrims Hospice. Your generosity is wonderful, and I know how much the charities appreciate our efforts.

Normally we would put the suggestions for this year’s charity to the vote but as there was overwhelming support (more than 45% of survey responders) for Air Ambulance Kent, Surrey and Sussex, it is proposed that this should be our nominated charity for 2023-24.

Proposed: Gareth Coombes-Olney, seconded Fiona Michie. Motion passed.

We have had a difficult winter season for our matches; cancellations, weather, weather and more weather. Injuries, rearrangements, oh and of course some tennis! We had plenty of successes, but I’ll leave Fiona to tell you that in her report. Thank you to all the captains and players and of course a huge thank you to Fiona Michie for organising the schedule and Dave Hounsell for his continued support across the teams and matches.

As a volunteer club we rely on the goodwill of people to support the club, its initiatives and endeavours. It takes, time effort and patience. I would like to thank the committee and all the volunteers who help make this club such a great place to be. Please think if you could spare some time to help, we would really appreciate it.

As we move into summer and the tennis season really kicks off, I hope that you will make the most of what the club has to offer and get out there bashing a ball around. Tennis is an amazing sport, as a communitybased club not only is our job to promote the sport we love, but to support and engage with the community in which we sit.

Survey Results - highlights

Gareth took those present to some highlights of the survey which was recently sent to members.

What do you like most about the club? Top responses were the quality of the courts and grounds, that the club is kept clean and tidy and is welcoming and friendly. Gareth thanked members for their efforts to make the club welcoming and keep it clean and tidy.
How likely are you to recommend the club? 65% said extremely likely.
What changes would you like to see? A new clubhouse came top of the list for members surveyed. Gareth spoke briefly about the challenges with planning applications as the club is located in an area of historic interest and is subject to various restrictions. It is something the committee is willing to tackle but it will not be an easy task and will take long-term planning to address issues such as changed access, use of land and adding an additional storey. Access is one of the big challenges as the council wish to eliminate cars on the towpath by 2050 so any development which will increase traffic falls foul of this environmental policy.

Question from Julian Keet: If the club were to go ahead with a new clubhouse, would it be entirely funded by the club or would there be the possibility of LTA funding/grants?

Answer from Gareth: We would have to fundraise ourselves but there may be access to private and/or Government funding which could help. LTA funding can only be obtained for court upgrades and so on.

Value of membership - 85% said they thought membership was good value.
Quality of facilities - the main takeaway was the quality of the clubhouse as covered above.
Alternative court surface on half of the courts - this has been investigated and we have had quotes for three alternatives for comparison: hard courts, artificial clay and artificial grass (Tiger Turf), all LTAapproved surfaces as this is crucial. These range from around £50,000 to £80,000 for four courts. No replacement will be done until the courts need an upgrade, there is no point ripping up perfectly serviceable courts until it needs to be done.
How well is the club managed? 50% said extremely well.
Would you be prepared to volunteer? 40% said yes. We are hoping this 40% will translate into people actually volunteering. Please contact the committee if you are interested in helping out.

The survey results will be made available on the club’s website and an action list will be compiled to address the points raised in the responses.

Question from Martin Bryer : Where are the reports etc posted on the website? I had trouble finding them.

Answer: Go to the “Courts” page, then there’s a green subheader bar in which you will see “HLTC AGM”. The reason for this is that the courts page is the only closed, secure, members-only page of the website.

Treasurer’s Report - Andy Mcleish

Notes for Final Accounts for the year 2022-23

These notes highlight the main points and rely on figures available at the end of February. I expect to issue the final accounts (unaudited) in the first week of April. The audited accounts will be available prior to the AGM.

The subscriptions for 2022/23 were £55,690. This figure includes "early bird" payments received in March 2022 plus all payments up to the end of February 2023. Payments received this March will relate to the 2023/24 season.

The largest one-off expenses were:

Painting courts 1-4 (£9,258) and new nets (£680)
The chilled water fountain (£899)
Repairs to storm damage to the fences (£1,869)

Major recurring expenses include ground rent (£2,400), electricity (estimated £1,400), insurance (£1,202), league entry/ match balls (£1,754), affiliation fees (£1,210)

We have repaid a total of £6,800 loans to the LTA. We still have outstanding loans of £12,200 that will be repaid in full by December 2026.

As a requirement for our LTA loans, we have transferred £20,000 to our sinking fund to prepare for future court replacement. Our sinking fund now stands at £90,215.

Through our fund raising events we’ve collected a total of £1,600 for our nominated charity, Pilgrims Hospice in Ashford, Kent.

Final Accounts Summary – please see separate report on the website.

Membership Secretary’s Report - Tracy West

Memberships March 2023 Adult 328 Junior 246 Trial 1 Total 575

Membership Revenue: £56,207

Other Revenue: £2,609 (guest fees, pavilion keys, floodlights/fobs and match fees)

Total £58,816 (figures do not include Stripe/GoCardless transaction fee costs)

Junior memberships funded by HLTC: Mini x153, Bursary x7. Total value £1698

Members. Increase in 22/23: Adults +7%, Juniors +47%

When Chris Hollands joined HLTC as Head Coach in September 2021, our junior membership had dropped to 82 and within 6-months, by the end of our 21/22 club year, he and his coaching team had increased our juniors to 167 (+104%).

In addition to our standard LTA Youth group coaching programmes, Chris has increased the frequency and changed the format of our Holiday Clubs and introduced Junior Competitions and the feed-back from parents/guardians has been very positive. Huge congratulations to Chris and his team for their ongoing enthusiasm and commitment to our junior players.

Adult group coaching programme attendance has dropped and we will be looking at a new schedule for 23/24. All suggestions and feedback from our members is appreciated.

Guest Fees. Adult and Junior (Senior Status) members are reminded to pay the £5 guest fee for all nonmembers invited to play social tennis.

Courts. Following discussions at last year’s AGM relating to courts booked which were not used, we updated the “Courts” page on the website reminding members to cancel their courts in a timely manner if their plans changed or the weather prevented play and, overall, the majority of members are doing this now.

Coaching Courts. To ensure members and coaches have access to courts, the coaching team use courts 5 – 8 during off-peak times, in the main. Group coaching takes priority over individual lessons and no more than 2 courts may be used for coaching during peak-times and a maximum of 4 courts at all other times.

Peak-Times: 10 – 11.30am MORNINGS ONLY (December, January, February) Peak-Times: 9.30 – 11.30am and 6 – 8pm (Rest of year)

Court Usage. As our membership grows the club uses the LTA guideline of 60 members per court to gauge court availability/usage. Tuesday and Friday morning peak-times are the club’s busiest periods but generally there are plenty of courts available to book at all other times.

Adult court usage: avg. 41 members per court (Courts 1 – 8) Junior court usage: avg. 61 members per court (Courts 5 – 8)

All members are required to book their courts in advance of playing, adding their own individual email addresses to their bookings and continue to cancel bookings if not required. This includes courts booked for ‘Coaching’ and ‘Competitions’. Court stats for 22/23 are below.

Apr 22 – Mar 23	Court Bookings	Bookings Cancelled
Bookings(Members)	4045	(2692)
Coaching	2404	(1625)
Competitions	141	(45)
(Adult League & Junior Comps)
Social(Mix-Ins)	175	(6)
Maintenance	21	(3)
TOTALS	6786	(4371)

WeatherCam. Is now online and members are making good use of it during the winter months.

Club Emails. There are a number of members who don’t appear to be reading their club emails. It’s worth checking Spam/Junk folders if members aren’t receiving emails and adding the club’s email address to their email ‘Contacts’ mail@clubspark.co.uk

To receive club emails, members must ‘Consent to receive emails’ in their club profiles in-line with GDPR.

Match Secretary’s Report - Fiona Michie

League Matches

The past year has seen a return to normal for our teams post-pandemic. Some of our teams suffered a little bit with a number of injuries to key players last year but most of those people are back from injury and hopefully we will have a full complement again for the summer 2023 season.

Overall, Hythe’s results have been good in the past year, with a number of wins in various divisions of the various leagues. Full results are appended to the report.

Teams to be congratulated for their wins are as follows:

Summer 2022:

Kent Midweek Ladies Vets 1 - Captain Celia Pascoe
East Kent Ladies 1 - Captain Sarah Bingham
East Kent Mixed - Captain Morag Hards
Ashford Mixed B - Captain Ted Weller

Winter 2022-23:

Kent Men - Captain Harvey Mashiter-Yates
Kent Ladies 2 - Captain Kerry Harding
Kent Mixed 2 - Captain Fiona Michie

Full results for all teams from Summer 2022 and Winter 2022-23 are appended to this report.

HLTC Summer Tournament 2022

The club’s internal summer tournament ran throughout the summer and some hard-fought battles took place across the various categories. Finals were held in September and congratulations go to the winners:

Ladies Singles - Eve Palmer
Men’s Singles - Dan Knott
Ladies Doubles - Eve Palmer and Sarah Bingham
Men’s Doubles - Harvey Mashiter-Yates and Alex Stroud
Mixed Doubles - Eve Palmer and Ed Dinsmore
Veterans Mixed Doubles - Kerry Harding and David Delfosse
Super-Vets Mixed Doubles - Celia Pascoe and Dave Hounsell

Trophies are now displayed in a glass cabinet in the club house.

East Kent Championships

Hythe hosted the East Kent Championships in late September. This tournament is open to anyone who plays at a club which enters teams in the East Kent League. The finals were all-Hythe and winners were as follows:

Men’s Doubles - Harvey Mashiter-Yates and Alex Stroud
Ladies Doubles - Alyce Bailey and Eve Palmer

Match Fees

We have tried a couple of ways of making the collection of match fees easier for all involved. Having them on the ClubSpark system seemed like a sensible way forward but in reality created a lot of extra admin. We also found that it was easy for people to forget to pay the fee.

With this in mind we tried a flat fee of £8 for the winter season but this didn’t quite cover the cost of match balls and league entry fees. However, if raised any higher it would disproportionately favour those who play more matches. It also created admin of its own, with the need to chase and monitor who had paid.

Subsequently for the summer 2023 season we are going back to having captains collect the £4 fee from match players on the day of the match. We are asking them to hold the money to the end of the season and then transfer it to the club’s account via BACS.

Match Practices

These run in winter only as summer evenings are busy with Dover & District League matches and the summer tournament. Head Coach, Chris Hollands, leads the match practice sessions. Unfortunately, a lot of sessions had to be cancelled this winter as the weather was either too wet or the courts were frozen. But we hope to run them again from October.


Summer 2022 Results


League	Division	Captain	Result
National League Men	2	Harvey Mashiter-Yates	Last - relegation
National League Ladies
	1	Benita Parker	Last - relegation
Kent Men	7B		3rd
Kent Ladies 1
	2B	Sarah Bingham	5th
Kent Ladies 2	5B	Kerry Harding	2nd
Kent Mixed 1
	4B	Benita Parker	2nd
Kent Mixed 2	6B	Fiona Michie	3rd
Kent Midweek Ladies 1
	3	Celia Pascoe	1st - promotion
Kent Midweek Ladies 2	4	Bobby Butler	2nd
Kent Midweek Mixed
	2	Peter Ingelbrecht	Last - relegation
Ashford Men’s A	1	Dave Hounsell	3rd
Ashford Men’s B
	2	Ted Weller	3rd
Ashford Ladies A	1	Angela Howitt	4th
Ashford Ladies B
	1	Kathy Gran	6th
Ashford Mixed A	1	Caroline Stubbings	4th
Ashford Mixed B
	2	Ted Weller	1st - promotion
East Kent Ladies 1	1	Sarah Bingham	1st
East Kent Ladies 2
	1	Kerry Harding	3rd
East Kent Mixed	1	Morag Hards	1st
Dover & District Men’s A
	1	Andy Rice	3rd
Dover & District Men's B	2	James Hollinrake	3rd
Dover & District Mixed A
	1	Fiona Michie (non- playing captain)	3rd
Dover & District Mixed B	1	Morag Hards	5th
Dover & District Mixed C
	2	Caroline Boorman	2nd


Winter 2022-23 Results


Team	Division	Captain	Result
Kent Men	8A	Harvey Mashiter-Yates	1st - promotion

Kent Ladies 1	2B	Sarah Bingham	Last - relegation
Kent Ladies 2	6B	Kerry Harding	1st - promotion

Kent Ladies Vets	2B	Morag Hards	3rd
Kent Mixed 1	5A	Benita Parker	Last - relegation

Kent Mixed 2	7B	Fiona Michie	1st - promotion
Kent Midweek Ladies 1 (over 60s)	1	Celia Pascoe	5th

Kent Midweek Ladies2 (over 60s)	2	Bobby Butler	5th
Ashford Men’s A	1	Dave Hounsell	4th

Ashford Men's B	2	James Hollinrake	2nd
Ashford Ladies A	1	Jill Wraight	6th

Ashford Ladies B	2	Kathy Gran	6th
Ashford Mixed A	1	Caroline Stubbings	5th

Ashford Mixed B	2	Ted Weller	4th

Junior / Coaching Report – Chris Hollands

We have seen continued growth in many areas of the programs. We would like to thank the members of Hythe LTC and the Committee for their ongoing support. Our congratulations go to those that have been representing the club in teams and in individual competition.

Congratulations to Coaching team members who have been developing their knowledge to support HLTC members’ personal development. A big thank you for this is to Hythe LTC that continues to support the coaches.

New Level 3s - Alex Stroud

New Level 2s - Harvey Mashiter-Yates

New Level 1s - Simon Inglebrecht, Alex Simmonds, Jody Wood, Kseniya Dyachkova.

Also a big well done to those that have achieved senior status over the last couple of months. Whilst celebrating the efforts of individuals, lets also congratulate Kseniya Dyachkova and Myki Davis for being named the most improved players of year.

Current team of CH Tennis coaches:

Christopher Hollands, Gareth Coombes-Olney, Sarah Bingham, Alex Stroud, Lucy Tordoff, Harvey MashiterYates, Phoebe Clayson, Simon Ingelbrecht, Miles Morelli, Elliot Stowe, Ben Potter, Emily Cavanagh and Jody Wood.

Tennis Leaders:

Alex Morelli, Buddy Wiseman, James Cavanagh, Jeral Davis, Olivia Tordoff, Myki Davis, Emilia Simmonds, Eve Holman, Henry Moss, Hugh Simmonds, Hugh Evans and Tom Cowel.

We have continued to keep the price of tennis down to £6 for Junior tennis coaching and have struggled to find other venues that provide for the same price. We pride ourselves on providing quality affordable tennis coaching and have taken the additional steps to help make tennis as accessible as possible to all. We are pleased to offer free schools tennis supported by Give It Your Max schools coaching provided with The Sports Trust, 6 weeks of free coaching through Reconnect Funding, 50% off vouchers and Golden ticket (6 weeks for £1).

Give it your Max: This charity allows us to provide tennis for children from year 1 to year 11, a safe and inclusive activity to take part in at school. We provide a breakfast and activity, helping children to make a trip to school a little more welcoming and curriculum time activity helping the teachers and the children to better their physical abilities and cognitive learning. We now also act as a link for children moving into secondary education and a familiar face that can help to settle into secondary education. Mundella School are so supportive of this program that they personally fund the additional weeks that allows the children to access tennis coaching all year round.

Group coaching: Youth Start, LTA Youth, LTA Youth Prime Girls. The program continues to thrive.

Adult coaching: We introduced an ITF chart to help players find the more appropriate sessions for themselves. Going into the winter the adult group sessions have been low and would be an area that we would like to improve in the coming year helping the individual and teams representing Hythe LTC.

Holiday camps: Summer Holidays last year were a huge success, and we look forward to these coming back around this year. Easter 2023 was better attended than previous year, with the addition of invite junior sessions as well.

Wheelchair tennis will be making a return after a winter break. To develop more tennis opportunities for all, we are scheduling a meeting with Tom Defrates, Kent disability lead.

Competition for our juniors and adults: Starting with team challenges, these are fun events that bring children together to have fun playing tennis. Match players and individuals first chance of competing by themselves. Last year there was a concern that the match plays etc may impede the use of the courts at Mix in. On observation; this has not been the case and often there are several spares courts available. We have also entered several junior teams in the National League this year, for the first time for several years, and will be hosting some of the matches.

Numbers compared to previous year:


Participation…	2022 End of April	2023 Mid-April

Mini (not including individuals)	86	90
Junior (not including individuals)	92	82

Competitions (Jan – Dec)	22	21 (by Apr)
Regular Schools links (Primary)	6	8

Regular Schools links (secondary)	2	3
Schools festivals at Hythe LTC	0	4
	2022	2023

No. of LTA Team challenges a year	0	4
No. of competition weeks (last week of the term red vs Blue)	6	6

No. Match plays in a year	2	3 to date
Play your way to Wimbledon	0	6 (2 adults)

No. of junior teams	0	8

Finally, a special Thank you to Gareth, Tracy, Jody and the entire coaching team for all their hard work.

Question from Martin Bryer: Does the cost of coaching for young people act as a barrier for the development of potential talent?

Answer from Chris and Gareth: Within Folkestone and the Marsh areas, yes. Accessibility of tennis can be a problem with the travel element adding to the cost. Also there is the problem of perceived value/cost.

Question from Martin Bryer: Would the club consider providing bursaries to help with this?

Answer from Tracy: We already do provide bursaries on a discretionary basis. Last year the club funded 153 Minis and gave seven bursaries. Our recent change to charity status will allow us to do more.

Karen Ingelbrecht and Tracy West wished to commend the coaching team for all their hard work. They are an asset to the club.

Letter from Lucy Tordoff:

I just wanted this opportunity to talk about some of the fantastic things that we are doing within the coaching team, but firstly I wanted to Thank the club for their help and support to the coaches.

Harvey and I are just starting out on our level 3 journey. It's a 12-day course spread over weeks, with tasks for us to complete between time.

You may not be aware, but the club is kindly funding half of the cost for us to do this training, so some of your membership money goes towards supporting the coaching team and for that we'd like to thank you. I have been helping with coaching since about 2016 down here at the club.

Currently I'm mostly based in Folkestone sports centre on a Saturday morning coaching children. During the week I have visited schools such as the Folkestone's Martello primary school or Christ Church primary school, or the Turner Free secondary school to deliver tennis lessons to children. I can also be found on a Wednesday afternoon with Jodi coaching children at Hawkinge Community Centre.

Chris and the other members of the team also cover the schools, as well as running breakfast clubs for the children in the morning.

All of these initiatives at the schools and Hawkinge are funded by Give it your Max, which is a UK children's charity working to enhance the lives of disadvantaged and vulnerable children, aged from 4 to 18 through the game of tennis.

The LTA also runs similar enterprises we are involved with, all to encourage children to take up tennis. Last year we took part in LTA training for Youth Start.

On signup, the children received a free T-shirt, tennis racket, tennis balls and sweatbands. During the 6 weeks, the children would receive stickers of achievement at the end of each lesson and take home a card with a skill to learn during the week. At the end of the six weeks, each child would receive a certificate of achievement.

Hopefully all of this encourages them to rebook lessons to continue their Tennis journey.

As well as all of this we also offer adult group or individual coaching, cardio tennis sessions, disability tennis, run tennis camps and competitions during school holidays, we have a group of home-schooled children that visit Hythe each week, plus we help out and support the club with events and come along to mix-ins where we can.

So even if we are not visible at Hythe, it is likely we are in the area coaching somewhere. Thank you very much for listening, I hope that explains some of what we do.

Ground Report - Hilary Casey

Over the last year I have developed a good team of contractors able to carry out the various tasks involved in ensuring that the club and its grounds are well maintained throughout the seasons. Phil cuts the grass, treats weeds and now sprays the courts against moss and then subsequently sprays them to ensure good drainage and a safe surface. Paul cuts the hedges twice a year and is now able to keep the facing surfaces well back from the fencing. Marc does the decorating and has made a superb job recently of completely restoring the three older wooden benches and they now look great. Simon Wiseman is also brilliant and will deal with any electrical requirements promptly and efficiently.

Also, I always have Jim Gore who, although no longer on the committee, will always help me out with anything that requires attention and has my most grateful thanks for his knowledge and expertise.

The damage to the rear of courts 5-8 caused through the hedge roots in last summer’s prolonged dry spell has all been repaired and in due course will be painted. This will unfortunately mean that they will be out of action for 4-5 days again but this time is needed to ensure that the painted surface has fully cured and dried before play can commence.

The pavilion has been repainted internally last summer and now looks fresh and clean and the shed has also been repaired and repainted externally.

Courts 1-4 were repainted last June and all 8 courts are in good condition and draining very well. A water cooler was purchased last summer for the use by members in hot weather and both toilets now have hot running water both of which were mentioned in last year’s survey of things that members wanted.

New nets have been purchased over the last few months and Dave Hounsell has ensured that these are fitted as necessary and that the centre fixings are in good order. A further two nets have been ordered which will leave all 8 courts in superb condition.

External storage boxes have been purchased so that items such as new nets are safely stored until required and these also provide somewhere for the water cooler during the winter months. A new, lighter and smaller leaf blower has also been purchased for the convenience of members.

The main car park is in need of resurfacing and this is hand currently, contractors have been met, estimates have been received and the new committee will decide upon this after this meeting.

Thank you very much to the committee members (and Alfie’s wife Lori and Benita Parker) who turned out on 2nd April to give the club and the facilities a good spring clean. Even the road sign at the far end of the Towpath was cleaned!

We are grateful if members would let us know if something requires attention. However, please remember that we are all volunteers so this must fit around and work and other commitments.

Question from Alfie Adcock: With the car park resurfacing, will it be the same loose gravel-type surface?

Answer: Yes, it has to fit the specifications of the council as it falls within the historic canal area.

Social Report - Karen Ingelbrecht

We have had a very exciting and full calendar and with the end of restrictions we were able to socialise once again in our unique and outgoing way.

Supper nights on the last Wednesdays of each month are a highlight that is looked forward to by many. They are always well attended and keeping them affordable at £5 for 2 courses after a mix-in or tournament has once again become a not to be missed fixture for players and guests. We are always looking for new talent so if anyone feels up to the challenge of cooking for a couple of dozen hungry players just let us know!

Catering for Ladies Day, Men’s Day and Finals Day helps everyone to enjoy the companionship of these prominent dates in our busy year to the full.

We hosted the LTA Road to Wimbledon tournaments and the East Kent Championships on several weekends through the year and offered refreshments to players and guests getting many compliments on the friendliness and warmth of the club from those visiting.

Offering our pavilion for artist changing rooms on concert nights before the Venetian Carnival, and providing a free barbecue on the last night of the concerts is another way we engage with what is going on locally.

We celebrated the Queen’s Jubilee with a fun tournament in June and held a charity fundraiser alongside the club’s 75th Anniversary in August with a special barbecue where we catered for 60.

A fun Halloween tournament was held in October, with some creative costumes.

Our carol singing with minced pies, mulled wine and hot chocolate always hits the right notes getting us in the Christmas spirit.

The Christmas Party at Hawkinge was very well attended and able to be subsidised considerably due to the hard work of the cooks and bakers and wonderful participation of our members at other social events through the year. The committee put in many hours to make sure that a good time was had by all.

Quiz nights have always been well attended and the last one in March, at the Sports pavilion was no exception.

Overall, it has been a year full of hard work, fun and friendship and we look forward eagerly to the next season and everything it brings.

The committee would like to thank everyone who volunteers to cook for supper nights or bake for Saturday teas. This is much appreciated by all.

Election of Officers

All current committee members with the exception of Alex Stroud and Helen Seamer are willing to stand for another year.

Gareth expressed disappointment that despite being given a year’s notice nobody has stepped forward to relieve Fiona of the role of Match Secretary which she has done now for five years. He thanked Fiona for agreeing to continue for another year whilst a replacement is found. And thanks also to Dave Hounsell and Peter Ingelbrecht for supporting her in the role and making her job easier.

Chairman - Gareth Coombes-Olney (proposed Martin Bryer, seconded David Vale)

Vice-Chairman - Peter Ingelbrecht (a vote was held as two names were put forward. Jim Gore was proposed by Hilary Casey and Peter Ingelbrecht was proposed by Tracy West. Peter won by 5 votes to 2. The Chairman and some others present abstained from voting).

Secretary - Hilary Casey (proposed Martin Bryer, seconded David Vale)

Treasurer - Andy Mcleish (proposed Martin Bryer, seconded David Vale)

Membership Secretary - Tracy West (proposed Martin Bryer, seconded David Vale)

Match Secretary - Fiona Michie (proposed Martin Bryer, seconded David Vale)

Other committee members - Dave Hounsell, Karen Ingelbrecht, Harvey Mashiter-Yates and Chris Hollands (proposed Martin Bryer, seconded David Vale).

Proposal from Dave Hounsell

It was proposed by Dave Hounsell that in recognition of the many hours of hard work they put in, and the difficulty in recruiting new people to the committee, each committee member should receive a 50% discount on their membership.

Note: those who are coaches and already receive a 50% discount will not be receiving an extra 50%.

Proposed: Dave Hounsell. Seconded: Jim Gore. Motion carried.

Change in the Club’s Constitution

Tracy West read out the following proposed changes to the Constitution following our change to Charity status:

10.6 The Trustees of the club shall be appointed from time to time as necessary by the club in general meeting from among the members who are willing to be so appointed. A Trustee shall hold office during his life, or until he shall resign by notice in writing given to the Management Committee or until a resolution removing him from office shall be passed at a general meeting comprising two thirds of the members present or voting.

10.7 All property of the club shall be held by the trustees for the time being, in their own names so far as necessary and practicable, for the use and benefit of the club. On the death, resignation or removal from office of a Trustee the Management Committee shall take steps to procure the appointment by the club in general meeting of a new Trustee in his place. The Trustees shall in all respects act, in accordance with the directions of the Management Committee; and shall have power to sell, lease, mortgage or pledge any club property for the purpose of raising or borrowing money for the benefit of the club in compliance with the Management committee’s directions.

10.8 The number of Trustees shall be not more than 4 and not less than 2.

As a result of Hythe LTC becoming a registered charity on the 6th December 2021 the above Items in the Club’s current Constitution (2010) will need to be replaced with:

10.6 Trustees. Refer to the Hythe Lawn Tennis Club Constitution of CIO (2021) Item 12) Charity Trustees

Change approved. Proposed Peter Ingelbrecht, seconded Martin Bryer. Motion passed.

Any Other Business

Alfie Adcock asked if we could liaise with the Air Ambulance Kent, Surrey and Sussex to organise joint fundraising events and link to their charity events. Tracy said she would be in touch with them shortly to let them know they are our nominated charity and would liaise on joint events etc.

Jim Gore raised the possibility of running an informal demonstration to show any members who are interested how the club’s defibrillator works. This would not be a formal course, just a familiarisation session. It is important that as many people as possible are familiar with how it works. It was agreed that this is a great idea and we will go forward with it. Fiona noted that it would be a good idea for all captains to attend. Coaches are already First Aid trained.

There being no other business the meeting closed at 20:45 with thanks to all who attended.

Notes for Final Accounts for the year 2022-23

These notes highlight the main points of this year's Final Accounts.

The subscriptions for the financial year 2022/23 were £52559. This includes early bird payments received this March that relate to the 2023/24 season.

After expenses, our social activities including supper nights, quiz nights and summer Saturday teas raised a total of £854. Separately the Christmas social was subsidised by £1090. We retain a total of £2102 in our social fund.

The largest one-off expenses were:

Painting courts 1-4 (£9,258) and new nets (£680).

The chilled water fountain (£899)

Installation of new floodlight controller (£2160)

Repairs to storm damage to the fences (£1,869)

Major recurring expenses include ground rent (£2,400), electricity ( £1,412 ), insurance (£1,202 ), league entry/ match balls (£1.754), affiliation fees (£1,210)

We have repaid a total of £6,800 loans to the LTA. We still have outstanding loans of £12,200 that will be repaid in full by December 2026.

As a requirement for our LTA loans, we have transferred £20,000 to our sinking fund to prepare for future court replacement. Our sinking fund now stands at £90,215.

Through our fund raising events we’ve collected a total of £1600 for our nominated charity; Pilgrims Hospice in Ashford, Kent. Of this, £123 was paid through the club accounts; the remainder directly to the charity following fund raising events. We have also paid the £708 to Kent Kidney Patients Association that was collected in the previous financial year.


H Y T H E		L A W N		T E N N I S C L U B
	A c c o u n t s				2 0 2 2 ~~-~~ ~~2~~ 0 2 3
Y e a r	A c c o u n t			b a l a n c e		M o v e m e n t
2023			£123,256				£16,756	Y e a r	t o	3 1	M a r c h	2 0 2 3
2022			£106,500				£29,872
2021					£76,628		£22,976
2020					£53,653		£14,941	change of year end to 31 March
2018					£38,712		-£33,152
2017					£71,864		-£15,721
2016					£87,585		£47,070
2015					£40,515		£25,698
2014					£14,817		-£44,279
2013					£59,096		£19,011
2012					£40,085		£9,071
2011					£31,014		£2,952
2010					£28,062		£12,087
2009					£15,975		£21,357
2008					£44,883		£13,478
2007					£52,613		£13,464
2006					£39,149		£9,221
2005					£29,478		£10,339
2004					£50,171		£10,810
2003					£39,361		£6,469
2002					£32,892		£6,516
2001					£2,676		£2,423
2000					£23,953		£2,411
1999					£21,542		£1,758
1998					£19,784		-£3,639
1997					£23,423		£1,528
1996					£21,905		£3,562
1995					£18,343		£2,528
1994					£15,815		£1,361
1993					£14,554		£1,944
1992					£12,610		£1,644
1991					£10,966		-£1,990


E L A W N T E N N I S C L U B
c o u n t s 2 0 2 ~~2~~ ~~-~~ ~~2~~ 0 2 3
2 0 2 ~~2~~ ~~-~~ ~~2~~ 0 2 3 £ 52,603.45 -£ 44.00 £ 370.61 £ 532.66 £ 69.64 £ 442.00 £ 746.24 £ - £ - £ - £ - £ 1,200.00 £ 568.18 £ 56,489 £ 256.69 £ - £ 106.56 £ 240.00 £ 1,003.88 -£ 1,090.23 £ 517 £ 663 £ 663 £ 57,669 £ 12,820.12 £ 6,334.56 £ 3,200.00 £ 480.00 £ 72.43 £ 345.24 £ 200.00 £ 6,800.00 £ 395.71 £ 765.10 £ 1,412.60 £ 1,201.83 £ 399.00 £ - £ 1,210.00 £ 2,234.90 £ 955.50 £ 237.38 £ 1,849.48 £ - £ 40,914 £ 16,755
			2 0 2
£ 52,603.45 -£ 44.00 £ 370.61 £ 532.66 £ 69.64 £ 442.00 £ 746.24 £ - £ - £ - £ - £ 1,200.00 £ 568.18 £ 256.69 £ - £ 106.56 £ 240.00 £ 1,003.88 -£ 1,090.23 £ 663 £ 12,820.12 £ 6,334.56 £ 3,200.00 £ 480.00 £ 72.43 £ 345.24 £ 200.00 £ 6,800.00 £ 395.71 £ 765.10 £ 1,412.60 £ 1,201.83 £ 399.00 £ - £ 1,210.00 £ 2,234.90 £ 955.50 £ 237.38 £ 1,849.48 £ -			£ 50,839 -£ 180 £ 453 £ 610 £ 149 £ - £ 966 £ 2,000 £ 8,000 £ 49 £ 17,450 £ - £ 527
	£ 256.69 £ - £ 106.56 £ 240.00 £ 1,003.88 -£ 1,090.23	£ 56,489	£ 217 £ 708 £ - £ - £ 815 £ -
		£ 517 £ 663 £ 57,669 £ 40,914 £ 16,755	£ 562 £ 13,776 £ 3,776 £ 3,200 £ - £ - £ - £ - £ 6,800 £ 583 £ 773 £ 2,103 £ 808 £ 13,239 £ 2,000 £ 1,174 £ 3,087 £ - £ - £ 1,958 £ 16

Notes for Final Accounts for the year 2022-23

These notes highlight the main points of this year's Final Accounts.

The subscriptions for the financial year 2022/23 were £52559. This includes early bird payments received this March that relate to the 2023/24 season.

The largest one-off expenses were:

Painting courts 1-4 (£9,258) and new nets (£680).

The chilled water fountain (£899)

Installation of new floodlight controller (£2160)

Repairs to storm damage to the fences (£1,869)

Major recurring expenses include ground rent (£2,400), electricity ( £1,412 ), insurance (£1,202 ), league entry/ match balls (£1.754), affiliation fees (£1,210)

We have repaid a total of £6,800 loans to the LTA. We still have outstanding loans of £12,200 that will be repaid in full by December 2026.

As a requirement for our LTA loans, we have transferred £20,000 to our sinking fund to prepare for future court replacement. Our sinking fund now stands at £90,215.


H Y T H E		L A W N		T E N N I S C L U B
	A c c o u n t s				2 0 2 2 ~~-~~ ~~2~~ 0 2 3
Y e a r	A c c o u n t			b a l a n c e		M o v e m e n t
2023			£123,256				£16,756	Y e a r	t o	3 1	M a r c h	2 0 2 3
2022			£106,500				£29,872
2021					£76,628		£22,976
2020					£53,653		£14,941	change of year end to 31 March
2018					£38,712		-£33,152
2017					£71,864		-£15,721
2016					£87,585		£47,070
2015					£40,515		£25,698
2014					£14,817		-£44,279
2013					£59,096		£19,011
2012					£40,085		£9,071
2011					£31,014		£2,952
2010					£28,062		£12,087
2009					£15,975		£21,357
2008					£44,883		£13,478
2007					£52,613		£13,464
2006					£39,149		£9,221
2005					£29,478		£10,339
2004					£50,171		£10,810
2003					£39,361		£6,469
2002					£32,892		£6,516
2001					£2,676		£2,423
2000					£23,953		£2,411
1999					£21,542		£1,758
1998					£19,784		-£3,639
1997					£23,423		£1,528
1996					£21,905		£3,562
1995					£18,343		£2,528
1994					£15,815		£1,361
1993					£14,554		£1,944
1992					£12,610		£1,644
1991					£10,966		-£1,990


E L A W N T E N N I S C L U B
c o u n t s 2 0 2 ~~2~~ ~~-~~ ~~2~~ 0 2 3
2 0 2 ~~2~~ ~~-~~ ~~2~~ 0 2 3 £ 52,603.45 -£ 44.00 £ 370.61 £ 532.66 £ 69.64 £ 442.00 £ 746.24 £ - £ - £ - £ - £ 1,200.00 £ 568.18 £ 56,489 £ 256.69 £ - £ 106.56 £ 240.00 £ 1,003.88 -£ 1,090.23 £ 517 £ 663 £ 663 £ 57,669 £ 12,820.12 £ 6,334.56 £ 3,200.00 £ 480.00 £ 72.43 £ 345.24 £ 200.00 £ 6,800.00 £ 395.71 £ 765.10 £ 1,412.60 £ 1,201.83 £ 399.00 £ - £ 1,210.00 £ 2,234.90 £ 955.50 £ 237.38 £ 1,849.48 £ - £ 40,914 £ 16,755
			2 0 2
£ 52,603.45 -£ 44.00 £ 370.61 £ 532.66 £ 69.64 £ 442.00 £ 746.24 £ - £ - £ - £ - £ 1,200.00 £ 568.18 £ 256.69 £ - £ 106.56 £ 240.00 £ 1,003.88 -£ 1,090.23 £ 663 £ 12,820.12 £ 6,334.56 £ 3,200.00 £ 480.00 £ 72.43 £ 345.24 £ 200.00 £ 6,800.00 £ 395.71 £ 765.10 £ 1,412.60 £ 1,201.83 £ 399.00 £ - £ 1,210.00 £ 2,234.90 £ 955.50 £ 237.38 £ 1,849.48 £ -			£ 50,839 -£ 180 £ 453 £ 610 £ 149 £ - £ 966 £ 2,000 £ 8,000 £ 49 £ 17,450 £ - £ 527
	£ 256.69 £ - £ 106.56 £ 240.00 £ 1,003.88 -£ 1,090.23	£ 56,489	£ 217 £ 708 £ - £ - £ 815 £ -
		£ 517 £ 663 £ 57,669 £ 40,914 £ 16,755	£ 562 £ 13,776 £ 3,776 £ 3,200 £ - £ - £ - £ - £ 6,800 £ 583 £ 773 £ 2,103 £ 808 £ 13,239 £ 2,000 £ 1,174 £ 3,087 £ - £ - £ 1,958 £ 16