Oadby Granville Tennis Club_ Minutes of 2024 AGM
Minutes of the Oadby (Granville)Tennis and Social Club AGM Held on Wednesday 30th October 2024 7.30pm in the Clubhouse
Present : Martin Burch, Sue Lester, Pippa Braint, George Milne, Paul Heighton Towers, Alex Brown, Sue Platt, Honor Gascoigne, Ben Minski and 8 club members.
Agenda
1.Chairman’s Welcome
Martin Burch welcomed members to the Club’s 78th AGM.
2. Apologies for absence
Gary van der Byl, Ronney Panerai, Jayne Stephenson, Fiona Borrows, Karen Chapman, Mike Minski.
3. Acceptance of the Minutes of the 2023 AGM
The Acceptance of the 2023 Minutes was proposed by Steph Wood, seconded by Honor Gascoigne. All were in favour.
4.Matters arising from the Minutes
There were no matters arising from the Minutes.
5.Chairman’s Report
Martin Burch gave his report to the meeting : – Hello everyone.
I hope you have had a chance to read through the individual committee reports, which have been circulated to you in the last couple of weeks.
If you have not had a chance to read these then I would suggest having a read through at some point as they will provide you with a great overview of where the club is currently along with ideas we have to move the club forward.
The reports are very thorough and a big thanks to the committee for putting these together and for their hard work during the year.
In brief summary, the club continues to remain in a very strong financial position. We are well placed to be able to replace the courts without having to obtain an LTA loan when the time comes. The courts remain in very good condition and so this expected lifespan of 10-12 years should be very realistic.
The main project completed this year has been the installation of the LED floodlights, which has been great and along with other projects has really helped to improve the facilities around the club.
Our strong financial position is under pinned by a record year for membership. As always it’s nice to see new members at the club with many of these getting involved in social mix ins
and adult coaching and a few have actually now represented the club during league matches. Social mix ins continue to increase in numbers and it has been great to see these well attended as well as the American Tournaments which get busier and busier each time.
In regard to our Junior programme we continue to be the leading club in Leicestershire with all of our sessions being pretty much being at capacity and with record membership numbers.
We are incredibly lucky to have Ben, Zaheed and Jack as coaches at our club. Just like last year I would like to say a really big thank you to George who does an amazing job for the club to organise all of the junior sessions and league matches, this really is a massive job and he gives up an awful lot of his time to keep everything running smoothly.
We have continued to transition through some of our junior players to represent our senior teams and have some great success with having numerous county champions and a large number of children representing Oadby in club matches.
The clubhouse and grounds continue to be kept in excellent order and many thanks to Paul, Dean and all of the members that have come along to help us keep everything neat and tidy. The club looks great and we aim to continue to make improvements as we move forward.
We have a couple of long-standing committee members that are standing down this year. Firstly Alex Brown who has helped the club in obtaining grants and offered great advice and help with the club policies and, of course, the many hours previously spend on the constitution. Secondly there is Sue Lester, who has been secretary for a number of years. Sue has given up so much time for the club and is always on hand to help. On behalf of everyone at the club I would like to thank you both for your hard work. I would also like to thank Jackie Rossa who continues to help and advise the club in her position of Club Safeguarding Officer.
Overall I am pleased to say that the club is in a strong position. Oadby Tennis Club is a family club which aims to provide a safe and fun environment for us all to enjoy our tennis.
Our club has always been a not-for-profit club and relies heavily on volunteers who kindly give up their time to help us enjoy the fantastic facilities we have at Oadby. It feels like I have been saying this for a few years now but it really would be lovely to see some new faces to get more involved at the club. If you have any spare time it would be great to have you involved!
Many thanks to everyone’s support and here is to a successful 2025.
Sue Lester then asked to say a few words as she stood down as Secretary. She commented that when she first took on the role of Secretary 25 years ago, it was a relatively easy role – no emails, no internet, no WhatsApp groups, but how things have changed !
Simon Leavy once told her that the role was ‘typing and tea’ but somehow it has seemed a bit more than that !! She has seen the club change and develop in so many ways – overall
membership has doubled, junior numbers have quadrupled, there are far more teams, there have been several lots of court resurfacing, the clubhouse and grounds have been revamped and the club has celebrated its 60th and 75th anniversaries. Oadby Granville has gone from being just one of Leicestershire’s tennis clubs to a leading county club, winning Club of the Year back in 2021 and not only having premier teams but also county singles champions.
It has been great to be part of the committee during this time, working with 12 different chairs and lots of different committee members. There have been a few challenges along the way of course but overall it has been a very rewarding and enjoyable experience, getting to know a lot of club members and making some strong friendship along the way that probably wouldn’t have happened if she had not been Secretary. Thank you.
6.Committee Reports
Pippa Braint gave an amendment to the Treasurer’s Report : Under ‘Expenditure’ the first line should read ‘Coaching Expenditure.’
7.Acceptance of Accounts
Martin Burch commented that Pippa and John Braint have done a great job with the accounts again..
The Acceptance of the Accounts was proposed by Paul Heighton Towers, seconded by Tim Greenwood.
All were in favour.
9. Election of committee for 2024/2025
Martin Burch read out nominations for committee posts : –
Position
| Position | Candidate(s) | Proposed | Seconded |
| Chair | Martin Burch | John Braint | Philip Want |
| Vice Chair | No Candidiate | ||
| Secretary | Jenny Howse | Jacquie Greenwood | Sue Lester |
| Treasurer | Pippa Braint | Jacquie Greenwood | Simon Leavy |
| Tennis Secretary | Honor Gascoigne | Barbara Clarkson | John Noble |
| Membership | Gary van der Byl | Simon Leavy | Philip Want |
| Social | No Candidate | ||
| Juniors | George Milne | Martin Burch | Zaheed Essof |
| Grounds | No Candidiate | ||
| Bar | Sue Platt | Jacquie Greenwood | Sue Lester |
| Clubhouse | Dean Zarins | Paul Heighton-Towers | Martin Burch |
| Projects | Bhavesh Desai | Martin Burch | Zaheed Essof |
The election of the new committee was proposed by Katie England, seconded by Steph Wood. All were in favour.
10.AOB
Martin Burch explained that Sue Lester has minuted the AGM but will then hand over the role of Secretary to Jenny Howse, as elected tonight.
Honor Gascoigne asked a question (on behalf of a member) as to whether the car park lines could be repainted. Paul Heighton-Towers replied that this has been investigated but at a cost of several thousand pounds it was felt to be very expensive. Another option would be to do it ourselves. The car park is busy and closure of key sections would need to be taken into account. Paul agreed to obtain further quotations and will then refer this matter to the Finance Committee.
It was mentioned that a disabled parking place is needed and a better base to the car park extension area.
A question was asked regarding vehicle entrance/exit. The speed bump has slowed traffic but cyclists on the footpath with no awareness of the entrance are a concern. An OWBC council contact would be useful. Bhavesh Desai offered to get involved and it was agreed to discuss this matter at the next committee meeting. A pedestrian walk in via a separate gate was suggested.
Sue Lester thanked Martin Burch for his work as Chairman over the year. The meeting closed at 20.05
An informal forum with followed the AGM agenda.