Latest Update 24/12/20

Please note. The Squash courts will be closed from the 24/12/20 to 3/1/21

Dear member
You will be aware it is the time of year we usually have our Annual General Meeting. Quite naturally, due to the COVID restrictions and safety issues it will not be possible to plan this in for the foreseeable future. We will convene one as soon as it is possible next year. In the meantime, the current Committee are all willing to continue in post until then. I am therefore issuing a brief interim Chair report below and hope to cover all we as a Committee have done since the last AGM.

Squash Club Chair Report
At our first meeting following the AGM I was re-elected for a further term as Chairman. Jim Uttley, who had been co-opted the previous year, joined us. Malcolm Harrison was also reselected. Malcolm decided to step down as Club Secretary and Nigel Godwin was unanimously elected to serve in his place. I have been chairman alongside Malcolm as Secretary for over 30 years. His commitment and work for the club has been unstinting. He took over the post when the Club was in difficult times and much of what we have now here has been achieved on his watch. He is the epitome of a true clubman and someone I have been able to rely on and trust implicitly from start to finish. Malc continues to serve on the Committee and I am sure you all wish to thank him for all he has done over these many years.

We were able to report last AGM on the great strides forward we had made made at the Club in a host of areas. This work and development continues. Each Committee member has designated tasks within specific areas and their work is bearing fruit. Please remember they all do this voluntarily, so our thanks are due for this. I have to say here that this current Committee is the best and most proactive in all my time here.

We will do full section reports once we are able to convene a meeting. Quite naturally the COVID epidemic has impacted severely on the Club since March. The Committee has met regularly and worked tirelessly to provide what facilities we could during this, whilst always having the health and safety of our members at the forefront. It hasn’t been easy or very good even at times but we have done what we could and what we all believed was right for the membership. We will continue to do this until this is all over. Despite the difficult year and the maintenance/improvements that we have carried out, we are still in a strong financial position. The Accounts are available on request. The new booking system works well and is flexible enough to cope with the demands we have placed on it in terms of all social distancing issues. We have done many improvements too, including carpets and court cleaning maintenance whilst we were in lock-down. We were also successful in receiving grants from Sport England which helped during our period of lost income. Team squash was all suspended approaching the end of the season and plans for resumption of any competitive squash in 2021 remain unclear so far. The Premier side was having quite a good season and was lying fourth in the league. On the coaching front, we have 2 new Level 2 coaches and are thus able to expand our junior offer on Saturdays, which continues to grow. Senior coaching is also going well.

Lastly can I thank you all for your patience and understanding in the current climate. Obviously the financial situation has severely impacted on us and on Shaw Lane. Your subscriptions will be due in January and renewals will be mailed out soon. The 2021 membership fee for the year is frozen at £95.00. It would help your Club tremendously if you could pay this in full. However we are offering a Covid Concession Rate of £45.00 as compensation for your lost time this year - it is entirely your choice. We will continue to communicate with you and will always try and provide as much court time as possible, while following England Squash guidelines and using our own common sense. We all miss the Club - all aspects of it - so let us hope for light at at the end of the tunnel soon.

Ian Meade
BS&RC Chair
on behalf of the Committee