Pythouse Club Annual General Meeting Held at the Clubhouse At 12.30pm on Saturday 22nd June 2024 Present: The meeting was attended by 29 members including the General and Tennis Committees. Apologies had been received from 16 members. 1. Welcome Tony Stredwick (TS), as Vice Chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting and explained since the last AGM Stephen Dawson, the previous Vice Chairman and Treasurer, had tendered his resignation after an outstanding 7 years. Such was his workload that he has been replaced by 3 people: TS as Vice Chairman, Lesley Small (LS) as Treasurer and Richard Gilbert as IT adviser. In addition Josh Berry had taken over from Sir Henry Rumbold as Chairman. TS said the club had enjoyed another encouraging year and thanked the General Committee and Tennis Committee for all their work. 2. Minutes of the 2023 AGM These had previously been circulated and were agreed without further comment. 3. Membership Report 2023-2024 Christine Mckillop (Membership Secretary) had sent her apologies as she was abroad and in her absence TS reported that membership remained buoyant. albeit essentially level. Membership is of course our main source of income and the General Committee is very aware that we must not price ourselves out of the market. 4. Accounts LS reported that last year’s financial results were much improved on the previous year, mainly due to less running and maintenance costs. Revenue from the Bar has increased as a direct consequence of it being open to members on more occasions and special thanks were passed to Hugh Macnair who oversees all Bar activities. LS reported an upturn in rental income from use of the Clubhouse due to more yoga classes and a reduction in running costs such as PR. Coaching continues to deliver a small surplus and is of course an integral component of tennis club life. LS and James Carter (JC) are currently in discussions with Southside Coaching on a way forward that will be beneficial for all parties concerned. Overall a surplus of £20K was achieved and after the agreed 50% share to Pythouse Estate our reserves improved by £10K to £38K. Looking ahead, and after making allowances for anticipated expenditure, LS’s forecast for the end of this new financial year is that our reserves will have increased to approximately £46K. 5. Safe Guarding Report. Emma White (EW), the safe guarding representative, reported that no safe guarding issues had been raised during the past 12 months. The Club continues to be committed to ensuring that it is a safe and inclusive environment for all, but in particular for the children and vulnerable. EW has recently updated the safe guarding policy which will soon be available on our website. Each year we check with our coach providers that the necessary checks have taken place and EW’s own DBS certificate is checked annually by a committee member. Finally EW will attend children coaching sessions on an ad hoc basis. 6. Tennis Committee and Coaching Report. JC, as Chairman of the Tennis Committee, reported that Social Tennis continues to be the backbone of the Club and particular thanks were paid to Hugh and Morag Macnair, and Helen Kirkland for their outstanding contribution. Additional social tennis opportunities for Junior members is looked upon favourably by the committees but this will require some parental organisation and supervision. As ever Rita Howcroft (RH) does a great job in organising the Club Championships; Teresa Taylor-Woolf organised a most enjoyable tournament on 1 June and Bede Grossmith will again organise the late summer tournament on 21 September. Leagues. Sarum League. Both A and B teams were promoted last year and not surprisingly have found the new season more challenging. Lorraine Connell has done a great job managing the B team. In the Shaftesbury League Tony Stredwick and Martin Smith have done a great job in managing our teams, while Stephen Lansley has done a great job in managing the Dorset League Men’s Over Over 60s. Thanks also to Lorraine Connell for managing our Ladies Team in the Dorset League. All the above shows we are a busy, popular and successful Club with an active membership. Coaching. Dimitri Antoniou is doing an excellent job of leading the coaching team with strategic support from Ian Jerrard and coachingsupportfrom Ben Joy and Tom Allen. Junior coaching is particularly popular on a Saturday morning, while summer camps remain very well subscribed. Membership. JC thanked Christine McKillop and Helen Kirkland for their contribution to the Tennis Committee – running the memberships renewal every year is a particularly demanding task. Finally TS thanked JC for his outstanding and positive work as Chairman of the Tennis committee. 7. Future plans including greater use of the Clubhouse. TS outlined the major plans under active consideration: a. Floodlighting of Courts 3&4. In the recent survey, which attracted a 33% response, about 70% were in favour. However this is an expensive (£35k) and bureaucratic exercise. We are in a Dark Skies area and planning permission will be a real challenge. Much discussion took place and currently a pre-planning application is being drawn up. b. Possible refurbishment of Courts 1 & 2. Options include an artificial grass surface which would be easier on the joints or simply resurfacing the courts in the next few years. Cost - up to £50k. c. Increased use of the Clubhouse. This would be very popular with the membership but of course would need policing as the Clubhouse can’t really be left unattended. However all those who volunteer to run social tennis know the entry procedures so some degree of self-help would go a long way to actually meeting this aspiration and accessing the coffee making facilities. d. Encouraging more juniors to participate. Ongoing action – helped by junior coaching. e. More court seating and provision of a couple of benches on the Veranda. Supported in principle – action ongoing. f. Provision of a Table Tennis table. Already actioned. g. Club tennis ladders. Under consideration – perhaps difficult in practice as evidenced by the ongoing challenges faced by RH in organising the Club Championships. 8. AOB/Members Questions. A series of wide ranging discussions took place including: replacement of a partner due to medical reasons prior to the draw of the Club Championships taking place (it was agreed that this would be permitted) provision of rubber mats outside the tennis courts; further discussion on the viability of flood lights to include provision of lighting along the path; the pros and cons of increasing coaching provision possible provision of 2 extra courts and future aspirations as to size of the Club. TS and his fellow committee members took note of all the points raised and some have already been actioned. Members are encouraged to raise any burning issues with Committee members at any time. TS thanked everyone for attending and closed the meeting at 1335.

Charity Bake Sale and Yoga at the Clubhouse - Saturday 18th May and Saturday 8th June 12 noon to 1:45 pm

New sessions for 2023

Christmas at Pythouse Club

Two teams in the 2022 Shaftesbury League