Restoring Helpston Lawn Tennis Club
Helpston, a small village situated between Peterborough and Stamford, is not only the birthplace of the poet John Clare but also home to Helpston Lawn Tennis Club, a small, friendly club with a modest wooden clubhouse and two grass tennis courts.
The courts were created over 100 years ago by local farmer George Franks but, because they are located on the original farmland, permission has never been given to convert the courts to a hard surface – hence we still play on grass. As you can imagine though, caring for, and maintaining a grass surface is not only time consuming but also very costly.
Sadly, for many reasons – Covid being just one of them – over the last few years membership began declining, the courts were deteriorating and the clubhouse was in a poor state of repair. There was real concern as to whether the club would continue to exist, which is tragic when you consider that tennis has been played on those courts for over 100 years. So, not wanting it to fail on "our watch", a small but determined group of villagers banded together to ensure that HLTC once more became a thriving club.
It’s a vicious circle - fewer members means less income, which means less money for court maintenance, resulting in fewer members because the courts are so poor. But a grant application to Cambs LTA resulted in £1000 being given to HLTC which enabled us to commence a full court maintenance program resulting in two much improved, playable tennis courts. Additional grant funding from Milton Estates and Helpston Parish Council was received, enabling the funding of an HLTC "Ground Force" day which took place on the 25th of January 2024. Over 30 villagers came together to paint the tired clubhouse and carry out a general spruce-up of the grounds and barbecue area – with tea and cake being the much-needed reward!
So, 2024 has seen a tremendous start to the year for HLTC demonstrated by:
- A well-attended pre-season barbecue.
- A full program of coaching comprising four classes per week with 40 attendees.
- An ongoing court maintenance program
- An increasing club profile in surrounding villages.
- Regular club nights
- An enthusiastic committee
- Membership of Clubspark
- And last, but by no means least a club membership which has increased from 8 to 143!
It’s heartening to be able to report that HLTC is now back to being a thriving club, with a solid membership and a full coaching program. But the revival of HLTC has not only been achieved through the commitment and hard work of a small, dedicated committee, but also with the full support, both financial and administrative, of the LTA for which we are all very grateful.
So, here's to the next hundred years ............
