This month’s newsletter is a special edition dedicated to our new floodlights which were turned on last week. I hope you agree that they look great and will have a significantly positive impact on our club. Don’t forget that finals weekend for the Club Tournament is on 9/10 September – it’s a great opportunity to enjoy the social side of the club in a relaxed and friendly environment – barbecue and cakes provided!
Emma Pattison
Club Chair
Lights, Camera, Action!
Following many months of planning, our new LED floodlights are operational – simply FANTASTIC! Compared to the old technology, the new lights will save us up to £5,000 on our annual running costs, reduce our carbon emissions(CO2e) by 6.4 tonnes every year, and provide much better quality of light for playing under. Win, win, win!
We are immensely grateful to the organisations that have supported us with grants. Taken together we raised £46,000 in external funding enabling us to install the new lights without dipping into club funds. This is an extremely positive outcome – not just for this project but it also gives us flexibility in how we invest further in the club over the next few years.
A huge thank you to:
- The Bristol Airport Environmental Improvement Fund for providing a grant of £8,000
- The National Grid Community Grant Programme for providing funding of £20,000
In addition, this project is part-funded by the UK Government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund. We would like to thank:
- The Climate Emergency Team at North Somerset Council for providing access to this government funding.
In addition to these organisations, we would like to specifically thank:
- Bob Taylor at Backwell Parish Council for his help in securing the grant from Bristol Airport.
- Matt Landick at West of England Combined Authority for producing our Decarbonisation Report, and his support in identifying the available government funding.
Our contractors, Luminance Pro, for a job well done.
Of course, none of this would have happened without our amazing volunteers in the Club. A massive thank you to the Lights sub-committee of John Lurie, John Tate and Steve Stephens for steering this project through from start to finish. These three have been instrumental in all the big changes in the club over many years and they can chalk up another huge success with these lovely new lights.
Specific recognition to John Tate for his unstinting commitment in organising all the practical aspects of the installation (such as planning permissions, securing contractors, etc.) but also for his determination and actions to secure external funding.
Specific thanks also to Steve Stephens for his work on the grants but also for his time on the financial ‘Plan B’ that we had in place just in case the grant funding didn’t materialise.
And finally, a thank you to all of the Backwell Tennis Club Committee who provided helpful input and wise counsel at all key stages of the project. A true team effort!
We are committed to providing high quality playing facilities for the enjoyment of all users of our club – we hope you enjoy playing under the new lights.