11. Squash Courts
Squash Courts 1
In
June 1977 the treasurer Ken Pitchers and assistant treasurer Dave Boldy
agreed that the time had come to merge the two accounts now that fund
raising for actually building the village hall had finished. This led to
a heated debate in the village hall committee before it was accepted.
While
the village hall was being planned, the hall committee had considered
the idea of including squash courts but the idea was not pursued, mainly
because of the additional cost involved. Now they began to look again,
thinking that it might become a revenue producing activity. There had
been a number of requests that the village society do something to
improve sporting facilities and at that time there was a big demand for
squash, with other courts in the area heavily booked. The hall committee
distributed leaflets to explore the amount of support and when
satisfied that there would be sufficient interest they went to a special
general meeting of the society to get authorisation to take plans to a
draft stage. They wanted to move quickly to have chance of using a
council Job Creation scheme to help with labour costs. After lengthy
discussion the general committee agreed that they could proceed and
spend up to £100, but plans must come back to the general committee for
further discussion, including questions of grants, fund raising and
management.
A
general committee meeting on March 1st 1979 was almost completely
devoted to the squash court question. Bradford businessman Bob Slicer
was invited to listen to the discussion and offer his advice. The two
big issues were raising the capital and a realistic assessment of
eventual revenue from the project. The squash courts group had
approached Bradford Council for a loan of £40,000, which was reduced to
£25,000 and subject to a number of conditions. The meeting was long and
views by no means unanimous. The treasurer said that at least £3,000
could come from WVS funds, but there were differences of opinion about
how much the society should keep in hand for unforeseen future
requirements. There were differences too, both within the committee and
more generally among the membership, about whether the society should be
embarking on another expensive project so soon and whether squash was
the right thing. Some wondered whether it might prove a short-lived
enthusiasm. Mr. Slicer encouraged them to go ahead, He believed leisure
was the best investment and they should view it as a money making
opportunity. He would provide some help. The committee voted to proceed,
providing the loans that had been talked about were definitely
available.
An
interest free loan from the Sports Council, with Mr Slicer as guarantor
was a great help. Recruitment of members brought in more funds when
people agreed to pay their first year’s membership up front, to be paid
back if the courts were not built.
WVS
continued with a range of fund raising activities including a lottery
launched the previous year, with a weekly draw for £100 first prize. To
sell plenty of tickets, people were encouraged to become agents. This
way they could earn a small commission and if they wished, allocate a
further percentage to a society or charity of their choice. It went well
to start with, but ticket sales fell off and the scale of operations
had to be reduced, making it a ‘closed lottery’ to comply with the law.
It made money for the society, but not on the scale they had hoped for.
Although
it was a loan and not a grant that was sought from Bradford Council,
there was some opposition from councillors. Some said that, while it
would be repaid and thus cost the council nothing, it would in the
meantime deprive other areas of funds, even though no other project had
at that time applied for anything. The contractor’s price for the courts
was guaranteed until March 20th. On the 16th Bradford officials
delivered a bombshell. The society needed to match the £25,000 and the
council would not take into account the amount by which volunteers were
to reduce the cost by doing some of the work themselves and delaying
part of the construction. An extra £6,000 had to be found over the
weekend. Once again it was thanks to Verner Wheelock’s efforts that
several members of the society agreed to lend enough to cover the
£6,000. Promissory notes were lodged with the society’s auditor and a
letter from him delivered to council officials on Monday morning. Later
that day the council agreed the loan, but as the society now had an
extra £6.000 reserved, limited it to £19,000. This felt decidedly
unfair, but it was enough for work to go ahead. The Manpower Services
Commission approved finance to meet some of the labour costs and when a
bar licence was obtained, a deal was worked out with a brewery.
Even
the building was not straightforward. An old drain, incorrectly marked
on a plan and discovered after work started, meant the position of the
building had to be moved a few feet. Bad weather and some unsatisfactory
brickwork delayed completion so that the courts were not ready in
September/October as planned. They were officially opened by the Lord
Mayor Coun. John Senior in March 1980. Several months without
anticipated playing fees affected cash flow, but the club opened with a
full membership and a waiting list.
The
village hall committee had changed its name to special events committee
to avoid confusion with the village hall management committee, and a
squash committee was formed to look after the running of the squash club