Lawn tennis club appeals for help to transform clubhouse 'shed' in Windsor

A longstanding lawn tennis club is appealing for the public’s help to build a new clubhouse that can withstand severe flooding in Home Park.

The volunteer-led Home Park Lawn Tennis Club is home to the only grass courts in Berkshire, located in the ‘idyllic shadow’ of Windsor Castle and has hosted Wimbledon competitors over the years.

However, located on a floodplain, Home Park LTC experienced two extreme flooding events in 2014 and was flooded again in January this year, prompting the development of a new ‘watertight, floodproof’ pavilion.

Home Park LTC chair and tennis coach Jane Rowlands said: “Luckily, we already got that show on the road.

“The existing clubhouse wasn’t going to be any good this year if we hadn’t already planned to start work in February. We had enough money to build the shell so we’re better off than in January.”

She said the existing clubhouse was ‘little more than a shed’ with no toilet or shower facilities and hopes the new clubhouse will be ‘more appealing’.

“It killed two birds with one stone but it was the flooding that initiated the idea,” she added.

Jane said Home Park LTC doesn’t fit the ‘grant-giving and fundraising criteria’ of the Lawn Tennis Association.

“We don’t want a padel court, we can’t build one,” she said.

“We don’t need floodlights and that’s what they’re giving money for. Nor Sport England, so we’ve come up against a brick wall with the heavy lifting, grant-giving groups you’d expect would be happy to do that.

“We’ve raised money from barbeques, the Prince Phillip Trust, the Louis Baylis Trust. All the other fundraising has been by ourselves, running barbeques at events over the past 10 years.

“It’s taken us 10 years to raise enough money to get a watertight, floodproof building. But now we need to furnish it with toilets, showers and a sitting area. We need another £20,000 at least.

“When it’s finished, it’ll be the most tremendous place for people to use. It’s on a metre-high plinth [and] got the most amazing view of Windsor Castle. We want to finish it so we can start renting it out to other groups of people who might want to use it for their purposes, even a yoga group or Pilates.

“When it’s finished, it’ll be second to none. It’ll be the best clubhouse in Home Park by a country mile.”

She said they have been ‘fighting against it the whole time’ due to planning permissions and the complexity of building on Crown Estate land.

“We’re not a massive club, we only have 110 members on a regular basis but we’ve kept it going,” said Jane.

“We’ve often felt there’s a lot of money put into Maidenhead and Braywick…but we feel like now is the time to push the development within Home Park for the future.”

Individuals and businesses can help the fundraising effort by contributing up to £350 and having their names carved on a sponsor donation board.

Visit www.homeparklawntennis.co.uk/ for more information.