March Newsletter

Dear All,

As the days get longer, brighter, and gradually warmer, we hope you are enjoying your tennis with a spring in your step – as well as the Club’s daffodils and tree blossoms.

Thanks to the many of you who attended last week’s AGM either in person or online. In due course minutes will be circulated. In the meantime, please find the presentation at https://oldcollege.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/AGM-2026-Presentation.pdf.

Survey Results Prize Draw Winners: Congratulations to Belinda Pedrini and Jaslyn Shi for winning a free tennis lesson with the Old College coaching team.

The survey results are at https://oldcollege.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/OC-Members-Survey-2025-Results.pdf. We are addressing your feedback in plans for 26/27.

Social Scene: Please contact our Social Secretary, Virunee Viravong, if you would like to lead a social event (and please be prepared for Virunee contacting you). Thank you to the members who have come forward with proposals for social events recently – more on those in due course.

Upcoming events include:

Easter Tournament Saturday 4th April
Old College Club Championships June 13th to June 27th (finals day).

Changes in our Club Committees: Thanks to George Ranson (Director of Membership), Manjit Roseghini (Members’ Representative) and Bernard Stilwell (Chair of Tennis) who are stepping down for their time and commitment to the Club. We welcome Aruna Iyengar as our new Chair of Tennis.

Until a few years ago the Director of Membership was a busy role of administering membership renewals which is now done by our Finance Manager. Its remaining responsibilities largely overlapped with the Members’s Representative role. Therefore we have combined these two roles. The revised Members’ Representative role is currently vacant – if you are interested in the Members' Representative role, please let Caroline know. (Thanks to those who have already been in touch.)

This change means that we have one less committee position than previously. There is more than enough to do so the Club Committee is exploring what an additional committee role might look like and may fill this ‘space’ on a casual basis before asking members for formal confirmation at a future AGM.

Please also welcome Andrew Speller as Treasurer and Alyson Fox as Executive Secretary. Previously these roles were covered by the Chair (Caroline Beck) and Vice Chair (Bob Henderson) respectively.

Other Appointments:

Thanks to Joy Jackson who for being our President in 25/26. We welcome Nigel Thorpe as our President for 26/27. As many of you know, Nigel has made a significant contribution to the Club and has been both Chair and Executive Secretary of past Club Committees.
We also welcome Jane Buswell as our new overall Ladies Captain and will join the Tennis Committee. Thanks to Alyson Fox who is stepping down from this role after three successful years.
Thanks to Malcolm Kemp for acting as Independent Examiner (auditor) of our accounts for several years. Malcolm stood down in 2025. If you might be interested in this role, please let us know.

Update on Clubhouse Regeneration: In April, the Project Steering Group (Charlotte Ireson, Hende Reardon, Jamie Acheson alongside Caroline, Bob and Andrew) will provide members with a full update on cost estimates and fundraising plans. We then hope to go to tender and, subject to successful fundraising, in June/July ask members to formally approve the costs and the remaining funding actions at an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM). Further details will be provided shortly.

Best wishes from the 26/27 Club Committee

Caroline Beck (Chair), Bob Henderson (Vice Chair), Alyson Fox (Executive Secretary), Andrew Speller (Treasurer), John Barton (Director of Grounds and Clubhouse), Aruna Iyengar (Director of Tennis), Virunee Viravong (Social Secretary).

13/03/2026