Ambitious 24-Hour Racquets Fundraiser
We are excited and filled with a little trepidation as we share plans of a brand-new event for the Club, 24 hours of Racquets! We were approached by member Andrew Hayward as he was keen to challenge himself to see if he could play tennis for 24 hours, whilst also raising money for charity. We thought it was a great idea and upon meeting him our owner and MD Matthew Towers decided he wanted to join in and has set himself the equally testing challenge of 24 hours of Squash!
The event will take place from Friday 6th October at 5pm through to Saturday 7th October at 5pm and we are fundraising for our new member-chosen charities FACES and St John’s Special School in Kempston. We hope to raise lots of money and already have a sponsor for the event who will match all donations, pound for pound, up to a maximum of £1,500, so please be generous!
We Need You!
We would like as many members as possible to join Andrew and Matthew across the 24 hours to play against and support them. Below we list the timetables for the 24 hours for each sport with details of the sessions underneath. The ones we are asking members to join us for and book are highlighted.
Pay to Play Against – Bookable
As the name says, we ask you to make a minimum donation of £15 to the charities and fill a one-hour slot playing against Matthew. It will be at Matthew’s discretion on the day how the games are played depending on the time of day! But likely to include conditioned games such as length games, or half court, or side-to-side. Please be flexible with him. If two of three players want to book to play 2 vs 1 or doubles then this would also be great.
Paid for Coaching Session – Bookable
Matt is an England Squash Level 2 Coach and is offering coached sessions on the first evening. These have a minimum donation of £35 per session.
Midnight “Bottle” Tournament” – Bookable
Have you ever played a tournament through the night? This is your chance! The bar will be open and we hope to get a great turnout. “Bottle” matches are length games with bottles as targets at the side of the court (so no struggling to the front of the court!). Hit the bottle and you get bonus points – typically 3 or 4 instead of the 1 you would normally get for winning a rally. We will handicap the tournament so it’s open to all players and we can run an A or B grade if we get enough entries. Minimum donation of £10 to enter.
Playing Each Other – Play Squash and Tennis.
During the middle of the night, Matthew is going to play tennis and Andrew play Squash on each other’s courts. The other courts will be available to book as usual on the app, should you wish to watch!
Playing Against Juniors
We will be giving juniors on our coaching programme the chance to play some games as part of their coaching on the Saturday morning.
Play Against Family
Matt will finish his session playing against his family.
Pay to Play Against – Bookable
As the name says, pay a minimum donation of £15 to play against Andrew. It will be at Andrew’s discretion on the day how the games are played depending on the time of day! But may include doubles and playing alongside Andrew as well as against him. If you’d like to play with particular people, please do let Jo know at the time of booking. As with Matthew please be flexible with him!
Beat the Coach – Bookable
Fancy your chances against our tennis coaches? Join us at 8pm on the Friday night to see if you can beat Nick, Boglarka and Dave in some quick-fire matches.
Minimum donation of £10 to enter.
Midnight Tournament – Bookable
Ever played tennis at midnight? Well now is your chance as we are going to run a tournament in the middle of the night! The bar will be open! The format will depend upon the number of entries, but rest assured there will be lots of opportunities to play. We encourage colourful dress or even fancy dress if you feel like it. It will be fun and relaxed but there will be prizes for the winners and best dressed.
Minimum donation of £10 to enter.
Playing Each Other –Play Squash and Tennis.
During the middle of the night, Matthew is going to play tennis and Andrew play Squash on each others courts. The other courts will be available to book as usual on the app, should you wish to watch!
Cardio Tennis
Andrew will join coach Boglarka in our popular cardio tennis workout. She promises to be kind to him! Please do join the session by booking on the app in the usual way and help him stay motivated!
Playing Against Juniors
We will be giving juniors on our coaching programme the chance to play some games as part of their coaching on the Saturday morning.
Tennis Drills/Fastest Serve Competition – Bookable
A great workout and at the same time a chance to groove your key shots in coach-led drills. You will be led through a variety of routines in quick succession. Excellent for footwork and combined racket skills!
The pros serve at speeds of up to 140-150mph, but have you ever wanted to know how fast you can serve? We will have a radar gun on court to see who has the fastest serve in the Club.
Minimum donation of £10 to enter.
Play Against Family
Andrew will also finish his challenge playing against his family.
How to Get Involved
Book a session by emailing Alice, on [email protected] letting her know which session you would like to play. Alice will then share details of how to make your donation and confirm your slot.
If you are a local business and would like to sponsor the event, please do come and talk to us or email Jo on [email protected] and she will give you a call.
If you can’t play you can sponsor!
If you can’t join us on the day, you can sponsor the guys by donating here.
Your donations will definitely help them to keep going in the early hours of the morning and as they reach the end of the challenge, and every penny goes to two extremely worthwhile local charities.
Notes
- All members can pay to play, right through from juniors and you don’t have to be a racquets member.
- All sessions have a minimum donation but feel free to donate more 😊 We hope to raise a lot of money with this event!
- The other courts will be open throughout the night, whilst there is a donation for playing against Matt and Andrew, if you wish to play in the middle of the night the courts (indoor only for tennis) can be booked on the app as usual for racquets members.
- The Club Lounge will be open throughout the night for drinks and snacks for those joining us out of hours.
- Buckets will be available for cash donations throughout the event.
- We are encouraging payment to go through our Fundraising platform, which Alice will share but other payment options will be available if this isn’t possible and all will be explained in your booking email.
- Both players will have the option of taking a ten-minute break every hour.
Which Charities are we Supporting?
Our members recently selected two very worthwhile local charities for us to support over the next 12 months….
FACES (Family and Children’s Early-help Services) is a well-established, local and independent charity offering practical and emotional support to families under stress. They support local children and families faced with difficult issues such as mental and physical health, domestic abuse, poverty, child sexual exploitation and behavioural issues via a range of quality-tested services and family support groups, many led by a team of dedicated volunteers. They do this by recruiting and training volunteers who work alongside their Practitioners in delivering a unique menu of tailored services directly to a family, in their own home.
St John’s Special School and College in Bedford is part of Bedford Inclusive and Training Learning Trust. It caters for pupils who have severe and complex learning difficulties, from Early Years through to post-16. The school supports pupils by ensuring that they study a broad and balanced curriculum and they ensure that students are safe, happy respectful, motivated and are equipped with the key skills to enable them to lead a fulfilling life. The facilities at the school include a hydrotherapy pool, an interactive sound and light room, dedicated ICT facilities, nature garden, rumpus room and a food technology room.
We look forward to seeing members on the 6/7th October and good luck to Matt and Andrew!
