Courts cash

Rutherglen Lawn Tennis Club has secured the £220,000 needed to transform the courts at Burnside as players are asked to give the project the green light.

Members of the club will vote on whether or not the renovation should go ahead at an extraordinary general meeting tomorrow, Thursday.

If they agree, as expected, they will also be asked what surface they want on the Burnside courts - artificial grass, as is currently at Rutherglen, or artificial clay.

The meeting comes after months of hard work by Rutherglen Lawn Tennis Club to raise the funds needed to upgrade the Burnside courts which have fallen into disrepair.

The club’s Return to Splendour campaign saw members raise £ 20,000 themselves and secure grants from numerous organisations.

Spe a k i n g to the Reformer ahead of the EGM, club president Gareth Ellor said: “It’s a phenomenal achievement to get this far.

“We all knew it would be hard work, but I don’t think we knew it would so be quite so hard. We approached over 40 organisations and we identified 15 eligible funds and we applied to all those. We submitted applications for over £ 600,000 and we secured £ 200,000 of external funding. That was a huge amount of time and effort and to have such a high success rate is a huge achievement.

“We will only spend that money if members vote it through at tomorrow’s meeting. Obviously we are pretty optimistic it will go through because we have had their support and kept them informed over the past few years.

“It is an amazing feeling to have it all come together.”

Should members agree to take over the Burnside courts tomorrow evening, Rutherglen Lawn Tennis Club will become a sevencourt facility capable of delivering an expansive schools programme and disability tennis.

The upgrade wi l l ensure all facilities at the courts are wheelchair accessible, reinforcing the club’s commitment to wheelchair tennis.

Planning permission is already in place for the pro j e c t, which includes building a clubhouse, replacing fencing and floodlighting and providing a raised spectator area.

It is anticipated that work on the renovation could begin as early as next month, while the entire project is expected to be completed in July or August.

Members of the public interested in saving Burnside tennis courts are invited to attend the EGM and share their views on the proposed plans. Voting will, however be reserved for members of Rutherglen Lawn Tennis Club.

We all knew it would be hard work