Game, set and match to Norbury tennis club

HARD WORK AND GENEROSITY HAVE RAISED FUNDS TO ENSURE SURVIVAL

- By HARRISON GALLIVEN Local democracy reporter

A SOUTH London tennis club has completed its turnaround from potential closure to taking charge of its own destiny, after officially buying the site's lease to secure its future.

Norbury Park Lawn Tennis Club faced the daunting task of coming up with £85,000 to stop Croydon Council selling the site where it's based. But hard work, determination and the generosity of locals and other tennis clubs saw them hit the target in March this year, about 19 months after they were first informed of the threat of closure.

Now the club has completed the purchase of the lease from the council, but they face a new challenge in making the club financially sustainable long-term, as tennis alone won't keep the club running.

Committee member Blaise West-maas told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS): "If we did not buy it from the council ourselves, it would have been a disaster because this place would have been under a new landlord. They could have quadrupled the rates for us and priced us out."

"A developer would have loved this place, especially considering where we are," he added.