The focus of the Committee’s considerations during the year was on the Westway project and the last Meeting of the year was held there.
This enabled Trustees to get a full impression of the needs and achievements of this amazing development and witness at first hand the disappointment of the surface finish to the walls ot the otherwise superb courts.
But as usual the Committee reviewed other candidates for funding and made offers of support and payments as evidenced by John Rimer in the accompanying Report and Accounts.
Support was given again to the EFA’s worthwhile coaching scheme and offered to Stowe towards the rebuilding of their courts on a new site.
As usual the situation at Cambridge was kept on the agenda, the news still promising the inclusion of courts, both Rugby and Eton, within the first phase of the new Sports Centre on the Madingley Rd. At the time of writing all planning hurdles appear to have been overcome and the detailed funding and archetectural proposals are awaited for what is billed as a £25 million project.
Working closely with the EFA Committee, we retain the bulk of our funds against the need to provide seed-funding for major new projects identified by your Board and the Trustees.We continue to attempt to fulfil our duty to donors, whose generous support continues to be our inspiration. We welcome additions to their numbers and ask members to consider the invaluable contribution their funds can make to the continuation and expansion of our splendid game, from which we have all derived so much pleasure. We especially commend to you recognition of the Trust in your Will! Macabre as this sounds, it is generally recognised that legacies are the single largest source of funds for Charitable Trusts and we ask that you contact John Rimer for further information on this and any other form of donation.
The new year has been marred for us all by the death of Philip Curtis, the first Chairman of this Trust. A fine player himself and an enthusiast for the game all his life, Philip has provided generous support to his old school Repton and to his son’s school The Leys, for their Fives courts. He responded to the initiation of an Eton Fives Charitable Trust in 1993 with a donation which effectively paid for the set-up costs and has continued as a generous donor since then.
The Trust benefited hugely from his broad experience as the holder of almost all the offices in the EFA and his City background; and his firm but gentle guidance of the Trust Committee earned support for the Trust from all quarters. His particular challenge to ensure the replacement of the Portugal Place courts at Cambridge where he had played as an undergraduate, has been passed on to his successors with a good deal of the work done. We shall miss him very much as we address the issues of final siting and funding.
The Committee has entrusted the Chair to me as his successor and has invited Michael Constantinidi to fill the vacancy as a Trustee.
We are most grateful to all the Trustees for their time and efforts on behalf of the Trust and especially to John Rimer for his meticulous and timely accounting, to Derek Whitehead, our tireless and resourceful Secretary; and to Nick Jones for generously carrying out the Audit.
R.M.K.Chairman's Report 2001-2002 by Rodney Knight
Finalised 19th September 2002
mike.fenn@etonfives.co.uk