Development

Background

The club was formed in 1996 at the request of Lawrence Sheriff School to form a club to run the "Lawrence Sheriff County Table Tennis Centre" (of Excellence). This enabled the school to obtain a £383,500 Sports Council grant specifically "to establish the School as a specialist centre for table tennis and for raising the standards of performance of play in Rugby, Warwickshire, and the West and East Midlands".

There is a constituted Centre Management Committee bound by an agreement (available from the committee) to support the development of table tennis.

The club has a committee with its own constitution and refines things in the excellence document.

These are Microsoft Word documents. To download right click and "save target as".

The most significant step forward in development was made in Spring 2002 when, the then Club Secretary and Schools Coach, Tony Melia put forward a development plan.  The plan proposed that the club coach schoolboys at lunchtimes for free and the school allow free use of the unused canteen/studio to play evening league matches. The school accepted this and, with the club, shared the cost of improving the lighting in the area. The "manpower for lights" started in September 2002. This enabled the club to establish itself and increase membership and when the school doubled the amount of money required from the table tennis centre (in September 2006) the club was able to afford it.

Centre Management Committee

The the constituted Centre Committee used to meet three times each year, usually near the beginning of term. This committee used to comprise of school employees, school governors, members of local and regional table tennis organisations and community reps. The Committee has not met since the spring 2006 term.

Development Group

This was established in 2005 to try and move table tennis development forward even more.

The six members of this group are the Sports Centre Manager, the School Sports Coordinator, the local council's Sports Development Officer, the club chairman, club secretary and club organiser. The group liaises with the ETTA regional development officer who, along with the ETTA facilities officer, attended an early meeting. 

This group organised the 2005 Summer Play Scheme which that the club coaches have organised as part of the Borough Council's SMART scheme and these have been continuing ever since.

The club recently became a Premier Club and the next stage in the development is to achieve Sport England's Clubmark (PDF file). Without this sporting "kite mark" it will be difficult to obtain funding from any of the bodies below!

The group no longer meets and the needs of the table tennis centre are being far better met by good communications between the school Operations Manager and the club Organiser.

Funding

The club is always looking for ways to fund various projects; e.g. coaching courses, play schemes, equipment, schools clubs and so on .... any member who is willing to work on grant applications please contact the a member of the development group or a committee member.

Awards For All 
The award is a Lottery funding programme to help support local groups. It aims to fund groups which involve people in the local community or which bring people together to enjoy sports, arts, charities, and heritage activities and fund projects which celebrate the Millennium. The sums that are awarded are between £500 and £5000. The money can be used for sports events, training courses, publicity materials, fees, equipment e.g. start up costs, volunteer expenses, special repairs, materials and travel costs. These are all things that sports clubs are always needing funding for, however it has to be for new things that the club is doing or expanding on existing services. If require help with the application form please phone Merseyside Sport. For an application form please phone 0845 600 20 40. www.awardsforall.org.uk  www.sportengland.org.uk 

Foundation for the Sports and Arts
Foundation for the Sports and Arts Grants have been given to a wide range of projects, from equipment grants of a few hundreds of pounds to hundreds of thousands for major facilities. The FSA have granted aided money to buy mini buses for several disability sports clubs. The FSA is also one of the few organisations who support individual sports people. For an application form write to or phone: Foundation for Sport and the Arts, PO Box 20, Liverpool L13 1HB / Tel: 0151 259 5505

Sports Match 
Sports Match is the government grass roots sports sponsorship initiative. It matches pound for pound for commercial business sponsorship for a grass roots event or activity. Any non-profit making group can apply. For more information phone 020 7233 7747 or you can apply on line on www.sportsmatch.co.uk

Positive Futures
A joint partnership between Sport England, the Youth Justice Board and the UK Anti-Drugs Co-ordination Unit. The aims are to use sport to reduce anti-social behaviour, crime and drug use among 10 - 16 yrs olds. Please phone Sport England North West on 0161 834 0338 www.sportengland.org 

Lottery World Class Programme 
Applications for these awards can only be submitted with the support of the Governing Body. It is to assist the financial commitment necessary for training and competing at a high standard. There are 3 stages of development that have been established. " World Class Performance " World Class Potential " World Class Start For further details please get in touch with your National Governing Body of Sport. Merseyside Sport can provide you with details on who to contact

Sports Aid foundation 
The Sports Aid Foundation Ltd, now known as 'Sports Aid', provide financial support for young sports people who already show promise, to help them in training and competition to realise their full potential. Visit www.sportengland.org 

Foundation For The Sports and Arts Grants 
Foundation For The Sports and Arts Grants have been given to a wide range of projects, from equipment grants of a few hundreds of pounds to hundreds of thousands for major facilities. The FSA have granted aided money to buy mini buses for several disability sports clubs. The FSA is also one of the few organisations who support individual sports people. For an application form write to or phone: Foundation for Sport and the Arts, PO Box 20, Liverpool L13 1HB / Tel: 0151 259 5505

The National Lottery - Buildings and Facilities 
Lottery funding ranges across the whole spectrum of sports facility provision, form local to international. It is available to elite level sportspersons to assist with training, coaching, travelling, etc. For more details and an information pack please phone Sport England Lottery Fund on 08457 649 649 www.sportengland.org 

Capital Community Project Funds 
A second part of the Lottery funding programme which aims at supporting community provision for all. These Grants are for over £5000. Priority will be given to areas of deprivation, through Priority Areas Initiatives and Sport Action Zones. To be eligible to apply your project must be from a bone fide organisation, that is unable to raise funds from other sources, and your sport must be recognised by Sport England. For more details and an information pack please phone Sport England Lottery Fund on 08457 649 649 www.sportengland.org 

Active Communities 
This fund is aimed at new projects planning to increase sports participation in the following 4 priority areas; ethnic communities, people with disabilities, women and girls and people on a low income. For further information www.sportengland.org  

New Opportunities Fund
NOF NOF is a lottery Distributor created to award grants to health, education and environment projects. Many of the grants awarded are focused on those in society who are most disadvantaged. The New Opportunities Fund has recently announced a massive Fund to help PE and Sport in the community. For an application form please phone 0845 0000 121 www.sportengland.org 

Tom Blunn Administrators Fund
This ETTA fund is for financial assistance in the training of Administrators, including all those involved in administration of table tennis (such as Club Secretaries, Treasurers, Development Officers, Coaches, Referees and Umpires). It is aimed at assisting those individuals gain experience and qualifications. Funding can be claimed towards the cost of attendance, and/or accommodation, or for the cost of hiring a facility.

The Ivor Montagu Junior Fund
The ETTA have also allocated a fund known as the Ivor Montagu Junior Fund, for financial assistance to Junior and Cadet players who wish to enter the English Junior, Open and Closed, or Select tournaments. Assistance is in the form of a payment towards the cost of attending and/or accommodation. The aim of the scheme is to help the potentially good players who might otherwise not enter because of costs. The primary target group is those players who have achieved some success but are in need of high-class tournament experience.