COUNCILS tend to get a bad press so it's nice to have an opportunity to say thank you to our own district council.

Many clubs, charities and local organisations of all kinds have received grants recently. Ours was a very pleasant and quite unexpected surprise. Volunteers are the backbone of local life and Lydney Tennis Club is no exception. Our club members fix roofs, decorate, organise tournaments and matches, cut grass, clean etc and not too long ago were scraping mud off the courts after serious flooding.

Naturally, our goal is to secure a long-term future for the club as a community asset and (hopefully) a nursery for tennis stars of the future. We love tennis and we want to nurture more and more youngsters so they'll love it too.

Over the last few years we've been fortunate to have a series of excellent coaches, all self-employed.

About 18 months ago, just as we'd obtained our first lease and junior club memberships were soaring, we were dealt a body blow.

The bridge over the River Lyd (our main access) was suddenly declared unsafe by the town council and sealed off.

This was inconvenient for local people but potentially a huge backward step for the club.

With autumn coming on, our only access would be across a damp, unlit field.

The saga of the bridge has been well reported so I'll just remind you that in the end the club purchased it for £1 and then had to find the money to repair it.

You may be interested to know, by the way, that of all the many millions of pounds sloshing around the Lawn Tennis Association, very little makes it to small clubs like ours.

One committee member with a good memory can recall a loan some time back in the Bronze Age.

It's true that members pay an annual subscription but this is a modest amount and we are just as reliant on fund-raising and grants to maintain and improve our facilities as everyone else.

So to receive a contribution towards bridge repairs from the district council has given a huge boost to all our hard working volunteers. We're immensely grateful.

– Martin Godwin, Lydney Tennis Club.