Harrow Tennis Club leads the way with renewable energy and community links
On an appropriately sunny Friday afternoon, Harrow East MP Bob Blackman, Harrow's Deputy Mayor Anjana Patel, councillors and representatives of Middlesex tennis all visited Harrow Weald Lawn Tennis Club on College Road to join celebrations of the small community club's major achievement in being the first in the area to develop renewable energy through solar panels.
Bob Blackman MP spoke to an audience of guests and members of the club and praised the club's vision for sustainability and its links with the local community. He highlighted the club's hosting of a charity, Help4thehomeless which feeds more than 150 homeless people in central London each week. He also praised the hosting of a ‘Warm Hub’ for Harrow Weald and the Enderley Road Patient's Association ‘Friendship Group’.
Harrow's new Mayor from May, Anjana Patel also spoke at the event and had high praise for the club's introduction of LED lighting and Solar Panels and also talked about how its approach epitomised the ideals of building a strong community in Harrow. She had special praise for the Club's 96 year old President Heather Bickerton, who has been a member at the club for 73 years (having first visited the club with her parents 90 years ago) and is still active in the tennis club and the community links. She joked that she wanted to take Heather home to introduce her to her own mother as an inspiration.
Club Secretary, Gary Italiaander, told the crowd that, “Harrow Weald Tennis Club is something of a hidden gem in the leafy suburb of Harrow Weald. The tennis club that has been there since 1901 – next year will be a big celebration with the 125th anniversary.”
He also highlighted a fascinating detail in the club’s rich history. He said, “Amazingly, before it became a tennis club, approximately twenty-five years after the game was first established in the UK, the club venue was the site of the Harrow Weald Amateur Dramatic Society. That in itself wasn’t remarkable, but one of the young actors there was George Arliss who went on to become the first British Oscar winner playing the part of Prime Minister, Benjamin Disraeli.”
He finished off with the club’s exciting plans for the future, saying, “We are now looking to introduce disability tennis at the club and the latest craze of Pickle Ball which will offer access to another group of people to share our wonderful sporting centre.”
For further information:
Club Secretary Gary Italiaander 07956 419560
