13th May-08
BATTS May-08 Bulletin

It's pretty hot outside and the heat's on at BATTS too ! The major refurbishment of the centre is due to start in June but it's very hard to know a precise date at the moment. We'll let you know straight away when we have one.

In the meantime, table tennis practice continues every Monday and Friday evening from 7pm.

The big excitement this month came last Thursday when Olympics Minister Tessa Jowell called in to see us. I have attached 2 pictures courtesy of Dave Wright. The first shows Tessa playing against our youngest club member, Ethan Walsh. The second shows Tessa in a group including ETTA Chairman Alex Murdoch and his wife Val standing under the BATTS sign outside the centre. Local MP Bill Rammell is also in the picture.

Tessa Jowell playing our sport

Tessa Jowell with BATTS dignitaries (including the ETTA Chairman)

Back to the practical stuff ! We now have a skip outside the centre. If you have time to help us clear out any remaining rubbish, please let me know and I will contact you when we're doing it. Similarly, we expect to get a container to store all our equipment and will need help to load it up nearer to closing down time.

Finally our band of BATTS volunteers have been helping children with learning difficulties in Luton for over 10 years now. The date this year is Tuesday June 17th. We give them the chance to try table tennis and it's very rewarding. It's at the Luton Regional Sportscentre at Stopsley , starting at 10am and finishing around 2pm. Helpers are then treated to a superb buffet. I take care of all the transport and it always works best if we have at least 5 volunteers so there is one for each table. Please let me know if you can help.


Neil Brierley