Mayor cuts ribbon as new LED lights brighten up Sleaford Tennis Club

Mayor of Sleaford Coun Anthony Brand cuts the ribbon on the new floodlight system for Sleaford tennis Club, with club chairman Dr Stuart Clegg.

The grand ‘switch-on’ was carried out by invited guest, Coun Anthony Brand, Mayor of Sleaford, who cut the ribbon on the Boston Road courts, accompanied by Sleaford Town Crier John Griffiths who made the proclamation.

The project to replace the ageing lighting system began last year, securing a £28,031 grant from the FCC Communities Foundation, a not-for-profit business that awards money for community projects through the Landfill Communities Fund.

The grant paid for all but a few hundred pounds of the overall cost, with the rest paid by club fundraising.

The new lighting columns and LED lamps were installed in September.

The floodlighting was originally installed in 2010. Tennis Club treasurer Julie Leighton explained that the halogen bulbs that had previously been used were inefficient, obsolete and costly to replace as they had to be specially made each time one went wrong.

She added: “Each year we would lose two or three halogen bulbs and they were getting more expensive. During the Covid pandemic we lost several bulbs and we thought it would be as well to go for LED lights, as well as being a greater benefit for the environment and the local community.

"We are generally trying to get the club to ‘go green’. A few years ago we fitted the pavilion with an air source heat pump, so it is all helping to keep our carbon footprint down.”

She said the new LED lights should reduce their lighting usage bill by 52 per cent.

"There will also be less light affecting neighbours. One neighbour has already said she previously sit in her lounge and know the lights were on, but now she has to go upstairs to check, because there is less light spillage.”

Julie said the new LED lights have a predicted lifespan of 1,500 hours. They are also switched on by a token system, where players get a token to pop in a slot to switch the lights on for a set period of time.

Club chairman Dr Stuart Clegg said: “We are extremely grateful for the funding FCC Communities Foundation has given us.”