Last sports facility in Yarmouth may close

The future of badminton in Yarmouth is under a cloud, after a notice was sent to the clubs who use its facility.

The building is owned by the Yarmouth Sports Foundation and hosts Freshwater Badminton Club adults and youth teams, the over-70s IW Mixed County team and the Tuesday Oldies.

However, a letter from foundation treasurer, Tim Honour, states that: “Due to the Vets Surgery no longer renting, the hall is no longer viable as we are making a loss of over £4,000 per year. As this is unsustainable going forward, we will be closing the hall some time in in future.”

Tim has been involved in the club for more than 50 years and, when contacted by the IW Observer, he added: “The building has been subsidised for years. It’s 100 years old and there are insurance and maintenance costs. We are looking at ways to keep it open and will chat to all the clubs who use it.

“We were formerly the Yarmouth Sports and Social Club, but changed our constitution some years ago to ensure that, whatever happens, the site will be exclusively used for sports and encouraging young people to play sport. We want the children to get involved in badminton from an early age.

“If we have to sell the land and the building, the funds will be used to generate an income for the future. We could also rebuild the hall to turn it into a new badminton centre by raising funds and getting some match-funding.

“But we need to discuss all options to see where we go from here. Nothing is going to happen straight away.”
Graham Lees, a member of the Tuesday Oldies, said: “We are 20 or so mostly retired local people for whom badminton is their main, or only, physical activity and the loss of the Yarmouth hall would be a big blow. It’s the last sports facility in the town.

“We can’t speak for the Badminton’s League teams, but we are certainly keen to discuss ways of helping resolve the financial shortfalls.”