This section provides a more formal statement of the Club's aims and rules, for reference purposes.

1. Aims

   • The Club exists to provide players of intermediate standard with Badminton coaching, practice and informal play in welcoming and sociable circumstances.

2. Membership Criteria

   • Walthamstow Whackers Badminton Club is a private club (not for profit), but we welcome anyone over 14 subject only to capacity (approx 30 average attending)

3. Membership Obligations

   1. Acceptance of and support for the aims of the Club
   2. Regular timely payment of subscriptions
   3. Fitness reasonably adequate for undemanding informal play
   4. Reasonable conduct, courtesy and regard for safety.

4. Playing Standard

   • Within a fairly short time, new members would need to be able to reach a standard of play which would allow them to play a reasonable part in informal games with most of the existing members.  This is not a demanding standard, and there will be some absolute beginners who can reach this stage very quickly; others, however, would need to follow an introductory course elsewhere before joining.  If in doubt, you are welcome to try out the game with us for a couple of sessions (without charge).

5. Safety

   • All members share responsibility for safety in the Club.  Any reckless conduct will lead to immediate suspension.  All physical sports carry some risk of injury.  Members and visitors may wish to consider appropriate insurance against personal injury and against loss or damage to property as the Club cannot accept responsibility for these risks.

6. Visitors

   • Visitors are welcome, and may play with us for two sessions without charge, subject to any waiting list that may be in operation (contact us first).  After that, they will be asked to make a decision whether to join the Club.  On joining, they will be asked to pay for any remaining sessions in the current month, and to pay in advance for the next month.

7. Administration

   • In practice, all day-to-day matters are delegated to the President ( tel: 020 8521 9157), who runs things like a Byzantine despot. Or at least aims to.

8. Funding

   • The Club is self-funding through membership subscriptions and members share financial responsibility.
   • The Club will not incur net indebtedness.

9. Subscriptions

   1. Membership of the club is generally only available on a monthly basis, irrespective of attendance.  (See also Absences, below.)
   2. Subscriptions are not refundable.
   3. Members undertake to pay subscriptions monthly, and a clear month in advance by bank transfer.  (New members will need to "catch up" with this arrangement.)  Payment is due on the first Tuesday of each month.
   4. Fines for late payment may be imposed under a uniform policy set from time to time by the President.

10. Absences

    1. Members who will be absent for more than one full calendar months are urged to notify the President so as to suspend their membership.  Once any subscriptions still due have been settled, they are encouraged to pause any regular payments until such time as they can return to play. Arrears will continue to attract fines during periods of absence, so please check your account.
    2. Subject to the financial circumstances of the club (determined at the discretion of the president) a uniform policy may be applied so that subscriptions are waived for any calendar month in which a member attends no sessions, with any payment credit carried forward.
    3. Members are urged not to allow credit balances to accumulate, as these are not refundable.  Any credit remaining unused after two years will expire.
    4. Members recovering after illness or injury are encouraged to "try-out" for no more than one hour during one or more sessions without this counting as an "attendance" for subscription purposes.  This is to help members gauge the right time to return to full play, without 'risking' a full month's subscription. (Contact the President directly to qualify.)

11. Discounts

    1. Discounts on subscriptions are only available in defined situations and are necessarily limited by the financial circumstances of the Club.
    2. If you are in full-time education, you are unemployed or you are receiving any income-related benefit, then simply let us know the details (in confidence) to qualify for a 77% discount (rounded).
    3. Members who have uncommonly restrictive caring responsibilities are invited to apply for a negotiated pro-rata discount reflecting attendance.  This could include parents of babies and toddlers "sharing" a membership.
    4. Established members whose employment regularly requires attendance at specific times which conflict with the Club sessions are invited to apply for a negotiated pro-rata discount reflecting attendance.
    5. Where an established member has moved so far away that 100% attendance becomes unrealistic, "Country Membership" exists to allow them to play "occasionally". The member will agree with the President how many sessions are reasonably feasible over an entire term, and those must be paid for in advance. New members may request this facility if they live more than 7 miles from the club venue as the crow flies. (The club's crow will be used for all distance measurement.)
    6. Established members who have left the club and are not in arrears will be welcome to play with us as our guest (no charge) twice in any calendar year (Jan-Dec).  Qualifying former members may subsequently purchase "Membership credits", which provides entitlement to two further sessions for each (advance) payment of the current monthly membership subscription for regular members.  Subject to capacity, former members may also re-join for one or more single months, as convenient.  The discounts described in (1), (2) and (3) above may also be applied to both these options.
    7. If the Covid-19 pandemic has resulted in hardship, please get in touch so that an appropriate discount can be considered.
    8. Existing members may continue to enjoy discounts which have subsequently been discontinued until either six months has elapsed since their last attendance or they have been in arrears for more than three successive months.
    9. If you think you may qualify for any of these discounts you are warmly encouraged to contact the President.  We aim to be an inclusive club, so if you feel we should include some other situation which may be an obstacle, do please get in touch.

12. Account queries

    • In the great majority of cases, members should be able to reconcile the balance of their account by checking one of the detailed reports on the website - these are regularly updated.  Where a member (other than a new member) requests a personal explanation of information which is already available on the website, a "levy" will be applied to that member's account equal to the current level of the fine for late payment.  Where an error has occurred, or where an enquiry couldn't readily be resolved by checking the website, no levy will be applied.

13. Privacy Policy

    • You can download the Privacy Policy here (95 KB PDF).

14. Updated:

    •  2 Jan 2022:

15. Changes:

    • Subscription payments now non-refundable.
    • Removed discount for new members over state retirement age.
    • Annual membership replaced with "Membership Credits".
    • Privacy Policy