Here’s to 100 years of Spalding Badminton

Next month Spalding Badminton Club celebrates 100 years since its formation.
The club started out in St Peter’s Church in Spalding, which was located where the current South Holland District offices now stand.
When the church was demolished the committee at the time decided to build their own two-court badminton hall, then and even now, there are very few purpose-built badminton halls in the country.
South Holland District Council agreed to lease the club a site on the Castle Sport Complex playing field next to the future indoor bowls club and the club started fundraising to build the hall.
The main source of funds was a stall selling tea, homemade cakes and local farm produce on a site next to the Halley Stewart Field football ground during the Tulip Parade weekend each May, raising around £500 every year.
In January 1969 the new hall was finally opened; it was built by Norman Moore Builders for £6,000 – 75 per cent of which was funded by government and local government grants.
One of the church windows (pictured above right) was built into the entrance lobby wall as a reminder of where the club first started.
Since then, various improvements have been made including heating and insulation to the underside of the roof in the mid 1970s, a new floor in the 1990s and a new roof in 2004.
The club has been very successful over the last 50 years, winning the Peterborough and Boston leagues and Lincolnshire KO trophy on numerous occasions.
In March 2020 everything changed when COVID came along.
The courts were closed for a few months, but when they were allowed to start playing again under strict conditions laid down by Badminton England, membership thrived.
Most clubs that relied on school halls to play in remained closed for much longer which resulted in new members joining Spalding.
An online court booking system was introduced and membership increased from 47 to the current membership of 147.
They have now started to reintroduce club nights and play occasional matches.
To celebrate the 100th anniversary, the club is holding a tournament on Sunday, April 16 for members and would like to invite any old members to join them to watch the final.
There will be a finger buffet between 5pm and 7pm afterwards, so that they can all chat about memories of past glories!
All proceeds from the event will go to charity.
The club hopes many old members will join them.
If you are interested, email sbc12328@gmail.com so that numbers can be confirmed catering.