Summer sees the Club at its best, and this year (despite the weather) more so than ever

Fête, Fiesta, football and Family Picnic meant even more members were at the Club enjoying our events. The firm favourites of Fête Champêtre and Family Picnic were, as always, well attended, and the debut of the Summer Fiesta was a great success, with around 1,200 members and their guests, armed with glow sticks, dancing the night away in the Dip. This is an event that we will certainly look to build on in 2025. The weekend of the Fiesta and Family Picnic concluded with the finals of the Euro 2024 Championships. Sadly, England were beaten by Spain, but there was a tremendous atmosphere at the Club with not an inch of space unoccupied in front of the big screen.

On the sporting front, the Giorgio Armani Tennis Classic was bigger and better this year. The move of the show court to the centre of Little Wimbledon enabled us to increase the number of seats by a few hundred, allowing more of our members to see the excellent tennis on display. Amongst the line-up this year, we had the Olympic Champion, three of the four Wimbledon semi-finalists, and Mansour Bahrami, back for his 30th year – pretty difficult to beat that!

Sticking with the sporting theme, we hosted another first this year – the Alfred Dunhill Padel Classic. The first year was about establishing the viability of the event and its support from the members. Feedback from the organisers and the members who watched was all very positive, and the Hurlingham team, invited to take part, ended up winning the event – the very fine trophy is on display in the Long Gallery. We are now in discussion with the organisers and sponsors to develop the event in a way that will benefit the Club. We are lucky to have Giorgio Armani and Alfred Dunhill as partners. Both fully understand that the uniqueness of the events is the location at Hurlingham. We hope to build our partnership programme over the next year with them and with other great brands that resonate with the special character of the Club.

In June, we asked members to complete a short survey commenting on their experience at the Club. More than 3,500 members responded to the survey, with 84% of them indicating that the Club was meeting their expectations. I plan to present the findings of the survey, which are still being analysed, at the AGM in October.

The works on the East Wing and wider Masterplan are covered by the Chair and others elsewhere in this issue. What I should say, of course, is that whilst Bill Roe and his team focus on the Masterplan, the Estates team, headed up by Louise Collins, continues to work on numerous grounds and maintenance projects around the estate – we owe these often unsung heroes so much for keeping the grounds and estate as magnificent as they are.

Having mentioned Bill Roe, our Director of Masterplan Projects, I must report that he wishes to retire and will be leaving before the end of the year. We wish him well for the future.

Lastly, I’d like to wish The Hurlingham Club Foundation a happy third birthday! It has had an amazing year which you can read about here. Particularly exciting is the partnership with Laureus Sport for Good, in conjunction with the Alfred Dunhill Padel Classic, which focuses on providing sporting opportunities for women and girls in the local community. Thank you for all your support for the Foundation and please keep it coming. One great way to support would be to sponsor The Hurlingham Club’s very own Cross-Channel swim team here.

MICHAEL O’DWYER, SECRETARY