We are launching our new Booking System as of Monday, April 26th, 2021.  It has several key advantages over the old system, which we hope will make things easier for you.  These include:

• Being able to pay for membership online and immediately be able to make bookings
• Our annual memberships will now last 12 months from the time you make your membership payment, so you won't loose a day's worth of value by joining later in the year
• No more PayPal, meaning you are always presented with the option to pay by card - we have moved to Stripe
• Booking multiple courts at the same time - use the shopping cart to pay for all bookings in a single transaction
• QR Code Check-in at Reception - meaning less time spent getting in and more time on the courts playing badminton

In this email we will show you what the system looks like, how you can access it, register as a member and how to book courts.

How to Access the New System
You can find our new booking system via the "Book a Court" menu option on our website badmintonwycombe.co.uk (as of Monday April 19th). There, you will be greeted by the new Calendar view showing you court availability and the options to register as a new user or login to the system.

Registering for the New System
If you joined as a member of the Centre after March 1st, 2020, you should receive an email from the system before Monday 19th April, providing you with a username and password.  If you joined after March 1st, 2020 and don't receive such a welcome email, please do contact the Centre and we will sort this out for you.

If you need to re-join the Centre, as you haven't paid for membership since before March 1st, 2020, then you will need to click on the "Register as a new user" link, complete the form and make the £20 annual membership payment.

Once you have registered as a new member and made the payment, you will immediately be able to log into the new system and make court bookings - no more waiting for us to process your application.

Please note:

• Your Login will be the email address you have registered with Badminton Wycombe
• Each individual member will need their own unique email address
• If you are a member and/or you have multiple children who need to be members they will each need a unique email address - it is free and simple to set-up new Gmail accounts (you can use any email provider you wish) and then have those emails forwarded to your personal email address, so that you receive their booking emails

Booking a Court
Once you have logged into the system using your email address and password, you can navigate to the date that you wish to book a court (the usual 9-day advanced booking limit still applies) to see court availability.

To book a court, click on the "Add Booking" button that is above the calendar view


You will then be asked to select:

• the court you wish
• the time you want to start playing
• the time you wish to stop playing
• select if it is a 1 To 1 coaching session; and
• if it is a 1 To 1 coaching session, from a drop down menu, with which coach you will be working

You will also be asked to enter the details of the additional players with whom you will be playing as well as being able to select the option for "Pay Day Membership" if that person(s) is not a member and you wish to include the Day Membership fee(s) in your total booking costs, meaning you don't have to pay Day Membership fees at reception, helping you to get onto court quicker.  

Players will still be able to pay for Day Membership at reception by card, if you wish.

Please do enter the other players' email addresses as they will be sent emails about the booking - please see later in this email about QR codes.

You can then add more bookings if you so wish. Once you have made all the court bookings you wish, you will need to go to the "Checkout" button that is to the right of the "Add Booking" button.

You will then be shown all the bookings you have made, as well as any Day Memberships you are paying for and be asked to provide your payment card details to pay for all the bookings that you are wishing to make, plus the Day Memberships requested.

QR Codes
For each court booking, you as the booker and each of the players that you have registered against each court booking will receive an email informing with the details of the booking and a unique QR code.

That QR code can then be scanned at reception to check you into the Centre, speeding up the process for getting you on court.

The email and QR code is unique to that particular booking and that particular person - so once it is scanned, it cannot be used again.

We hope to have the QR code reader up at reception in the coming days.

If you have any difficulties
If you should encounter any difficulties, please do get in contact with us and we will do everything we can to help.

Whilst we have done our very best to test all possible uses of the system, we know that we might have missed something and that it will take a little time for us, as well as you, to get used to the new system. So, if there are any issues, we hope that you will be patient with us whilst we learn how to become experts on it. ​

We Are Reopening Monday, April 12thPlease read all the important information belowApologies for the long email, but there is a lot of important information of which to make you aware.

With Monday's Government announcement about the release from lockdown, we are delighted to  confirm that we will be reopening Badminton Wycombe from Monday, April 12th.  As this is the first step on a phased path to full release from lockdown there are some important changes of which you need to be aware.

These changes are detailed below and cover:

• Opening Hours
• Restrictions on the Type of Play Permitted
• Safety
• New Online Booking System
• Membership
• Strings 'N' Things

Opening Hours
We have modified our opening hours until further notice.  The opening hours will be monitored constantly and will be reviewed periodically so as to best align with demand for courts and our ability to make opening a commercial viability.

Monday       9.00am - 8.00pm
Tuesday      2.00pm - 8.00pm
Wednesday 2.00pm - 8.00pm
Thursday    2.00pm - 8.00pm
Friday         2.00pm - 8.00pm
Saturday    11.00am - 5.00pm
Sunday       11.00am - 5.00pm

If you are wanting to play outside of these times, please do let us know. We cannot promise that we will immediately be able to accommodate you, but it will help us understand what changes might be needed.

Restrictions on the Type of Play Permitted
In accordance with Badminton England and Government restrictions the only the following is permitted:

• Adults may only play with other adults and juniors from the same household
• Adults & Juniors may undertake 1-2-1 coaching sessions with Badminton Wycombe approved coaches
• Organised junior clubs and coaching activities
• Elite play as provided by the Centre

Please note that the above is subject to revision should the advice by the government and/or Badminton England change.  The latest guidance from Badminton England can be located here.

Safety
The safety of our players and staff remains our number one priority. Therefore, the rules before lockdown remain in place.  These include:

• 2 meter social distancing will be observed
• All players must wear face coverings except whilst on court playing
• No parents / spectators are permitted in the building
• The one-way system remains in effect
• Players will be called into the Centre in court order, please queue in an orderly fashion outside the front door whilst waiting to be let in
• The only toilet facilities are the downstairs toilets and are a unisex facility with one person allowed in at any one time
• The upstairs, including bar and kitchen remain out of bounds
• The showers remain unavailable to use
• The Centre will continue to undertake extra cleaning and will provide hand sanitiser for everyone
• The Centre will remain a cashless facility
• All court bookings must be made using the online booking system

New Online Booking System
The Centre has invested in a new online booking system that should make everyone's life easier.  An email will go out with more details about it and how to use it once it is live.

The big advantages for players are that you will:

• Be able to pay for annual and/or daily membership at the time of booking courts
• Always be presented with an option to pay by card, as we are moving away from PayPal and over to Stripe
• You will be able to book multiple courts more easily
• It will manage annual memberships and your membership information much more easily

The only thing that players need to be aware of is that each player will need to have a unique email address. 

Memberships
Over the past year, with the degree of disruption that COVID has created, we have not asked members with 2019/20 membership to rejoin, as we could not guarantee how much access you would get for your money.  Equally, for our new members, we appreciate that you have paid for membership with similar ambiguity.  We are delighted to inform our members that as of April 12, 2021:

• We are moving to a rolling 12-month membership, so that regardless of when you join, you will benefit from a full 12 months of membership (another advantage of the new online booking system)
• Anyone that joined after March 1, 2020 will be given a 12 month membership starting as of April 12, 2021 and therefore will not have to rejoin until April 12, 2022!
• Anyone that joined before March 1, 2020, will be required to rejoin the Centre when they next wish to book a court, so that could be April 12th or later.

Memberships will be paid for and administered through the new online booking system.

If you paid for Membership after March 1, 2020, you will receive an email from the new system regarding your new log-in details.

Strings 'N' Things
The shop will be available during our opening times.  Please note that:

• You MUST phone ahead to make an appointment - 01494 528441
• Only one customer is permitted in the shop at a time

Well, we knew things could move fast, but we weren't expecting the news on December 19th.

Buckinghamshire, and therefore Badminton Wycombe are now in Tier 4.  As with all indoor sports facilities, we are required to close until further notice.

Yesterday, the government announced that Buckinghamshire, amongst other regions, would be moving to Tier 3 from 00.01 am tomorrow (Saturday, December 19).  Tier 3 places further restrictions on what badminton may be played according to government and Badminton England guidance. Below are the forms of Badminton that the Centre can offer, whilst we remain in Tier 3:

1. Adults may only play singles or doubles with other people from their SAME household / support bubble unless it is a 1-2-1 coaching session from one of the Centre's approved coaches
2. Under 18s may continue to play singles and doubles outside of their household / support bubble as well as receive coaching sessions
3. Under 18s may continue to attend structured group sessions where there is a maximum ratio of 15 players to one coach

Because of these restrictions and the limited number of members who are likely to be able to meet these strict criteria, the Centre has made the following decisions regarding opening times across the Christmas period.

• The Centre will be closing from 11pm this evening (Friday, December 18)
• The Centre will be open December 28, 29 and 30, 9am - 5pm
• The Centre will re-open from Monday, January 4, 2021

Whilst this isn't the news we were wanting to send just before Christmas, we do thank all our members for their patience during these ever changing times.  We do wish you and your families a happy and healthy time over the festive period and a much better 2021.

The essential information you need to know
Hello Wycombe Badminton Centre Members,

Firstly, I hope you are well and keen to return to playing badminton, albeit, once again, in a different environment to that which we left in October. The Centre will reopen as of Wednesday, December 2nd with some changes as to how we operate. We need you to work with us to keep everyone safe; safety for everyone at the Centre remains our top priority. The Centre has created a Covid Charter, which sets out the thinking and precautions necessary to keep everyone safe (link to Covid 19 Charter).

We would ask everyone to read Badminton England's guidance on how Badminton should be played, which can be located through this link www.badmintonengland.co.uk/return-to-play.

Perhaps the biggest change and most essential thing we need everyone to understand before they come back to the Centre is how you must enter and exit the building and the one-way system that has been implemented. This system and other key changes are set out below:

Arriving at the Centre & The One-Way System

• Please queue outside the Centre just prior to the time of your booking and wait to be invited into the building, which will be done by Court order (6 through to 1).
• Please arrive already changed into your playing kit - we ask that you change into your playing shoes at the back of your allocated court.
• You must only enter the building through the reception entrance.
• You must only exit the building through the fire escape on court 6 and up via the concrete stairs to the car park at the back of the cinema. Please note that there is no handrail up the concrete steps, so if you feel unsafe with these measures, we ask you to consider delaying your return until these access restrictions can be lifted.
• To access the toilet from the hall, you will need to leave the building via the fire escape and re-enter the building through the outside reception door.
• All Members should be wearing a face covering whilst entering and exiting the building (i.e. the only time face coverings are not required is when you are on court playing badminton).

Bookings

• We are only accepting bookings made online.
• Singles bookings MUST be 2 named players
• Doubles bookings MUST be 4 named players
• Players must be named at the time of booking.
• We would recommend that one player is responsible for ensuring social distancing is maintained at all times - Badminton England calls these "Covid Officers".
• Sessions may need to end 5 minutes early, so that we can escort all players outside and safely prepare for the next bookings.
• Players that reside in a Tier 3 area, such as Slough, are requested to not attend the Centre until such time as their Tier level is reduced to 2 or below.

Badminton Games

• Adults may only play doubles, if all players are from the same household / support bubble
• Adults who are not in the same household / support bubble may ONLY play singles

Facilities

• Coaching may resume but, in the case of adults, only on a one to one basis unless all players are from the same household / support bubble .
• Only the toilet by reception will be available (one person at a time) and for the time being will be unisex.
• The upstairs changing rooms, toilets, showers, the bar area and kitchen, are all closed and out of bounds.
• Strings'n'Things shop is open 10am to 7pm (2pm close on Saturdays); please phone ahead to make an appointment on 01494 528441 - the shop will be closed outside these hours.
• Food and drinks will not be for sale. Please bring your own drinks for on court remembering that they must be in a resealable container (ie no cans allowed).
• No spectating is currently allowed.
• Racket hire is not available so please bring your own racquets - you can still buy shuttles.
• Reception will not accept cash - card and contactless payments only.
• Sanitiser will be available throughout the Centre.
• Notices and posters as well as the directional one-way system will all be on display at the Centre.

At all times the Centre will follow Government and Badminton England guidelines and we may alter or amend the operation within the Centre to constantly improve safety.

If you have any further questions please contact me through the Contacts page.

I look forward to seeing you all on your return to the Centre.

Kind regards
Alistair Jones
Centre Manager

Here is Badminton England's guidance as to what is permissible in terms of playing Badminton by each Government Tier.  Whilst the Centre is currently in Tier 1 (as of Monday, October 19), it should be noted that the restrictions of play are determined by the higher level of either the location of play or where the player lives.

For example, a player living in a Tier 2 location may only play with Adults from their same household, even at Badminton Wycombe, even if Badminton Wycombe is located in a Tier 1 location.

Due to current social distancing restrictions, we are no longer able to allow spectators in the building. As with all our policies, this remains under constant review and we will keep you informed once we are able to lift this restraint.
​We apologise for any inconvenience.

The essential information you need to know
Hello Wycombe Badminton Centre Members,

Firstly, I hope you are well and keen to return to playing badminton, albeit in a different environment to that which we left in March. The Centre is planning to reopen as of Monday, July 27th (Government announcements permitting) with some changes as to how we operate. We need you to work with us to keep everyone safe; safety for everyone at the Centre remains our top priority. The Centre has created a Covid Charter, which sets out the thinking and precautions necessary to keep everyone safe (link to Covid 19 Charter).

We would ask everyone to read Badminton England's guidance on how Badminton should be played, which can be located through this link www.badmintonengland.co.uk/return-to-play.

Perhaps the biggest change and most essential thing we need everyone to understand before they come back to the Centre is how you must enter and exit the building and the one-way system that has been implemented. This system and other key changes are set out below:

Arriving at the Centre & The One-Way System

• Please queue outside the Centre just prior to the time of your booking and wait to be invited into the building.
• Please arrive already changed into your playing kit - we ask that you change into your playing shoes at the back of your allocated court.
• You must only enter the building through the reception entrance.
• You must only exit the building through the fire escape on court 6 and up via the concrete stairs to the car park at the back of the cinema. Please note that there is no handrail up the concrete steps, so if you feel unsafe with these measures, we ask you to consider delaying your return until these access restrictions can be lifted.
• To access the toilet from the hall, you will need to leave the building via the fire escape and re-enter the building through the outside reception door.

Bookings

• We are only accepting bookings made online.
• Maximum of 6 players to a court booking.
• Players must be named at the time of booking.
• We would recommend that one player is responsible for ensuring social distancing is maintained at all times - Badminton England calls these "Covid Officers".
• Sessions may need to end 5 minutes early, so that we can escort all players outside and safely prepare for the next bookings.

Badminton Games

• Both singles play and doubles play can take place in groups of people from different households, as long as you remain 2 metres apart as far as possible – meaning that four people from different households can play doubles.
• Players can rotate within the group but social distancing must be maintained within this group. You cannot move groups within a session.

Facilities

• Coaching will resume although groups can be no bigger than 5 players to one coach, provided social distancing can be controlled.
• Only the toilet by reception will be available (one person at a time) and for the time being will be unisex.
• The upstairs changing rooms, toilets, showers, the bar area and kitchen, are all closed and out of bounds.
• Strings'n'Things shop is open (10am to 7pm); please phone ahead to make an appointment on 01494 528441 - the shop will be closed outside these hours.
• Food and drinks will not be for sale. Please bring your own drinks for on court remembering that they must be in a resealable container (ie no cans allowed).
• No spectating is currently allowed.
• Racket hire is not available so please bring your own racquets - you can still buy shuttles.
• Reception will not accept cash - card and contactless payments only.
• Sanitiser will be available throughout the Centre.
• Notices and posters as well as the directional one-way system will all be on display at the Centre.

At all times the Centre will follow Government and Badminton England guidelines and we may alter or amend the operation within the Centre to constantly improve safety.

If you have any further questions please contact me through the Contacts page.

I look forward to seeing you all on your return to the Centre.

Kind regards
Alistair Jones
Centre Manager

Badminton Wycombe Performance star Dillon Chong has won a silver medal at the European Under 15 Badminton Championships held last week in  Liévin, France. Dillon, who was only the 9th seed in the Boys Singles, battled his way to the final with some outstanding badminton, beating seeded players along the way. Playing his sixth match in 3 days, he finally ran out of steam in the final, losing to Romeo Malboul of Sweden. Lila Dundas and Jason Ou were also selected to represent England at this event. Lila got through to the third round of the Girls Singles while unseeded Jason played extremely well in the Boys Doubles to reach the quarter finals, losing to the second seeds.

There was additional recognition for Badminton Wycombe when 3 of their Senior Performance players were selected to play for England in the European Team Championships at the same venue. David Jones, Abigail Holden and Freya Patel-Redfearn made their debuts for England in the same event 2 years ago and have represented England ininternational events since then.
​
Excellent work from the coaching team at Wycombe Performance, George Bevan, Gary Fox and Daryl Jacobs, has led to this success.

Dillon proudly wearing his Silver Medal.

Six players from Badminton Wycombe's Performance group have been selected to represent England in the forthcoming European Championships. David Jones, Abigail Holden and Freya Patel-Redfearn have been selected for the England Senior team to compete in the European Men's and Women's Team Championships to be held in Liévin, France. This event will take place from 11th to 16th February. The same three players had represented England at this event two years ago in Russia and have had international call ups since.

An added bonus for Badminton Wycombe is that Dillon Chong, Lila Dundas and Jason Ou are representing England in the European Under 15 Championships at the same venue. Jacky Lee is a non-travelling reserve.

This huge success is due not just to the talented players but also to our outstanding group of coaches, George Bevan, Gary Fox and Daryl Jacobs, whose hard work and dedication has brought about this great result. Head Coach George said "I am delighted that the hard work of the players and coaches has resulted in this fantastic achievement".

​Well done to the players and coaches at Badminton Wycombe Performance.

Badminton Wycombe's Senior players:
​Front row from L to R: Abigail Holden, Freya Patel-Redfearn, David Jones
Back row from L to R: Daryl Jacobs, George Bevan, Gary Fox

Badminton Wycombe's Junior players:
​From L to R: Jacky Lee, Jason Ou, Lila Dundas, Dillon Chong