East Glos Club receptionist Charlotte Pallister highlighted the importance of being part of a sports club as a way to support and improve mental health.
Mental Health Week a chance for, players, coaches and communities to come together and open up about well-being. Cheltenham has always been the place to raise awareness whether that be by promoting or taking part in these activities.
“I think being part of any sports club where there’s, good facilities available is really important for everybody’s mental health.
“(It) Keeps you active, provides a social stimulation and you always feel great after a long run around, each day.”
East Glos Club was founded in 1883 has always been more than a tennis, it provides many other sports such as Squash, Paddle and Racquetball. Previously starting as a Cricket club.
“We’ve got, got, 27 tennis courts,” said Pallister.
“We’ve got four squash courts. We’ve currently got three paddle courts and we are in the process of building another four.”
“All of those are available to all of our members,” she continued.
“You pay one fee, and you have access to all of those facilities.
“So we have members from the age of three up until the age of 91 as far as I’m as far as I’m aware here, there’s something for everybody.
With over 29 tennis courts across Cheltenham, what does East Glos Club provide to the community?
“Well, you don’t have have to be a member to do our courses.
“You can come along and join a tennis course, a squash course, or a paddle course without being a member here. So those facilities are still available regardless if you can afford the membership or not.
“For new members, they join online. As soon as they we as soon as we have all of their details, we contact them generally on the day, if not the next day after they’ve joined. We contact them. We have a chat with them.
As of 2025 East Glos have over 1,900 members making it one of the largest racket sports clubs in the Southwest of England.
“We make sure they understand all of the, how to use the portal, how to book courts. We then offer them a forty five minute complimentary hit with one of our coaches so they can choose whether that be with a paddle, a tennis, or a squash coach.
“We work hard to integrate them into the club. We have social sessions so we make sure that they know they can turn up to our social sports sessions where all they have to do is arrive and they get put into a match or a game with three other players.
Why should people come down to the East Glos Club?
“I would say definitely come down to the club or go down to Montpellier Courts or, the courts up at Pitt Pittville. They’re public courts, but we provide the coaches for those courses for those courts and courses. So you don’t have to be a member here.
“You can go down to the public courts as well.”
