Meadlands Badminton Club is part of the Stowmarket Meadlands Recreation Club

The Club has club nights on a Tuesday night and home League matches on Tuesdays and Wednesday nights. We have 7 teams playing in the Ipswich and District Badminton League and the Bury and District Badminton League.

New Members: new members are welcome to come along (a reasonable standard of play will be required). Guest fees are £2.50 per night - after 3 attendances the club reserve the right to make a decision on whether a new member will be allowed to join the Badminton section, if agreed an annual subscription fee will be required (in proportion of the annual fee payable at the beginning of the season - September - currently for 2006/7 £45.00). If declined the player will not be allowed to attend further as a guest.

Members Benefits: Members who join the Stowmarket Meadland Recreation Club must nominate the section they wish to be a part of (ie: Badminton section). Membership entitles the holder of the membership card to:-

1)    Use the club bars (Meadlands, Needham Road, Stowmarket just before the PPG/ICI factory)

2)    Attend barbecues from June to August at reasonable prices

3)    Use the Club shop for surplus ICI paints and lower prices on other paints as well as Bosch tools

4)    Join the club lottery at 22p per share with potential winnings of £210 1st Prize, £105 2nd Prize and £35 3rd Prize

5)    Discounts from many local (Stowmarket & Ipswich) companies from tyres, DIY to massages

6)    Affiliation to Badminton England (match players only) covering insurances etc

Full details available at time of joining

NB: The financial year - therefore membership to SMRC - runs from 1st May to 30th April, the badminton season runs from the second week in September to Mid April when the subscription fee is payable

A summer club, although not affiliated to SMRC, is available to all members, and guests, of mixed ability, from Mid April to early September. Summer club nights are on Tuesday (7.00pm onwards) at Needham Market Community Centre, there is either a 'season' fee (one off payment) or a weekly guest fee payable to cover the cost of hiring the hall and the purchase of shuttles. For further details contact Robin Kett (secretary of the SRMC Badminton Section)

Brief History: The badminton club was established as a separate facility to the ICI Recreation Club. Matches and club nights were played in the canteen of the ICI factory in Needham Road, Stowmarket. Plastic shuttles were used for the first time in 1953 (the 'new' shuttle!). In 1999 the club changed to the PPG Recreation Club following the purchase of certain divisions of ICI by PPG. Late in 1999 the club (due to health and safety regulations) had to vacate the PPG canteen and moved to Needham Market Community Centre for club night (available due to the demise of the Needham Market Badminton Club that season - after 25 years as a club - some members joined Meadlands at that time) League matches were played at Stowupland High School then later changed to Mid Suffolk Leisure Centre (Stowmarket). Meadland Badminton Club has 7 teams, the Ladies, Mixed A & Men's A are in Division One of the Ipswich League -  Mixed B & Men's B in Division Three of the Ipswich League and both Mixed Bury and Men's Bury in the Bury St Edmunds League - Division Two. Over the years the club has performed well in each of the leagues as well as a number of players playing for Suffolk County and winning individual tournaments.

Stowmarket Meadlands Recreation Club
Needham Road
Stowmarket
Suffolk
IP14 2AD
Secretary: Peter Mead Email: stow@meadlandsrec.fsnet.co.uk