The Downswood Badminton Club was started in September 1990 and the first Chairperson of the Club was Jane Raye. In 1991 Ray Farmer took over as Chairman and still holds the position today. We have an AGM every September at the beginning of our badminton year and vote a new Commitee consisting of a Treasurer, Secretary and four playing members and we hold regular meetings.

The club has gone from strength to strength over the last ten years and our current membership is at its maximum of 20 members and we do have a current waiting list. We play badminton every Thursday evening in the hall at the Downswood Community Centre between 7:30pm and 10:30pm from September to May. We agreed to have a break during the summer months as numbers fall due to holidays and other commitments and this works well with us all.

We are a particularly friendly Club and we do socialise between ourselves. We have also carried out several fund raising activities which include three 24 hour badminton marathons with the proceeds all going to Children in Need, raising approximately £7500 in total. This year we are planning to organise our fourth 24 hour marathon again with all the proceeds to Children in Need. In conjunction with the Downswood Community Association we regularly organise quiz evenings which have raised money for the DCA, our own Badminton Club funds and various Charities. Other events include sponsored charity football matches to help purchase a specialised bike for a local lad suffering from cerebral palsy and a sponsored wheelbarrow push which raised money for SCOPE.

We feel that we contribute towards the community and hope we are able to continue to do so in the future.