On Saturday 3rd August the ARC community was out in force for our Grounds and Maintenance Day. Maintaining our extensive site is no small task, with the vast majority of grounds and maintenance work completed by a very small team of volunteers, led by Phil and Simon. It was incredible to see volunteers, staff, members, friends and families all join us for the day, and make such an impactful difference.

The ARC Fitness Club Championships get underway on Sunday 8th September from 11am, alongside the finals for our racquet sport competitions! There will be both Adult and Teen (ages 12-16) categories, with 3 ‘super’ workouts designed to challenge your strength, stamina, and movement skills. We’ll be announcing one superhero-themed workout each week throughout August in the lead up to the event!

This August, we’re offering all our Badminton, Squash and Unlimited Racquet members free fitness classes to help get you into shape for the new season! That’s a whole month of Functional Fitness, Functional Strength, HIIT, Pilates, Yoga and more, completely free!

ARC will be launching an incredible range of new and improved Badminton sessions in September 2024, with the first four weeks of sessions completely free to attend! The new Badminton programme includes evening and weekend kids and adult coaching for all abilities, as well as social mix-ins, and inclusive sessions.

Do you like the idea of representing one of our Squash Teams in the Devon Squash League next season? Get involved in our Squash Team Training coming up in August! As a member of one of our team squads you’d be required to play one ‘best of 5 games’ singles match against your opposite number in a team of 4. Matches are both home and away and take place from September to April. Home matches happen on Mondays, Wednesday or Thursdays. Away match nights vary and can often involve long distance journeys to South Devon. Players wanting to get involved must be prepared to travel to away matches as well as home matches. A match fee is charged to cover the cost of courts and food afterwards.

From Thursday 18th July you’ll now be able to play Pickleball at ARC! Pickleball is a fun sport that combines elements of Badminton, Tennis and Table Tennis. Pickleball can be played indoors and outdoors on a Badminton-sized court and a modified Tennis net. Two or four players use solid paddles made of wood or composite materials to hit a perforated polymer ball over a net.

On Saturday 6th July ARC hosted a free Family Open Day at the centre, welcoming more than 200 visitors to try out all of the facilities and sports ARC has to offer. Visitors of all ages were able to try out Tennis, Badminton, Table Tennis, Squash, and Gym & Fitness workshops. Taster sessions were on offer for a wide range of sessions including Yoga, Pilates, social mix-ins, Kids’ Holiday Camps, and many more.

The ARC Club Championships will be returning this summer, taking place from Wednesday 31st July and culminating in the grand final on Sunday 8th September. The Club Championships will include Tennis, Badminton, Table Tennis, Squash and Gym & Fitness. Entries are open now for all events!

On Saturday 15th June ARC was proud to host our annual LGBTQIA+ Make A Racket Festival, welcoming LGBTQIA+ people and allies from across Devon who joined us for a fabulous afternoon of sporting activities. We were delighted to welcome Bideford’s Mayor Rachel Clarke for the event, the UK’s second ever transgender mayor.

This summer we’re encouraging our members and local community to get active by offering an incredible 50% off all indoor tennis court bookings until 26th July!

From Monday 17th June until Friday 14th July, we’re offering all new visitors to Atlantic Racquet Centre ONE HOUR of tennis completely FREE of charge!

The ARC Tennis Summer Open for Adults and Juniors took place from 25th May to 2nd June and delivered some fantastic tennis. The weather wasn’t quite what we would hope for - we experienced all four seasons during the week - but conditions were great for the final weekend.

Join us at Atlantic Racquet Centre on Saturday 6th July for our FREE FAMILY OPEN DAY! No booking required, simply come along and enjoy guaranteed fun whatever the weather! We’ll be running free taster sessions for all ages across our facilities including gym & fitness, tennis, badminton, squash, and table tennis. There’ll be so much to do with something for everyone, with a BBQ and drinks on offer all afternoon. Plus we’ll be streaming Wimbledon LIVE on our big screen!

As part of ARC’s Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Month, we’ll once again be presenting our LGBTQIA+ Make A Racket Festival to celebrate Pride Month, and welcome LGBTQIA+ people and allies from across Devon to join us for a fabulous afternoon of activities at ARC.

Throughout June, ARC will be celebrating Equality, Diversity and Inclusion with a range of exciting events that aim to ensure that everyone feels able to enjoy sports and fitness in a fun, safe, supportive, and welcoming environment. 

The Bideford & District Community Archive has published a feature article detailing the history of Westward Ho! Tennis Club, the club from which Atlantic Racquet Centre was born. Tracing the club’s history back to its formation in 1946, the article highlights how much ARC has developed as an organisation, whilst also demonstrating how WHTC’s rich history informed many of the key values that ARC promotes today, such as our strong commitment to volunteering, our passion for supporting children to engage with sport, and the importance of community.

On Bank Holiday Monday 6th May, ARC welcomed more than 100 members to celebrate Member Appreciation Day - our annual celebration to thank all of our members for their ongoing support of ARC.

From 13th-19th May the NHS and multiple charitable & health organisations are encouraging people across the UK to 'move more for their mental health' as part of Mental Health Awareness Week. Throughout May, we’ve organised a series of free indoor and outdoor activities hosted by members of the ARC Team, all aimed at promoting physical and mental health and wellbeing.