Rugby World Cup 2015 at The Lensbury€¦ · Winter Accommodation Offers Winter Warmer two and ﬁ ve night Offer Join us at The Lensbury this Winter and take advantage of our special

• Issue no. 91 • Autumn 2015

Free Activities for Lensbury KidsBrand new and exclusive to members

Page 3

Overnight Retinol RepairPowerBright’s new products are launched in the Spa.

Page 6

The Green RefurbishmentSuccessful refurbishment saving large amounts of energy.

Page 4

Christmas Day at The LensburyChristmas 2015 will be very special for some lucky diners.

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Rugby World Cup 2015 at The Lensbury

With Rugby World Cup 2015 now committed to memory, the day that the Webb Ellis Trophy came to The Lensbury will long be remembered by all who were here to see it. A glorious late summer’s day saw the golden cup arrive on its now famous Land Rover to a genuine buzz of excitement.

To celebrate the day, The Lensbury had chosen to showcase support for grassroots Rugby by organising a coaching session with former England great Phil Greening, putting some 35 local school children through their

paces. “That was a great run out,” said Greening afterwards. “There were some good little players out there today; some had obviously played the game before, while it was new to others. The whole point of today was to show them the skills and then give them the basics of how to use them. Like all sports it’s best to begin young and let those skills develop.”

Our Hotel General Manager Ivor Turner added. “We are used to looking after elite players and athletes but it’s always important that a sport attracts its next generation of players, the Rugby

World Cup 2015 will certainly do just that. At The Lensbury we are delighted to play our part. We’d like to thank Phil for all of his hard work in making this happen, and hope that such expert tuition goes a long way to helping some of these kids take-up the game.”

Greening afterwards took to the stage with the inspirational former GB Paralympic Wheelchair Rugby Captain Steve Brown, for a fascinating Q&A session. While this went on members, guests and The Lensbury staff managed to get their pictures taken up close and personal with the Webb Ellis Cup.

The day ended with more photographs and a barbeque, and it was a pretty unanimous response when the pupils of Collis School were asked as to how good the day had been. A rating of 100 out of 10 makes perfect sense when you are eight-and-three-quarters!

Seeing the All Blacks fi rst step out onto The Lensbury’s pristine pitch and lawns, was a bit like observing kids at Christmas. There was a sense of unbridled joy and excitement. It was the sheer relief of getting their hands on a Rugby ball again and being able to run free after fi ve days constrained by travel and sponsorship commitments. They were at home in their new surroundings. This was their fun.

Superstar wing Julian Savea summed it up as he left the pitch. “The set-up here is amazing. It really helps that you can walk 30 metres and you’re at training. The boys are really enjoying it, the fi elds are awesome.”

The Lensbury also thought that the All Blacks were just a bit awesome too. They ate their meals in the restaurant, they engaged with members and smiled when pursued by groups of youngsters summoning up the courage to ask for autographs.

When they left, it was with regret, but hoping to return for the knock-out stages. They have a code that reads ‘Better people make better All Blacks’ and they lived up to that in spades.

The following Monday, the green and yellow bus of South Africa pulled into the car park and the Springboks emerged. They were a group with enormous pressure on them, one whose campaign had got off to a near disastrous start with a shock defeat to Japan.

But The Lensbury didn’t need to worry; the Boks were in a good place, buoyed by intervening wins over Scotland and Samoa, they were relaxed and confi dent.

They enjoyed some downtime while they were here, walking up into Teddington. One enduring image will be of Schalk Burger, who two days earlier was being a destructive force-

of-nature, standing outside of The Lensbury with a huge smile on his face whilst tenderly holding a small child.

Again they picked The Lensbury as their venue of choice for the remainder of their tournament, but the teams had entered a ballot and the third of the southern hemisphere giants had fi rst pick. Enter Australia.

The Wallabies took to The Lensbury with relish from the moment that they arrived. They had breezed into a Quarter Final clash with Scotland. There was a confi dence surrounding the team that suggested defeat was simply not something that they had even thought of. And yet it so nearly came.

Monday, the morning after, was a day of ice baths and pool. Like New Zealand and South Africa, they were open, smiling and friendly. But they worked hard too, knowing that the considerable obstacle of Argentina

was waiting for them. There was a perceptible, if subtle change in the mood around the camp, now it was just two games to go. This was to be perhaps one of the defi ning moments in their lives.

There were bruises aplenty after their Semi-Final, but this was what they had come for, to play in the World Cup Final against New Zealand. And what a match it was, in the end the All Blacks emerged victorious, but Australia made them fi ght for it.

They came back after the match, and in defeat they gathered friends and family and partied the night away.

So that was Rugby World Cup 2015, we looked after the world’s top three teams and they all loved their time at The Lensbury. We’d like to thank our members for welcoming our guests so warmly, and we hope that you enjoyed it as much as they did.

Webb Ellis Trophy Tour at The Lensbury

2 • LENSBURY NEWS • Issue 91 • Autumn 2015

Winter Accommodation Offers

Winter Warmer two and fi ve night Offer

Join us at The Lensbury this Winter and take advantage of our special two and five night breaks. Enjoy a walk along Teddington’s unique High Street for Christmas gift ideas, take a winter walk along the river to Richmond or take a train into London city centre.

For the two night offer choose from either our signature hot chocolate in the Lounge on arrival, or a bottle of red waiting in the room. When booking our five night offer you can enjoy both of these winter treats with our compliments.

All rates include full English buffet breakfast; car parking, wi-fi and use ofThe Lensbury’s recently refurbished leisure facilities.

All reservations must include a Saturday or Sunday evening.

Members Guests Members Guests2 Nights 2 Nights 5 Nights 5 Nights

Standard Single £145 £180 £340 £425Standard Double £190 £250 £425 £575Superior Double £220 £270 £475 £625Executive Room £350 £370 £860 £900

Valentine’s Dinner and Dance

Saturday 13th February

Let us arrange the perfect evening for you this year with our dedicated Valentine’s Dinner Weekend at The Lensbury. Building on last year’s popularity, this package is bound to prove popular so book early.

Price includes a Jazz themed four course dinner on Saturday evening in our beautiful candlelit Thames View Suite, live Jazz entertainment, and one or two nights stay in one of our newly refurbished Standard, Superior or Executive Rooms. The following day enjoy breakfast in our river facing conservatory, and make use of our extensive leisure facilities including a 25 metre swimming pool, and brand new poolside relax areas with new sauna, steam & shower sections.

Members Guests Members Guests1 Night 1 Night 2 Nights 2 Nights

Standard Double £155 £199 £225 £310Superior Double £175 £219 £265 £350Executive Room £240 £270 £395 £452

Ceilidh Dinner and Dance

Saturday 23rd January

Available as a one or two night accommodation package, this Saturday evening will be filled with all of the traditional food, music and entertainment associated with the modern interpretation of this Gaelic event. Price includes tickets per person to the event, accommodation in either a Standard, Superior or Executive Room, full English Buffet Breakfast and full use of The Lensbury’s leisure facilities.

Members Guests Members Guests1 Night 1 Night 2 Nights 2 Nights

Standard Double £145 £180 £216 £284Superior Double £165 £219 £256 £362Executive Room £235 £260 £396 £444

Guest Accommodation Voucher 2016£22 off Double/Twin room or £17 off Single roomDiscount each night, up to a maximum 5-night stay, per room off the Guest Tariff rate.Valid 2nd January – 31st December 2016 (excluding 24th – 26th December inclusive)This cannot be used in conjunction with any other Lensbury

accommodation offer. Please present on check-in.

Member’s name:……………………………….Membership No:……………………………….Member’s signature:……………………………Date used:……………………………….……..Member check (for office use):…….…….……..Maximum four vouchers per household during 2016










Dear Member,

It has been a memorable autumn with Rugby World Cup 2015 and seeing our guests, the New Zealand, South African and Australian teams moving around The Lensbury. It was fabulous to have the top three teams in the world staying with us. We really enjoyed the tournament, and the part we

got to play in being the Host Nation. England’s early exit was perhaps the one major disappointment of the event, and we can only hope it provides an opportunity to re-build and move forward grass roots and eventually international rugby.

A number of members have had the great joy of meeting some of their heroes and of getting a fine collection of autographs over the weeks. The younger members, in particular, were favourites of the visiting teams. Collis School kids were part of the welcome to the Webb Ellis Cup, when it came to visit The Lensbury as well as meeting Steve Brown, the captain of the GB Wheelchair Rugby team and Phil Greening, former England World Cup team member. I have to say it was a thrill to shake Steve’s hand – my first personal meeting with an Olympian! Steve is a real inspiration and his message to the kids (and adults) was great.

Fireworks Night was another great success this year. We had the largest number of people attending that we have had since the recession and the crowds were wonderful to see. It is one of my favourite holidays of the year and a great ‘warm up’ to the Christmas season. The Lensbury is open this year for Christmas for the first time since 2008 and the Christmas Lunch sold out very quickly. For those lucky ones that have a place, it will be a lovely day and so nice to not have dishes afterwards! Christmas Party Nights still have some places left for those of you that want a fun night out with festive cheer. In any case, the Christmas decorations will be up soon, so make a point of seeing the beautiful work of the team in turning us out properly for the season.

The autumn did bring disappointing news about the HAM Hydro planning application which was approved by the Council. We are seeking a Judicial Review of the decision, as is Pinenorth, the new owners of Teddington Studios and we will update you as things develop. The Teddington Society, Thames Anglers and a large resident group continue to fight against this inappropriate design. Our thanks to the large number of Members who have Objected, signed a local petition, sent us messages of support and turned out for the Planning meetings. And our thanks to Dr Tania Mathis MP, Cllr Arbour and Cllr Evans – they have been untiring in calling for common sense in this matter.

As this busy year closes may we wish all of our Members a wonderful holiday season filled with health, good friends and family, peace and contentment.

Lacy Curtis-Ward

With warm regards,

LENSBURY NEWS • Issue 91 • Autumn 2015 • 3

Beauty & The Beast

The Ultimate Family Treat

Monday 28th December 20152pm - 3:30pm

This heart-warming and highly entertaining show is packed full of comedy, songs, adventure and audience participation.

Beauty & The Beast will fulfil all the essential ingredients of any successful Christmas treat.

Child (under 15years old) Adult Ticket Price £8 £1Maximum of 2 adults per paying child ticket

For more information or to book please contact Members’ Reception or call 020 8614 6420

Tickets available from Hotel Reception or by calling us on 020 8614 6402

6th, 13th & 20th December 2015Three course carvery and coffee with crackers and party

boxes. A visit from Father Christmas for the young diners.

Adult £27.95 Under 9 £15.50 High Chair £3.75

12:30 START – SEATING TIMES BOOKED WITH HOTEL RECEPTION.

A festive way to start the season

Christmas Carvery

Free Activities for Lensbury KidsBrand new and exclusive to members…Our fun-packed kids’ programme is designed to keep

youngsters entertained in a safe and stimulating environment.

Commencing Monday 2nd November 2016, The Lensbury will

be offering the brilliant activities listed below.

Story Time and Sing-Along-Songs

Monday 11am to 11.45amAge: Two to FourPop into our themed mornings with Malin & Kazan! Starting with a short story and then keeping within theme, the kids will sing, dance and play percussion instruments under magical lighting. Fancy dress optional! Parents must be present; beverages will be provided.

Dancing with Numbers and Letters

Wednesday 11.30am to 12.15pmAge: Two to FourA fun way to dance and play whilst learning the crucial symbols. We will focus on a different number and letter whilst singing, dancing under magical lights and bubbles.

Indoor Games

Wednesday 4.30pm to 5.30pmAge: Seven to Eleven Each week depending on numbers, you will have the chance to try different sporting activities such as Basketball, Short Hockey, mini Badminton, Dodge Ball, Table Tennis, Squash, Earth Ball and more!

Homework & Book Club

Thursday 4.15pm to 5.45pmAge: Five to ElevenCome along to our reading homework / book club for an enjoyable experience! On arrival you will be signed in by a guardian; you will be given a short energiser before sitting down with classical music to set the homework mood! Beverages will be provided.

Fun Run

Saturday 10.45am to 11.45amAge: Eight Plus YearsCome along and join Claire Saturday mornings. Claire will coach you whether you’re a beginner or a runner already! Learn to run (1 to 5 kilometres) building up your endurance and stamina.

Appropriate clothes to be worn and bring a water bottle with you.

To secure a place, please book at Members’ Reception or

Lockside desk.

If you have any queries or require further information please contact our Activities Co-ordinator Karen Davies by calling 0208 614 6775 or email - [email protected]


The Lockside refurbishment has followed on from last year’s very successful Ground Floor and Ascot Building refurbishments in saving large amounts of energy. One of The Lensbury’s key Business Objectives has been in achieving significant falls in our carbon footprint. We have done this by investing in the highest quality and most modern mechanical and electrical systems (M&E) across the whole estate. The £1 million invested in the new Lockside M&E has seen a reduction, in its first full quarter of operation, of 30% in electricity and a 27% gas, compared to the same period last year.

While these figures have exceeded our predictions, we expect further savings to be achieved by the installation of a new Building

Management System. This new integrated system allows for “real-time” monitoring and control of our energy usage and is expected to give us further energy reductions as we get into the winter months.

Our recent Energy Staff Committee meeting also reviewed the carbon savings from our waste recycling programme. We recycle the vast majority of our waste through a variety of methods, and the glass, paper, cardboard, and metal recycling supplier we use supplies us with measurements of our savings. The latest report that showed that The Lensbury saves, on an annual basis, 1260 trees per year through just this one element of our environmental programme. That is the equivalent of the entire tree stock of three Lensbury estates saved over a year.

The Green Refurbishment2 0 1 6 M E M B E R S

S P E C I A L E V E N T S

Watersports Winter NewsThe 2015 season at the

Watersports Centre

has been amongst our

most exciting yet and

has seen a lot of change,

including the completion

and opening of our

fantastic new changing

room facilities, which

have been very warmly

received.

As always, the London Youth Games was a highlight of the year but the fantastic achievements of the teams this year only made it all the more memorable. The Richmond teams for the sailing and kayaking slalom events were selected and trained at the Watersports’ Centre for the eighth year running. Victory for the Kayakers in the slalom event, winning the team gold, was richly deserved after all the hard work and commitment they had put into training for the event, and Rob Beer was also rewarded for his efforts with the Team Manager of the Year award, making the achievements of the team all the more special. The sailors also achieved success with individual gold and bronze medals as well as a strong team finish which helped Richmond to win the overall Regatta Trophy for the thrid year running. It is with great pride that I have watched these youngsters grow and develop their skills and passion for these sports, many of whom first discovered their love for sailing or kayaking on one of our school holiday courses.

If you would like to get involved with either team for the 2016 LYG Regatta then I encourage you to attend our Thursday evening club sessions, 5pm-7pm, which will restart in April (provided you have completed a stage 3 course for sailing or an Improvers course for kayaking) or speak to one of the instructors for more details.

Our Summer Holiday Programme of courses has been going from strength-to-strength, with record numbers of children and the busiest

July the centre has ever seen. This year saw the introduction of multi-activity fun-weeks alongside our traditional sailing and kayaking programmes, this is a great way of getting a taste of the many different sports the Centre has to offer. We don’t only run tuition for children. There have been more beginners sailing courses for adults this year than ever before.

Nicola Groves of the GB sailing team joined us for a Saturday morning Club Session. It was an inspirational morning for all involved, myself included! The children got a chance to race with and pick the brains of one of the finest sailors in the country. Nicola was very generous with her time and was more than happy to be quizzed by all of our budding sailors. We wish her the best of luck when she heads off to Rio next year.

Our Regatta Day was revived in May this year, what was once an annual event, the regatta has not been held since Bill Andrews was the manager of the Boathouse and we were thrilled to be able to bring it back. The Regatta was an afternoon of fun and racing for all ages and abilities, making the most of the different boats on offer at the centre including our skiffs and kiwis and culminating in a prize giving ceremony at the end of the day. Next year we plan to hold the event in September and hope to make it even bigger and better!

We look forward to seeing familiar and new faces alike when the centre re-opens in early March 2016. In the meantime have a great Winter.

Nicola Groves

Nicola Groves and the Junior Sailing Club

The refurbishment of Lockside has finally come to an end and we would like to say a heartfelt thank you to all the members for their patience and loyalty over a transitional period for the club. The Lensbury thrives due to this impressive customer loyalty and we hope the new facilities will enable members to get maximum satisfaction and value from their subscription.

The final stages of the snagging have been completed and we have resolved several crucial issues such as Sauna and Steam room temperature control and stable ambient temperature in the studios and changing rooms. Our investment into new high-tech plant and machinery means that we also have consistent temperatures in both the main pool and kids pool as well as enhanced water quality control. The final piece of work was the new Lockside roof edge protection installed in order to make roof work safer for the staff.

We are particularly excited about utilising our four studios to offer a comprehensive schedule of 140 classes per week. The addition of new studio space and increased classes has meant that waiting lists

for classes have substantially reduced across the board.

The studio programme has also seen the recent additions to the timetable including the Les Mills Grit Series, an additional Aqua class on Wednesdays, MyRide virtual classes as well as seven additional instructor led Studio Cycling classes. Response to the new offers has been very good – especially the Grit series proving to be very popular. We are also conducting market research and planning to launch additional innovative classes during January 2016 focusing on evening classes.

The Activity Room has also been reconfigured into its final form with a re-positioning of the activity wall and the addition of new comfortable seating and some new equipment – just in time for the winter ‘indoor season’.

The refurbishment has clearly been appreciated, as we have seen an 18% year-on-year increase in the use of the Lockside facilities since the works finished. The classes, pools and gym have all seen increased numbers of members using these facilities.

Lockside Investment Project


2 0 1 6 M E M B E R S S P E C I A L E V E N T S

B O A T T R I P A N D B B Q Saturday 9th July

C E I L I D H N I G H T Saturday 23rd January

C H R I S T M A S C A R V E R Y Sunday 4th, 11th, 18th December

C L U B D A Y Sunday 26th June

E A S T E R S U N D A Y Sunday 27th March

F A T H E R S D A Y L U N C H Sunday19th June

F I R E W O R K S P A R T Y Friday 4th November

M O T H E R I N G S U N D A Y Sunday15th March

P A N C A K E D A Y R A C E S Tuesday 9the February

Q U I Z N I G H T Friday 11the November

S A L S A N I G H T Friday 13th May

V A L E N T I N E ’ S N I G H TSaturday 13th February

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Rugby World Cup 2015 at The Lensbury€¦ · Winter Accommodation Offers Winter Warmer two and ﬁ ve night Offer Join us at The Lensbury this Winter and take advantage of our special