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Minutes of the AGM held on Tuesday 10th May 2011 at the Racing Greyhound, Dumpton
Members present. President, Cathy Tuddenham, Chairman,Tony Taylor, Head Teacher, Sue Smith, Treasurer, Tracey Gullick, Secretary, Alan Tilbury, Committee members, Caroline Robinson, Mary Somers, Becki Bexley, Jo White, Emma Kemp, Club member Emma Warren & invited guest Kelly Jones.
Apologies for absence. Darren Sayer, Jo Barker & Chris Humphries.
Minutes of last meeting having been circulated to all members were taken as read.
Matters arising.
Maria Steffanini went to South Africa with the Guides on a charity mission last August receiving the proceeds of the sponsored swim towards her target as agreed at the meeting.
The membership fees were increased to £10 a month last October as proposed at the meeting.
New Water Polo Goals were purchased using the surplus from the sponsored swim and club funds.
Chairman's and Main Pool report.
Tony said it had been a very good year for the swimming club being helped by a number of factors.
More parents getting involved poolside
More parents getting involved in running the club
A number of older children helping on poolside
He expressed his thanks to everyone involved.
Regarding the Main Pool entailing a variety of of activities hopefully something for everyone or maybe the 'Bovril Moment', love it or hate it! Sorry can't please everyone all of the time.
A number of the older swimmers have left on mass with approximately 10 new swimmers in the 9pm session.
Good participation at the 8.15pm session with lots of help from parents and swimmers to develop this group.
The 7.30pm session had it's usual mix of good and bad, some swimmers with massive improvements, some with not much, not sure how many have moved up from the small pool but no doubt Sue will cover that in her report.
Water Polo – that Bovril moment – our team event, with lots of noise and actually some water polo – it looks good. Special thanks to Lawrence for his professional help and guidance.
Personal Survival. Last year made me so pleased at the children and young adults we help to develop. We had two older swimmers helping for all 4 weeks and at the end when offered money for a drink to say thanks they refused, saying 'it was their way of paying back some of the fun and enjoyment they had had at the club'. Hopefully University is now looking after them.
Syncro swimming we only managed one session in the year and hopefully the ladies from Hythe will be back again soon.
Poolside helpers, Adults and children, thank you all again for your help.
Welcome to the new Bay Captains and Vice captains and the responsibility they take on to help with the gala.
The gala is the club's one big event so I thank everyone in advance for all their time, effort & help in arranging everything.
Closely following is the Presentation Evening, this is not only for the children that win but a social evening for all the children, parents and carers to meet up in a different environment.
Congratulations to Emma, Jo and Grace for achieving their Level 1 teachers certificate. Hopefully we can send more, it's not cheap but worth every penny.
Finally my last and biggest thank you is to Alan Tilbury – what a star!, keeping everyone informed, always willing to help and get involved. On behalf of all at the club, Thank you.
Treasurers report.
Tracey presented the report for the financial year 1st March 2010 to 28th February 2011.
The club's finances remain in a healthy state. Despite showing a deficit for the year ending 28th February 2011 of £505.47 there is an overall cash surplus of £12,823.23.
This represented by £2817.32 in the bank and £10,005.91 in the Building Society.
The Building Society figure has remained almost the same as no monies have been transferred across from the bank account this year and the interest earned was only 80p!
Membership throughout the year has been maintained between 111 & 116. The fees were increased in October from £9 to £10 and after several months of chasing, most people have now adjusted their Standing Orders to the new amount. Fees have once again been the main source of income for the club this year, being £12,531.
The pool hire costs for the year were £8813.98 so even with their increase in charges from March the income from fees will still comfortably cover the cost.
Affiliation and Insurance costs covering the ASA and RLSS came to £761.42.
Due to the 2010 gala taking place on club nights over 2 consecutive weeks instead of being held at Hartsdown no funds were raised through this event. The cost of medals & trophies was just over £430.
We were fortunate to receive a donation from the RBS via Sue Smith so many thanks to her for arranging this but as she has now retired from the bank this will be the last.
We have invested in teacher training this year to a cost of £1250.
Other sundry costs have included the purchase of Bay Hats for every swimmer, T-shirts for the Bay Captains & Vice captains and finally the club disco & presentation evening which after ticket and raffle sales cost £205.
As the end of the year balance is healthy we should break even next year.
(the balance sheet breakdown is already on the website as required by the constitution prior to the AGM)
Small Pool report.
Sue Smith reported that the pool had seen very good behaviour, and real progress from the swimmers, which makes the teachers really proud to be part of the club. At present we have some really promising swimmers making their way to the main pool. The ASA Stages have slowed things up somewhat because the syllabus is very specific, and we have arranged for Alan to have copies of the parent guide available if anyone wishes to have a look.
We have continued with the assessments, done Personal Survival and December saw the end of the Rubba Dubba badges, which have been superceded by STAnley Badges, which we will be doing in the very near future.
A steady flow of children have been passed to the main pool resulting in us taking in more from the waiting list, which reduced in size for a very short time, but applications have continued to come in so it is back to what it was.
Membership of the Small Pool at present is 18 children over the two sessions, which is a good number, giving the children room and the individual attention to aid their progress, and we aim to give the 8pm session a bit of time in the main pool to give them some confidence ready for the changeover.
A big well done to Jo White, Emma Warren and Grace Andrews for their recent success with their teaching exams.
Finally thank you to everyone for their continued support over the past year.
Secretary's report.
We only held 5 committee meetings this year (compared to 6 plus one emergency meeting last year), we achieved an average 60% attendance (7.8 members) per meeting. One attended all 5, 6 attended 4, 2attended 3, & 4 only attended 1.
We welcomed 4 new members to the committee, Tracey Gullick to whom we are indebted for taking over the role of Treasurer, Mary Somers for taking on the Child protection position, Jo Barker and Chris Humphries who offer their services poolside nearly every week. I volunteered Caroline Robinson to be official fund raiser this year.(she has acquired some excellent prizes for the 2 raffles coming up). Chris has recently offered to fill the vacancy for Volunteer Coordinator which being a new post we are still in the process of forming a policy.
Chalkie White was thanked for being treasurer for probably more years than he intended. But we couldn't let him slip into oblivion without asking him to do the club a favour and audit the accounts at the end of the financial year, to which he agreed.
With a new government in office everything regarding CRB checks changed yet again, well in fact reverted to what was already in place. This meant a hurried submission of forms for most of the committee members, teachers & poolside helpers. For unknown reasons Mary Somers had to wait months for her clearance so has only recently been able to take up the role for which she originally joined the committee.
Becki has decided to retire from the committee and we will of course miss her.
I would like once again to thank Darren for all his assistance, without it I would not be able to undertake all the ASA requirements, plus of course the issuing of our swimming accessories as and when required. I am also indebted to Sue Smith & Carol for their cooperation with the Waiting List.
I would like to thank Caroline for taking over the fund raising for the Raffles. Her vigilance on Thursday evenings now see the changing rooms clear of swimmers possessions, most are now getting the message but the 9pm girls are the worst offenders.
I also thank Tracey and her mum for finding a home for the new Polo Goals purchased this year and of course to Emma for providing the transport to carry them to and fro.
I started monitoring club applications in July and eventually took over the waiting list and the club website in October. For understandable reasons Sue White had found it impossible to keep on top of these, we thank her for all the work she put into the website to get it up to a high standard. I eventually sorted out the waiting list and I'm pleased to say it remains up to date, with 73 applications still on hold.
The website was initially a challenge but I eventually mastered it, and for those of you who find the time to look at it occasionally will know I update it on a daily basis. I e-mail all the members most weeks with current information, copies of the last 3 e-mails are published on the website.
I also e-mail all the people on the Waiting List regularly giving them updates on the the likelihood (or should that be unlikelihood?) of their children being offered a place.
I have received many replies thanking me for keeping them informed, so I feel it is worthwhile.
Despite all the sources of information we still have members on Thursday evenings totally unaware of anything that is happening in the club!
The committee, teachers and poolside helpers met for a meal at the Racing Greyhound on 25th January which every one seemed to enjoy except for Tony, who had to work at the last minute and couldn't make it!
I have tried to prepare the necessary requirements for both the AGM and the Gala in good time this year to avoid any last minute rushes as has happened in some previous years. Regarding the Gala this was new territory for me but fortunately Sue White had detailed spread sheets available with most of the information required. On Sue Smith's suggestion we tried a new entry system this year that worked well and I would think will be the format for future years. I thank Darren for sorting out the program, having the entries in early has meant he has been able to adjust the layout as and when anomalies have been discovered.
The usual apathy regarding committee nominations and attendance at this AGM is obvious. I received 3 paper applications and 1 on line, all nominating the existing members.
The number of entries for the Gala program competition was disappointing considering the number of children in the club. We have to judge the few we have later this evening.
I offer my services again as also does Darren should you wish us to continue in our existing posts.
Matters arising.
Emma Warren asked if she could go on the Level 2 teachers course as hopefully there will be one coming up at Hartsdown in the near future. It was agreed that the club would fund the new Level 1 teachers when the time comes.
As demanded by the constitution the officers and committee stood down.
The election of the new officers and committee followed.
Cathy proposed that Tony be reinstated as Chairman, this was seconded by Emma Kemp.
Tony proposed that Alan continue as Secretary, this was seconded by Caroline.
Alan proposed that Tracey continue as Treasurer, this was seconded by Sue Smith.
The following members agreed to serve another term on the committee, Sue Smith, Emma Kemp, Jo White, Caroline Robinson, Mary Somers, Darren Sayer, Jo Barker, Chris Humphries & Sue White. Kelly Jones agreed to become a member subject to her visiting the next swimming night to see how she felt about it. Kelly has been a Lifeguard and taught children to swim in the past and her knowledge would be of considerable use to the club. She is also prepared to attend most Thursday evenings to assist poolside. She has a 10 year old daughter on the waiting list
Becki Bexley was not standing for committee this time, she was thanked for her services to the club and would no doubt be taken up on her offer to help out when required.
The other voluntary positions to be confirmed at the next committee meeting.
For discussion
Gala progress, this was well in hand with only the final arrangements to be confirmed.
A lucky programme was thought to be a good incentive with a suitable prize to be selected.
The price of tickets for the presentation evening was agreed, A Family ticket, (2 adults and up to 3 children) £10, An adult ticket £4 and a child (between 5 -16) £2. Under 5s free and no concessions .
A preliminary amount of £120 was assigned towards the purchase of replacement trophies, this to be discussed at the next committee meeting when we had more idea of what is needed.
Caroline reported that she had received some excellent prizes from local businesses. ( list of donors is on the website)
Alan would put out requests to members for any unwanted gifts and donations of any sort.
Tony said the Swim 21 revalidation process was in hand and that he would be contacting those concerned very soon.
The problem of thefts from the changing rooms and poolside was raised again.
Tony stated that the club's responsibility starts poolside and members using the changing rooms was the parent/carers responsibility. The pool management accept no responsibility as they provide lockers which all swimmers could use. Alan was asked to yet again remind parents and carers of the position and suggest their children do no bring anything of high value including clothing to swimming.
Alan was asked to contact the pool management regarding notices stating an age limit on parent accompanied male children using the female changing room.
There being no other business the meeting closed at 9.15pm
Date of next committee meeting Tuesday 21st June, 7.30pm The Racing Greyhound
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