Minutes of AGM
Held on Tuesday 20 May 2008
The Racing Greyhound, Ramsgate
The minutes of last years AGM were made available to everyone present to read through.
Chairmans address (Tony Taylor)
Thanks to all who have attended tonight, welcome one and all, I will try and keep this short.
Firstly I wish to thank all the volunteers and helpers who have made Broadstairs Swimming Club what it is today. I would also like to pass on a special thank you to Cathy Tuddenham, who has assisted at the club for approx 45 years now she will be sadly missed, particularly with teaching breaststroke! I would also like to thank Sue Smith for her help in the small pool and Sue White for her help in the main pool. Of course, as always we still need help and all parents are welcome to offer assistance, either poolside or otherwise. There are many areas where help can be given, poolside, website, parent liaison, disability and child protection.
The good news this year is that Swim 21 accreditation has again been given to our club. We will now get financial support for courses etc, and any savings made, will, of course, go back into the club.
There has been a continued flow of swimmers from the small pool up to the main pool and everyone seems to be making steady progress.
We are also financially sound with approx £13,424. In our bank/building society accounts. The ASA has recognised our procedures as being sound and the club is looking very healthy all round.
For the future, well, we have Personal Survival courses starting in a few weeks and then another year of assessment, etc. Of course, there is our Gala later this summer.
We will have a new committee after this evening and there will be new challenges for them to meet
Finally, to everyone who helps, swims, the parents, teachers, poolside helpers, everyone involved - please remember, this is your swimming club, run by unpaid volunteers, looking after the swimmers of the future.
Secretarys Report (Meryl Smallbone)
The committee met on 5 occasions since the last AGM in MAY 2007, the first one being on 6 June 2007. Attendance by committee members has been generally high over the past year, for a committee of such busy individuals, this shows a strong commitment to the club and its swimmers.
The club continues to be very popular and we constantly receive applications from prospective members. Of course there is still the same problem of limited space and pool time, but every effort is made to keep our waiting list moving. Our website continues to grow both in its effective provision of club news and to enable prospective members to obtain information about waiting lists etc. Newsletters are posted regularly and this again proves to be an effective tool in providing parents and swimmers with news and info.
Please can I remind you to let the club know of any change of address or phone numbers, so I can keep records updated. Also, dont forget your newsletter can be emailed to you if you wish, so update us with your email address. Alternatively use the website!
I believe that generally there has been a good standard of behaviour by our swimmers this year and our older swimmers in particular have shown great commitment by regularly helping the younger groups on a weekly basis.
That is about it from me, other than to remind those parents present that offers of help are always welcome, please speak to one of the committee members if you can offer some time
It just remains for me to say farewell as club secretary. Its been an interesting few years and I would like to think Ive made a few friends. I have enjoyed working alongside Chalky on Thurs evenings. he works very hard for this club, as do all the committee members. Id also like to say what a brilliant job all the teachers and poolside volunteers do, relentlessly giving up their spare time to provide a safe and fun activity for your children
they are a wonderful group of people. I would like to wish the club, its members and everyone involved in delivering the lessons all the best for the future.
Treasurers report (Ian White)
The finances of the club are still in a reasonably healthy state. We have shown a net cash surplus for the year period ending 29 Feb 2008 of £381.17 and an overall cash surplus of £13,424.66. This is represented by the following
Cash in hand 6.47
Badge float 5.50
Cash in bank 4912.69
Cash in building soc. 8500.00
13424.66
The building society figure has increased both via interest payments and also various amounts being transferred across from the bank account through the year. We have maintained membership throughout the year at between 112 and 120 with subs per member at £9.00 per month. This has resulted in our main area of income of jut over £12,500. This still nicely covers the ever increasing Ramsgate Pool hire costs, which this year came to just over £9,200.
Our various affiliation fees and insurance costs covering RLSS, Southern ASA, Kent ASA, East Invicta and ASA insurance came to just over £1300.
The presentation disco broke even and the cost of putting on the club gala was also covered with a little help from our various race sponsors.
We have received sponsorship/donations of £750 from RBS via Sue Smith, Tony New and Becky Bexley. Many thanks on behalf of the club for that. This amount was put towards subsidising the cost of the cub bags and hand paddles, which we were then able to sell onto interested club members for a little over half the retail price. This we will continue to do when we receive the new stock of bags.
Over the next 12 months income from subs should remain about the same, given that we maintain our membership at current levels. Pool hire and affiliation fees and insurance may increase slightly. Teacher training costs will increase as we look to send 2 or 3 of our regular helpers on poolside to level 1 teaching course, each one costing around £300.00. However, I still feel it is possible to hold club funds at the current level by maintaining subs at £9.00 per month per member per month, although it may be worth considering in the future, increasing subs to £10.00 per month and including the award of badges at no extra cost t the club members. We could then issue the awards when they are achieved by each member, thus reducing cash handling through the year.
Finally, a big thank you to all those who pay subs by standing order, currently numbering just over 90 out of 115. It makes the Treasurers job a lot easier! Those who still pay by cheque etc. should remember subs are due the first Thursday in each month, not the last!
Finally, finally (!) the clubs finances are in a good position and we should at lease break even again next year.
See attached audited accounts.
Pool Report (Sue Smith)
This has been a very successful and busy year for the club. Both pools are currently running at maximum numbers and we still have children on both waiting lists and also still awaiting trials.
There ha been a steady flow of members through all levels and from the teaching pool to the main pool.
We have continued to follow the ASA National Teaching Plan to all levels and have on several occasions had to re-plan the pool set-up to accommodate these. Just to advise parents in advance, the ASA has decided to change these levels and we will be implementing the new ones in the near future. The new ones only go to level 7, so these will be more difficult and have more content, so please do not think that your child/children is not progressing as quickly as they have been in the past. If you have any queries about this please feel free to ask us.
Several badge night have been completed throughout the year and as well as the usual ones like distance, skills, Rubba-Dubbas and personal survival, we have introduced some water polo awards, which the children have thoroughly enjoyed. In the main pool we have had two water polo tournaments with the bays working in competition against each other. This gives them the opportunity for a bit of competitive spirit and also to get to know other members in their bay and from other time sessions. We need to thank Sue White for organising these tournaments and also thanks to Lawrence Arnold from Hythe Swimming Cub, who came to coach the children and act as Referee.
The Clubs Championship Gala was a very enjoyable evening and attracted more entries than before, which led to the Presentation Evening at the pavilion again a really well supported event.
All of this has been achieved only because we have managed to recruit more helpers on poolside, some of whom will be taking their teaching exams in the near future and also members of the club who offer their services when they are not swimming themselves.
As everyone is aware, this club exists on a completely voluntary basis (the subs you pay only cover pool hire, insurances and other essential outgoings). When you complete the application for membership we ask if you can help, this does not mean only on poolside. As with everything nowadays there are so many rules and regulations that have to be complied with. We therefore do need to spread the load for administration as many hands make light work. So, please think about how you could help.
Just to finish, well done to Tony Taylor and Sue White who did most of the work for our re-accreditation for Swim 21. We recently heard that we have been awarded continued accreditation. Swim 21 is like a kite mark to say that everything is in place for the club to continue to operate and move forward.
Election of officers then took place as follows:-
Meryl Smallbone stood down as club secretary. In the absence of any nominations being received, all other committee members agreed to stand again in their current roles.
Other elections/nominations were as follows:-
Chairman Tony Taylor
Treasurer Ian White
Vice Chairman/Assistant Secretary Sue White
Secretary to be announced
Committee Members Jane Pond, Sue Smith, Debbie Barnet, Becky Bexley and Tony New
One new committee member was Alan Tilbury, who was warmly welcomed by the other committee members.
It was agreed that following his offer of help, Darren Gambrill would take charge of training; Tony New will continue to oversee badges and awards. Emma Kemp will continue to offer her help wherever and whenever possible, this will be much appreciated. Matt Lawrence has offered to run the Swim Shop catalogue for ordering resources etc. Emma Warren kindly offered to stand as Child Protection Officer thank you. She will be in charge of CRB checks in future.
There were no questions arising from this meeting, which was closed at 7:30pm
Date of Next Committee meeting : Wed 25 June 2008 7:30pm
Venue : Racing Greyhound, Ramsgate.
