RYSTON RUNNERS AC
Minutes of the ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING heldat Federation Club, Downham Marketon 14 November 2013 starting at 7pm
PRESENT:Karen Smith; Pauline Drewery; Karen Wood; Maureen Wolfe; Sue Smith; Melanie Reed; Rod Wood; Jane Ashby; Peter Witley; Jeffery Reed; Malcolm Tuff; Sue Tuff; Andy Smith; David Lane; Gill Hart; Pauline Sparrow; Andy Harrod; Claire Peacock; Phil Seaman; Helen Sewell; Doug Hoskins; Wendy Fisher; Paul Firmage; Rebecca Tuff; Ian Hogarth; Ian Todd; Chris Milnes; Gareth Hunt; Stewart Robins; Bev Harrod; Mel Watts; Martin Simmonds; Marlene Simmonds; Martin Ive; Lesley Robins; Che Plant; Heather Beattie; Chris Chapman; Nathan Gardiner; Gaye Clarke; Michel Howlett; Martin Hammond; Mick Ennis; Laura Allen; Mark Doughty; Justin Kirby; Georgina Allen
APOLOGIES:Helen Melville; Cath Duhig; Peter Duhig; Jeremy Navrady; Dave Neale; Kelly De Gol; Luke Harman; Andrew Simmonds; Robert Simmonds; Jo Brooks; Liz Blakie; Darren Smith; Kevin Smith; Marie French; Steve Bowerman; Linda Marshall; Nic Bensley
MINUTES of last year’s AGM held on 15th November 2012 were circulated, approved and signed. Proposed by Martin Ive; seconded by David Lane
MATTERS ARISING
There were no matters arising.
CHAIRMAN’S REPORT
2013 has been another busy and successful year for club. Membership has increased again, training nights on a Monday have on occasions have hit 100, and we had 100 members running and helping at this year’s GEAR. Our team and individual performances dominate locally and further afield . The club continues to prosper with seemingly little effort.
But of course what goes on behind the scenes, unseen my most, is significant work by your committee to facilitate the smooth running of a club which is getting close to 250 members. Secretary, Treasurer and Membership etc-all essential and time consuming aspects of the club, yet unseen by the vast majority of members.
On the track ,our combined Men’s and Ladies Southern Athletics League team finished a creditable 8th-halfway down the Div2 North league table.
There was better attendance in the EAL this year but still considerably less than we should be looking to achieve. Junior participation is still very poor in this league and is a concern given the resource that goes into Monday evenings. This is something the new committee may wish to address or consider the status quo is acceptable
The ladies outshone the men in the EVAC league, once again qualifying for the final. Support for this league by the men was quite underwhelming and an area for those with a track and field interest to address next year.
We had a few competitors in the Eastern Young Athletes League and Youth Development League. We will continue to support those Leagues next year. However we do need a senior to deal with team and officials liaison. This is not onerous, so if you have juniors involved in these leagues please come forward. .
Thanks to all organisers,drivers, officials and helpers without whom participation in these leagues would not be possible.
And of course you won't have missed the fact that we have our own World Champion-Rob Simmonds Double Decathlon World Champion. This year's awards will be even harder to judge as the standard continues to rise
Another very popular and successful Grand Prix series was held at Shouldham with many thanks to Martin and Marlene. Again bringing a useful financial contribution to club funds and benefitting from sponsorship by the Insurance Office. Similarly this event seems to just happen. If you are at the Warren at 9am on race day you will see that the average age of those setting up the registration and tea tent, start and finish area and course is about 70! It is time that some younger blood comes through and started taking on some of these jobs. Please see me or Martin if you would like take an apprenticeship.
On the road we struggled again with the Midsummer 5. It turned a decent profit, but for whatever reason it isn't a popular race. Whether it's the timing or venue or probably just the race director. We will drop it for 2014, but continue with the club handicap race as that's very popular.
The area is crying out for a NYE race and hopefully the Hancock in some shape or form can be resurrected next year.
We have introduced a 15 mile road race in January and believe this will be very popular amongst those training for the spring marathons. It will be invitational only in the first year and we will run it as an open race in 2015 if it proves popular.
The Wissey Half Marathon recorded a record entry of over 300 and continues to be a well attended event. Thanks to the Runners Centre for their continued sponsorship and for Martin Ive for his fine directorship of this and the Midsummer race.
We had another very successful Round Norfolk Relay-This was despite many last minutes changes-mostly due to injury, but some also who apparently just couldn't be bothered. If anyone present falls into the latter category, please discuss your commitment with those who wanted to run but didn’t get the opportunity. There is always talk of another year with a third team. The truth this year is that we only just managed to put out two.
Many thanks to the numerous people who helped to facilitate the two teams-Marlene in particular. The first team finished 4th in the Open Class (5th overall) and after a brilliant tactical move by the second team captain- saw them finishing 3rd in the new mixed class. And whilst most were patting each other on the back, the same old few dealt with the usual grumbles. Sadly some complaints were disappointingly sarcastic -so hopefully if time allows someone will raise the subject of the RNR in the open forum and we have an adult debate on the subject.
Nearly 100 members and guests enjoyed a well organised and entertaining Awards evening at a new venue. It's bound to be equally enjoyable this year and with the club generously subsiding the event again, it will be one not to miss. Similarly the summer BBQ was a success, this year in proper weather- thank you to Lesley and helpers for your efforts with these two events.
Monday training continues to be a big hit. Almost too big on occasions. With poor acoustics it is difficult to get club or session announcements heard by everyone. So if I could ask that you be polite and pay particular attention at announcements time and to Bec, or whoever is taking the session, so that everyone knows what is happening, as inevitably and regularly people come to me and say I didn’t know about that. Thanks again to Bec who has consistently delivered some lovely sessions which just about everyone has benefitted from.
Training night Income is up as well. We did have a period of pestering people to pay-which obviously worked. Sadly this proves that there were those who were habitually not paying. Ten people not paying each week-and there were more, is a £1000 a year. Collecting money is an onerous task, so thanks to Rod for his efforts and for also chasing the juniors accordingly
Junior training is now well regimented and organised and thanks to all coaches and helpers involved. Specific thanks to Stuart and Bec. It is still very disappointing that so few of those juniors compete in anything for the club and even fewer continue into the senior ranks. It’s a situation that is easy to continue to appease, but with it demanding such a large amount of time and resource it does at some time need to be addressed. My view is that you either compete for the club or don’t come. And move away from this baby sitting service idea.
We have worked with Kings Lynn Cycling Club and the Triathlon Club to avoid clashes of events. With more Ryston members, also involved in these and other clubs we need to ensure that we still provide a reason to remain with Ryston for those few who may just decide to use one club. As there is more available locally to members we need to be well organised and work with these clubs in the future as necessary either through coordination and/or events.
Many thanks to Gill, Rod, Peter and David for their efforts and who are standing down from Committee duties. And thank you to those who have put themselves forward for Committee next year. Overall the committee numbers proposed for next year will still be over that dictated by our constitution, but at the appropriate time I would ask you to agree that this is acceptable proposal in managing the club next year. It may be as the club grows that increasing the number of committee posts is a way forward to share the load.
From my perspective there has been significant correspondence to deal with. It’s been pleasing there has been less complaints from members this year. I said last year that this would be my last-but I will do another year. The truth is this year I have actually enjoyed it. But being Chair is a big job now-gone are the days when an incumbent committee can go the AGM without a firm proposal for the new Officers of the club. The job of managing such a big club is now too big to turn up on the night and get someone to say ''oh alright I will give it a go'' So the new committee really need to be looking at next year’s AGM in the very near future to get a plan together.
Finally many thanks to all those who have helped the club in some way this year-Committee, Coaching, Marshalling, doing results, selling tea etc. The club cannot function without your assistance. And also to those half dozen or so who are the core of this club-my personal thanks to you.
TREASURER’S REPORT
Copies of the accounts were provided for members.
The accounts were agreed and accepted. Proposed Lesley Robins; Seconded Paul Firmage
As you can see from the accounts handout, our club is currently in a comfortable financial position. This has only become the case due to the careful management of what is now a large, well supported running club with over 250 members.
Income is largely generated from the 3 successful events that we organise during the year to bring revenue into the club. These, along with the annual membership fee and Monday night subs are what we, as a large club, need to have in place to keep us financially viable. Martin Ive, Marlene and Martin Simmonds are dedicated to organising these events every year and without this income we would not have the funds available that we have now.
In this financial year, the Shouldham Cross Country series, the Hancock Midsummer 5 and the Wissey Half Marathon made a total profit of over £5500 (£5738.21), after making donations to charities, totaling £600. In terms of the cross country, the Forestry Commission fortunately didn’t increase their charges for use of the woods this year, so a payment of £432 rather than the £1400 that we have paid in the past was appreciated.
The current Cross Country series has received sponsorship of £500 from Phillip Seaman at The Insurance Office. If anyone has any sponsorship suggestions please speak to the committee.
Our biggest expenditure is the Lynnsport track and barn hire. Numbers on a Monday night have significantly increased this year with 30+ children and over 80 adults regularly attending. We are currently covering these costs with the weekly payments from those that come to the training sessions. Our other training venue, the Federation Club at Downham Market has been used more this year for meetings and training sessions. As we pay a set annual fee, enabling us to access this facility on a regular basis, it makes sense to maximize the use of it throughout the year.
We have continued to support competitive team events and the London Marathon with minibus transport. Once again this year, we did a bulk minibus booking which saved us paying last minute prices and guaranteed availability of transport. Contributions were taken towards the diesel costs, and when entering a team race, towards the entry cost. For the coming year the club will cover team entries and transport costs. Whilst we are in a position to support our members in entering and attending team events, we feel this is a very important use of the club’s income. For the London Marathon in April, we are looking to hire a private coach for transport, as this year we filled 2 minibuses with Rod and Andy volunteering to drive for what is a long tiring day out without actually running!
Membership numbers are still on the increase with a steady stream of over 100 new members joining throughout the year. The England Athletics affiliation fee of £10.00, which is the amount that the club pays to register each club athlete, will be staying the same so the proposed renewal membership fee will be £25.00 for the coming year. Junior membership has also been proposed to be £25.00 which will include a named training t-shirt to make it easier for the coaches to identify their athletes.
The 2 social events that we held this year were both very well supported with the club subsidising the ticket prices for the Awards Evening which we will be doing again for this year.
We have used some of our revenue to invest back into the club in the form of equipment. Some of you may have seen the very impressive start/finish inflatable arch that made its first outing at the Wissey Half Marathon. We have also bought a race clock and a selection of junior training equipment. If anyone has any suggestions regarding ideas for use of club funds please speak to any committee member who will bring your ideas to the next meeting. It is your club and the committee is in place to be approached with any thoughts.
Overall, this has been a very positive year for the club, with lots of events to look back on. We know where our areas of expenditure are and have set membership and subs at a level which is appropriate to the clubs current financial state. With such a large club there are a lot of outgoings which cannot be covered indefinitely without having the income in place to support it. This year’s profit is encouraging but is not guaranteed for the future so we must keep looking for ways to generate income so that our capital provides a solid base for the future success of the club.
ELECTION OF OFFICERS
The committee stepped down for the election of officers.
Mick Ennis began by giving a vote of thanks on behalf of the whole membership to the outgoing committee.
Martin Simmonds took the Chair at this point. He also thanked Andy on behalf of the Club members for all the work that he had put in on behalf of the Club over the past 12 months.
Martin encouraged members to take up positions on the committee to ensure the continued success.
Chairman:Andy Smith
Re-Elected
Andy returned to the Chair.
Vice-chairman:Cath Duhig
Re-Elected
Treasurer:Sue Tuff
Re-Elected
Secretary:Georgina Allen
Re-Elected
Membership:Mel Watts
Re-Elected
Road Running:Andy Harrod
Re-Elected
Cross Country:Che Plant
Re-Elected
Track & Field:Gareth Hunt
Proposed by Rebecca Tuff; Seconded by gate Clarke
Coaching & Development:Stuart Howlett
Welfare:Martin Ive
Re-Elected
Social Secretary:Lesley Robins
Re-Elected
General Committee:Malcolm Tuff
Proposed by Andy Harrod; Seconded by Nic Bensley
PROPOSALS
1.Membership proposal for theAGM.
The membership feefor Juniors and Adultsto be£25.00 for the year
2013-2014.
New members joining between 1st May 2014 - 31st October 2014 afee of £17.50.
Junior membershipwill include a training t-shirt with the childs name on it which they will be required to wear at all training sessions.
(£5.00 to be deducted if children have already purchased the t-shirt).
Family membership. £10 deducted from combined price of 3+ familymembers.
2nd claim £10.00
Monday night subs will continue at £2.00 member, £3.00 tri club, £4.00 non member.
Vote:Carried unanimously
The London Marathon places draw was carried out and the following members have a club place for the 2014 event:
Jeremy Navrady – Committee place
Will Honeybone
Nic Bensley
Congratulations and good luck
AGM closed at 7.29pm
Committee Meeting set for 27/11/13
OPEN FORUM
Martin Simmonds
Consider allowing Juniors wishing to join the club, who already have parents as members, be given preference.