Page | 1

Cherwell Gymnastics Club business plan

Cherwell Gymnastics Club has outgrown its venue. With a waiting list almost twice as long as the number of spaces in the club, action needs to be taken if children and young people in Oxford City are to get access to this popular sport.

Opportunity:

Court Place Farm changing room redevelopment in partnership with Oxford City Council

Oxford City Council (OCC) have funding to refurbish the old changing rooms at Court Place Farm in Marston. Cherwell Gymnastics Club (CGC) are putting forward a proposal to rent these facilities and provide gymnastics provision for the benefit of the local community. OCC will make the building good, including re-roofing, with an estimated start date for work of April 2014.CGC will pay rent and cover the utilities bills. CGC will fully equip and maintain the gymnasium internally.

Contents:

1.0 Executive summaryPage 2

1.1 Keys to successPage 2

1.2 Our missionPage 2

1.3 Five year objectivesPage 2

1.4 Key aimsPage 3

2.0 Club summaryPage 3

2.1 Start up summaryPage 3

3.0 ServicesPage 4

4.0 Market Analysis and segmentationPage 4

5.0 Strategy and implementation summaryPage 4

6.0 Management summaryPage 5

6.1 Staffing planPage 5

7.0 Financial planPage 5

7.1 Current positionPage 5

7.2 Business planPage 6

7.3 Start-up fundingPage 6

7.4 Important assumptionsPage 7

7.4 Projected profit and lossPage 7

7.5 Potential growthPage 7

Conclusion and acknowledgementsPage 7

1.0 Executive summary

Cherwell Gymnastics Club (CGC) is a club with over thirty years of serving the community of Oxford. In its history the club has offered low cost gymnastics classes for children from as young as three to teenagers and young adults. Our staff are voluntary and the club now has over twenty coaches. The club has outgrown its school-based roots and the waiting list is now twice as big as the number of children we can offer places to. Due to size restrictions CGC can only offer women’s gymnastics and basic recreational gymnastics.

A move to a full-time gymnasium will enable the club to offer the gymnastics experience to more youngsters in Oxford City. CGC will continue to offer a community-based, participation focused club, run in the main by volunteers. The club hopes to increase its capacity while retaining its friendly, volunteer-led and child-centred approach.

1.1 Keys to success

●A thirty year history and reputation for high quality teaching

●Competitive pricing

●Experienced coaching and management team

●Good relationships with users

●Strong community ties and partnership work

●Strong link to Oxfordshire Amateur Gymnastics Association and British Gymnastics (BG)

●Good location with public transport links, ample parking and cycle racks

●Providing a multi-use environment for users - refreshments, homework room, changing rooms etc.

1.2 Our mission

To move CGC to bigger and better-equipped facilities in order to provide a friendly, community-based sports club, which would focus on improving access to gymnastics for the population of Oxford City. The club offers an environment where children and young adults can learn how to co-ordinate and strengthen their bodies, make friends from other schools and become part of a team. Our purpose in moving to a new facility is to offer these fantastic and formative experiences to more children in Oxford, including more specialised classes for boys and for people with disabilities.

1.3 Five year objectives

●Increase capacity of the club from 120 participants to 250 members.

●Reduce waiting list to a maximum one term wait (from a 3-4 year wait)

●Set up specific boys’ classes

●Set up a class for people with disabilities

●Improve facilities and training opportunities for 10-20 elite performers

●Offer training opportunities to a growing team of coaches.

1.4 Key aims

●To reduce waiting lists and provide facilities for more young gymnasts: A move to new premises will allow an increased number of classes to be run so that waiting lists would be reduced.

●To provide a wide range of gymnastics classes and opportunities: A new premises would provide the ability to run a more varied programme as well as providing facilities at weekends, during the school day, and in school holidays.

●Develop coaches to higher levels: The club would aim to further develop its coaching staff with perhaps some paid staff as skill levels and commitment increases

●Create a sustainable future: Through strong partnerships with Oxford City Council and the Oxfordshire Sports Partnership the club would develop and deliver robust business plans which support the current management structure

●Develop new young talent in the world of gymnastics:

Through increased coaching levels and a provision of better equipment the club aims to develop elite gymnasts, judges and coaches

●Raise the standards and increase volunteer participation: Increasing opportunities for volunteers to get involved in both sports management and coaching

●Support youth development and sports development initiatives to sustain and develop sport within the City.

2.0 Club Summary

CGC is a not-for-profit community sports club, working towards registration as a Community Amateur Sports Club (CASC). The club is based in Summertown and is the only dedicated gymnastics club in Oxford City. The club is run by volunteers. The majority of gymnasts take part for recreational reasons once a week for 1-2 hours and are 5-15 years old. Some children train longer hours in order to compete at the sport. Our waiting list holds nearly 400 children, with an average wait of 3-4 years for a place in a recreational class. The youngest on the waiting list is just six weeks old.

2.1 Start up summary

CGC already has the basic equipment for gymnastics and a team of trained coaches, along with regular users of the club and a long waiting list. The main costs of moving to a new facility would be upgrading equipment and renovation work.

3.0 Services

CGC in new premises would offer the following services:

Beginner recreational classes: one hour classes for 5-8 year olds to encourage children to use their bodies and to gain confidence with different movements and environments. These classes would include specific boys’ groups so that they could use the equipment better suited to men’s gymnastics. The price for these sessions would be £6 a session (roughly £66 for an 11 week term) plus BG membership once a year.

Advanced recreational classes: one and a half hour classes for 7-16 year olds to further develop strength, balance, flexibility and co-ordination. The classes are slightly longer, giving more time to learn harder moves. The price for these sessions would be £8 a session (roughly £88 for an 11 week term) plus BG membership once a year.

Gymnastics for people with disabilities: by year two we would aim to run a weekly drop in session for children with disabilities. This would involve the basics of gymnastics and movement in a safe and stimulating environment. Prices to be arranged.

Women’s squad gymnastics: basic elite gymnastics for 10-20 girls. The girls would train

2-4 times a week for 2-3 hours a session. This will be to help them prepare for County and Regional competitions. The price for the squad sessions would be variable depending on amount of training.

Pre-school gymnastics: this popular activity would be brought in during the first year of running the club in the new facility. More staff training would be needed for this development.

4.0 Market Analysis and segmentation

Gymnastics has been a popular sport in the UK for many decades, especially among young girls. Sport England track membership of sports clubs in their active people surveys. From 2008 to 2011 there was a statistically significant growth in membership of gymnastics clubs and participation in gymnastics, one of only two sports to show this positive change.

There is no gymnastics club in Oxford City, but a great demand for gymnastics -as shown by our waiting list. In fact nearly every club in Oxfordshire has a waiting list or is nearing capacity. In recent years Abingdon gymnastics club (AGC) has moved to full time facilities in Berinsfield, but this has not reduced the demand at our club, as busy parents do not want to travel too far, especially at rush hour, unless their child is an elite performer.

5.0 Strategy and implementation summary

At present if we move to a new facility we can expect to start with a base of 120 participants a week and a strong, committed following of coaches, parents and gymnasts. Our aim is to become a participation-focused club with a small wing for competitive gymnastics. With this aim in mind we will begin by increasing the number of classes we run for recreational level gymnasts. With our long waiting list we should be able to achieve our target of increasing usage to 250 participants a week without the need of marketing or advertising. It will be through training extra coaches and paying for full time coaches that we will be able to further grow the club to provide more sessions and other initiatives such as schools’ gymnastics and birthday parties etc.

6.0 Management summary

Cherwell GC has a committee of coaches, parents and older gymnasts who make the decisions about the running of the club. The club is a community club and therefore all equipment etc will belong to the club, and ultimately the community rather than to an individual.

6.1 Staffing plan

The majority of coaches will be volunteers who give 1-3 hours a week to help run the club. In return the club will pay their insurance (through their BG membership), and pay for training and CRB checks. As the club grows there will be more need for some paid coaches and administrators. We anticipate that this will kick in towards the end of the second year in a full time facility with 1-2 paid coaches, and a part-time receptionist/manager. The average local salary of coaches would be £16-22,000 for a full-time member of staff, giving an estimated cost of £24,600 per full-time member of coaching staff.

7.0 Financial plan

7.1 Current position

The club currently has £15,000 in the account. This has been saved to upgrade our tumble track. Any money accrued in the account before a move to a facility will be used to upgrade equipment and pay for coach training.

7.2 Business Plan

Year zero is based on our accounts for the 2012-13. Year one is based on existing numbers in the club.

7.3 Start-up funding

As gymnasts pay term fees in advance this will give some cash in advance of a move. The club bank account will need to have an overdraft facility in case of cash flow issues to begin with. We have a small amount of club savings (£15,000) which we have been putting aside towards the set-up costs of the venture, and updating equipment.

7.4 Important assumptions

●Existing coaches will continue to volunteer and may even increase their commitment.

●Children already with the club will move with us to new premises and the people on the waiting list will still be interested in participating in gymnastics.

●Affordable rent and bills (2-8k including bills)

●Ability to fund the purchase and upkeep of suitable equipment

●Demand will continue and no new clubs will be set up in a similar area.

●Annual inflation of 3%

●New facility is developed and opened during 2014-15.

7.5 Projected profit and loss

According to our growth model as laid out in our financial plan, the club would make a steady profit for the year before moving (2013-14), the year of the move (2014-15) and the first full year in the facility (2015-16). This would enable us to absorb the losses of initially employing a full-time coach in year three. Our forecasts show growth of numbers in the club and a small profit of £2777 by the end of year five.

Any increased profit would be used to bring forward the employment of a full-time member of staff, increase staffing levels and upgrade and maintain equipment.

7.6 Potential growth

Many gymnastics clubs have up to 600 users a week, and although Oxford is not a big City there is potential for growth of the club. The nearest facility-based clubs are in Berinsfield, Banbury and Aylesbury, and with a very busy rush hour around Oxford people are constantly looking for the closest venue. Oxford University also has a gymnastics club with no facility within Oxford city and so would be interested in using an Oxford venue.

Conclusion

With the high profile that the Olympics and other events are giving to Gymnastics the club is aware of the emphasised need to ensure that waiting lists are kept to a minimum and facilities are developed to deliver tomorrow's champions. There has never been a better time to promote sport in the aftermath to 2012 and we would hope that through solid work and partnerships that there will be structures in place for the club to continue to develop opportunities for people of all ages and abilities to participate in gymnastics and associated activities, undertake a physical activity, try something for the first time and improve their health and well-being.

For more information:

Hazel Walsh: 01865 310522

Sarah Fry: 01993 774775

With particular thanks to our steering group member Simon Kearey from Oxfordshire County Council and Oxfordshire Sports Partnership board for his help with the planning.