SHC AGM 2024
20 May 2024 19:00
- Present & Apologies
- Sign off minutes of last AGM (2023)
- Chairpersons report – Jason
- Treasurers report – David
- Election of officers
- AOB – by prior request
Apologies
Claire & Deane Baker
Tim Maltby
Minutes of the last AGM
Loaded on members area for last year, no comments made and therefore all happy.
AGM chair report
First and foremost I would like to say a few thankyou’s to all the sponsors for continuing to support the club, and volunteers throughout the season, be that committee members and those that hold other official roles in the club, helpers on Saturday mornings and parents who transport players throughout the season, these individuals have helped the club run and give something back, the club can’t run without your support and moving forwards the club will need such involvement if it is to maintain its delivery of the sport we all love and flourish in the future. Having enough volunteers is a common challenge for clubs across the country so if you feel you can spare time to help please do. We all know what teamwork can deliver, as seen throughout the season, and working together for the same goals and to the benefit of the club will be fundamental to this.
Back in March I took on the role of Acting chair alongside my role as club secretary following Graeme stepping down for personal reasons, I would like to thank Graeme for stepping up two years ago to take the role of chairperson and wish him all the best for the future. This has however put a significant pressure on my time and bearing in mind I was looking to step down after 5 years on the committee and a further 7 years in other official roles, it has created a challenge of what the club needs to do going forwards regarding having a sustainable structure in place that lightens the burden on individuals and allows the club to flourish in the future, this will be discussed in the AOB section.
Looking at the season, it has been a good year both on and off the pitch, with teams and players showing that Spalding HC is a force to be reckoned with and it was fantastic to celebrate this at the awards night for seniors and the junior awards in April. Yes there are always challenges through the year which need to be dealt with and have been, the ask is that everyone needs to remember that the committee members are volunteers who give up a massive amount of time so working together for the good of the club as a whole and doing what is right is key.
This year we moved kit supplier to Y1 following an extensive program to get this out to players, I would like to thank Kate Amess for her hard work on this, I think the kit looks great!
Off the pitch we have enjoyed a social program which has brought us all together to have fun and raise some funds for the club, Bingo and Race night are always favourites. The first Auction night that was run just before Christmas was excellent and raised significant funds and the annual ball two weeks ago was fantastic and for me was a great way to end the season. None of this would have been possible if it wasn’t for the tireless work of the social committee (official and non official members), Jacob, Claire, Kate N, Amy, Deane & David plus many more helpers though the year, you did a great job. It also wouldn’t have been possible without the support of all those that have donated items or sponsored events and ultimately a thank you to the generosity of all of you, your families and friends for getting involved and taking part.
This fundraising has helped us invest back into the club with new half goals used at junior and senior training & the Primary schools tournaments and ropes to section off the pitch for various events. Looking forward the club will continue to invest through funding coaching programs (an Introduction to Hockey coaching workshop was run on Saturday (18th May) and we were extremely fortunate to have Sam Beveridge deliver this, she is part of the GB ladies coach team and will be going off to the Olympics this year. We are also looking at new goal nets and first aid courses to name a few. This will be an ongoing program and ideas for further projects will be welcomed.
Finally, last year we talked about setting a strategy for the club to help clarify where we are and give a framework to help the club continue to deliver and grow, although after two productive sessions midway through the season this hasn’t yet been finalised but I feel it can move forward and Spalding HC will continue to ‘bat above its station’ in the county and the East region and ultimately for all its members, have fun and enjoy the sport.
Thankyou
Jason Naylor
Acting Chair & Club Secretary
Treasurers report
Yet another great season for Spalding Hockey Club, and as I have in my previous Treasurer’s Reports, I once again would like to congratulate each and every team, from the 4 men and 3 ladies senior teams, to all juniors and anyone else who represented the club in any capacity.
ClubBuzz2 has been in place for 2 seasons now and appears to be working well. The interface is easy to use, and the iOS app continues to be a great tool. Please note that there is now also an Android app.
Overall, the club continues to be in a good financial position, with a surplus this financial year of £12,586. It should once again be noted that the club should continue to maintain a surplus, and there are questions regarding the contingency plans for the carpet at Glen Park, which is reaching its end of life and will need replacement in the near future.
Member payments are lower than last year, with a decrease by approximately £6,375. Member payments include all annual subscriptions, match fees and training fees (including juniors) charged through ClubBuzz. This year, income from annual subscriptions increased by just over £400, which consists of 62 adult members, and 69 student/unemployed members (it does not include Saturday morning juniors who do not pay annual subs). The decrease can be attributed to no interclub days run this season (2x mens and 2x ladies interclub days were run in 2022/23), as well as less income from social sessions, badgers games and other miscellaneous matches. Lastly, 10 junior sessions during the 2023/24 season were charged after the accounts were reviewed, and therefore will be accounted as part of the 2024/25 accounts.
Sponsorship remained virtually the same as last year following a restructure of sponsorship packages sorted by Kate Amess. A huge thanks to our gold sponsors which include ARK ICT Solutions, Hills Furnishings, Hub Rural & TC Bulley Davey.
Two annual balls fell within this financial year, which can be seen in the income of £13,570 income for this year. The expenditure for both balls combined came to just over £10,500, resulting in a surplus of approximately £3,570.
The social committee attributed to an amazing increase in social events income, which increased by £6,770 from last year (this year’s social income being £10,135). With the expenditure of £1,650, this saw a total of £8,485 being raised by the social committee on events outside of the annual ball. A big thank you to this year’s Head of Social Committee, Jacob Baker, and his fantastic team. The whole social committees’ hard work has not gone unnoticed.
Fred Morris continues to run walking hockey sessions during the week and was also able to source contributions from primary schools for the primary school tournaments. Furthermore, Fred was able to source a donation from South Holland District Council towards primary school tournaments, which is accounted for within Grants & Donations. The club is very grateful for everything Fred continues to do for the club.
The rest of the Grants & Donations consist of a one of £1,000 donation from Compare The Market, as well as £230 from Easy Fundraising and £300 from the Rotary Club following the help the club provided for the Santa Sleigh.
Clothing sees a big increase in income, but this is also reflected similarly in the clothing expenses. This comes as part of the new Y1 kit for the 2023/24 season, very well organised by Kate Amess. The small difference is due to a small number of grey away shirts purchased this year.
Interest received increased by £100, with bank charges decreasing by £40. In the next year, I plan to work alongside Jooles Higgins in order to move money between accounts, to make the most of the accounts that accrue interest and stop the use of accounts where we are charged.
Lastly for income, the lottery saw a slight decrease in participants, with the 24 participating in the lottery resulting in a £336 surplus.
Match teas saw a slight decrease this year, with a total of £2,425. A big thanks should go to Tonic44 for accommodating SHC on Saturday’s and even some Sunday’s for other club fixtures.
Fuel reimbursement has seen a slight decrease of approximately £270. The club remains to reimburse players who travel with 3 participating members to a match at an unchanged rate of 20p per mile (at a maximum of 4 vehicles per match). This encourages less vehicles travelling to away games.
Pitch hire at SPARC has seen only a slight increase of £235. The new LEDs and new energy rates sourced by SPARC meant that we did not see much of a change.
Umpiring expenses saw a slight decrease of £220, due to the Mens 1st Team having fewer appointed umpires due to their change in league this season. We continue to contribute to our internal club umpires, which Matt Pilgrim has organised once again. If you are interested in umpiring, please get in touch with him.
League & Cup Entry has no charges this year, as these are now accounted under Affiliation Fees paid to EH/East League.
Equipment has seen a large increase of £3,345. This increase is mostly due to the purchase of the new mini goals, as well as the ropes used to divide the pitch. Other equipment costs included smaller items such as first aid equipment, locks to keep the new goals safe and a new GK helmet added to the kit being used in the ladies section.
Coaching expenses saw an increase this year, due to the new addition of Barney Harris as the coach for the ladies section. This proved a great success, and Barney will be missed as he moves on to a new job abroad.
Affiliation Fees includes fees paid to England Hockey, which now also includes insurance sourced by England Hockey. This saw a small increase of approximately £200 this year.
Website fees to ClubBuzz saw no increase, remaining at £250 per year, the same as many previous years.
There were no donations made by the club this year, and no other expenses outside of our normal categories.
It should be noted that without volunteers that spend time organising and running social events, and our sponsors, the club would be running at a deficit. If we were to remove social events and ball income, sponsorship income and not have purchased the mini goals or ropes this year, the club would be at an approximate deficit of £660. If you are able to contribute in any way, please reach out to someone on the committee.
Despite this, there are no plans to increase annual subs or match fees for the 2024/25 year. With an additional senior team, we should see an increase in Member Payments, and also we also strive to be accessible to all especially following the last few years of cost of living crisis.
Finally, I wish to say a big thank you to this season’s main committee; Jason, Charlotte, Jacob, Sally & Kate, and to Jooles for assisting whenever required as well as reviewing the accounts at the end of the year again! And lastly, a big thank you to any other volunteers that help the club at any capacity.
Questions:
Pete Wright: Should we look at ladies and men’s 1st team players ask for player sponsorship?
Discussed and voted on as something to take forward: Kate Amess to take this forward.
Election of officers
Jason gave context to list of roles for election and need for volunteers and the right people taking on roles, and raised that Jason and Pete Wright had had some discussions on the future structure of the club.
AOB was then explained by Pete to the attendees, Vice chair/chairs was received well, further changes as explained would need to be discussed with the new committee with an expectation that there would be a transition period with hope to have something in place for 2025 season. Vice chairs would be proposed for this year, view that the roles would be a way to lighten the load and allow smooth transition when Chair steps down, expectation is that whoever take on a vice role would be expecting to take chair role in the future.
Welfare officer and DBS – Charlotte raised the point that all coaches, junior or senior must be DBS checked to coach, no DBS = no coaching
AOB – by prior request
Raised by Pete Wright: potential change in structure to the club to lighten load and get more people involved
Executive committee:
Three Exec members (or 1 chair and 2 vice chairs)
Representative from playing committee
Representative from Social committee
This structure ensures oversight of the “day to day” committees, frees up those committees to get on with the here and now and allows the Exec committee to look more Medium to long term and assist where necessary.
Sponsorship and Social Committee
Responsible for
Kit
Fundraising
Sponsorship
Socials
Etc
Playing Committee
Responsible for
Training (senior and junior)
Matches
Umpires
League entry
Captains/selection