Committee Meeting held at Gloucester Boathouse

on Monday 9^th October 2006

These notes cover the main points that were discussed at the meeting, the full set of minutes has been posted in the Clubhouse.

Present: Mark Pollard (Chairman), Deirdre Squire, Rachael Britnell, Rupert Charley, Phil Cheeseman, Kim Drinkwater, Peter Hills, Zoë Mandeville, Brian Nelson and Stephen Rose.

Apologies: Clive Pendry.

Priorities for 2006/7

Last year’s objectives had been:

• Increase membership: having sufficient coaches and launch drivers was noted as a key requirement
• Fund raising
• Double membership of 200 Club
• Open the Bar on a regular basis
• Run the Long Distance Head (in October 2006)
• Finish off negotiations with City Council (land purchase) and BW (canal access)
• Strategic Plan and Funding Plan in place by end of March
• Initial implementation of Funding Plan before the next AGM

The first and fifth have been achieved as well as development of the Strategic Plan. Fund raising had been disappointing as had the response to the Bar rota. The remaining items were not completed in part due to delays in the land purchase caused by the City Council.

There was a discussion on which parts of the Strategic Plan should be given priority. The following objectives were agreed:

• Improve the number and quality of coaches
• Make the clubhouse a more attractive place to visit
• Complete work on brochures aimed at new members and at sponsors
• Plan the funding and development of the new site

Action 06100901 Deirdre to develop a plan, with a budget of up to £2000, for improving the clubhouse including new furniture, new carpets and new bar flooring.

Action 06100902 Mark to approach Ben Rodford about developing brochures that advertise the Club to prospective sponsors and members.

Action 06100903 Mark to research the cost of replacement boats for the Pub&Club regatta.

Budget for 2006/7 (and Treasurer’s Report)

The following basis for deciding how much money the Club has available to spend on new equipment was agreed:

• Running costs – rent, rates, utilities, insurance etc – will be estimated as 10% more than the previous year
• Estimates for expenditure on premises, boat repairs/spares, launch running costs and any exceptional items will be made
• A reserve of 50% of the estimated total expenditure will be retained
• Income from subscriptions will be estimated from the previous year adjusted for any agreed increase in rates but reduced by 20% as membership numbers fluctuate by up 20% year on year.
• No income will be assumed from fund raising or events (head, regatta etc).
• Any surplus will be available for new equipment

At each meeting, the Treasurer will report on how income and expenditure is progressing against the budget. The amount available for new equipment will be adjusted according to whether there is a projected surplus or deficit against the budget.

It was agreed that a cleaner would be employed for a 3 month period as part of the objective to make the Clubhouse more attractive. The Club will supply cleaning materials and a new vacuum cleaner will be purchased.  Action 06100904 Deirdre to draw up a list of cleaning jobs that need to be done each week.

On the agreed basis, it was estimated that £10875 would be available to spend on new equipment in the coming year. The Rowing Committee will use this projected figure to plan expenditure on new equipment in the first part of the Club year.

How the committee will work this year / Allocation of jobs

It was agreed to continue to run the Committee and sub-committees as in the last 2 years. The Rowing Committee will continue as before. The Futures Committee will be split in 2 parts – one to concentrate on completing the land purchase and the other to work on plans for developing the land and raising the necessary funds. The Regatta Committee will be renamed the Events Committee to emphasise that it is a team working to stage all the events.

The list of job allocations is posted at the Clubhouse.

Captain’s Report / Rowing Committee report

A review of equipment requirements is underway. There is to be a meeting of coaches.

Zoe passed on a request for better co-ordination with the men’s squad. Deirdre reported that this had been discussed the previous day and she expected a co-ordinator would be appointed to ensure that squad members were kept informed of squad matters.

Wins

Evesham Head: J18 2x (Richard Sansum, Lyndon Cook); J16 1x (Lyndon Cook); J14 2x (Ben Marshall, Neil Vines)

Safety

Clive had sent a report of recent safety issues. He had obtained email and phone details of safety contacts at BW and had reported 2 recent incidents. A tree had been removed from the canal and disposed of. Clive thanked all who helped and suggested improved procedures if this was to be attempted again. Clarifying a statement from the previous meeting, he confirmed that capsizes are recordable only not reportable. He re-iterated that the Club needs to purchase more large life jackets. He reminded the Committee that with winter approaching members should be reminded about the rules covering night time rowing.

Rupert suggested that the Club should have some qualified launch drivers. Deirdre said that a number of members were interested in attending a course. Mark questioned whether it was necessary to have formally qualified launch drivers – not all parts of the RYA level 2 syllabus is relevant to the Club’s launch usage. It was agreed that a more effective first step would be to set up our own basic training that all launch drivers went through. Action 06100907 Mark to draw up a plan for basic launch driver training.

Membership

Rachael has new accounting software which can act as a membership database. She will produce a list of current members each month and post it at the Club.

06071706 Mark to produce a change of details form. Done. Mark showed the Committee the draft form which includes a list of jobs for which volunteers are needed and asks for members to indicate which they are willing to undertake. It also requests input to the plans for the developing the new site. 

New Members

The following new members were approved :David Learmont; Steff England ; Neville Lange; Jo Molyneux; Gill Kempster; Mark Dempster; Caroline Davies Jones (all Senior); Hattie Neave (Junior).

WAGS

It was agreed that the Cotswold Water Park development was likely to go ahead and that the Club should be supportive, including supporting a regatta run by the WAGS region, but it was unlikely that the Club could commit any major effort to the venture.

Premises

A repair has been attempted on the leaking roof in the weights room, its effectiveness has not yet been proven.

06091107 Phil to buy bins for recycling. Closed. It was agreed that an existing bin could be used provided that it was clearly labelled.

AOB

Brian noted that there is a lot of outdated information on the Club’s web pages. Martin Jones will be asked to archive the old material.

Rachael asked about the apparently permanently locked lockers. Some contain tools but others have lost keys. Spare keys are kept behind the bar. Action 06100908 Rachael to check which lockers have missing keys and arrange for new keys to be cut.

Rachael also suggested that the club purchase more coffee mugs. It was felt that members might have spare mugs that they would donate to the Club. Action 06100909 Rachael to post a notice asking for donations of spare coffee mugs.

Rupert suggested that owners of private equipment be required to label their boat of the adjacent rack with contact details.

Deirdre reminded the Committee of the agreement that the Club would display photos of all members that had been CRB checked. It was suggested that CRB checks need re-validating regularly. Action 06100910 Mark to check (with Nicki Ross and the ARA) the policy on revalidation of CRB checks.

It was noted that some members had had their cars broken into on Empire Way the previous day. (Post meeting note: there were further break-ins on the following Sunday. ProTyre will be approached about using their car park on Sundays.)

Date of next Committee meeting: Monday 4^th December 2006 at 7.45pm .