Ferring Retirement Club
Chairman’s Annual Report 01.10.2022 – 30.09.2023
My third year as Chairman started on a rather turbulent note as many of our members were hit by a surprise wave of Covid, just when we thought we were out of the woods. A number of key personnel were indisposed, as a result of which some activities were disrupted, but we kept the ship afloat, thanks to a strong body of helpers. The true value of teamwork was never more appreciated as people stepped in to cover the duties of absent colleagues.
Since taking office in November 2020, I have been fortunate in having Brian Bigwood by my side as Treasurer. Having been elected to his post a year earlier than I, he had his feet firmly under the table, so to speak, and this was a great comfort to a novice Chairman. Brian has been a loyal and painstaking guardian of our finances and has chaired our Finance & General Purposes Committee (F&GPC) since its inception. Sadly, he has taken the decision to stand down and this will be a great loss to our Club and especially to me. However, I take comfort in the knowledge that Brian has developed systems that will, I am confident, enable his successors throughout the coming years to carry out their duties as efficiently and effectively as he has done. I am very pleased that Brian will continue as Section Leader for Table Tennis.
Club Secretary, Bernadette Griffin, has never failed to offer support and guidance, and I personally value her wise counsel. Apart from preparing all meeting papers and meticulously keeping minutes of meetings, Bernie has spent countless hours reviewing our existing policies and procedures, as well as drafting new ones. She keeps a watchful eye on any changes required to ensure that we comply with the requirements of the Charity Commission and has added, this year, a Safeguarding & Wellbeing Policy. Bernie also serves on the F&GPC and our newly-formed Communications &Welfare Group (CWG).
Executive Committee:
Our Trustees have continued to meet bimonthly but, in September, they resolved to meet quarterly with effect from the start of the next financial year. However, every Trustee will serve on at least one of our three subcommittees – the F&GPC, the CWG and the Events Management Team (EMT). These three advisory bodies will now each meet once between Trustee meetings and present their recommendations to the full Trustee body for approval. This structure will enable the Trustees to focus more on strategic issues at meetings and make the most of the time available.
Roger Abbott, our Assistant Treasurer, has deputised as Treasurer in Brian’s absence and we hold him in high regard for his financial acumen and scrupulous bookkeeping skills. He oversees the management of our funds and investments, undertaking the necessary research with the utmost care. Roger serves on the F&GPC and also undertakes the counting, collating and banking of all monies paid by members for annual membership, weekly activities and other events.
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Our Membership Secretary, Yvonne Linzey, collects membership applications and payments, updates the database and keeps activity registers continuously updated throughout the year, ensuring that accurate records are maintained. Yvonne serves on both the F&GPC and the EMT, and has also demonstrated exceptional skills in project management – especially in the planning and delivery of a highly successful Christmas Lunch.
Lindsay Taylor, our Manager, is an essential presence both in front of and behind the scenes at all events as well as running our Coffee Morning, Fish & Chip Lunches, Chinese Suppers and Cream Teas. In addition to serving on our EMT and CWG, Lindsay keeps us supplied with coffee, tea, cakes and biscuits, and her untiring efforts are greatly appreciated by us all.
In October 2022, Robert Linzey, with Yvonne’s assistance, started Saturday Bingo sessions, and members appreciated having somewhere warm to go in the winter and something to do at weekends. Bob is another member of our EMT as well as our Maintenance Officer, carrying out a multitude of tasks in that role, in addition to acting as Fire Safety Officer and Health & Safety Officer. Thank you, Bob, for taking on all these areas of responsibility.
The start of 2023 saw a repeat of our Burns Night Supper and thanks go to Barbara Black for arranging this successful event. Barbara also organised our first St George’s Day event, with Morris dancers, communal singing and a cream tea. I would like to thank all those who assisted Barbara with the preparations for these events. I am sorry that Barbara resigned as a Trustee in March 2023 but grateful that she continues to serve on the EMT.
When we started serving cream teas on Saturday afternoons last autumn, Lynda Gould, Barbara and Lindsay shared the responsibility and the result was a most professionallooking lay-out of tables with pretty cloths, napkins, flowers and, of course, cake stands with the traditional sandwiches, scones and fancy cakes. Lynda also helps with the catering at other activities, is Section Leader for Tuesday Seated Exercises, and serves on the EMT.
Ann Smith, our second longest serving Trustee, can be seen helping behind the scenes with refreshments at concerts and other events. She serves on the EMT and is one of the handdeliverers of our Newsletters, along with Bernie, Brian and Roger. This is essential for keeping those members informed who do not have access to email.
In December, we were sorry to learn that Marilyn Catterill was resigning; she had been an excellent and well-loved Welfare Officer and we have missed her well-judged contributions around the meeting table. However, we have been very fortunate in recruiting three new Trustees, one of whom, Susan Pratt, has taken on the Welfare Officer role. Sue has many years’ experience in trustee and governance roles, and has brought fresh skills to our team. She serves on the EMT and CWG, and stands for election today.
Our other new recruits are Betty McCann and Jeannette O’Sullivan. Betty stands for election as Treasurer. She is treasurer and trustee with other local organisations and now serves on all three of our sub-committees.
Jeannette is another experienced charity trustee and has rapidly found a niche for herself in the role of Communications Officer, chairing our CWG as well as serving on our other two sub-committees.
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We welcome all three of our new recruits and hope they will enjoy their involvement with the governance and management of our charity.
Though not a Trustee, Sally Davidge-Pitts, attends our EMT meetings and, in that role, has been involved in the planning and execution of all our events and activities. Thank you, Sally!
I am indebted to my fellow Trustees for their loyalty and support, without which our Club could not function. They all undertake additional tasks that do not appear in their Role Descriptions and may well go unnoticed by club members; but I notice them, and I am most grateful for all these little tasks that are so essential to the smooth running of the Club.
Membership:
Our closing membership at the end of September 2022 was the highest ever at 249 but a number chose not to renew their membership for a variety of reasons – some had moved away from the area, others had become too frail to attend activities, and a few had, regrettably, developed life-changing conditions that sadly necessitated their move to residential care. I am saddened to report the deaths of five members – Peter Bentley, Margaret Metcalf, Janet Courtenage, Betty Weaver and David Jeffcock. Peter was a stalwart of our Terry Clough Choir, and Margaret was a much-loved member of our Dance Fit and Poetry groups. Janet and Betty enjoyed Seated Exercise classes, while David was a loyal member of our bridge section.
Numbers soon picked up again as we found ourselves welcoming new members on a weekly basis so our membership at the close of the financial year on 30 September 2023 stood at a magnificent, all-time high of 261! This is, of course, good news for us but it does mean that our section leaders are managing larger numbers and we are most grateful to them as they are an essential part of our management structure; without them, we could not run any of our activities. Special mention must be made here of Wendy and Roger Tallett, who both served as section leaders for nearly 13 years but have now relocated out of the area. They devoted much time and energy to ensuring the smooth running of our events and this earned them the well-deserved status of Honorary Life Members.
Finance:
As part of my annual report, I must advise members of the Club’s Policy on Financial Reserves. Our Reserves Policy governs the funds that we hold, where we keep them and our plans for their use. We have also adopted a club specific addendum, which is reviewed on an ongoing basis by our F&GPC, chaired by our Treasurer. They report any changes at Trustee meetings and the Policy is specifically reviewed by the executive committee every six months.
We maintain a total reserve of £360,000; this is split into an expendable reserve of £20,000, held in an instant access savings account with a high street bank, and an investable reserve of £340,000, which is split into four deposits with different UK financial institutions. Thus, all our funds are protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme.
The Trustees have taken the decision to maintain our Reserve so that the interest generated can be used to support the activities run by the Club and contribute towards the running
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costs and maintenance of our clubroom. For the benefit of our members, we decided once again not to increase the annual membership fee or activities fee for 2022/23. Participants in our exercise classes will know that the cost of a session with us is significantly less than at other similar classes run locally. We also subsidised the ticket price of our Christmas Lunch and Summer Supper to make these events more affordable for our members.
Change of charity name:
Many of you will be aware of Friends of Ferring (FoF) – the wonderful organisation that transports clients to and from medical appointments asking for no more than a donation towards expenses. What you may not have realised is that FoF operates under the same charity number as Ferring Retirement Club (FRC), although the two organisations have always functioned completely independently of each other. In view of this, the Trustees of FRC have, after much deliberation and consultation with FoF, proposed that the two entities should separate. Although FoF would no longer operate under FRC's charity number, there would be no other material change, and FoF would continue to operate as it has always done. The rationale for this has been explained more fully in a circular that all members have received. A vote will be taken today on the resolution to change our charity name from Ferring Retirement Club (Incorporating Friends of Ferring) to Ferring Retirement Club.
Clubroom Lease:
Although the lease on our clubroom expired this year, I am delighted to say that we are in the process of securing a new lease, which will take us through to the end of 2036. I would like to express my thanks to the Directors of the Glebelands Centre for granting this and to our Secretary, Bernie Griffin, for the many hours spent negotiating our way through the legalities.
In conclusion, I must admit that I am filled with pride when people tell me that our Club’s support has made such a difference to their lives, enabled them to overcome a challenge or inspired them to do something better. Of course, without our Trustees, Section Leaders and casual helpers, there would be no club. In fact, our future existence depends on retaining and recruiting the right people to act as Trustees and we are working very hard to keep the club running as effectively as possible for the benefit of our members. Only those who undertake a particular task can fully appreciate just what it entails and, unfortunately, it is only too easy to take people for granted. So I would like all our volunteers, in whatever capacity, to know that any contribution they make to the smooth running of our Club is greatly valued and I thank all our members for their continued support.
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FRIENDS OF FERRING ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30TH SEPTEMBER 2023 2023 2022 BALANCE AS AT 30TH SEPTEMBER 6.361.C4J 7,093. DONATIONS INTEREST RECEIVED 4.033.57 2,791.C TOTAL 4..57 2,814.(KJ LESS EXPENDITURE.. DR ThR$ EXPENSES TELEPHONE INSURANCE WREATH WEBSITE COVID TEAM EVENT DSS CHECKS SUNDRIES AOS AND PRINTING ST ANDREWS HALL HIRE 2.28 213.34 1,528.1)J 172.IYJ 15. to3. 315.Q) 251.crfj 59.70 67.93 514.Th) TOTAL 4.324.5f . 3,546.0) 1290.941 1732.QJl TOTAL FUNDS FOR YEAR 6.070.06 361.00 SIGNED:. SUE SAMUEL I have examined the re(8pts from the books vouchers and eyplanations given to me an(1 in my opinitsn thèy represent thefinancial FK)Sition Of FrnLts of FerriThJ 8as at 30th septeMr 223 CLYDE FORDYCE HON INDEPENDENT EXAMINER
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