COLCHESTER PHOENIX AMATEUR SWIMMING CLUB
LEGAL AND ADMINISTRATION INFORMATION. FOR THE YEAR ENDING 31 DECEMBER 2021
Status
The organisation is a charity registered on the 5th March 1996. Charity Registration 1053511 Chairman: Mrs Theresa Higgins Registered address: 70 Wimpole Road, Colchester, CO1 2DW. Bankers: Barclays Bank PLC, Colchester Branch.
Structure Governance and Management
Colchester Phoenix Amateur Swimming Club is a charity with the Charity Commission governed by its constitution adopted on 24th February 1996. This has been revised by the trustees in May 2017 and March 2020.
Trustees.
Theresa Higgins Hywel Edwards Nicola lacey Keith ( Bill) Holmes Pam Edwards Rachel Chapman-Edwards Graeme Servantes (Appointed April 2022)
The committee is made up of the trustees and representatives of the coaches and teachers.
The representatives are: Judith Strain, Julie Jago, Tracey Cole and Nicola Scott. Trustees Annual Report for the year ending 31st Dec 2022.
Organisational Structure
The trustees administer the charity. Meetings are held by Zoom on a regular basis. The trustees have responsibility on all operational matters, including finance and swimming coaches/teachers.
Objectives and Activities
The object of the club shall be to provide an opportunity for people with physical or learning disabilities to enjoy swimming. This will be done by providing teaching, development of swimming, diving and other water-based activities for its members and where, appropriate, to enable them to compete.
The club is committed to treating everyone equally within the context of its activity and with due respect to the difference of the individuals. It shall not apply or endorse unlawful discrimination and shall act in compliance with the protections afforded by the Equality Act 2010 and shall implement the Swim England Equality Policy: and shall provide the above objectives with an emphasis on providing them to members of the Charity with a disability.
Achievement and Performance.
We have had a year without closures due to lockdowns. However the Garrison pool was closed at the end of the year due to technical reasons.
We relaxed the Covid-19 protocols but we still advised the swimmers, teachers and coaches not to come to lessons if they were testing positive for the virus.
For the first two terms of the year , we continued to use parents or someone from the swimmers' bubble to support them in the water. From September, volunteers have been recruited from local schools and colleges. We still need more adult volunteers for our swimmers with challenging behaviours.
We were able to hold an in-person Annual General meeting. Club awards were given out for the first time since 2019.
Competitions are few as many have not restarted since the lockdowns. This means that
some of our swimmers do not have a suitable competitive pathway. Some parents have asked the club to investigate the Special Olympics pathway. The Down Syndrome Swimming (DSS) Association has held World and British championships.
Mark Holmes was a medallist at the World DSS Championships. Holly Bocking, the club captain, achieved many personal best times.
Mark, Holly, Hannah Coulson, Ben Edwards and Nikos Hodge all attended the British Championships.
The club held a very successful gala on the 8th Dec. All swimmers were encouraged to enter, all participants received a medal. Those placed 1,2 and 3 received gold, silver and bronze medals.
We have a long waiting list which we have tried to shorten by offering trial sessions. Many parents do not respond despite several attempts. This makes the task very difficult. We have some adults on the waiting list. We are considering holding a session for adults at 6pm on Saturday.
The club is grateful for donations received during the year. One trustee took part in the Great North Run, another did the Virtual London Marathon, they raised over £1000. Linklaters, Ultimotive and the Oak Hospital donated £2250 which covered all the expenses of the Club Gala.
Colchester Children's Appeal have also donated some money to help a
swimmer. The Club maintained its SwimMark Status.
Thank you goes to the Trustees and Committee members for their continued support. Thank you goes to the Head Coach, Julie Jago and Head teacher Tracy Cole. They have worked hard together with the other teachers and coaches to provide a varied programme of activities for the swimmers.
Theresa Higgins
Chairman
Financial Review and Future Plans
The charity has no formal reserves. It has however, as a policy, the aim of keeping a fund of at least 6 months of operating costs in reserve.