2024-09-30-accounts - The North London Bowling Club

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President’s report to the AGM November 2024

The 2024 season was defined by the outstanding bowling performance of our women’s teams and our best men’s bowlers.

In no particular order, I want to name Angela Frankland, Kembra Healy, Sue Hunter, Lisa Hamby, Wandy Grzegorczyk and Lola Cashman from the women’s team. They all played at Leamington, and some more than once. It was the senior fours team with Wanda, Lisa, Sue and Lola that managed to progress the furthest. They were finalists in the Bowls England Women’s senior fours, surely an achievement that the club has never seen before.

On the men’s side, Josh Clark together with his partner James Lewington (from Ladygate BC) played the second round of the Bowls England men’s junior pairs.

All these bowlers were Middlesex Champions in 2024, the prerequisite to going to Leamington.

The club was very well represented not only in national, but also county and regional competitions with a number of players and teams reaching semi-final rounds. NLBC also won two local competitions, namely the Prentice Cup and the Cornish Cup

A heartfelt shout of congratulations is due to all participants, and thank you for raising the sporting image of the club in the county.

At home, we have had the expertise of our new greenkeeper, Chris Buswell of Bicester Turf Care, applied to our green. While Chris himself says that it will take a couple of years to bring the green up to be the best it can be, we have already noticed a significant improvement this year and are looking forward to his continued work. Chris has written a report to the AGM which you will find attached. He asks that all the volunteers who kept filling in the pecking holes in the green be especially thanked.

When it comes to thanking people for their contribution throughout the year, at the forefront are our gardeners who ensure through their work that the beds around the grounds are immaculate.

Another to thank this year is Steve Hassell. He gets us to use our brain in novel ways in his regular quiz night during the off season. And he cooks lovely warming soups to feed all this brainy activity.

Thanks also to the members of the board of management who have been so very reliable, and a great support to me in particular. Outstanding here are Brenda Maycox, our treasurer and co-bar manager with Lisa Hamby and the wider bar team. Brenda ensures that our finances are always up to date, invoices dealt with speedily and nothing falls through the cracks. And Geraldine Flynn, our secretary, dazzles by turning round every job she does in extra fast time.

Subscription numbers were broadly stable around 150 members, and finances overall are looking good with a nice surplus this year in the absence of any major investments being done.

We achieved a surplus in the accounts not least because we earned nearly £8,000 through private events, and the bar profit was £10,000 this year. A special tribute is due to John Lockwood and Brenda Maycox for achieving this excellent result.

There have been some mutterings about having had too many private events, but in fact the number was pretty much unchanged compared to the previous year. It was the combination of the admirable ability to negotiate prices that John has shown, plus the work as event organiser on the day that Brenda contributed, that ensured this high level of earnings.

Looking at it differently, private events and bar profit contributed £120 per member. This is money that the club receives and does not need to raise via higher subscriptions. In other words, anything any of you contribute to private events and the bar helps to keep subscriptions down.

As you know, the club is 100% run by volunteers. Disappointingly it sometimes comes across as if the payment of the annual subscription entitles a member to all the services. Not quite. These services are all provided by unpaid volunteer club members who generously give their time to the club.

I believe that every single member ought to contribute personally in some way to the running of the place. If you know you are not doing enough, it is time to step up. It may be as small as washing up the mug you have just used for your cup of tea and then go further and wash up another person’s mug while you are at it.

The bowling club is a charity, overseen by our four trustees – who are ready to be appointed by the AGM for another year. Being a charity comes with rights and responsibilities. It reduces our business rates by 80%. It also allows us to reclaim gift aid on those subscriptions paid by members who are not deriving any benefit from their membership.

Taken together, these rights were worth nearly £50 per member this year, another important factor helping us keep subscriptions down. But again, a considerable amount of admin work is required.

So being a charity is a financial benefit but of course it also brings responsibilities. We are offering lawn bowling to the general public on two afternoons a week, and we are generally promoting bowling in our neighbourhood. Again, more volunteering work is required to make all this happen.

I think you can all see where this is leading to – I am thanking all those members who have helped throughout the year, and I encourage any others to do more.

Brigitte Ascher

President NLBC

North London Bowling Club Balance sheet as at 30 September 2024 2024 2023 Flxed assets Debentures in North London 8ovth9 Cb L¥rited £1,820.00 £1.820.00 Current a$s•ts Sundry debtors and prepayments Stocks of Vryne. spiiits, beer etc. Cash at bank Cash account Gold account Shawbrook Viry•n Terrn Cpo$rt £0.00 £1,864.93 £94.888.29 £49,737.64 £87,588.56 £0.00 £0.00 £1,392.72 £9,813.88 £115,426.01 £0.00 £86,919.00 £234,079.42 £213.551.61 £235.899.42 £215.371.61 Currenl Ilabllllles NLBC Ltd CUent account Sundry credilors Reserve for coMpetitn Pfizes Oeposits hekj for keys £897.40 £0.00 £1,009.79 £1467.78 £897.40 £0.00 £1,166.74 £1 313.50 £3.374.97 £3.377.64 £232,524.45 £211.993,97 Represented by.. £¥nber5' fund al 30 September 2022 P1uderrt surphJ5 lor the year ended 30 September 2023 £211.993 97 £20.530.48 £236.376.56 -£24 382.59 £232,524.45 £211.993.97 Slgned (Hon. Treasurer) ((((È(2F Audltorfs report In my opinKin, the and expenditure account together with the balance sheel proparnd by the Honorary TaSUr give a true and fair view of the chjb's affair5 for the year ended and as at 30 Septerrt)er 2024. Slgn•d (Audltorl li

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