Gateshead H arriers and Athletics Club
Annual report to the Annual General Meeting, 20 November 2025
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Introduction
This report provides a summary of the club’s activity over the last year
Condolences
The Annual Meeting was asked to pause for 2 mins to reflect upon the lives lost during the year. In particular the passing of Bruce Horsburgh our highly respected sprints coach. We also were saddened to learn of the passing of Paul Ord, a former member of John McDonald’s training group
Representative and Competitive successes
Everyone at the club was delighted at the appointment of Anna Nicholson as women’s captain of the UK and Northern Ireland team that competed in the World Para Athletics Championships in India. Anna went on to win the bronze medal in the F35 Shot Putt – a huge achievement for her and her coach, Richard Kaufman.
In addition:
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Joy Eze was selected as a member of the UK&NI 4x100 relay squad for the World Championships in Tokyo
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David Race was selected to compete for the UK team in the World University Games, held in Bochum, Germany
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Hannah Wilson was invited to compete in the Home Counties Combined Events international meeting
Several of our young athletes competed for their county teams in the English Schools Championships and we also were well represented in the North East Counties Cross Country team for the inter Counties Championships
Our Masters athletes have been very successful in the past year:
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Lewis Robson and Emily McDonald won titles in the British Masters with Lewis going on to place win a Gold, a Silver and a Bronze in the European Masters
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Karen Storey was 3[rd] in the British Masters
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Angela Kirtley was 3[rd] in the over 65 category of the British Masters10k
In track and field our league positions were as follows:
North East Youth Development League Division 1 -2nd North East Senior Development League – 1[st] UK Youth Development League - North/ Premier East – 3[rd]
Thanks go to Janice, John and Karen for their management of the league teams and to the volunteers/ officials who ensure that we fulfil our obligations to the organisation of the fixtures
Thanks to the direction of Rob Brown, Callum Johnson, Stephen Parr and Steven Medd, The senior men’s endurance squad is enjoying something of a resurgence, having won the Elswick Relays and recently placing 3[rd] and 10[th] in the Northern and National crossCountry Relays and getting the current winter season off to a good start by leading Division 1 of the North East Harrier League.
We still need to do more to encourage the growing numbers of young and women athletes who train regularly with us to compete for the club
Governance
The committee has continued to meet monthly usually remotely, using Teams. In order to enable everyone to attend, we have met on Sundays as well as Monday evenings. 2 members of the committee, Chris Betts and Aileen Waite are standing down. We hope that Chris’s skill and knowledge can continue to be utilised to assist in the club’s development. Aileen of course has been our committee secretary for several years and will continue to contribute to the club by officiating and organising the indoor meetings We are very grateful to both for their continuing support of the club.
The AGM accepted the committee’s recommendation that the provision in the constitution for Gateshead Metropolitan Borough Council to nominate a non-voting member of the committee is removed.
Safeguarding
In terms of the England Athletics club standards, the club currently is at Level 7, reflecting the fact that all coaches and officials are fully licensed, having completed the relevant safeguarding and first aid requirements. In line with England Athletics guidance, Tony Gardner, Iona Marshall and I attend committee meetings and ensure that we are up to date with developments in safeguarding. Tony and I attended the England Athletics welfare forum on 15 November
Following the decision at last year’s AGM to create an additional post of honorary life president and to offer it to Stephen Miller MBE, on his retirement from competition, it is a pleasure to confirm he has agreed to take on the role. Last year we also agreed to award life membership to Richard Kilty and Anna Nicholson to reflect their outstanding achievements in athletics and the prestige that they have brought to the club and the sport in general. During the year, the committee agreed to offer life membership to Richard Robbins to recognise his invaluable contribution to the club as a long serving athlete, coach, and volunteer
Membership : we currently have some 460 members. Thanks to Liz, Marion, Tony and Richie, we now are holding twice weekly sessions for the under 11s. Janice has
managed to reduce the waiting list but we still would benefit from more capacity at under 11 level We now have training groups for young athletes to make the transition to more advanced development groups
Events : four “Funetics “events for under 11s were held over the summer season in partnership with Jarrow and Hebburn. Several volunteers from the club assisted at the Run Through road races on the Quayside, thereby creating an income stream for the club. We also partnered with Run Through and the British Milers Club in hosting middle distance events at the open meeting in April and the Tartan Games in August. Thanks go to Janice for organising these events and to volunteers, including those from partner clubs
Thanks also go to Alex Giles and Aileen Waite for organising another successful series of indoor fixtures from which the club benefitted from a modest financial profit. Our athletes, young and old have fared well in regional and national indoor competitions These local fixtures provide excellent experience for them
Our wider contribution : Janice and Kevin Johnson play an active role in the Regional Council of England Athletics. Our officials assist in regional and school competitions and some of our coaches are active in trying to re-stimulate schools competition.
Finances: The Treasurer has provided the committee with regular monitoring reports for which we are grateful. Thanks also to Justin Cooper for verifying the accounts prior to their submission to the Charity Commission. On his recommendation, a new set of financial procedures was agreed during the year.
Competing at regional and national level is becoming increasingly expensive and we also need to invest in new equipment., particularly to meet the new throwing weight standards, for strength and the indoor facilities. We will continue to seek funding to support our expenditure and to find ways of reducing costs. In line with the increases in the England Athletics affiliation fee, the AGM accepted the committees recommendation of a modest increase of £5.00 in the membership fees as follows: Junior £70.00 Senior £80.00 Disabled £35.00
Gateshead International Stadium
The transition from the Council to new management under GLL/ BETTER has resulted in some teething problems around access, particularly for coaches at busy times. While these issues have mostly been resolved the changeover to new management has highlighted the uncertainty over the future of the stadium as a venue for competitive athletics. Significant investment.is required to bring the facilities up to England Athletics trackmark standard Representatives of the Regional Council of England Athletics have met the stadium management to discuss these concerns and some of the sport’s well-known personalities will be asked to assist in lobbying for the necessary
investment. The significant scale of capital investment that is required means that there is unlikely to be an early resolution to the problem
The frequency of football matches at the stadium has displaced training groups either to the Gateshead College Centre or surrounding roads. The club might need to consider switching its main training night from Tuesday to Monday.
I would like to express thanks and gratitude to the other officers, Iona, Janice and Angela for their hard work, dedication and commitment to the club. The club depends on the voluntary effort of many more members than are mentioned in this report. We are holding a briefing for prospective volunteers on 25 November
Gordon Bell, November 2025
| Income | Income | |
|---|---|---|
| FY23/24 | FY24/25 | |
| Subs | £ 12,115.00 | £ 13,146.20 |
| Affiliation | ||
| Hardship | ||
| Athlete development | ||
| Elite athlete support | ||
| Education | ||
| Stadium Hire | ||
| Events | £ 12,065.01 | £ 11,562.65 |
| Grants/Sponsorship | £ 605.95 | £ 265.00 |
| Equipment | ||
| Sport Newcastle | £ 500.00 | £ 500.00 |
| Bank charges | ||
| Interest | £ 76.71 | £ 92.67 |
| Competition entries | £ 171.00 | |
| League fees and expenses | £ 1,048.50 | £ 157.50 |
| Travel | ||
| Tuckshop | £ 304.23 | £ 156.82 |
| Kit | £ 2,073.90 | £ 1,651.58 |
| Stadium EntryU11 | £ 2,562.86 | £ 3,798.14 |
| Endurance Initiative | £ 2,594.00 | £ 1,866.46 |
| Miscellaneous & Website | ||
| Coach Expenses | ||
| Council Camps | £ 2,100.00 | |
| Presentation night | £ 983.62 | £ - |
| Total | £ 35,100.78 | £ 35,297.02 |
| Notes for CC16a - description cells Receipts Subs, entry passes and kit D3; D16; D20; £ 18,595.92 Travel D17; D18 £ 157.50 Tuckshop D19 £ 156.82 Events and Competitions D10; D22; D25 £ 15,529.11 Grants D11; D13 £ 765.00 Bank interest D15 £ 92.67 Miscellaneous D22: D26 £ - £ 35,297.02 |
| Expenditure | Expenditure | Proft/Loss | Proft/Loss | FY24/25 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY23/24 | FY24/25 | FY23/24 | FY24/25 | ||
| £ 12,115.00 | £ 13,146.20 | £ 1,031.20 | |||
| £ 1,657.00 | £ 1,829.00 | -£ 1,657.00 | -£ 1,829.00 | -£ 172.00 | |
| £ 283.10 | £ 578.00 | -£ 283.10 | -£ 578.00 | -£ 294.90 | |
| £ - | £ - | £ - | £ - | £ - | |
| £ 575.00 | £ - | -£ 575.00 | £ - | £ 575.00 | |
| £ 790.00 | £ 1,483.24 | -£ 790.00 | -£ 1,483.24 | -£ 693.24 | |
| £ 3,496.00 | £ 4,917.55 | -£ 3,496.00 | -£ 4,917.55 | -£ 1,421.55 | |
| £ 8,968.69 | £ 6,111.17 | £ 3,096.32 | £ 5,451.48 | £ 2,355.16 | |
| £ 605.95 | £ 265.00 | -£ 340.95 | |||
| £ 381.39 | £ - | -£ 381.39 | £ - | £ 381.39 | |
| £ 500.00 | £ 750.00 | £ - | -£ 250.00 | -£ 250.00 | |
| £ 360.00 | £ 359.88 | -£ 360.00 | -£ 359.88 | £ 0.12 | |
| £ 76.71 | £ 92.67 | £ 15.96 | |||
| £ 2,747.78 | £ 1,945.84 | -£ 2,576.78 | -£ 1,945.84 | £ 630.94 | |
| £ 1,880.08 | £ 1,964.00 | -£ 831.58 | -£ 1,806.50 | -£ 974.92 | |
| £ 6,672.44 | £ 3,771.05 | -£ 6,672.44 | -£ 3,771.05 | £ 2,901.39 | |
| £ 393.75 | £ - | -£ 89.52 | £ 156.82 | £ 246.34 | |
| £ 3,848.60 | £ 691.20 | -£ 1,774.70 | £ 960.38 | £ 2,735.08 | |
| £ 35.90 | £ 3,798.14 | ||||
| £ 4,120.98 | £ 1,786.46 | ||||
| £ 983.15 | £ 964.05 | -£ 983.15 | -£ 964.05 | £ 19.10 | |
| £ 820.00 | £ 960.00 | -£ 960.00 | -£ 960.00 | ||
| £ 2,100.00 | £ - | £ - | |||
| £ 1,314.00 | £ 656.23 | -£ 656.23 |
| £ | 39,827.86 | £ 30,867.67 | -£ 4,727.08 | £ 4,429.35 | £ 9,156.43 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Payments | cells | |||||
| Facility Hire | F9, f21 | £ 4,917.55 | ||||
| Travel & Accommodation | F18 | £ 3,771.05 | ||||
| Affiliation | F4 | £ 1,829.00 | ||||
| Tuckshop | F19 | £ - | ||||
| Events and Competitions | F10, f16, F17, D2 | £ 13,907.47 | ||||
| Coach Education, Expenses &F8: F12: F24 | £ 2,443.24 | Split between unrestricte | ||||
| Kit | F20 | £ 691.20 | ||||
| Bank Charges | F14 | £ 359.88 | ||||
| Admin & Misc | F11: F22: F26 | £ 1,620.28 | ||||
| Hardship and Athlete Support | F5; F6; F7; F13 | £ 1,328.00 | ||||
| £ 30,867.67 |
,.d and restricted funds
Independent examiner's report on the accounts
Section A Independent Examiner’s Report
Report to the trustees/ GATESHEAD HARRIERS AND ATHLETIC CLUB members of On accounts for the year 31/03/2025 Charity no 1093956 ended (if any) Set out on pages 1 - 2
I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the above charity (“the Trust”) for the year ended 31 / 03 / 2025.
- Responsibilities and As the charity trustees of the Trust, you are responsible for the preparation basis of report of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 (“the Act”).
I report in respect of my examination of the Trust’s accounts carried out under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying out my examination, I have followed the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the Act.
Independent examiner's statement
I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination which gives me cause to believe that in, any material respect:
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accounting records were not kept in accordance with section 130 of the Act or
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the accounts do not accord with the accounting records
I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached. Signed: Date: 31/01/2026 ~~a [|~~ Name: JUSTIN COOPER ~~Cs~~ Relevant professional ICAEW CHARTERED ACCOUNTANT qualification(s) or body (if any):
Address: 9 SHAWBROW CLOSE NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE NE7 7GW
Section B Disclosure ~~ee~~
Only complete if the examiner needs to highlight matters of concern (see CC32, Independent examination of charity accounts: directions and guidance for examiners).
1
October 2018
IER
Give here brief details of N/A any items that the examiner wishes to disclose .
2
October 2018
IER