AGM – 2024
Commodores Report
As my first year as Commodore comes to a close and following my year as Vice Commodore I have really got into some of the detail behind the running of the club and how much effort and thought people give it. It goes without saying that as a volunteer club it could not exist without the support and effort of so many people. For all of you who go out of your way to support the club I thank you all for what you do, it clearly makes a difference, and is why our club is in such good health. A special thankyou to the committee from me who give up their time once every two weeks on a Monday evening to help administer the club.
Our club is stable financially and with it’s membership and talking to the RYA reps as I do, this puts us in a very enviable position. We have much to be proud of!
A special welcome to the visitors from Glossop who have helped make the racing turnouts better and who have done their fair share of duties. We look forward to having you at the club for as long as your water is down or even after.
We have been busy both on and off the water. On the water we have had a successful two open days, one for the public and one for friends and family. We have had two ILCA opens, a Streaker Open, a Scorpion open, The Sheffield Shuffle, and visiting training events. We have coached and trained members in Powerboat, Safety Boat, L1/2/3, VHF radios, first aid, and general on the water training and coaching. Cliff House, the Sea Cadets, Glossop and the two Universities have also made good use of the facilities and it’s great to see the club being used by such a diverse bunch of people, something I know the RYA is very keen to support. The Radio Controlled yachters have had great fun throughout the year too and again bring a diverse set of people to our club.
Of special note is the kids club and kids week which as always went without a hitch and was extremely well attended. Thank you to all who supported this important part of our clubs DNA. Thank you sincerely to Peter Twomey as kids club captain who has done a marvellous job over the years and who has asked to step down for 2024. Andy Leeson will take over.
Off the water we have been busy too with finishing the club cladding, supporting our moorland trust, installing the solar panels, currently updating the toilets, clearing and organising the dinghy park, clearing out the training room and the grounds behind the club house, filling a massive skip full of rubbish from around the club, buying a new rib, establishing a wash down facility near the containers, and updating the club interior. Webcollect has been a big help to John Hollis and from my own experience and feedback from members is a much easier way to procure from the club.
The training centre has had another busy year too and passed the yearly inspection without too much difficulty. Thanks to Lawrence and Dom.
On a slightly disappointing note unfortunately we have lost Pam and so galley has been an issue on and off all year. Thank you to all who have helped on an ad hoc basis especially Christine who has supported the major events. We have tried to reach out many times to membership and the local communities to get support and rest assured it’s a priority to get sorted but so far no luck.
Also disappointing is the lack of turnout on a Thursday Evening, which whilst L3 was on was good, but normal racing turnout wasn’t great. We need to work out why the mid week racing has been disappointing, and this will form the basis of the next survey.
In terms of plans:
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I’d like to develop the sailing agenda, visit other clubs and get them to visit us, support more open meetings at our club, attend the Southport 24 hour race for which we would need a boat and enough people from the club to make it viable, get as many people as possible to do the Anglesey Offshore Dinghy Race which is a great race (I’ve done it many times), get a strong contingent at Filey Regatta and of course improve our turnouts too.
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The committee will change and we will welcome Andy as above. The VC role is also vacant so will need filling.
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We will continue to listen to our members via the surveys and put action plans in place to improve where YOU say we should.
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We will continue to improve our marketing to both membership and the community to secure more members and increase our diversity.
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There are a few tweaks we need to make to the delivery of the training which we are on with already, as a result of direct feedback from the students.
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Senior DI’s will be supported financially by means of fee reductions to get their SI qualification to strengthen the training leadership under the guidance of our lead instructor Dom.
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We will try and find a solution to staffing the Galley.
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Get mid-week sailing back in vogue!
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Look to review / replace (some) of the club sailing boat fleet
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All the other great things we do will continue.
Sailing Activities (Vice Commodore Michael Etherington)
A huge thank you to Mike for his work and contribution to everything sailing at the club. He has decided to step down after this year but is willing to support the new VC in any way he can. Thank you Mike for your contribution.
Of special note is his focus on ensuring we have duty cover for our races, an excellent job Mike. Without people doing duties we can’t sail, it’s a tough job to constantly have to persuade people to do duties and I’m sure you have all seen his WhatsApp messages.
Membership
Web collect has made this role easier to manage and the whole area of communication with membership much more pro-active. To bounce back to membership numbers last seen in 2016 is very positive. I do think that the club facilities can cope with a higher membership, but we do have the club being used almost every day.
It is worth noting that our membership profile looks like this and whilst there has been a slight decrease from the Post Covid rush our membership is still in excellent shape, especially if you think of all the separate parties that use the water and facility who aren’t included in these numbers!
Kids Week / Kids club / Kids sailing (Peter Twomey, Dom, Emily Tredoux, Ray Tredoux, Josie, Helen and Colin Dengate, Christine Smith, Donna Kemp, Joss)
Another well organised Kids week/ Kids club / kids sailing year. I keep looking at all the great activities, the food, the organisation and time people put into this area. Personally, I am so pleased that we have such an active team that make all this happen. Well done guys, I know you all also have a great time.
Bosun (Jerry Hannabuss, Cheryl & Martin)
Another part of the club that takes a lot of time and focus to make sure we all have access to safe, reliable equipment and facilities. It is easy to forget and take for granted, that we can open the container doors, jump on the tractor, find the fuel, start a rib, sail one of the club boats and have a few hours driving or sailing around.
We were able to purchase a (nearly) new Valiant 490 with a Marina 50hp which is a great addition to the RIB fleet. The big RIB will be “valeted” to be sold as its almost too big to go into the container, launch / recover and uses tons of fuel. (It’s a dog to helm too!)
Once again, a special mention to Martin and Cheryl who have continued with the role to look after the club boats. It certainly makes a difference having all the club boats available, looking clean and healthy, all lined up smartly, makes the side of the clubhouse look fabulous, just what an organised sailing club should look like. A brilliant job, thank you.
Training Centre (Lawrence Seed, supported by all our qualified trainers)
Thank you to Lawrence, (and Dom), for pulling the training together and whilst I have had some involvement in the planning for 2025, they and the other instructors have done a brilliant job in 2024.
We introduced VHF training at the club this year, along with all our other courses, and this was well attended. Many members have qualified for PB2 and the safety boat course was well attended too. Next year we plan to run a DI course for those aspiring AI’s to move up the RYA ladder.
As I said above we will support the development of our trainers by financially supporting DI’s to do the SI course. This will be in the form of reduced subscriptions for three years.
It’s worth noting that whilst we obviously encourage RYA qualification, we also encourage all members to develop their skills naturally and/or with the support of coaches irrespective of whether an RYA qualification is awarded. For the record I didn’t have a formal training session until quite recently.
House Committee (Rear Commodore – Ed Corteen, Josie, Lawrence, Christine Smith, Cheryl and plenty of club members)
Whilst our Galley has been out of action most of the year, we have had beer and rations! It doesn’t just appear. It needs stock control, ordering, putting away etc. Our areas need cleaning and not just by the cleaner. Things need mending or putting up like outside lights. The stock in the freezers need turning over. The showers need mending. The electric needs turning back on, (what a job that is if it’s gone off down at the pump house) etc etc. There is always something to mend or do and thank you to the team that do it all!
Treasurer (John Hollis )
Many thanks to John again who does a superb and calm job of handling our finances. Thank you too to the member auditors who make sure all is well with the money counting! Our club is well financed and has good reserves.
Whilst our club is a non profit making organisation it has made a small profit before we account for the capital expenditure. Naturally Cap Ex eats into our reserves but I’m pleased to say we are in a very sustainable position not least of which because of the excellent financial management by John.
Secretary (Steve Walker)
Steve is the IT maestro and supports our web collect system which is excellent, our Microsoft 365 site where all our documents and policies are as well as running ad hoc reports for the committee on membership, lists for surveys, etc.
I’d also like to take this opportunity to thank Steve personally for the support and guidance he has given me in my first year as commodore. He has become a great friend and I am thankful for his patience. Thank you Steve.
Club Welfare (Karen R, Helen D, Emily T)
A great job is done by this team to keep our people and especially our younger members safe. It is done in a quiet and calm way and I personally am thankful to them for the way they have guided me into this area of responsibility. Thank you.
Visiting Parties
The Uni’s, Sea Cadets, Cliff House, The Moorland Trust, Glossop and open meeting visitors all make a valuable contribution to the club and keep a diverse and vibrant atmosphere at the club. We are so lucky that the people who use the facility from these parties respect and look after our equipment. You are all welcome.
Overall
It’s clear that we have a great club that is in a strong position. The RYA reps who I’ve talked to this year tell me how lucky we are. We have well over 1000+ separate individual people using or visiting the club. Think about it: Members, Glossop, Students, Cliff House young people, RC sailors, Open meetings attendees, training / coaching visitors, Sea Cadets, our Kids in the clubs, parents, social members etc. I get very little negative feedback from anyone and our research says we have a welcoming club.
Sometimes it’s too easy to pick holes in what happens at the club, but I’d like to think we are all on the same side. We have one of the best waters inland in the North, almost guaranteed to have wind, a fantastic clubhouse, good
equipment and a set of people who give of themselves to make our club special.
Thank you to everyone from those who remain members, to those that are into the club big time. You know who you all are, thank you!
I look forward to working towards making the club even better in the future and pulling together a great team to make it happen.
Pete Hallitt Commodore October 2024
Pennine Sailing Club
Accounts for the period 1 November 2023 - 31 October 2024
| Income Membership Income Glossop Sailing Club Group subscriptions Subscriptions Berths Winter Subscriptions Total Variable Income Interest Members Insurance Kids Week Kids@pen9 Training Open Meetings Boat Hire Donations Grants Miscellaneous Total Total Income |
956 2,564 2,615 15,330 15,520 2,475 1,715 35 35 21,360 19,885 656 2,559 2,327 2,596 1,508 8,033 4,760 1,236 1,509 333 251 3,537 2,821 100 454 285 19,505 13,461 40,865 33,346 2023 / 24 2022 / 23 |
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Expenditure Fixed Expenditure
| Lease Gas Electric Telephone Cleaning Club Insurance Rates (Water and Council) Bar Licence Total Variable Expenditure House Consumables Bank Charges Annual Prizes & Trophy Repair Rescue & Race Management Boat Fuel Club Boats RYA Subs Engine Service Committee/Support Boats Dinghy Park & site management House Repairs & Renewals Training Sailing Equipment Miscellaneous Total Total Fixed/Variable Expenditure Surplus/(Deficit) of Cash pre Cap ex Capital Expenditure Site Development House Development Sailing Development Total Surplus/(Deficit) of Cash overall Total Cash at end of Period Cash in hand Virgin Money Bank Current Account Virgin Money Deposit Account 4.3% Floats Cash Balances Debtor, Sheffield uni Shuffle Food (invoiced & paid in November) Asset Balance Accrual lease for 6 months Grants Received not Spent Reserves available for the club |
1,311 1,188 1,393 549 573 447 1,760 4,284 3,923 3,722 1,055 942 70 70 10,086 11,202 217 196 535 730 204 70 84 15 1,830 1,935 1,344 250 565 515 3,137 2,268 458 551 1,248 207 2,042 2,118 3,359 2,820 234 68 175 299 15,433 12,042 25,519 23,244 15,347 10,102 133 23,809 6,846 7,673 4,250 31,481 11,229 (16,135) (1,127) 37,992 54,127 16,946 36,217 18,156 17,500 410 410 35,512 54,127 2,480 37,992 (1,210) (1,210) (1,955) (13,500) 34,827 39,417 |
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Auditors Report
We have examined the Income and Expenditure Account which is in agreement with the book of accounts, and have obtained all the information and explanations which we consider necessary for the Audit.
In our opinion, these Accounts show a true and fair view of the club's Income and Expenditure for the year ending 31 October 2024 in stating an excess of expenditure over income of £16,135
Lawrence Seed
Elizabeth McNamara
Craig Raistrick