Willington Quay Boat Federation
Point Pleasant Marina Willington Quay
Wallsend North Tyneside NE28 6HA
lenclarke19@yahoo.com
Charity Registration 1135488
- 2023 2024 Annual Report.
Charity trustees
| Charity trustees | |
|---|---|
| 1-Mr. Peter Brown | Chairman |
| 2-Mr. Len Clarke | Secretary |
| 3-Mr. Ian Martin. | Treasurer |
| 4-Mr. Ken Bowes | Mooring Steward |
| 5-Mr Paul Brown | Mooring Steward |
| 6-Mr David Brownlee Compound Steward | 6-Mr David Brownlee Compound Steward |
| 7-Mr. Steven Davison | Compound Steward |
| 8-Mr. Mick Mill | Compound Steward |
| 9-Mr. Paul Erickson | Workshop Steward |
| 10-Mr. Not replaced Building Steward | 10-Mr. Not replaced Building Steward |
| 11-Mr. Vacant | Fund Raising Steward |
Willington Quay Boating Federation operate on a basis of a non-profit operation being supported by our members and local community; we are situated at Point Pleasant Industrial Estate Wallsend. On the 13th April 2010 we achieved the charitable status which we hold today, previous to achieving Charitable status we were known within the community as the Willington Quay Boat Club it was decided to rename the clubs name to Willington Quay Boat Federation because of our new position within the Charity
status
The club was formed to give the community the opportunity of enjoying marine pleasures on the river and surrounding waters, and giving access to affordable facilities for boat moorings and maintenance. We are striving to keep all costs down for the working man to afford the boating facility and not discriminate against any person or there social back ground of our club members. There are 108 members who consist of a mixture of boat owners and members without boats, their ages range from 18 to 86 years old of which there are male and female members, who benefit from the following facilities that we established.
The committee and trustees are elected at the AGM in January by the members, with the federation being governed by a constitution, a general rule book and also operates a dispute and resolution procedure which all members receive.
The Federation a management committee of 9 trustees’ who have responsibility for running the organization. The committee meet once a month at the Federation’s premises to decide what actions are needed to the running and maintenance of the charity.
The facilities have been improved yearly with the revenue raised by the members being channeled back into the Federation, to pay for the essential repairs and maintenance to the moorings and the main building and compound area.
We are taking bids in for our disabled members and up grading the building toilet and washing facilities to assist our elderly members
Our lease states we have to maintain all buildings and all other facilities we are endeavoring to do the following
Boat slip to refurbish and replace damaged blocks A further 16 extra boat stands purchased for members use Run a water ring main in the compound to cover all the compound areas Replaced our aging fork lift with a more up to date forklift at SWL 3.5ton We have installed an electronic card meter system around the compound for boat owners use.
We have fitted new plastic pontoon gratings type panels to replace the timbers these will last a life time saving us money in purchasing new timber boards. Replacing pontoon timber’s is costly this is ongoing commitment and funded as and when funds become available a further 30 panels ordered to fit
Building storage facilities are at subsidized rates, presently which the members are enjoying the benefit of.
The option of taking up a bulk boat insurance for the members of Willington Quay Boating Federation is renewed on a yearly basis which the premiums have been raised. Local purchasing anodes at a subsidized rate. Purchasing diesel at a subsidized rate.
Subsidized radio/boat handling/first aid and certificate of competence courses.
The RYA Training team who were based at Friars Goose require a new training facility and have approached Willington Quay Boat Federation for accommodation members who participate on radio courses and boat handling courses are trained by the officially registered Royal Yachting Association who reside in Friars Goose Boating Facility, they train our members to a level of proficiency that is awarded with a certificate from the Royal Yachting Association, which is a recognized certificate of competency being recognized throughout Europe by all relevant maritime agencies. Training on going Radio, Boat handling, and Safety awareness and the Rules of the Tyne
Supporting the Community
The facilities are used by the members as well as the river police and fire brigade who use the Federation’s slipway and use the confines of the moorings and boats to practice life saving techniques and their fire equipment, and confined water maneuvers. We also have Tyne Mouth Yachting Association who frequently use our slipway when they need to launch their safety boats for their regattas in the Tyne Harbour waters
Provided a boat for the World Suicide Prevention Charity 1-800-273—talk and the Samaritans contact number 116 123 to take part in a boat trip up and down the River Tyne, hopefully we can make this a yearly event or more often to collect funds these two charities contact details
The Sick Children’s Trust we are supporting this trust by using two of our club’s boats to fund raise by run trips up and down the river as a prize St Paul’s Community Partnership Venue - in the club and running river trips for the “The Happy Crappie’s Group” of elderly people from the local community.
RNLI - We are in contact with Lifeboat fund raiser and activities Mission to Sea-Farers, gave a donation to help their Christmas Hampers for seamen
The Federation’s facilities have also been used by the TA for training cadet young soldiers on the different war scene scenarios to improve their skills and developing there boating and canoeing skills. The Local Fire Service use their ribs to launch and practice their boat handling skills in
case of emergencies
The yearly subscriptions of £956 per member, is the main source of our income. The Federation also raise funds by means of raffles and donations from various appeals to the public. The funds raised being channeled back into the Federation, to pay for essential repairs and maintenance to the moorings, the main building, compound area and general facilities which have been improved upon yearly.
The most immediate aim of the Willington Quay Boat Federation is for this and next year is to raise funds to dredge the tidal estuary which is silting up, if we can achieve this it will mean greater access to the boats for longer periods of embarking and disembarking facility which when we start taking the local community charities out, going up and down the river, it will help them immensely the local people to board the boats in a safe and organized manor. The heart of any boat club is its lifting facilities to this end we must have a stand by fund for any eventualities like crane break down this was apparent when our crane was found to excessive wear on the jib fulcrum pin bushes these had to be obtained from Italy which took a lot of time and money to make it serviceable again, and as our boats have to be lifted out at least once every two years it is critical component of the federation.
We have had one set this year in July we found with the high winds and tidal surges our pontoon piles have become loose and we had contact our insurers to help us with the costs the equipment required to do the work involved the hire of piling barge safety boat and man hours this totaled up to £14,412 this was we thought covered by our club insurance. We have been informed by our insurance they say its normal wear tear over the years, now we are looking to do the work ourselves.
Members look over the internet and bring things to our attention to discuss one member in question raised a point regarding one in number pile maintenance barge down south this we discussed and a 3-man team to look at it. Put a holding bid on it and come back to the members discussed and the floor agreed to purchase the barge. We purchased it for £18,500 the transport set us back another £3,000 we had upgrade the equipment on board Over all sizes two hull sections 13.3m long x 2.1m total width 5.6m x .630m Main Power Pack serviced and run starting system need investigating but rectified Auxiliary Power pack serviced and run Hiab / man-rider, clean and paint proved working Dredging bucket, clean and paint proved working Piling unit clean and paint proved working Barge hull two sections sand back and paint Propulsion bucket jet drives had wasted away in the salt water this we had to get
fabricated the hydraulic control pipes had been cut and the control flow valves were defective we had replace all these to operate the propulsion drives
With the barge working we can see a bright future for the boat federation (all done members subs no grants or loans) with the cost of one pile £14,412 per pile we have 17 to do we are investing in the future of the boat federation (out standing, planned for this year to start 2024, Planning our pilling program, which we need members trained in safe operational use of the barge
The Willington Quay Boat Federation hold every last Wednesday in the month a general meeting which the committee put there points across to the members and our members have opportunity to raise any concerns or ideas to enhance the federation operating abilities, the management committee welcome any ideas which will help the federation either in operating more efficient or blending into the community with other charities
We as the management committee we also hold a committee meeting every second Saturday in the month to discuss any issues or planned events which may require further discussion or detailed explanation of how it needs to be played out
The Willington Quay Boat Federation have a qualified Accountant who has volunteered to administer the accounts and keep the accounts legally correct for viewing if needed, the treasurer submits the books on a monthly basis to the accountant for this purpose of updating accounts and monitoring the federation is operating the correct procedures. The Federation also has a finance committee who meet every 6 months with the treasurer to inspect and audit the accounts to ensure the Federations finances are being looked after satisfactorily, the finance committee then report back to the members at the next general monthly meeting of the members, with the accounts being independently audited every year by VODA who create an end of years statement and the report is submitted to the members and to the charities commission.
The committee’s role is to ensure the charity is run wisely and that the funds and assets are used only to further the purpose and interest of the charity, and to ensure the charity remains solvent.
Our future plans are to bring us to a better operating position which will be a benefit to both the Willington Quay Boat Federation but also our counterpart charities who we look forward to working for benefit and good of the local community within the North Tyneside Area.
Len Clarke WQBF Secretary
Mobile 07841152122
Landline 01914240070 Email address lenclarke19@yahoo.com