## **Report**
Another difficult year with the pandemic still in full swing. However, I am pleased to say that BEC has gone from strength to strength in so many ways. Towards the end of the year the Committee did start meeting at the Sailing Club, in person, which was a relief for most of us who were generally very tired of zoom meetings.
I'd say it's been another year of an amazing, hardworking and supportive committee along with section leaders/deputies and many BEC members who have worked hard to make it a great year. Thank you to all those that help on a regular basis. Despite the pandemic we did several weekend trips to places like North Wales, South Wales, Devon, Gower, Dartmoor and even Tenerife! The diary has been full of local mountain biking, indoor climbing, watersports, walking and social events at the club. We now have a new running section so BEC continues to grow and thrive!
We launched a new website which is generally going really well, massive thanks to Chetan who has worked tirelessly on this. There have been a few teething problems, as expected, and there is also some admin to sort out in the coming months, which involves documents stored on dropbox being sorted and made available on the new website.
BECs relationship with the Sailing Club has grown considerably. They started a programme of “Learn to Sail'' for new members which has made their club a lot busier in terms of members sailing and also socialising at the clubhouse. There has been a crossover in membership leading to several sailing club members joining BEC and vice versa.
There are plans for a joint party/bbq in the summer. The clubhouse is very important to the success of BEC, I have noted how the water sports is generally what attracts members to BEC initially and it is, indeed, evenings at the clubhouse where ideas for trips etc are often hatched. I personally spend many an evening talking to members who have joined and are nervous about actually joining in with activities or need more information about how BEC actually functions. The New Members meetings are great but often people have questions after the session. Peter has put a booklet together to help with this.
Our charitable aims are to encourage people of all ages, and young people in particular to participate in outdoor activities. BEC continues to meet these aims.
**Watersports** continue to be very popular. 38 did kayak inductions which raised £380 and 16 were assessed for competence. 22 did sup inductions which raised £220 and 20 were assessed for competence. We purchased another kayak, swapped one that wasn’t suitable for beginners for one that was, 10 buoyancy aids and 9 spray decks. 18 people did Foundation Safety and Rescue training and Thom and Pat did leadership training for kayak. Thanks to all the leaders and deputies but extra thanks to Pat, Colin, Thom, Stef and Sue who have worked particularly hard in their sections running inductions. Stef also continued to be our representative for British Canoeing and has continued applying and obtaining some bursaries towards training - thanks Stef.
**Climbing** After the very sad death of Graham, our lovely climbing section leader, Stephen oversaw this role for the remainder of the year. Regular climbing at High
Sports has taken place but as Boulder Brighton didn’t want to attract groups, individuals used the whatsapp group to arrange slots together. The section has finally started moving outdoors with the hope of regular trips to local sandstone for top roping and sport climbing in Dorset in the coming months. We have three people offering to be deputies but it would be great if someone can please step into the leadership role tonight. Thanks to Stephen for helping with this section despite his work as Treasurer.
**Caving** One trip took place last December and we are hoping that this section takes off again in the coming months now that huts can be booked and the purchase of new equipment has been approved. Thanks to Antonio and Matt.
**Cycling** has continued to run several MTB sessions each week over the year. Thanks to Susie, Lisa, Liz and Judy as section leaders but also to all who lead these regular local rides. I'm sure there is always scope for more people to lead rides so please volunteer if you can.
**Walking** has continued to run local walks for the year and even did a trip to Tenerife! Elizabeth is standing down as section leader this year but is nominated as Deputy. Thanks to Elizabeth for all her hard work over several years. I'm sure that there is always scope for more people to lead walks so please volunteer if you can.
**Tennis and Badminton** took place this year as usual. Thanks to Henna and David for organising.
**Arch management** Thanks to both Guy and Brian but in particular to Brian for taking plans forward to improve the arch. It's all very exciting indeed!
**Social** Rachel has been social secretary for four years but has decided to step down this year. Thanks to Rachel for all her hard work over these four years keeping us all entertained with parties and social events.
**Membership Sec** Peter is stepping down, after two years, as Membership secretary. Thanks so much for the work you have done, you have been an excellent Membership secretary and really added a lot to the role.
**Vice Chair** Tatti is also stepping down as Vice Chair and has in particular done some excellent work on safety guidelines and risk assessments. So thanks go to Tatti for two years as Vice Chair.
**Monitor** Damian has been of enormous help in his role as monitor and I am very grateful to him for agreeing to be nominated for a further year so that I can have a much needed break.
I also need to thank Adam for quietly continuing in the role of assisting with the accounts, this was due to bank account difficulties that would take too long to explain here. Finally these are now sorted and Adam is free from BEC accounts at last!
Please remember that those on the Committee, the Section Leaders/Deputies, the trip organisers etc give of their time freely. We all do our best to keep BEC running smoothly despite other commitments in our lives. BEC is a members club and as such each and every member should help in some way in the running of this fabulous club. This could be something as simple as helping behind the bar,
helping tidy the arch, organising a BBQ on a Wednesday, helping to run a trip alongside someone else etc.
As all of you know I'm stepping down as Chair. Some of it has been enjoyable but sadly the pandemic overshadowed a lot and made it very hard work at times. I have achieved several of the things that I set out to try to help the club towards like obtaining grants, getting a new website, increasing membership so that the we balance spending against income, working on teaming up with the sailing club more, assisting with plans to improve the arch later this year and generally trying to keep BEC the fun, inclusive, exciting club it has been for me over the years. I have also worked to enlist younger members onto the Committee who are active across several sections within the Club, I hope you have a fun and exciting time running the club in the coming year.
Oh and I forgot I also wanted to make sure I had a team that won the Exploration Challenge which I must say we did in style last summer.
## **Denise Robins**
## **Chair for financial year 2021-2022**
## **Accounts for the financial year 2021 / 2022**
## **Statement of assets**
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£
Financial assets as of 31/03/2021
Manchester Building Society 14,499
Barclays Current Account 33,989
Money In
Net operating revenues 20,633
Pass-through revenues 6,990
Building society interest 37
Money Out
Net operating costs 15,129
Pass-through costs 4,644
Financial assets as of 31/03/2022
Manchester Building Society 14,535
Barclays Current Account 41,839
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## **Statement of income**
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£
Net revenues 20,633
Membership income 14,831
Grant money 5,208
Watersports inductions 519
Sale of gear 80
PayPal discrepancy -5
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Fixed costs 9,261
Affiliations 2,752
Insurance 2,584
Arch rental 1,400
IT expenses 1,330
Garage 750
Water 78
Other 368
Gear / training 5,293
Watersports gear 4,037
Climbing gear 326
Training 930
PayPal refunds 575
Total costs 15,129
Surplus 5,504
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