BSSH Chair’s Report 2022
This will be my last report as Chair, having served the traditional three-year term of office. I have enjoyed my time in the role immensely and want to thank all of my fellow Board members for their hard work in ensuring the Society has thrived over the past three years, even during a global pandemic.
I am delighted that we are gathering at the International Centre for Sports History and Culture at De Montfort University to celebrate our 40[th] anniversary this year. Given the Centre and DMU’s contribution to sports history over the years, it feels fitting that they will be hosting us for this celebration. A big thank you to Martin Polley and colleagues for undertaking all the work behind the scenes that goes into staging our conference. Thanks too to our 40[th] anniversary sub-committee, led by Conor Heffernan, who have worked hard to make this an extra-special event. I am looking forward to Dick Holt’s keynote reflecting on the history of the Society, as well as viewing the display of archival material relating to the BSSH’s history which will be on show during the conference.
Various aspects of the conference will be hybrid this year, including our three keynote lectures and – after the success of 2021 – our Society AGM. After a lengthy Board discussion, we agreed that the remainder of the conference would be in-person, rather than attempting a fully hybrid event. Unfortunately, providing the requisite tech support for a hybrid event would add substantially to the cost of hosting the conference. As a Board, our priority is to keep the conference as accessible as possible, and keeping registration costs low is an important aspect of this.
As a small Society, we are also very conscious of the need to ensure that our conference remains viable for those who wish to take advantage of the face-to-face connections and networking opportunities which an in-person event offers. To try to make this easier we are, for the first time, trialling the offer of a small number of bursaries for conference attendees of up to £100 to contribute towards the cost of childcare or other caring responsibilities.
This year we have successfully formalised the appointment process for Sport in History editorial positions, producing a set of guidelines in order to increase the transparency of a process which has previously been more informal. The most important principle is that the Board of Trustees has the final say in appointments, based on feedback from the Chair and the existing Editor-in-Chief who will initially review applications received.
We continue to offer funding to individual researchers through our various schemes. After helping a number of members with our emergency Covid-19 Research Grants, this scheme was discontinued in the spring, but I am delighted that we are now receiving a steady stream of applications for in-person events and archival visits again. Fortunately we have a Treasurer who is always keen for us to spend more money (thank you Pearse!), so do please consider applying for one of our grants (the full list can be found on our website – www.sportnhistory.org).
Last but not least I would like to thank Lisa Taylor, who is stepping down from the Board of Trustees after the conference. As Web Officer, Lisa managed a very tricky transition from
our old website to our new website, spending many hours rationalising existing content and dealing with tech issues behind the scenes. She also put in place processes for social media which mean that the Society has a much more active presence on Twitter. Thank you Lisa – we owe you a great deal.
I look forward to celebrating our 40[th] anniversary as a Society at the DMU conference. Here’s to many more years!
Raf Nicholson – BSSH Chair 12 August 2022
Treasurer’s report for BSSH AGM, August 2022
This report presents a Financial Statement for the 12 month period ended on 30 June 2022 , including a balance sheet showing the Society’s net assets and reserves at that date.
Balance sheet at 30 June 2022
The Society’s financial position is strong with net assets of £92,424, made up of the Birley bequest of £20,000 and operating reserves of £72,424. This takes account of the surplus of £2,368 for the year. That is a significant reduction on last year’s surplus, which was inflated by the pandemic, but still a small increase in reserves. The trustees aim to reduce reserves steadily in the medium term, by increasing disbursements in the form of awards, research grants and support for events related to the Society’s interest areas. The trustees will welcome suitable applications: information is available on the Society’s website and from any trustee.
Income and expenditure account
The accounts reflect the recovery from lockdown of the Society’s activities. Income has remained steady, but outgoings have increased, mainly due to increases in grants, event sponsorship and bursaries.
Publishing income remains strong due to the continuing success of the Society’s journal, Sport in History, and the increased sponsorship provided under the publishing contract signed in 2018. The trustees are grateful to Taylor & Francis for their continued support and sponsorship.
Membership income has reduced slightly, as it did last year. The trustees hope to see growth in membership in the next few years as activity continues to recover. With this in mind, the trustees are holding membership fees at the same level that has applied for over a decade and which represents exceptional value for money. Lifetime membership is also available.
As predicted last year, there was an increase in disbursements in 21/22, supporting members and event organisers as activity recovered from the pandemic. The trustees have been flexible in allowing recipients to roll over their grants from one year to the next, so there is still some catching-up to appear in the system. The welcome resumption of the physical conference has returned the attendance bursaries to our payments. This return to normalcy has brought us close to using all our annual income for the Society’s objectives. Further growth in research and promotion activity in the field of Sports History will make good use of the reserves we have built up for that purpose.
Pearse Reynolds.
Treasurer
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Statement of income and costs for the year ending 30 June 2022
| Income Subscriptions Publication (Sport in History) Other income Total income Costs Awards and related costs Event sponsorships and representation Research grants and bursaries Conference Journal distribution Editorial expenses (Sport in History) Executive expenses Other costs (Admin., IT, legal, Finance) Total costs Surplus/(deficit) for year |
2020/21 £ 5,245 10,575 0 15,820 800 500 1,669 0 2,782 367 0 1,131 7,249 8,571 |
2021/22 £ 5,051 11,196 __0 16,247 1,094 2,675 2,697 2,665 2,409 1,409 467 463 13,879 2,368 |
|---|---|---|
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Balance Sheet at 30 June 2022
| Assets Cash at bank and on deposit at 30 June 2021 Debtors Less Creditors Net assets Balanced by Reserves Sir Derek Birley bequest Operating reserves brought forward PY adjustment to 20/21 grant accruals Surplus for year ended 30 June 2022 Total Reserves |
£ 94,159 4,000 68,048 2,008 2,368 |
£ 98,159 5,735 92,424 20,000 Note 1 Note 2 72,424 90,424 |
|---|---|---|
Note 1: The Sir Derek Birley bequest is ring-fenced to provide a designated reserve for the Society’s awards
Note 2: In a number of cases last year, grant commitments were accrued for small events and research work which, it turned out, had been deferred again due to Covid. The surplus last year was understated by this amount.
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