## **BISHOPS STORTFORD CANOE CLUB**
# **AGM for period ending 31 December 2025**
## **Minutes of Meeting held on 1[st] March 2026 at BSCC Clubhouse**
Chairman – Kevin Short Treasurer – Richard Winstanley Secretary – Angela Aldam
The meeting commenced at 10:05am.
**Voting Members aged 16+ (20 voters holding 29 votes):[1]** Mark Adams, Angela Aldam, Karen Bradley, Sue Commercial, Hannah Crofts, Malcolm Duckworth, Simon Forey, Robert Gough, Andrew Gurney, David Gurney, Mick Hussey, Edward Kirtland, Petr Luksan (+1), Christine Meula, Scott Norford, Kevin Short (+2), Joao Spinola (+1), Daniel Thompson (+3), Ben Tubby, Rich Winstanley (+2) **Non-member parents representing u16s (0) Others registered as proxies for absent members (0)**
As the total number of voting club members is currently 81, the 20 voters present represented 24% and the meeting was therefore quorate.
Apologies for absence were received from Kerstin Queeney, Jacque Cayford and David Cayford.
## **Chairman’s Report**
The Chairman’s report (attached) had been circulated for members to read in advance. Some graphs showing membership statistics, and other measures of performance (competition entries, promotions and standard of active racers) were also included.
Kevin Short briefly addressed the meeting to thank the committee members and coaches for their hard work over the past year, and in particular Sue, Kerstin and the social committee for organising the many events, and all the volunteer club members who have been involved in organising the events. He thanked coaches. He wished Petr well in his new role as Chair and urged everyone to give Petr their support.
## **Treasurer’s Report**
The Treasurer’s Report and Accounts to 31 December 2025 had been prepared by Club Treasurer Rich Winstanley and approved by the Trustees. They were circulated to the membership by email prior to the AGM. The figures incorporate the additional three and half month from 16 September 2024 when the club became a CIO, at which point the club also changed its accounting year to the calendar year.
> 1 The votes of members aged u16 automatically transfer to the adult under whom they are registered on the membership database, whether or not that adult is a member. Additional votes held are shown in brackets. Where the same person holds multiple votes, as a parent or proxy, they are only counted once towards the meeting being quorate (20% of voting members).
_BSCC AGM Minutes 1st March 2026_
The Treasurer briefly recapped that the membership structure of the club had been adjusted to separate “Premium Membership” from “General Membership”. Together with the fact that the club is now a registered charity, this move has enabled the club to reclaim Gift Aid on the income from General Membership. Because of this additional income, it has been possible to hold the cost of the General Membership at the previous level. The introduction of the MemberMojo membership database has made it easier to collect and keep track of electronic payments from members. The club remains in a good financial position.
## **Election of Trustees**
Legal responsibility for the club falls on the Trustees. The day-to-day running of the club is undertaken by a management committee which includes many key roles without which the club could not function (many of them required by PUK). Most of these roles are filled by the Trustees themselves, supplemented by others that the Trustees have coopted.
The Trustees for the year ending December 2025 have been:
1. Kevin Andrew Short – founding Trustee 16/9/2024
2. Angela Hazel Aldam – founding Trustee 16/9/2024
3. Joseph Michael Fitzpatrick – founding Trustee 16/9/2024
4. Lee David Gaulton – founding Trustee 16/9/2024
5. Andrew Hugh Gurney – founding Trustee 16/9/2024
6. Michael James Hussey – founding Trustee 16/9/2024
7. Kerstin Queeney – founding Trustee 16/9/2024
8. Richard Winstanley – appointed by the Trustees 19/11/2024
As a Trustee appointed by the Trustees, Rich Winstanley’s appointment ceases at this AGM and he must stand for election by the membership.
Of the other seven current Trustees, the number nearest to one third (i.e. two) must now step down at the AGM
- Joe Fitzpatrick resigned on 20 Sep 2025
- Mick Hussey is now retiring from Trusteeship with effect from this meeting.
- Kevin Short is now retiring from Trusteeship with effect from this meeting.
The remainder of the Trustees will remain in place.
Petr Luksan has agreed to take on the role of Chair from Kevin Short, and as such he needs to become a Trustee immediately. There are therefore two Trustees seeking election from the membership. Brief biographies of Petr and Rich had been circulated in advance. Voting was conducted by a show of hands. Both were unanimously elected by all voters present. There were no votes against and no abstentions.
## **Management Committee Roles**
Mick Hussey announced in late 2024 that he was seeking to retire as Welfare Officer. Joao Spinola has agreed to join the MC and take over this post. Angela Aldam will serve as Deputy Welfare, replacing Kayleigh Gaulton. Rob Gough has joined the MC and takes on responsibility for Premises matters. Other Management Committee posts will remain as they were.
Page 2 of 3
_BSCC AGM Minutes 1st March 2026_
The Management Committee is now (Trustees marked *) Chair: Petr Luksan* Treasurer: Richard Winstanley* Secretary (& Dep Welfare): Angela Aldam* Safety: Andrew Gurney* Volunteer Coordinator: Kerstin Queeney* Welfare Officer: Joao Spinola Quartermaster: David Gurney Premises: Rob Gough Chair of Social Subcttee: Sue Commercial & Lee Gaulton*
## **Social & Fundraising Committee**
Sue Commercial, chair of the Social Committee, expressed her belief in the value of staging occasional off-water social events for club members in addition to events on-water and running the catering at competitions which are key to generating funds for the club. She appealed for more paddlers and the parents of juniors to consider coming onto the Social Committee.
## **Incoming Chair**
The incoming Chair, Petr Luksan, briefly addressed the meeting. He expressed his appreciation for the work of the committee to date, and his intention to ensure that the club continues to improve and grow. His motto for the club is: “Fun, Fitness, Friendship and Fast Finishers.”
## **The meeting closed at 10:25**
To be signed at AGM 2027:
Chair: ____________________________________ Date: _________ Secretary: _________________________________ Date: _________
Page 3 of 3
## **Chairman’s Review**
2025 has been a challenging year, the club is part way through some significant change, not only to the club structure, but also the infrastructure, roles, policies and procedures!
Despite this, the annual data demonstrate some real positives, membership has declined, but competition entries are strongly up in 2025, also the number of active racers at the end of 2025 is also up – with a good range of racers in all the Divisions. There have been a significant number of paddler promotions in 2025 (net17). The total number of active sprint racers attending Nottingham grew to 16 in 2025 which is also very positive.
The Social Committee especially Sue and Kirsten have been very active this year and I give thanks to them and all the volunteers who have given the fantastic support to the club at our Hasler race, Winter series race, and Sprint Regatta. This is a key part in making these days the success they are. The club has enjoyed our Annual Award Ceremony, Summer BBQ, White Water Rafting, Bowling & meal out, and a Christmas mulled wine event. The time and effort to deliver these activities is significant and any additional help will always be welcomed. It is great to see the club enjoying the events. Also, the tremendous new race and training clothing offer, now available, has been delivered by Sue and my thanks goes to her and everyone involved in making this happen.
## **Marathon Racing Performance**
The Club successfully competed in all the Eastern Region Hasler races winning at Leighton Buzzard, and coming second at Chelmsford, Bedford, and at our own race. These fantastic performances meant we qualified for the National Hasler final in 2[nd] place in the Eastern region.
A team of 17, including 5 Geoff Sanders paddlers competing in their first finals, travelled to Worcester and performed admirably. The club was ranked 17[th] in the country which is a great performance, which all competitors can be proud of.
David Gurney won the Div3 K1 race (the outstanding performance), Eddie came 24[th] in the Div4 K1 race, Jasper and Joao came 6[th] in the Div4 K2 race, Kerstin came 16[th] in the Div5 K2 race, Rob came 7[th] in the Div6 k1 race, Zoe & Christine came 14[th] in the Div6 K2 race, Jack came 32[nd] in the Div7 K1 race, Oliver and James came 21[st] In Div7 K2 race, and Robin came 12 in Div9 K1 race.
Very well done to Benjamin (10[th] ), Summer (11[th] ), Sophie (6[th] ), and Romeo (7[th] ) for all competing in the Geoff Saunder’s races – it demonstrates real courage and resilience to enter this national race on a large river.
The club also competed in the FRA Winter series coming 3[rd] just 1 point behind Cambridge CC. The series welcomed Barking back to the race calendar. Well-done to all paddlers who competed during the cold winter months – the series is great for improving endurance and getting race experience.
## **Sprint Racing Performance**
Sprint racing at the four Nottingham regattas was led By Rich Winstanley – The club had some outstanding results across the year.
In April, Jamie, and Jasper competed in Boys D events , Rich and Joao competed in Mens C events. Rupert competed in the Mini sprint races, Oliver came 3[rd] in the Paddleability K1 500m F1. Jasper got into a number of finals winning promotion to Boys C (2[nd] K4 200mF, 3[rd] K4 500mF, 3[rd] K2 500m F).
In June, the British Masters drew a larger team – Kerstin, Ben, Rich and Claudia all entered various events, with great success gold, silver and bronze medals were won by each in a number of events (age related categories). For the Juniors Oleh started in Boys D and proved why he was immediately promoted to Boys C – 2[nd] in the 2500m sprint and 2[nd] in Boys D 200m K1 F, with Eddie they won Boys C 200m K2 F, with Jasper and his Partner coming 2[nd] . Libby also joined in getting into the Girls D K1 200m F, and coming 6[th] in the Girls D K1 2500m Sprint. Libby combined with the Boys to enter a fully BSF K4 Boys A-C 500m F – the team coming 6[th] . Finally, Eddie won the Boys C 200m K1 F gaining promotion to Boys B category.
In July – The Juniors raced in age related categories – Eddie competing in U18s, Oleh, Jamie & Libby in U16’s and Jasper in U14’s Each got into various finals and competed with other partners in K2 and K4 races. Jasper and Oleh were promoted to Boys B category and Libby promoted into Girls C category. Rich competed in the men’s 5000m sprint and got into the Mens K2 500m F. Rupert joined in on Sunday and competed just in the K2 and K4 events – winning the Mini sprint A/B k4 500m and 200m and 3[rd] in the K2 200m – all with LBZ partners.
Finally in August the club attended the Inter club Macgregor Regatta. BSF came 16[th] out of 34 clubs competing. This is a great performance. The team consisted of Rob Gough, Joao Spinola, Ben Tubby, Rich Winstanley, Jamie Bond, Oliver Klumper, Zoe Norford, Summer Norford, Libby Gaulton, Oleh Kuzmenko, Ed Kirtland, Jasper Kirtland, and Rupert Kirtland . All gave tremendous effort and the results followed (too many to list here!).
Rupert was awarded the gold medal for the best performing Mini sprint A boy (across the four Regattas) and Summer was awarded the bronze medal for the third best performing girl. Very well done to both. Summer was promoted to Mini sprint A.
## **All Change**
My time as Chairman has come to an end, after four years it is appropriate to hand over the chairmanship of the club to Petr. I thank all the committee members for their help and support, and all members, friends and family who have helped at the races, social events and the various tidy up events. We could not run such events without you. Thank you to everyone who has played a part in running the club and those who are taking on new roles!
Lee has handed over the Treasurers duties to Richard
Mick will shortly hand over Welfare duties to Joao
Joe has reduced his workload at the Club and retains Coaching responsibilities Jamie Bond is acting as the Marathon Team leader
I am helping Andrew with Safety Officer responsibilities.
David Gurney is the Quartermaster.
Rob is improving the Building and Grounds maintenance – supported by Joe.
The club only exists with the effort and support from all members – I thank everyone who has invested their time to help.
## **Coaches and Recruitment**
The club remains focused on growth, I am very pleased Kayleigh and Euan have completed their coaching qualifications. It is an up-hill struggle to ensure Coaches and Members with positions of responsibility maintain their competence and meet the new Standards for deployment. We all must do more in this area.
I would like to thank all the Coaches : Simon, Jacqui & Dave, Joe, Kayleigh, Euan, and Eilidh for their commitment to support the running of the Club sessions. It is great to see Sundays when all the club boats are in use with beginners learning, and more competent paddlers improving their technique and performance. A number of recruitment sessions this year have helped add new members and I hope this will continue.
We have taken the opportunities offered by the change to a CIO delivered last year, to reorganise the boat store and storage policy, to create some space to enable more growth. This has unfortunately had repercussions, and we have been without the Gym over the winter. I am sorry about this. Work has started on recovering our external boat storage and I hope this will improve the situation.
Finally, I would personally like to thank Joe and Angela for their help and loyalty to me, and their efforts to guide and steer me through my period as Chairman!
I am sure the club will continue to prosper as these changes progress.
KAS 23.02.26
## **BSCC - Number of Members**
||**Full**|**Full**||**TOTAL**||**Non-**||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|**y/e June**|**Senior**|**Junior**|**Temp**|**PADDLERS**|**Left**|**Padd**|**TOTAL**|||||
|2003|18|15|12|45|||45|||||
|2004|11|8|9|28|||28|||||
|2005|20|25|9|54|||54|||||
|2006|32|31|25|88|||88|||||
|2007|30|25|17|72|||72|||||
|2008|38|37|17|92|||92|||||
|2009|53|31|21|105|||105|||||
|2010|39|35|34|108||5|113|||||
|2011|42|42|21|105||7|112|||||
|2012|44|36|17|97||6|103|||||
|2013|44|47|0|91|7|17|115|||||
|2014|55|40|6|101|4|14|119|||||
|2015|56|46|3|105|14|3|122|||||
|2016|61|44|6|111|10|0|121|||||
|2017|64|36|5|105|6|1|112|||||
|2018|62|36|5|103|9|5|117|||||
|2019|61|43|2|106|2|4|112|||||
|2020|56|23|0|79|0|3|82|||||
|2021|61|22|4|87|2|4|93|||||
|2022|61|26|5|92|3|8|103|||||
|2023|57|19|4|80|3|7|90|||||
|2024|69|24|0|93|2|7|102|||||
|2025|65|18|8|91|4|6|101|||||
|_2026_|_55_|_21_|_1_|_77_|_9_|_8_|_94_|_at_|_31_|_Dec_|_2025_|
_Non-paddling members are volunteers, distance members and those who only attend swimming sessions (up to 2014)_
**----- Start of picture text -----**
140
Left
Temp
120 Full Junior
Full Senior
100
80
60
40
20
0
Subscription year ending
Number of Paddling Members
2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026
**----- End of picture text -----**
## **Numbers of competition entries**
|**Calendar Year**|**seniors**|**juniors**|**total**|Jan only|
|---|---|---|---|---|
|**2009**|244|205|449||
|**2010**|129|150|279||
|**2011**|123|173|296||
|**2012**|111|175|286||
|**2013**|180|231|411||
|**2014**|179|233|412||
|**2015**|266|171|437||
|**2016**|312|262|574||
|**2017**|341|196|537||
|**2018**|271|199|464||
|**2019**|141|126|348||
|**2020**|19|18|37||
|**2021**|94|97|191||
|**2022**|122|130|252||
|**2023**|182|124|306||
|**2024**|192|100|292||
|**2025**|223|130|353||
|**2026**|15|7|22||
|600||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|500||||||||||||||||||||
|400||||||||||||||||||||
|300|||||||||||||||||||juniors|
||||||||||||||||||||seniors|
|200||||||||||||||||||||
|100||||||||||||||||||||
|0||||||||||||||||||||
||2009|2010|2011|2012|2013|2014|2015|2016|2017|2018|2019|2020|2021|2022|2023|2024|2025|2026||
## **BSCC Divisional Promotions**
|**Calendar Year**|**Net Promotions**|
|---|---|
|2007|10|
|2008|14|
|2009|10|
|2010|7|
|2011|16|
|2012|11|
|2013|11|
|2014|17|
|2015|29|
|2016|29|
|2017|35|
|2018|7|
|2019|2|
|2020+2021|12|
|2022|15|
|2023|25|
|2024|24|
|2025|17|
**----- Start of picture text -----**
Net Promotions
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
**----- End of picture text -----**
## **Divisions of Active BSCC Racers at End of Calendar Year**
End of year status of Members who have competed for BS in Class A races during the calendar year From Nov 2023, this includes the Winter Series.
|**Div**|**2012**|**2013 **|**2014 **|**2015 **|**2016 **|**2017 **|**2018 **|**2019 **|**2021 **|**2022 **|**2023**|**2024**|**2025**|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|**1**||||||||||||||
|**2**||1|2|5|4|4|3|1|1|2|3||2|
|**3**|3|2|2||2|2|5|1|2|1|1|5|1|
|**4**|1|1||3|6|9|6|2|3|1|3|4|7|
|**5**|1|4|6|7|8|5|6|4|4|6|4|3|2|
|**6**|||2|4|4|5|3|2|3|2|1|5|9|
|**7**|3|6|6|8|4|15|7|2|2|2|4|5|6|
|**8**|6|8|6|11|9|7|4|4|4|3|6|4|3|
|**9**|13|11|17|11|19|6|9|13|12|11|14|6|9|
||**27**|**33**|**41**|**49**|**56**|**53**|**43**|**29**|**31**|**28**|**36**|**32**|**39**|
**----- Start of picture text -----**
Divisional Ranking of BSCC Racers
60
4
2 4
50
2
5 6
3 9
3
40 2 8
2 7 5 2
1
5
6 4 3
1 4 6 1 7
30 3 214 26 8 4 5 6 112 123 211 341 54 2
20 113 6 6 9 15 3 42 43 6 4 3 9
6 11 7 2 2 2 6 5
8 4 2 6
4
3 5
10 19 7 4 3
17 4
13 11 11 13 12 11 14
9 9
6 6
0
2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
**----- End of picture text -----**
## **Sprint Rankings of Active BSCC Sprint Racers at End of Calendar Year**
End of year status of Members who have competed for BSCC in National Sprints during the calendar year
|**Div**|**2022**|**2023**|**2024**|**2025**|
|---|---|---|---|---|
|**A**|1||||
|**B**|1|2|3|3|
|**C**||2|1|3|
|**D**|3|2|3|7|
|**Intermediate**|||1||
|**Mini**||2|1|2|
|**Paddleability**||2|1|1|
||**5**|**10**|**10**|**16**|
**----- Start of picture text -----**
Divisional Ranking of BSCC Racers
18
16
3
14
12
3
10
2
3
8
2
1 7
6
2
1 3
4
1
2
1
2 2
3 1
2
1 1
0
2022 2023 2024 2025
Paddleability Mini Intermediate D C B A
**----- End of picture text -----**
## **BISHOPS STORTFORD CANOE CLUB**
## **Year ended 31 December 2025**
## **Treasurers Report**
Due to increasing costs of running the club, as noted by the previous Treasurer in his report for the year ended 30 June 2024, the club needed to find a way to increase the takings from membership fees. In addition to this, the committee noted that the boat store was full, in part due to the large number of private boats, many of which are never used and do not serve to further the purpose of the club.
As a result, the committee decided to introduce a charge for premium membership over and above the usual membership subscriptions. This has been set at £20 per year and allows members private access to the club and its facilities, as well as storage of one private boat in the boat store. Premium membership is always at the discretion of the committee. There is also a charge for storage of additional boats.
By introducing premium membership, and by claiming gift aid on the general membership subscriptions and donations where possible, the club has been able to keep the general membership fees the same as they have been for over a decade.
The new membership system (MemberMojo) has allowed members to pay for their membership, and other payments, online. This has simplified the process of collecting monies and has made it harder to miss payments due for things like race entries. It has also made it far more convenient for members to make payments to the club.
The club has also signed up for Benevity, which has brought in additional income for the club.
Included in this report are the Club Accounts for the year to 31[st] December 2025. They consist of 3 elements, a Club Account, General Account, and a Balance Sheet. As the club became a CIO on 16[th] September 2024, the accounts for the period from that date to 31[st] December 2024 are also included in this report. Given that the 2024 numbers cover a period of less than four months, care should be taken not to draw comparisons between the two periods shown. Future reports will compare the last 2 full years of accounts.
## **Club account**
This account shows the income from fees and the cost to run the club. The aim is for the fees to cover the running costs, including any unforeseen expenditure. This account shows a surplus of £522.78 this year.
## **General Account**
This account details the fund-raising activities that are used to produce the funds, with any club account surplus to improve the facilities. This has a surplus of £3946.93.
## **Balance sheet**
This shows the position of the club on the 31[st] December 2025.
## **BISHOPS STORTFORD CANOE CLUB**
## **Year ended 31 December 2025**
The club remains in a healthy position, financially, with reserves of £365,133.43.
The major items of expenditure were for additional 1 mini K1 and a new ergo. Major items of expenditure projected in the next 12 months are related to replacing the outside boat store that was damaged by a storm last winter.
Rich Winstanley
Treasurer
February 2025
## **BISHOPS STORTFORD CANOE CLUB**
## **Year ended 31 December 2025**
|||**2025**|||**2024**|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|||**(Jan-Dec)**||**(16 Sep - 31 Dec)**||
|**Club Account**||||||
|MembershipFees||10,276.00|||1,352.00|
|Club Fees||-|||-|
|Courses||840.00|||100.00|
|Racing||1,108.80|||206.00|
|Refreshments||-|||-|
|||12,224.80|||1,658.00|
|Affiliations|583.20|||-||
|C&RT License|-|||2,429.42||
|Coaches Training|362.00|||660.99||
|Electricity|3,642.56|||3,317.61||
|Misc|60.00|||-||
|Insurance|2,685.93|||-||
|Printing,Postage & Stationery|3.70|||-||
|Racing|-|||||
|Rates|858.28|||465.59||
|Refreshments|44.18|||23.80||
|Repairs & Renewals|1,120.12|||1,006.33||
|Water|2,342.05|11,702.02||678.93|8,582.67|
||**Surplus**|522.78||**Deficit**|6,924.67|
|||||||
|||||||
|**General Account**||||||
|Race Food||3.36||346.00||
|BBQ||1,136.77|||346.83|
|Annual Dinner||166.16|||-|
|Xmas Draw||77.00|||30.42|
|Bowling||48.91|||-|
|Mulled Wine||5.02|||36.00|
|Clothing||270.70|||15.00|
|Grants/Donations||2,024.50|||-|
|Interest/Charges||74.51||3.38||
|||3,806.93|||428.25|
|||||||
|Grants/Donations|-|-||-|349.38|
||**Surplus**|3,806.93||**Surplus**|78.87|
## **BISHOPS STORTFORD CANOE CLUB**
## **Year ended 31 December 2025**
|||**2025**|||**2024**|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|||**(Jan-Dec)**|||**(16 Sep - 31 Dec)**|
|**Balance Sheet**||||||
|**Fixed Assets:**||||||
|Property||290,019.43|||290,019.43|
|Equipment||41,487.99|||45,786.99|
|Perpetual Trophies||507.93|||507.93|
|||332,015.35|||336,314.35|
|**Current Assets:**||||||
|Bank|32,487.82|||27,061.68||
|Cash|290.26|||1,965.61||
|ClothingStock|340.00|||147.07||
|RacingEntryPrepaid|-|||-||
|Race Prizes Stock|-|||-||
||33,118.08|||29,174.36||
|**Current Liabilities:**||||||
|Membershipin Adv|-|||-||
||-|||-||
|||||||
|Net Current Assets||33,118.08|||29,174.36|
|||365,133.43|||365,488.71|
|||||||
|||||||
|Represented byReserves:-||||||
|Balance b/f||365,488.71|||372,334.51|
|Club Account Surplus||522.78|||-|
|General Account Surplus||3,806.93|||78.87|
|||369,818.42|||372,413.38|
|Club Account Deficit||-|||6,924.67|
|Deprection of Assets||4,684.99|||-|
|||365,133.43|||365,488.71|