Leander Amateur Swimming Club Trustee Annual Report 2021-2022
Charity Registration Number: 102327
Contents
----- Start of picture text -----
|||
|---|---|
|Organisation Overview and Purpose..................................................................... 3|
|Club Objectives....................................................................................................... 3|
|Leander ASC Activities 2021-2022 ......................................................................... 4|
|Financial Commentary ........................................................................................... 5|
|Declaration|.............................................................................................................. 5|
----- End of picture text -----
2 | P a g e
Organisation Overview and Purpose
Leander ASC is a charity registered with the Charities Commission in Northern Ireland. The Club is affiliated to the regional and national governing bodies Swim Ulster and Swim Ireland and is led by a voluntary committee (the trustees). Having formed in 1964, Leander ASC has a strong history in developing top level competition swimmers and providing a great environment for swimmers to progress at all levels from Fundamentals through to Masters.
In setting our objectives and planning our activity for the year the Trustees have given careful consideration to the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland’s guidance on public benefit. This is to ensure that the activities have helped to achieve the charity’s purposes and provide a benefit to our beneficiaries namely the members of Leander Amateur Swimming Club, the majority of which are people living in the Greater Belfast area.
Leander ASC’s vision is ‘to develop people so that they can enjoy swimming competently and achieve their potential as club members, coaches and competitors’.
Club Objectives:
-
to promote swimming in the community and coach people to swim competently.
-
to support all members to achieve their goals and potential within aquatic sport.
-
to develop and encourage physical and mental health, self-esteem, confidence and camaraderie through club activities.
-
to provide a safe and positive environment for members by safeguarding the reputation and sustainability of the Club through the implementation of appropriate and proportionate governance and management standards.
-
to promote the work of the Club, both internally and externally through a range of communication channels.
The trustees are appointed on an annual basis at the Annual General Meeting.
| Trustees | Trustees |
|---|---|
| Paula Cunningham | Briege Johnstone |
| Jillian Newberry | Mark Harvey (appointed Nov 22) |
| Ramune Farnan | Claire Savage (appointed Nov 22) |
| Kathryn Wylie | Gary Johnstone (appointed Nov 22) |
| Frank Stevens | Claire Ross (stood down June 22) |
| Joanne Burns | Christine Mooney (stood down June 22) |
| Helen Lunny | Mairead Devlin (stood down Nov 22) |
3 | P a g e
Leander ASC Activities 2021-2022
Leander ASC welcomed a full return to swimming and competition in 2021-2022, following what had been a difficult period during the Covid 19 pandemic. Working hard to secure pool space, and through the collective effort of our Coaching Team, Committee and other volunteers, the Club was not only able to return our existing members but also increased provision to several groups, including our Learn to Swim, Recreational and Masters.
Right across the club, delivery to the community continued to grow from strength to strength, whether in teaching the life skill of swimming or through achieving amazing successes at performance swimming. Highlights of the year included:
-
the return of teaching, critical for young beginners, many of whom had been negatively impacted by not having access to pools (including school swimming) during Covid-19:
-
the return of the Aquasprints League increasing the skills, team spirit and confidence for younger swimmers, especially important after a long time out of the water;
-
Developing several of our swimmers to be selected by GLL and Belfast City Council as talented athletes to qualify for sponsorship support in their sporting journey;
-
Major performance successes throughout the year including at the Open Disability Championships, Ulster Long Course, Ulster Masters and the Irish Summer Nationals;
-
Our members represented Northern Ireland on the international stage with Mollie McAlorum selected to represent Northern Ireland at the Birmingham Commonweath games and Head Coach Kathryn Wylie leading the the swim team at the summer European Youth Olympic festival; and
4 | P a g e
- Strong uptake in volunteering in our sport, in particular by our young people, with the values and importance of ‘giving back’ to the community promoted. Frank Stevens, a long standing volunteer and ambassador for our club and Irish swimming more widely, received nationwide recognition through being awarded by the 2021 Irish Federation of Sports Award for Volunteering.
Financial Commentary
The Club accounts and Independent Examiners Report are submitted alongside this report.
The income and expenditure figures are significantly higher than the previous reporting period due to the limited delivery during the 2020-2021 resulting from the restrictions during the Covid-19 pandemic. Whilst membership fees resumed during 2021-2022, the club continued to experience higher than normal Covid related costs (lane hire costs remained pre-Covid rate but with restricted swimmer capacity per lane imposed). Expenditure included a careful use of reserves to help mitigate against all increased costs transferring to members. This was in recognition of the temporary and unusual nature of the extra costs and had been projected. Operating reserves are held in line with best practice guidance.
During the reporting period the Club was also successful in securing several grants from Belfast City Council ‘Take your Marks’ and Always & Sported ‘Fuel her future’ for specified activities. We were also delighted to receive support from a former Leander Swimmer to introduce a bursary for swimmers who may require financial assistance.
Declaration
In preparing this report the Trustees of Leander ASC have had due regard for the guidance on public benefit from the Northern Ireland Charity Commission and other documentation produced by the Commission and are of the view that the Club is operating in full compliance with its duties as a charity.
Signed on behalf of the Trustees:
7 Paula Cunningham Leander ASC Chairperson
5 | P a g e