## **TRUSTEES REPORT YEAR ENDED MARCH 2024** ## **MEMBERSHIP** Membership has been steady throughout the past year. We unfortunately had to have a price increase from £1 to £2 a night for the junior class and £3 for seniors. Payment for the week has also been requested so that encourages members to attend all boxing sessions and this has worked well throughout the year. Our young members were invited to travel down to Glasnevin boxing club in July to take part in a light sparring session and day out to tour the Aviva stadium and attend a waterpark all courtesy of Glasnevin and for that the club are thankful. Fun was had by all members of all ages. We are constantly looking to increase membership through word of mouth, invite a friend, recommendations and advertising on social media. We aim to run an ‘intro to boxing’ project to welcome new members also in the coming months with the help of grants from the community foundation and Belfast city council. We also run a successful ladies class three times a week and are always looking for ways to welcome new members through donating prizes to various causes to welcome new members to try our class. We just recently donated a prize to Hillsborough boys football club for their awards night. To generate more income we also have offered strength and conditioning classes to other sports clubs for pre season training. In the last year we welcomed Sarsfields gaa, Rossa gaa and Hillsborough boys U16 football club who thoroughly enjoyed the coaches putting them through their paces. We received a grant from the Halifax foundation for 6 months rent which really helped the club through the tough times we find ourselves in. ## **COMPETITIONS** We had the juniors and seniors enter Antrim and Ulster competitions this year and we had success with 6 members making it to the finals and success with 3 Antrim winners and an Ulster title winner. They all work very hard and we are all proud of each of them. The team also welcomed some clubs to spar with us and aim to foster more relations and increase the development of Team McCullagh. We opened our doors and welcomed the Bridges beyond boxing team back again into train and spar with members when they had visitors from the USA back in April and our head coach Paul even hosted some of the team to his home. It's great to welcome people from all different backgrounds and cultures. It's a great opportunity for our members to meet new people and foster new relations in the boxing industry. ## **FUNDRAISING** Our ladies class took part in the Belfast marathon last May and fundraised for vital funds for the club. These ladies play a vital part in keeping our club open and we are always looking for ways to increase our funds. As a thank you we were able to secure a grant for our ladies to run a well-being day courtesy of the James Brown community fund where we had yoga classes, massage therapist and positive eating talk and refreshments for the ladies. Many of our ladies also travelled to Northern Spain in September to walk the Camino de santiago. ## **LOOKING AHEAD** We have had a positive year at MccCullaghs but also have had the problem of rising energy costs in the last 2 years. Our energy bill has more than doubled in the last year which is very concerning and we need to look at ways to keep costs down. Overheads are also increasing and we maybe need to look at other ways to fundraise in order to keep the club running at a steady pace. We are considering holding a sponsored walk with our members to raise vital funds to help with the day to day running of the club. We have also reapplied to the reconciliation fund as our application wasn't successful this last year, we are hoping to work more with cross community teams in other parts of the city in a good relation project.