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Axe Valley Runners

COMMITTEE REPORT TO THE CLUB’S ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING Summer 2021.

As reported to you we decided to hold this year’s AGM in part by written report and email, and in part in person. The report indicates where a decision is needed that in BOLD. We would be very grateful for a response from you on those items as a minimum. There is a proforma at the end of the report which you can copy and paste into an email to record your feedback. If you have other comments or questions we’d be pleased to hear from you. Just include your remarks in the same email.

We are holding an in person social-come-AGM on Monday 12th July at 7:45pm at Axminster Football Club. It would be really lovely to see you if you can make it.

Deadline for responses is Sunday 11th July and then I intend to summarise the total AGM feedback in the Weekahead email to members on Sunday 19th July. 

Lesley

CHAIR’S REPORT

This is an attempt to record the changes and achievements in the year since the 2020 Annual General Meeting held by emailed report only during August.

Club Nights and Runs

It’s a bit difficult to know where to start. What a year. At the time of writing this we are still “restricted” in our activity. While this year has thrown up many challenges I think it has also led to some really interesting and innovative developments which I hope we can retain post the current restrictions. I believe that you have enjoyed being able to start your club night run in various locations and at different times, for example.

My thanks go to all run leaders for their consistently wonderful routes, leadership and motivation. This includes all members who have stepped in to cover a run when the leader hasn’t been able to be present. Your efforts do not go unnoticed and are much appreciated.

Kevin Feeney started a new Wednesday evening run in and around Axminster in 2020/21which has proved very popular. It has also cemented a very useful link with Axminster Football Club.

Sarah Herfet, Pam Goddard and Cliff Marriott started a new group in 2021 preparing runners for the return of parkrun (currently scheduled for 24th July) mindful of the number of locals who started running during lockdown but also of the existing parkrunners who rather lost their mojo and needed a way back.

Carol Austin organised a bank holiday 10k time trial in May and intends to organise this every bank holiday Monday if there is sufficient interest.

Rob Collier’s group has moved to Tuesday evenings to better cope with members running their weekly long run on a Sunday and not wanting to run on Monday. Carol Austin plans to move her group to Tuesday from September for the same reason. We would like to know your views on moving our club night to a Tuesday.

ACTION – Please let us know your view on moving our club night to a Tuesday.

Handicap

I’d like to thank Andrew Hartnell for keeping our virtual 4km handicap going. This has been well supported. Assuming that we are able to return to unrestricted activity, the committee proposes that the virtual handicap runs until (and including) October leaving November and December for actual handicap and for us to be able to establish our “mark” in time for the new year January – December on road handicap. Please let us have your view.

ACTION – Please indicate if you are happy for the virtual handicap to finish in October, and for November and December to be months for us to establish our “mark” ready for actual handicap in 2022.

The plan is to hold a monthly rather than weekly club night when the handicap happens In this way groups can continue to run from various locations 3 times a month and just start from the single location once a month. This will mean that all members can meet monthly briefly so we can feel like a club again. It will still be possible for those groups/members not running the handicap to organise a run as we did before.

Having said that, please remember Group Leaders that it’s perfectly ok for you to organise a run but ask another member of the group to lead it if you either want to run the handicap or have a night off! I know some of you do this already.

Events

The virtual London Marathon 2020 held last October saw a truly wonderful team effort in helping our virtual marathoners to achieve the 26.2 miles with support. Just how they all managed to keep going especially in such dreadful weather I don’t know but it was wonderful to be part of the club pulling together to supply water etc.

Matt Hewer and Kevin Hawker (Honiton Running Club) organised two inter club challenges which caught members’ imaginations. The element of “jeopardy” in deciding whether to run flat fast or run uphill tested a lot of you. 

Risk Assessment

The Committee is reviewing and updating our risk assessment in order to try to capture some of the good practice which has been prompted by covid. We will circulate that for comment once it’s completed.

Junior Section

The restrictions imposed by Covid meant that we could see no way of restarting the junior section. Hopefully that will change as there has been quite a lot of enquiries about it. We currently have no junior rep on the committee although our constitution allows for this. If you would like to help restart the junior section and are willing to join the committee we would love to hear from you. NB if we can’t restart our junior section we will have to consider amending our constitution to reflect that we only have senior members (17 years and over) currently it states that we have juniors 11-16 years old.

ACTION – Please indicate if you would be willing to help restart the junior section and/or join the committee with that brief

Press Reports and Social Media

Dave Mutter has kept the local media up to speed with our virtual and actual race activity throughout the year. Jon Day has kept our Facebook page going which is well used by members to report their runs, seek running buddies and pass on advice etc. Our twitter account has been well used and has given us the opportunity to raise our profile a bit.

2020 Awards

Many thanks to Amie and James Sibley who organised our annual awards although we had no Christmas “Do” in 2020. Here’s hoping we can have a proper celebration this year.

Grizzly 2021

As you know Grizzly 2021 didn’t take place in March. Tony Smith and the Grizzly committee have set 6th March 2022 for the return of Grizzly. There will be, unless Covid intervenes, a low key AVR members only Grizzly on 24th October.

Committee Members 

Both Jon and Gill Day formally stood down from the committee during this year. I would like to record our thanks to both of them for everything they have done and continue to do for our club.

Also Janet Woodward has indicated that she wishes to cease to be our club secretary from the date of our AGM this year. Janet, for several years, and has had the unenviable task of making sense of some of our rambling discussions which has been even more challenging while we have been meeting via zoom. I’d like to thank Janet on your behalf for all that she has done for the club as secretary. This of course means we need a new club secretary and I’m really pleased to report that Susan Wall has volunteered to take this on.

There is a section below to formally deal with membership of your committee. I would like to say that if anyone would like to join us we would be very happy to hear from you. As things get back to some sort of normal we are likely to need committee members to take on roles which assist that and also to keep developing our club. Please don’t think you’ve nothing to offer, if you’re keen we’d like to hear from you.

I recently asked in the weekahead if someone could help our Treasurer Liz Thomas with year end accounts and the filing of Corporation Tax with HMRC. I trust someone will (or perhaps already has) step forward to assist her.

ACTION – Please indicate if you would like to join the committee to help reboot and develop our club

TREASURER’S REPORT 2020 – 2021 (Liz Thomas)

Funds have risen over the year by £1488.79. 

Club funds were up by £1525.64, Grizzly by £212.90 (late sponsorship income less expenses) and Grizfest down by £249.75 (late expenses).

We had a membership income of £3202 and processed 28 England Athletics payments. Using LoveAdmin meant that despite the pandemic we were able to collect this money fairly easily, but we did have to pay nearly £90 for using this system. 

Affiliation fees of £150 to England Athletics and £320 to ARC (Association of Running Clubs) for insurance.

The kit loss omits £137 of receipts against last summers order which will show in the current year’s accounts.

Miscellaneous costs included website fees of £43.26 and Love Admin set up fee of £100.

The club paid the entry fees for the Run Exe Relays and 3 Ekiden sets of relays. 

Trophy expenses were for the handicap coasters, engraving the shields and the Christmas awards tankards.

At the end of the financial year the club had assets of £20003.87, being £2701.73 in the Grizzly fund, £1212.86 in the Grizfest fund and the remaining £16089.28 allocated to the running of the club.

NB The Club accounts summary 2020-21 is appended below

Members will appreciate that although Covid-19 has interrupted our usual activity since the March 2020, the Club’s fixed costs have remained as normal, e.g. ARC insurance, EA affiliation, Scout hut rental, website and some of our normal expenses such as minibuses to events were replaced with the virtual events. Therefore your committee recommends that the current annual fee of £15 per member (£5 second claim) be retained for 2021/22. However, the fee has been £15 for more than 10 years so we would like to put you on notice that we may need to increase it in 2022/23

ACTION – Please indicate if you agree that the club fee for 2021/22 remain at £15 per senior member and £5 for second claim members

MEMBERSHIP REPORT (Liz Thomas)

At the time of this report we have 230 senior members, 7 second claim members and 20 honorary life members: total senior members is therefore 257.

As of 1st June 2021 37 members were affiliated to England Athletics. The EA year runs April – March.

CLUB CONSTITUTION

There are several parts of our existing club constitution which need amending and for which I am seeking your agreement.

Article 11 – concerning subsidised club vests for new members. This expectation that we expect all of the membership to subsidise vests every year for new members seems inappropriate. Better to subsidise, for example, travel to some events, from which any members could benefit if they choose is a better use of any unallocated funds.

ACTION – Remove article 11 from our constitution

Article 12 – concerning our membership year. This is given as 1st August – 31st July. In fact we have been operating 1st September – 31st August for a few years so I am seeking to formalise this.

ACTION – Amend article 12  so that our membership year runs 1st September – 31st August. NB this has a knock on on the date members will have been deemed to have resigned (1st October) and the date by which members who haven’t renewed their membership are deleted from the handicap results (1st September)

ELECTION OF COMMITTEE

The existing committee is willing to restand. 

Chair = Lesley Adams

Vice Chair = Amie Sibley

Secretary = Susan Wall (new appointment)

Treasurer = Liz Thomas

Membership Secretary = Liz Thomas 

Two Club Captains = Eleanor Wood & Matt Hewer

Rob Collier = leading on sorting our weekly club run calendar

Alan Morbey = leading on the new website and all things IT

Sarah Herfet = Welfare/safeguarding Officer

Janet Woodward = portfolio to be decided

Junior Section Rep = vacancy

In addition Liz Slade is supporting Sarah as our second welfare officer and Julia Conway is our social secretary.

ACTION – Please indicate if you are happy to reappoint the existing committee members as detailed above and to appoint Susan Wall as our club secretary

AND FINALLY …

Thank you all for your help, support and cheerfulness over this year. I’m not sure how we did it but we seem to have come through the worst of Covid relatively unscathed and that is a tribute to each and every one of you. 

FEEDBACK PROFORMA – PLEASE COPY AND PASTE INTO AN EMAIL TO Lesley TO RECORD YOUR VIEWS BY Sunday 11th JULY

ITEM REQUESTING FEEDBACK	MY FEEDBACK
Let us know your view on moving our club night to a Tuesday
Indicate if you are happy for the virtual handicap to finish in October, and for November and December to be months for us to establish our “mark” ready for actual handicap in 2022.	yes/no
Indicate if you would be willing to help restart the junior section and/or join the committee with that brief	Name ……………………………………..
Indicate if you would like to join the committee to help restart and develop our club	Name ……………………………………..
Membership Fee 2020/21 – agree to retain at £15 per member and £5 for second claim members.	Yes/no
Remove the vest subsidy for new members ( constitution article 11)	Yes/no
Amend the membership year (article 12) to 1st September – 31st August	Yes/no
Please indicate if you are happy to reappoint the existing committee members as detailed	yes/no
Any Other Matter for Committee Discussion?