Dear member,
As you will be aware, due to Covid-19 restrictions, we have not been able to hold our club AGM for 2020. As an alternative the committee have decided to provide a set of informative reports to allow the membership to understand our progress over the last year or so. If any member has any questions please feel free to ask, we will respond to all queries received by Friday 26th March. A summary of all questions plus the answers will be posted on the club website by Monday 12th April.
We look forward to seeing you all soon.
Best regards
Russell
Chairman’s message
Welcome
Hello again to all our members, this message is to keep in touch and to provide an update. As you will all understand the current COVID situation continues to restrict our lives and prevents us holding a ‘face to face’ meeting for all members.
I hope that you and your families are all safe and well under these extremely difficult circumstances. For anyone who has personally suffered the loss of any friends or family, you have my sincere condolences at what must be an exceedingly difficult time for you.
AGM 2020
As it is not possible to hold a usual AGM and meet members in person the committee have decided to defer the formal meeting, probably until the date of the next AGM in September this year. In place of the 2020 AGM we are issuing a number of reports to update all members on what has happened during the previous year.
Club news for the last year
Firstly, the good news is things are looking much more positive as we move into 2021 and we now have a provisional opening date, Monday 12th April, and we can start to recover our fitness in preparation for court time or gym sessions. I’m sure Ronnie has new shoes ready for you and can quickly check your rackets before you play!
I appreciate this last year has been particularly frustrating for all members as the restrictions have prevented full use of our great club for some 13 months. Hopefully we can all quickly get back to playing squash & racketball along with improving our general fitness. Even though initially there will probably be some restrictions on our ability to play squash and racketball, along with numerous other activities that we either cannot do or must do differently, things will get back to normal. When it is safe for squash, racketball and general keeping fit to fully return we can reflect with pride at how we all did our bit to help stop the spread of this virus.
This has been a challenging year for me as Chairman, one which I have found immensely disappointing as we started last year with a really positive outlook for the future in our club, I would like to thank all the individuals who work hard to keep the club going, it is always a team effort. My main thanks is to Ronnie and Victoria for their constant efforts to ensure everything runs smoothly (when we are open!) and for making sure I don’t ‘cock up’. Then to thank Anne for working hard to ensure the whole club is consistently cleaned and ready for members whenever they are able to be back. Finally, to the whole committee for their ongoing support, they have had to endure regular zoom meetings with me trying to chair and they have been indispensable in keeping the club prepared and ready for all rule changes over the year.
As the pandemic spread in the U.K. so we had to react to the rapidly changing situation and to understand, and implement, the guidelines issued by our governing bodies, Sport England, England Squash and the government. As you will appreciate this was complicated at times and it was very frustrating to have to close, or restrict access, as those rules changed.
Looking forward
As you are aware due to our secure financial position we have been able to pause the membership subscription for the many months the club was fully closed and during the initial reopening period. We intend to review the restart of subscriptions once the club has reopened. I want to personally thank you all for your patience during this testing period.
My final wish is to thank you all again for your continued understanding and support during this difficult time, I realise our club hasn’t been able to operate as we would like over the last year or so but we are all doing the best we can.
As I previously stated please remain optimistic and keep the faith as we will Play Safe and Stay Safe at our Club, until I see you at the club again, keep safe.
Best regards
Russell
We welcome feedback, all members are encouraged to participate in the running of our Club and help keep it as a great place for us all. If there are any questions emanating from these reports please either send an email with your question or pop a note into the club. All questions will be reviewed, and a response will be sent back to the individual. All questions and the response will be posted on the club website, should anyone prefer to remain anonymous just state that with your query.
Treasurer’s summary in relation to our financial year ending 30/04/20.
Financial background:
On 31st January 2019 we changed the status of the squash club to a company limited by guarantee as agreed during the previous AGM to offer more financial security. This resulted in the last set of accounts in 2018/19 only being 3 months old and making comparisons against 2019/20 being irrelevant.
Profit & Loss for 2019/20
Turnover £174,826
Cost of sales (£29,728)
Admin costs (£140,900)
Operating Profit £4,198
Interest receivable £8,813
Profit before tax £13,011
Tax on profit (2,055)
Profit after tax £15,066
Notes:
• No subscriptions were taken in in the final month of April due to Covid lockdown.
• All Covid grants received from the government and local council have been included in our 2020/21 accounts as this is when they relate to.
• The tax refund of £2,055 relates to an over provision of tax in the accounting period 01/04/18 to 31/01/19 when the squash club was unincorporated which has now been reversed in these accounts.
Balance Sheet for 2019/20
Fixed Assets £94,195
Current assets £672,664
Creditors -(£31,468)
Net assets £735,391
Overall financial position
The squash club remains in a healthy financial position which has enabled us to postpone membership payments whilst the club is shut due to Covid. The committee is committed to continue this policy until the club can be safely re-opened.
Roger
Professional’s report 2019/20
Membership
The Club was told to close on March 21st 2020 the membership level was 600 the committee decided to suspend membership payment while the club was closed. The membership level at the moment sits at 520 which is brilliant considering the pandemic, a massive thank you to all our loyal members and sponsors who have stood by us through tough times!! I and the team would like to thank the committee especially our Chairman and Treasurer Russell Smith and Roger Smith for all the extra hours that have been put in during this pandemic. They have kept the club in a great position for us to be able to run as best as possible and we are very lucky to have them on our team.
Cumbria Squash
The Cumbria League was won by Wigton, congratulations and thanks to all the captains for running the teams. Adam Goad won the county men’s championship and Victoria Bell the Ladies. The handicap finals are on hold hopefully we will be able to complete once we get back to normal, the club championships was cancelled.
Racketball
The club has seen a big increase in people taking up Racketball myself included, it’s a great alternative when squash gets too quick and we have seen a big uptake in people returning to the club to give this a go. We started a racketball league system which will resume when COVID allows.
Gym
The new gym Equipment which arrived in 2019 went down really well with all members. The new personal Trainers Jo and Stuart Windsor are a real asset to the gym doing inductions and offering one to one training, thanks to them both for their enthusiasm and help in keeping the gym looking its best!
Opening
We have just heard the news we are allowed to open the club 12th April, guidelines to follow from England Squash we can’t wait to welcome members back and hopefully see things and numbers get back to pre-lockdown numbers, thanks for your patience!!
Ronnie
Coaches report 2019/20
Coaching
Pre lockdown the junior section was thriving with the most juniors we have had at the club in many years; majority being beginners. Saturday mornings were especially busy and with the help of James Worsick and Amy Robertshaw we were able to offer something to all abilities – massive thanks to the pair of them for helping. Individual lessons have been busy especially amongst adults which is fantastic to see. Schools coaching was still in place with 4/5 schools coming for blocks of training, we hope to resume this when COVID allows. I was able to complete my Level 3 England Squash Coaching Qualification throughout the year, thanks to the club for allowing time for this.
Many thanks also to Dave Box who organised some adult training sessions when this was allowed.
Events
In November 2019 we were able to host the Appleton’s of Carlisle PSA Open. Massive thank you to Steve and Sue Appleton for their continued support in sponsoring this event and allowing us to bring professional squash to the club. In February 2020 we held our first England Squash bronze event for a few years which was well supported by juniors from all over the region, feedback was great and everyone was very impressed with the club. Many thanks to Dugald Cunningham and Amy Robertshaw for their help on the day.
I look forward to coaching and events recommencing once we are allowed!
Victoria
If you've made it this far - well done! As above any questions/feedback is welcomed by Friday 26th March.
Thank you!
