This year I am delighted to report another successful year for the club confirming our demanding long-term sustainability plans.
As you will be aware the club was hit by a major energy bomb in July increasing our monthly electricity costs by a factor of 3.5. With this in mind, we had already applied for a grant from Valencia (previously Viridor) to increase our coverage of solar panels and a move to LED floodlighting to negate as much as possible our increased costs. The grant application was successful and overall gave us £32K against a budgeted cost of £55k (incl Vat) for the scheme. We have started measuring the benefits, but they will not be visible until mid-2024.
Every year I bang on about our wonderful volunteers without whom our costs would preclude the club from moving forward in line with our projections. Their commitment is staggering, and all the sections enjoy excellent support. The only worry I have is that most of the core support is aging so we require younger volunteers to come forward and take up the some of the load. Heather’s group on the finance side highlights this issue.
We are now very close to the shanty town being replaced by the Wiggett’s development. By the end of the Summer, we will have a new entrance road which will further enhance our commercial offering as well as opening us up to a much better connectivity with the local community. We have negotiated a wonderful legacy for the club and at no cost, again,thanks again to inhouse business expertise covering all aspects of a lengthy negotiation lasting over 4 years.
For your information, we are changing the way we manage our membership database which will meet all regulatory requirements, allowing us to ensure only our members enjoy the benefits of our facilities. Details of how this will operate will be put to members as soon as possible and will be active from April / May this year.
Finally, I would like to sincerely thank Janet Austin who is retiring as Club Secretary. Janet has served the club for a very long period and has shown great commitment to the role. She is a proven long-term volunteer that epitomises my earlier comments. She supports all aspects of our club and will continue as Chair of the Bowling section.
All our sections remain active and successful, and their individual reports will be available at the AGM.
Brian Lorenzini
Chairman
January 2024
