Treasurers Report Financial Year end 30^th Sept 2020 – Rachel Mannering

This year was an extraordinary year for all the wrong reasons! And of course, this has had a dramatic effect on the club finances. The income dropped from £37,000 last year to £17,547. In April we received a grant from Dacorum Borough Council for £10,000 which helped bridge this gap.    

We lost our main sponsor this year December 19 and also agreed a 50% reduction of sponsorship from Brightwell Aerials. Gade Valley Harriers stopped using the club from April, this along with their last marathon training run in March was a loss of income of £1881.

There are some positives though! The 100 club maintained a steady income of £2867 which is great. Thank you to all members who continue to contribute this year as it’s so valuable to club right now, and also thank you Rachel Dickinson for her time and management of this including our social distance or zoom monthly draws!

Nick Harper & Will Allen hosted a series of zoom quizzes for junior families which were fun (hard) and raised £165! The “Old boys” had their annual golf outing and raised a whopping £250.

With cold Saturday morning training sessions in mind Keith Mannering donated a hot water boiler to club for instant tea & coffee.

It was agreed that all players whether they pay their subs monthly or per match will pay the same this year. £25 annual subs and £12 match fees and at the end of the season the players who paid by monthly standing order where given the option to receive a refund or donate the balance to the club. I am grateful to all the players who agreed for the funds to remain in the club. This alone raised £1748. Plus, with Martin Cope donating his annual expenses of £574, these have all been put in a savings account and will be put towards a new roller.

As much as it does highjack my Monday evenings, I have found invoicing match fees and collecting payment via direct debit very successful again this year. It takes the stress of collecting cash on match days from the team captain. However, I would like more players to take up this option next year.

Despite the reduced season, the Copes have maintained the square to its exceptional standard. But with the machinery as old as it is, this does come at a cost and the grounds maintenance and machinery costs this year was £9745.

Although the club house was out-of-bounds, we took the opportunity to make some well overdue repairs and maintenance to the club. We were advised we should have the club’s water supply tested for legionnaires, we also replaced the broken window and had the CCTV repaired along with new cameras installed. In the next financial year, we are looking to have a new alarm system installed.

It goes without saying that the club will find it hard to survive another pandemic and the year 2020 – 2021 will hopefully return to a more “normal” season however we will need to be fugal with club funds to make sure the club continue for many years to come.