Dear Member
As my year as President
draws to a close and the AGM is fast approaching, I thought I would update the
membership on club news.
Firstly, the
refurbishment of the men’s changing areas and disabled changing room/W.C. will
shortly be completed. Unfortunately, due to the age of the building and
subsidence occurring under the men’s toilets, we have exceeded the original
grant of £75,000. We have had to carry out structural repairs to make the
building safe. Furthermore, damage to the walls of the changing rooms inflicted
by players could not be repaired and we had had to supply wooden panelling. All
in all, this has effected an overspend of approx £15000.I would ask that, in
future, all players respect the Building and its Property. Fortunately, I have
been successful in securing an additional £7,500 from England Hockey and Sport
England to support the additional spending.
However, due to the
subsidence in the Building, we now know why the Squash changing room and
Committee room have been leaking. Unfortunately, there is no cheap solution to
this problem and so we are having to make remedial repairs to try and seal the
roof in the short term, whilst we can raise money to pay for the structural
repairs.
On a plus note, we now
have the Disabled Lift installed and along with the new Disabled Changing Room
and W.C, we are now compliant with the Disability Discrimination Act.
I would like to thank
all sections for their consideration whilst the inconvenience of the building
work has been ongoing. I would also extend my thanks to Gordon & Sarah
Robison for their assistance all year especially during the renovation. In addition,
a special thank-you goes to Brendan Roberts, who has been my Site Manager for
the works and has overseen the project every day since Nov last year.
Having been Grounds
Chairman for the last 18 months, I can inform the membership that the club have
invested in some new pieces of equipment, which will improve the quality and
efficiency of maintaining the grounds especially in wet weather. The problem
with the new bowling green drainage has been rectified and a development plan
has been put in place. However, the Hockey astroturf has compacted and does not
drain in heavy rainfall leaving silt mud deposits on the surface. This is now a
Health & Safety issue. We are currently receiving prices to rejuvenate the
astroturf which will extend the pitch life by at least five years. The carpet
is good but unless rejuvenation takes place, the pile will deteriorate quickly
and will need replacing. The cost is likely to be circa £17,000 plus Vat and
will have to be taken out of the hockey astroturf sinking fund. I have already
approached Merchant Taylors who will contribute to this cost.
Continuing with the
grounds theme, I am delighted to announce that we have been approached by
Lancashire Cricket Board to host a Lancashire 1sts v Lancashire 2nds Practice
Match on Wed 30th March, 1st and 2nd April.
Lancashire hold our Head Groundsman, Graham Walker in high esteem, as they
consider him to be one of the few groundsman who can prepare a wicket to County
standard outside of Old Trafford. I congratulate Graham on the recognition and
would like to thank him and the groundstaff for all their hard work and effort
over the last two years.
I would like now to
highlight what a fantastic junior section we have within the club.
·
Squash - we currently
have four junior teams, more than any other club in Merseyside. The 1st,
2nd and 3rd teams haven’t yet lost a game in their
leagues and are top of their divisions. The U11 team is developing junior stars
for the future. We have 9 juniors playing for Merseyside! Sunday afternoons see
70 kids enjoying junior coaching and 5 juniors are playing in the adult team
leagues.
·
Hockey – has Badgers
U16, Beavers U14, U12 Mixed teams, U15 Girls team and U11 Girls team. We have 6
playing for County, 2 playing for N.W and Peter Douglas has had an England
Trial. Many juniors playing in the adult sides. We have approx 60 juniors
turning up for training on a Sunday morning.
·
Cricket – has U15, U13,
U11 teams and girls playing in the new Ladies Team, plus juniors being
represented in the men’s sides. There are 4 representing Lancashire. Last
season saw 120 juniors coming to nets. This year, the function room will not be
hired out when junior nets are taking place on a Friday evening.
·
Bowls – are in the
process of setting up a junior development Centre of Excellence and will be
only the second club in the North-West to do so.
My heartfelt thanks go
to all the organisers, coaches and volunteers who give up their free time to
support the juniors as they go largely unrecognised within the club and work
the hardest. Thank-You!
A full report of the
adult teams will be available at the AGM when most of the playing seasons are
over.
On the social side, we
now have new caterers, Chrissy and Dave Finnan of Style Catering. They
currently service Sefton Park Cricket Club and are experienced in supplying
every type of meal to sports clubs. Mothers Day was a great success with over
100 members enjoying lunch. I wish them every success and hope that the
membership will return to the club in droves! Apart from membership subscriptions,
our other major source of income is bar sales, so please support the club’s
functions.
Congratulations to Paul
Davies, who is nominated as our Vice President at the AGM. Paul is the driving
force behind our excellent junior squash section and I wish him & Sally
every success in the coming years.
As for Mike Bishop, his
“L” plates are off and he’s into top gear. Mike has been a great support and
help over the past year and I have no doubt that his year in office will be a
memorable one! His first venture is organising the NatWest CricketForce
Volunteer weekend, which will see the exterior of the clubhouse painted. Please
make yourself available.
The last people I would
like to thank are my husband Dave and my two little girls, Hannah & Jemma.
I could not have done this year without your support and encouragement.