SCoM AGM 2009 - Chairman's Report
In opening the meeting Ian Harford said how pleased he was that just two years after Chill Factore was opened, SCoM was now holding its AGM in the St Anton Suite with the ski slope available for any member to enjoy before the start of the meeting.
This was an important step for the club and thanks were due to the Chill Factore management for making the facilities available. He was pleased to see a large turnout for the meeting as it gave members the chance of reviewing the year and the Committee the opportunity to communicate with members about activities and future plans.
In discussing the work of the year he covered three main areas:
A. Mainstream Activities
- Two holidays, to Val d'Isère and Davos, had been well supported with reports in the Newsletter. Strong interest had persuaded the Committee to support a third in 2010.
- Social nights with talks had had interesting speakers but attendance was lower because of a change of venue and night. In 2009/10 venue and night would change to the George Carnell Centre in Urmston on Fridays.
- Other non-skiing activities had been well supported - Walks had been held in Cumbria, Yorkshire and in the Derbyshire/Staffordshire border. Socials included the end of season party, several meals and a BBQ.
B. 'New' Activities
- Thursdays at Chill Factore was now a key part of the Club's year round activities, offering both a skiing and social dimension. Coaching was provided free to members October - January.
- A successful training programme of 5 three hour courses had been held in September with Giles Lewis of The Development Centre.
- Charity Support activities for Mencap and Disability Sports UK had involved teams of SCoM members and £700 had been raised. The participants at the AGM were congratulated and John Weatherell was thanked for his work in organising and liaising with Chill Factore staff.
- Trafford ClubMark was an accreditation system offered to sports Clubs. This had helped us achieve more recognition and offers the possibility of applying for developmental grants. The Chairman had received a certificate on behalf of our Treasurer, Brian Richards who had been nominated as Unsung Volunteer of the Year.
- The SCoM Development Plan had been the subject of discussion during the year and copies of part of this were available at the meeting. The Plan was helping SCoM to determine priorities, improve performance, move into new activities and be more outward facing. A central part of the Plan involved communication with members.
C. The work of the SCoM Committee
- This was the engine room of the club, where the planning and organisation of activities was addressed. Effective communication with members was needed and a Fly on the Wall column in the Newsletter was giving an idea of what was being discussed in the Commitee.
- The Chairman drew attention to the work of all the Committee members, mentioning the Publicity team (Steve Wardle and Carol Sencicle), the Secretary (Alan Brown), the Holidays coordinator (Dave Shepherd) and Jane Fairclough and Barry Lewis. He also wanted to thank the two auditors Harry Ashworth and Joy Baxter who were retiring after many years of service.
A presentation was made to Brian Richards who had acted as Treasurer for 18 years. The chairman praised his careful stewardship of SCoM's finances, his attention to detail and his wide knowledge. He said that he would be greatly missed at Committee meetings.
The Chairman concluded by saying that the last year had been one of consolidation and new 'green shoots' activity. The Club was now much better known and Chill Factore had given a major boost. He asked members to make sure that 2010 was busier still by our recruiting more new members and by involving more of our existing members.