Author: blsc_admin

CHAIRS REPORT FOR AGM 20th March 2025

Just over 2yrs as Chair, I can’t quite believe how quickly it’s gone or what you, the

committee, trustees, volunteers, partners etc. have achieved. I will highlight some of

these achievements but please don’t be offended if I have forgotten something that

is particularly pertinent to yourself as an individual because as I have already

mentioned, you’ve done a lot and although I’ve kept a bit of a diary, I dare say I will

have missed something.

Last April we welcomed Vicky Beech. Vicky, was one of the founders of the toddlers

playgroup, that has since evolved into Bubwith Bunnies. Along with helpers such as

Sheila Reed and Kay Gardner, they have made the Bunnies a great success with I

think a peak of around 30 children attending one of their recent sessions.

Also in April, Lizanne began the process of submitting a grant to cover the cost of

buying another mower as the one we were using was over 40yrs old and was

becoming more unreliable and expensive to maintain. I think the cost was a little

under £10k so it would have been a pretty big hit on our reserves if we’d had to

stand the full cost. Fortunately we received a grant for 50% which I think reflected

the fact the grant body, Spaldington Wind Farm, had received a lot of grant requests

and only had a certain amount to share out. Well done and thankyou Lizanne for

taking the initiative as well as for taking responsibility for the general outside

maintenance of the field, hedges, trees etc. You have made a really positive impact

on the overall appearance, condition and health of our outside areas which was

badly needed after a spate of negative comments, made of platforms such as

Facebook, criticising the state of the field despite one of the wettest winters for years

Because of the wet conditions, the pitch had been unusable for months and as a

consequence, we noted a few warning signs that the agreement we’d made with

Holme Rovers was beginning to fail In effect, they’d stopped communicating with us

and stopped paying the rent and eventually I managed to meet with one of their

committee members who confirmed that they were moving elsewhere. More

expensive but with all weather capabilities. Disappointing after the work we’d put in

with them to get the agreement in place.

The work to build our new patio area began in June. This came as a result of a grant

application Sandra made to UKSPF, a local authority initiative, for just under £25k.

This grant fully funded the patio, new outside tables and chairs as well as replacing

the flooring in the bar area. This has been a very attractive and welcome addition to

the Centre so thankyou Sandra and also to Brent, (Mr. Hills), and the other trustees

and volunteers for helping to fix it in place.

Charlotte Worthington, who had been acting as our Financial Coordinator left us in

July. This was due to work and family pressures. This was a huge loss but in the

months she helped us, she gave invaluable advice on best practice in relation to

matters of finance and was also able to look at some of our processes, such as the

way we managed our stock and realign them, making us more compliant and

efficient.

Around this time the trustees realised that due to an increase in bookings etc. we

needed extra help behind the bar because as willing as our trustees and volunteers

are, we found that on occasion we were in danger of being unable to staff these

events properly. After a short selection process Jo was successful and has become a

real asset to the team.

Sad to report that in the summer we began seeing incidences of anti social

behaviour, in the gents toilets which were being bunged up with paper towels,

resulting in flooding and mess which obviously wasn’t very pleasant to clean up. This

was mainly done by Tracey so thankyou Tracey. Fortunately we don’t seem to be the

target of this type of behaviour too often and on this occasion I am pleased to report

that after Kay chased and caught a couple of youths in the act so to speak, we

haven’t had reoccurrences. Well done Kay.

We didn’t get time to worry about Holme Rovers leaving us before North Duffield

Dragons joined us. This was fantastic news and is another endorsement of our

excellent facilities and the quality of our field and pitches. NDD are a thriving

organisation, fielding teams of all ages, male and female and they are already more

engaged with us at Bubwith as their Chair, Nick Mennell attends our monthly

meetings.

Steve Young has continued to support us, hands on when necessary but more

importantly by supporting our grant applications. He has helped Sandra, Lizanne and

more recently Vicky, in their applications all of which have been successful.

Unfortunately however, in December we found out that the big one, which would

have allowed us to resite and develop a new playground, hadn’t been successful

which came as a really big blow. Steve and Sandra in particular had done an awful

lot of work to get this application in and everyone had fingers crossed as it would

have been a huge improvement on our current playground and a really great asset to

the community and Centre. Thankyou Steve and Sandra and I know that Steve is

already looking at this again.

We have an active and busy social team, mainly managed by Alison and Adrienne

but with other helpers too, who are always looking at ways to get people in to the

Centre, spending money. Last summer we began opening up on Friday evenings

with the added attraction of being able to order food from local vendors. This was

just in time for the new patio area to be utilised. We also opened the bar for the

Euros football for when England played, which was a great success financially. Other

events that stand out were the Macmillan Coffee morning, Gin Festival, Murder

Mystery, FoBS beer festival and Panto. There were others. The Panto deserves a

special mention as it was the first time it had been organised. Despite this, it was a

huge success, just short of 400 tickets sold, and was a credit to all involved in its

production. Well done and look forward to seeing you again next year.

Another successful grant application has allowed us to begin the refurbishment of

the bar area. Decorating done, tables, chairs, new blinds and seating and bigger TV

to follow shortly. With regards to the bar, it’s been a busy year and thankyou to our

bar manager Paul, assisted by Charlotte and Jo for ensuring it has operated so

smoothly. Profits from the bar go directly into the charity reserves and I think we

managed to add around £10k last year into the charity from bar profits which is a

good effort. A redesign and refurb. of the bar itself is planned in the coming months.

These were some of my highlights over the last 12 months, I’m sure you will have

your own and these are the ‘extras’, so to speak because the charity remains a

success and continues to be healthy and sustainable because of what it does and is

doing, on a daily and weekly basis. For example Sophie’s Social Dances, Bingo,

Quiz, Curry Nights, etc. all supplement these events. The number of user groups we

have is increasing with walking netball and flower arranging being a couple of the

most recent. Regular users are Pilates, Zumba, Tai Chi, Boxercise, Kickboxing,

Bowls, etc. etc. the list goes on!

A special mention here about Sophie who at her Danceathon held here a couple of

weeks ago, raised around £10k for Motor Neurone Disease. Well done to Sophie for

organising it and well done to everyone who supported it.

The number of enquiries we are getting to hold private parties, weddings and even

wakes is increasing which often results in people having to book their second choice

of date for an event as their first choice is already booked.

This again shows our success, none of which could be possible without the massive

help and support, given by the trustees, volunteers, families and friends. It’s not just

doing the big things that matter, it’s the little, day to day things that need doing and

wouldn’t get done otherwise. It’s people like Alison, Adrienne and Tracey who

physically go out and buy stock for the bar because it’s cheaper than using our

supplier. It’s Barry who’s always being asked to fix something. Everyone plays their

part and if they didn’t, we wouldn’t be here so thankyou from me, you really need to

be proud of what you’ve achieved and what you’re part of.

Thankyou also on behalf of everyone who uses the Centre, many of whom in all

probability don’t realise it’s mainly run by volunteers.

Lastly but by no means least, we all know that Tracey is the glue that holds the

Centre together. She is at the heart of everything the Centre does and stands for and

is the first contact anyone wanting to hire or use our facilities has. I can’t thank

Tracey enough for what she does for us, the help she has given me or the way she

just gets on and does it. By the time I’ve thought of something, Tracey has normally

done it and got it down on a spreadsheet!

Thankyou Tracey.

I’m not sure if I’ll be here next year. Most of you will be aware that our house is

currently for sale and we are intending to move back into York. I will be leaving with a

heavy heart but genuinely feel that the Centres success is assured thanks to the

people who are responsible for looking after it.

Go Well.

Shaun Thompson

Chair of Trustees.