On Saturday 17th February, 64 of our members came together to discuss and agree plans for the next step in our future, for those members that missed the meeting, here are the highlights:
- Members accepted the club constitution, this is available for download from the Membership page.
- Members voted to elect the following committee members:
- Chairman: George Richards
- Club Captain: Steve Roberts
- Secretary: Maureen Meek
- Treasurer/Finance Officer: Gwyn Davies
- Membership Officer: Position Vacant
- IT Officer: Dave Almond
- Safeguarding Officer: Charlie Cooper
- Chair of House: Ted Bussell
- Facilities: David Twigg
- Office Organiser: Position Vacant
- Youth Liaison Officer: Position Vacant
- Grants and Fundraising: Edwin Mountfield
- Trustees & Etherow Charitable Trust Representatives: Gwyn Davies & Ted Bussell
- Our new Club Captain introduced himself and shared his enthusiasm and some of our exciting plans for the months and years ahead.
- Our Secretary shared some of the highlights of what we’ve achieved so far as volunteers and appealed for more volunteers to join us, if you would like to volunteer some of your time, no matter how much or how little, please contact us. She also gave thanks to our sponsors, Steve Roberts of TPS, Gerry Thackery and Mike Anderson who have made financial donations to the centre and brought bags of enthusiasm to help along our success.
- Our Treasurer gave us a high level overview of finances that show we’re in a very strong position and a much stronger position than the centre was in this time last year. He also shared the news that Tameside MBC are proposing to surrender their lease and we are working with them to reach an agreement that works for both sides. Their aim is to have an agreement executed by 31st March.
- and we will keep our members updated on our progress.
- Our Safeguarding Officer introduced himself and assured members that he was available for anyone to discuss any concerns they have with him, no matter how small.
- The whole committee offered words of recognition of Harry’s long service to the centre and thanked him on behalf of all the members ahead of his retirement at the end of March.
We also shared some of our achievements over the past 6 months, this list is shared here below, and we hope you will agree, the list is impressive! We’re looking forward to continuing to volunteer alongside our amazing members and bringing more on board over the coming years as we see the centre continue to go from strength to strength.
Key Achievements over the past 6 months
- Formed a committee
- Secured financial sponsorship
- Deep clean of centre and bowling surface
- Installation of additional toilets
- Installation of water cooler and hot water geyser
- Repair of fridge and stock of drinks and snacks
- Energy and cost saving measures (lagging, boiler, heating changes etc)
- Painting/refurb/cleaning of various areas including ramp, car park, radiators etc
- Installation of barrier matting
- Arrangement of regular professional cleaning
- New website, Facebook page, email addresses and stationery
- New logo and branding
- Marketing and profile raising in Greater Manchester and across the country through digital mediums, paper and word of mouth
- Introduction of membership system and charging structure to give the centre’s funds a boost
- Introduction of new IT systems for payments, league scorekeeping, calendars, emails etc
- Creation of (draft) constitution
- Rules refresh and enhancement
- Online real-time league tables provision
- Online fixtures information provision
- Purchase of Short Mat equipment
- Build and installation of Short mat equipment storage solutions
- Introduction of regular Short Mat Friday sessions bringing in revenue, new members and raising profile of centre
- Discussions with ESMBA and Short Mat Players Tour to bring national events to the centre
- Installation of trophy cabinets
- Installation of centre notice boards
- Introduction of regular newsletter
- Creation and execution of revenue bringing events including competitions and club “away” days
- Registration with ESMBA
- Sourcing and stocking supplies for bowlers at reasonable prices to help them and boost centre revenues
- Water system treatments
- New lighting
- Movement of fans
- New Defibrillator
- Relationship building with councillors
- New curtains.
- New digital clock.
- 80 new chairs.
- England Ladies booked for a visit.
- England U21’s booked for a visit.
- New home of GMSMBA.
- Nearly 400 members now.
- Our members include the World No.1 and also England’s youngest umpire!
- And much more to come