Monday 2 December was the first AGM of the club and it was good to review the progress of the club and look at future plans going forward.
Since the club came into being 12 months ago, it has grown beyond all expectations and now has 97 members, made up of seniors, juniors and none running members. As the year progressed, we have attracted more women members and is a trend we would like to see continue.
In the course of the year, we have acquired a lot of essential equipment, flags for races, a marquee, a gazebo, a print out timer and countless other bits and bobs that are the essential paraphernalia of a running club.
We have done this on the back of a membership fee of £5.00 and, as the treasurer Glenn Whittaker reported, we still have a bank balance of over £1,700.
In the course of the year, we hosted an FRA championship race and next year, we will be hosting a total of five races.
Although we were formed as a fell running club, we have attracted runners from all disciplines and we have a team in the Mid-Lancs Cross Country League. We have also attracted road runners.
Runners participating in Cross Country or Road Races have to be registered with English Athletics and in the current year, such runners have paid the registration fee of £10 themselves. We wish to retain the membership fee at a level of £5, as we do not want the level of fees to be a deterrent to someone joining a club. However, in the coming year, for members who need to be registered with E.A., they can either continue to pay the fee themselves or the club will pay it for them, PROVIDED that they help out in one of the club races. In this way, we hope that it will encourage members to become involved with the running of the club.
To reflect the differing interests in the club and also the differing abilities of members, next year the club championship will not just be restricted to fell races, but will include road races, cross country races and park runs.
The existing committee and officers were re-elected unopposed.
The full minutes of the meeting will be posted on the membership page once Stephen Chew has had a chance to get them together.