Wimbledon Windmilers Management Committee Minutes
Date: Monday 13th January 2025
Start time: 19.30
Finish time: 21:40
Venue: Dog & Fox Library, Wimbledon
Attendees
- Claire Morgan (CM) President & Membership Rep
- John Gorst (JG) Chair
- Anne Davies (AD) Secretary
- Dieter Schlegel (DS) Treasurer
- Shirley Twist (ST) Welfare Officer
- Richard Cohen (RC) Welfare Officer & Men’s Team Captain
- Simon Wright (SWr) Men’s Team Captain
- Ella Waddingham (EW) Women’s Team Captain
- Sally Windle (SWi) Events Rep
- Diane Carter (DC) Coaching Rep
- Peter McCloskey (PM) Coaching Rep
- Andy Tan (AT) Multisport Rep
- Kate Carter (KC) Comms Rep
- Hannah Carr (HC) Social Rep
Apologies
• Bernadette Maher (BM) Women’s Team Captain
• Lindsay Doy (LD) Multisport Rep
• Isabel Gwyther (IG) Multisport Rep
• Mia Lockner (ML) Comms Rep
• Caroline Ferrari (CFe) General Member
• Sally Bovill (SB) Membership Rep
• Jack Derges (JD) General Member
• Duncan Newbury (DN) Events Rep
- Minutes
a. The minutes of last meeting were approved: Yes 11, No x 0, Abstain x 2 (13 present at the time) - Welfare, Health & Safety – no issues raised
- Membership
a. CM summarised the current membership position. There were 561 members at the end of December 2024. 208 membership enquiries were received and approximately 100 new members joined. - Finance
a. DS summarised the 2024 year-end position. Membership income for 2024 was £12,279, consistent with expectations. The total club expenditure was approximately £13,000, significantly below the planned £19,000 budget because several budgets were significantly underspent.
b. Of the self-funded activities, the annual awards dinner broke even. Swimming broke even after club funding of £960. The kit balance is currently in preparation. The cost of two replacement cycle jerseys will be deducted from kit profit.
c. Club assets amount to approximately £17,000. This is just over the 12-month operating cost required by club policy. - Discounted membership categories:
i. SWr raised the question of a potential change in discounted membership categories, given that roughly one quarter of members are now on 50% discounted fees.
ii. DC intends to raise discounted fees as an AGM motion, and considers that automatic age discounts for over-60s are unjustified and unfair. DC suggested four options to be costed out: remain as we are, remove the discount, change the age at which discounts are applied to the current retirement age or change the amount of discount.
iii. CM commented that the discounted membership categories were requested by members, and noted that members are entitled to propose amendments to motions during the AGM itself. JG noted that to raise it at the AGM and implement immediately, the budget proposal would need to be worked up in advance of the AGM.
iv. PM observed that the Windmilers fees are low relative to other similar clubs. This is a consequence of the planned reduction of club reserves over recent years, by setting fees below the amount needed to cover operating costs. PM recommended a wholistic overview of club fees to fund club operations comfortably. EW commented on the need to communicate the reason(s) for fee increases clearly to members.
v. HC suggested that budgets could be set deliberately high to allow a buffer for new projects that arise during the year, to be more relaxed about unplanned spending. JG explained that the club’s budget is managed carefully according to planned expenditure so that an unintended profit or loss is not made and the club retains a sensible bank reserve to cover for genuine unexpected costs, if needed. RC added that it is important to set realistic budgets and operate within them.
b. ACTION: AD to arrange an extra committee meeting before the AGM, to finalise budgets and fee proposals - Coaching
a. DC informed the committee of England Athletics’ offer to support the club with a coaching development session on the track. In addition, a LiRF recruitment session for all members may be possible with EA’s presence. - Multisport swim funding
a. AT introduced a swim funding proposal, prepared independently by the Multisport team and circulated in advance to the committee, detailing 7 swim funding options and their respective rationales. DC explained that this is about fairness to the members who are paying for swimming, and that some swimmers may leave the club if swimming is not partly financed by the club. AT stated that other clubs such as Ful-on Tri offer swimming at annualised rates.
b. DS referred to the action from the October 2024 committee meeting, in which a working group was set up to prepare a recommendation for the longer-term portfolio of multisport activities being offered, including funding options. AT confirmed that the working group has ended. The Multisports team subsequently worked up their own independent proposal, which is now with the committee for consideration.
c. KC asked whether a tiered membership had been considered. DC confirmed that it had, and that the idea did not progress because it was felt that it would be hard to ‘police’ who was on which membership. AT added that it was felt that membership tiers would increase the administrative burden and suggested that Ful-on Tri may be willing to advise on how they manage a tiered membership system.
d. KC anticipated that two questions may arise at the AGM: (1) Members may wish to know how many swimmers we have, and (2) Do we have any ‘evidence’ that the cost of swimming is a barrier? AT stated that this was addressed via a swim price market comparison of different clubs.
e. DS raised the concept of a ‘silent majority’ of the club who do not participate in any club sports. We do not know the size of this group or what would be their views on subsidising swimming, and whether they would leave the club after a significant fee increase.
f. EW commented that the reason she rarely swims with the club is not the price but the late time of the sessions, and questioned whether a price reduction would be effective when the swimming is so late in the evening.
g. AD suggested that we continue the multisport sub-group that met in May ‘24, after the AGM ‘23 agreement to review multisport. The outcome of the May ’24 meeting was that we needed to map the member journey and work out what members want. AD stated that she preferred to retain the existing self-funded swimming model, targeted at strong swimmers who want a performance-based coached swim session. AD shared a set of questions for a separate discussion of the swim funding proposal, starting with the need to consider the whole club, backed up by evidence on participation levels in the three sports disciplines, and whether members would want lower-level swimming for fitness rather than performance-coached sessions. AD noted that the addition of paid coaching means that swimming now costs as much as the whole club budget, and asked whether other clubs with lower swim prices use paid coaches or subsidise the cost of swimming through triathlon events. AD questioned whether it was fair to share the cost of swimming across all members when swimming is a more expensive sport, swim slots are limited in number and the swim ability expectation is relatively high.
h. ACTION: RC & AT to work on preparing a club survey to assess member participation in the three sports disciplines, noting the importance of how the questions are phrased and obtaining a significant member response.
i. PM suggested that by committing to undertake a survey we are deciding not to put a swim funding proposal forward for the 2025 AGM in March. The survey needs to be done properly.
j. ST questioned the value of Belgrave Hall for midweek run training. DC confirmed that this subject is on the agenda for the next coaches meeting. - Social
a. HC informed the committee that there will be a cross-country social in February. AD added that the proposed EA LiRF recruitment meeting can potentially double as a social event. - Policies & risk assessments
a. ACTION: AD to circulate the proposed updated club Constitution via an all-member email to open a 2-month member consultation.
Next meeting: TBC committee meeting for 2025 budget finalisation before the AGM
Followed by Wednesday 26th March 2025, 19:30 in person, Dog & Fox Library