Committee minutes 25th November 2024

Wimbledon Windmilers Management Committee Minutes

Date: Monday 25^th November 2024

Start time: 19.30

Finish time: 20:45

Venue: Online meeting

Attendees

1. John Gorst (JG) Chair – chaired agenda points 1-3
2. Anne Davies (AD) Secretary
3. Dieter Schlegel (DS) Treasurer – chaired agenda points 4-9
4. Shirley Twist (ST) Welfare Officer
5. Richard Cohen (RC) Welfare Officer & Men’s Team Captain
6. Simon Wright (SWr) Men’s Team Captain
7. Ella Waddingham (EW) Women’s Team Captain
8. Bernadette Maher (BM) Women’s Team Captain
9. Sally Windle (SWi) Events Rep
10. Peter McCloskey (PM) Coaching Rep
11. Andy Tan (AT) Multisport Rep
12. Isabel Gwyther (IG) Multisport Rep
13. Kate Carter (KC) Comms Rep
14. Mia Lockner (ML) Comms Rep
15. Hannah Carr (HC) Social Rep
16. Caroline Ferrari (CFe) General Member

Apologies

• Claire Morgan (CM) President & Membership Rep
• Sally Bovill (SB) Membership Rep
• Diane Carter (DC) Coaching Rep
• Jack Derges (JD) General Member
• Duncan Newbury (DN) Events Rep
• Lindsay Doy (LD) Multisport Rep

1. Minutes
   1. The minutes of last meeting were approved: Yes x 16, No x 0, Abstain x 4
2. Action Log
   1. Wednesday track review: PM proposed to continue the Wednesday track session, which has consistently attracted >20 attendees since starting in May.
   1. VOTE: Do you agree to continue the Wednesday track session indefinitely? No x 0, Abstain x 0, Yes x 16
   1. ACTION: Coaching Reps to review coaching sessions at the first post-AGM committee meeting next year, to ensure that the club delivers sessions that members want
   1. Grand Prix review: SWi observed that no volunteers came forward following a member survey and subsequent advertisement for a Grand Prix Champion to lead the Grand Prix.
   1. VOTE: Do you agree to discontinue the Grand Prix, given that no volunteer has come forward to lead the Grand Prix? No x 0, Abstain x 0, Yes x 16
   1. ACTION: AD to include the Grand Prix in the AGM ‘Looking ahead’ discussion agenda
   1. First aid courses:JG noted that these will be booked for early 2025
   1. Committee roles: JG asked committee members to consider whether they plan to stand again at the next AGM. HC and JG will be standing down at the next AGM.

• Welfare, Health & Safety
  • Safety on Wimbledon Common: it has been brought to the club’s attention that some cases of indecent exposure on Wimbledon common were reported over the summer.
  • ACTION: ST to contact the Rangers for further details of indecent exposure incidents on Wimbledon common, with a view to sending a safety update to members
• Finance
  • Spending vs budget: DS reported that the projected year end expenses are likely to be approximately £6,000 lower than planned. This is largely due to under-spending for coach training and first aid training, plus savings made because of the track sharing agreement with Ful-on-Tri. The self-funded budgets for club kit and swimming are well managed and on target to break even, partially facilitated by the planned club funding of Eventbrite swimming transaction fees and a £400 contribution for coaching at Wimbledon College.
  • Next year’s budget: DS invited committee members to forward their budget requests. This process will be supported by (DS) providing tailored feedback requests and detailed 2024 spend statistics to all committee members looking after defined budget positions. The target is to finale the 2025 budget in the January committee meeting.

• Race & league events
  • SWi noted CM’s recent attendance at the MABAC AGM, at which it was noted that MABAC has implemented changes in scoring to allow for race equalisation between men and women. It was also noted that the Windmilers have dropped from 3^rd to 5^th place in the MABAC lead. SWi recommended that the club could benefit from further comms to increase awareness of and participation in MABAC events.
  • SWr informed the committee that the Stragglers Team Captain has invited Wimbledon Windmilers to a mob match on 12^th April 2025. This event will be hosted by the Windmilers
  • RC proposed that the monthly parkrun pacing would take place at the mob match rather than on its usual last Saturday of the month date.
  • ACTION: SWr/Team Captains to propose a budget for hosting a mob match with The Stragglers on 12^th April 2025
  • RC commented that participation in the Green Belt relays has increased, with the possibility of a third team for 2025.
  • ACTION: RC to propose a budget for the Greenbelt Relays 2025
• Coaching
  • PM reported good engagement of a wide range of club members for run training sessions. There remains a need for more Sunday coaches.
• Multisport
  • IG reported continued high attendance at Monday and Wednesday swimming. To date the introduction of the Wednesday track session does not appear to have reduced attendance at Wednesday swimming. The higher price of Wednesday swimming relative to public uncoached swim sessions may influence attendance.
  • AT observed that participation in member-organised Zwift sessions has increased, promoted solely via the WhatsApp Community. RC noted that it is unlikely at present that Zwift would be added as part of the club’s formal offering of club sessions advertised to all members, given that sessions cannot be guaranteed to take place. It is proposed to continue Zwift as a member-organised activity, equivalent to member-organised group cycling or Sunday long runs. AD noted the need to ensure that members are aware that Zwift is not currently a club-organised session under the club’s liability. To bring it under club oversight would require a risk assessment to be done and the session would be made available to all members.

• Comms
  • AD informed the committee that further IT support is needed. A role description will be placed in the Waffle to advertise for a volunteer with the relevant skills to join the web team.  
• Policies & risk assessments
  • Constitution: AD noted that the current club constitution is approaching 3 years since last review. The constitution is based on the EA template, which has been updated to include revised terminology relating to the 2010 Equality act, and to include gender-neutral pronouns.
  • ACTION: AD to circulate details of the proposed constitution edits to the committee for comment, before initiating a member consultation in January, followed by a member vote in March at the AGM
  • Codes of Conduct
    • AD updated the committee on the increased focus on the club codes of conduct, ensuring that members read and accept the relevant code(s). Compliance is now mandatory for annual re-affiliation with England Athletics. Most members need to read & accept the senior athletes code of conduct. There are also 6 other codes – for Coaches, Volunteers, Parents of under-18s, Under-18s and Welfare officers code, plus a code for technical officials. The current codes are posted on the club policies page, and members can also access them on their membership profile via their EA login.

1. ACTION: Welfare to contact parents/guardians of under-18s in the club, to ensure that they are aware of the relevant codes of conduct
   1. ACTION: Events Reps to ensure that volunteers read & accept the Volunteers Code of conduct
   1. ACTION: Coaching Reps to ensure coaches read & accept the Coaches Code of Conduct.
   1. ACTION: Multisport Reps to ensure coaches read the BTF Coaches Code of Practice

Next meeting: Monday 13^th January 2025, 19:30 in person, Dog & Fox Library