AGM - A message from your club Chairman

Firstly, for those in attendance, allow me to apologise for delaying the start of the AGM. For others who were unable to make it, here’s my report. Full minutes of the meeting will follow in due course.

2023 Squash AGM Chair Report

Lockdown now seems a distant memory. We were able to report at the last AGM on the strides forward we had made in a host of areas after Covid and this work and development continues. Each Committee member has designated roles within specific areas and their work is continuing to bear fruit. We have a full complement now and I believe it is a very able committee - remember they all do this voluntarily, so my thanks and yours are due. However it is hard to believe it is only 8 months since we lost our long serving Secretary Malc Harrison. We worked together here and secretary and chair for nigh on 40 years and he was the cornerstone of our club. Many justified tributes were paid and we named Court 5 the Malcolm Harrison court in his honour. He will be missed on many levels and our gratitude goes on record at this AGM.

We will continue to do what we feel is right for the membership. The general maintenance/improvements that we carry out both on and off court are ongoing including cleaning and floor repairs, given some financial restraints, but we are still in a stable financial position. Work is planned for changing room improvements, with the Ladies getting priority. Team squash and racketball is growing and up and running again this season and on the coaching front we were able to further expand our offer for juniors, teams and ladies as well as individuals. Membership continues to grow steadily. Due to massive increases in utility bills, we were asked and agreed to contribute a one off payment to Shaw Lane. We already had rent increases for 2023. To cover this we decided to increase the membership cost to £100 and made a £1 increase in court fees, the first for many, many years. 2024 will see the arrival of 2 Padel courts to be sited on the bowling green adjoining the Squash complex, which will be an exciting addition. This is a Shaw Lane development but merits our support.
We will continue to communicate with you, an area we think we have strengthened up on in 2023 and will always try to make the club better for all our members. Lastly can I thank you all for your support and attendance.

Ian Meade
Chair
BS&RC Committee