20/09/2026
Hi all, this is Nigel. I promised to update you on the future of the club. Apologies for the long post, but there's a lot to say! Most importantly, I am pleased to let you know that we have good people for secretary and treasurer, who are nominated and seconded, and so the Committee need to vote them in within 14 days, and the club is secure. Once voted in the Committee will post on here. Martyn and I need to give 14 days notice of leaving our positions, which we did in the summer when asking for replacement nominations, and so we have now left the Committee and our positions. However, we think it would be unfair to hand a half finished VAT return to the new secretary and treasurer, so Martyn will finish this. We decided to finish today because of myself- last week I had a stroke and was in hospital in London (as it happened there when away with work). I am now home and have to have complete rest, and I don't want to hold the club back. I spoke to the CIU when in hospital, to ensure they would provide help to the Committee, as they do with Kelloe, which the current Committee will take forward. Martyn and I took on our roles to save the club from closing post pandemic. Whilst we don't live in the village, we wanted to do our bit for the village I grew up in and love. A lot of what we have done is behind the scenes. Our priorities were to turn the club to a profit, and we went from an £18,000 deficit to a £4,000 profit in the first year. This was not just from people coming back, which was great, but also from examining all contracts and changing them to cheaper ones. We also had a strategy of employing a more flexible workforce to support reduced hours for Club manager, as that is cheaper, and creates employment in the village. But we ensured that collectively, the family that live in the house worked a total number of hours to justify the house. Legally, with 21st Century changes to legislation, you generally cannot now advertise a post only full time, unless it is a matter of national security. You now have to offer part time and job share, which in reality we did the latter by the bar manager's tasks being what the bar manager should focus on first, and the serving behind the bar being at a cheaper rate for others, including for the family who live in the house. We further saved money by Martyn and I undertaking the work on a purely volunteer basis - whilst officials can claim a salary, we decided not to as part of helping the club turn around to a profit. And our volunteering behind the scenes has taken a lot of work at times that are not ideal, such as rewriting all club policies in line with current legislation whilst away just the 2 of us on a weekend break, and Martyn spending several days whilst we were on holiday in Tunisia doing the VAT return, and so missing out on trips for the sake of the club. We updated policies not just to align with legislation, but to be fairer, and protect our great staff from harassment. We also brought consistently to decision making by the Committee on dealing with members ' behaviours, through policy revision. We helped members save money by only increasing prices when the cost of living adversely affected our utility bills, and the club could not carry the extra cost - we always wanted bar prices to be as cheap as possible, as it's not about making profit, but making enough to keep the club afloat. It's been a while anyway since I could do the treasurer role properly, and I'd like to thank Michaela for working with Martyn and keeping it going. Nothing we have done has been for our own benefit, but everything has been for the benefit of members, and in line with legislation and regulations, to prevent the club closing or being fined. The majority of members have understood and supported us. God bless you all.
