Minutes
Present:
Veronique Leroy (VL), Imran Ahmed (IA), Steph Vaatz (SV), Lina Ambruleviciute (LA), Nic Browne (NB)
Apologies: Catherine Shelley (CSh); Ham Huxham (HH)
Minute taker: Ruth Murphy
- Welcome and update from Gov Com incl timetable for transition from CASC to Serpentine Running & Triathlon Club (CIO)
VL explained the main tasks to be completed as part of the transfer from CASC to CIO. IA communicated the decision made to carry out the transfer on 1st December 2024. The transfer will involve:
- Transitioning the CASC assets to the CIO.
- CASC members by default will become members of the CIO unless they specifically object to the move.
- Henceforth, the club will be known as the Serpentine Running and Triathlon Club.
- New Insurance policies are being set up for the CIO. The existing policies will be cancelled in due course .
- New bank accounts have been opened and are available to support club transactions. IA confirmed that the use of the bank accounts will switch overnight on 30th November 2024.
- To receive payments, the website will point to the new Stripe account which will feed into the new bank current account.
- Our affiliations with England Athletics and British Triathlon will transfer to the Serpentine Running and Triathlon Club, as of Monday 2nd December 2024.
VL has asked the group to review whether any transactions of a value of £1K upwards, are expected to take place around the 1st December 2024 and to notify the Treasurer.
VL flagged that payments received for the Lanzarote trip will happen around this time, and IA confirmed that the new bank accounts already set up will handle receipts and payments after 1 December .
IA outlined England Athletics will update their database for the new entity ‘Serpentine Running and Triathlon Club’. The assumption is that there is a lookup to the England Athletics database from other providers, when people register for races e.g. the Met League, and hence the importance of ensuring that their database has the updated club name. IA advised to communicate to club members that there may be some teething problems following the transfer on 1st December 2024, including giving external race organisers some time to update their databases with ‘Serpentine Running and Triathlon Club’.
Action – VL to issue communications to members on 1 November, reminding them of the transfer to the CIO effective 1st December 2024.
VL asked for a communication to be issued to those incurring expenses that need to be claimed. This would need to state that the old bank accounts associated with the CASC will close down 3 months after 1st December 2024, and to encourage people to submit expense claims as quickly as possible. IA added that old bank accounts need to remain open at least 3 months following the transfer to the new structure.
Action – IA to send email post transition to CIO.
2. Finance Update
IA sent out a copy of the Profit and Loss account, bank statements, and accompanying summaries. IA confirmed that the finances are in a healthy position.
NB requested clarity on the plan to handle/avoid surpluses. IA will look at measures to stop the surplus occurring, when we budget for next year. The aim is to reduce the scale of the surplus for next year, as this will further add to the club’s excess reserves. IA requested that an agenda item for the next OpCom, to be a discussion point around next year’s budget, and that the aim is to bring revenue and costs in line with one another as much as possible.
Regarding the 2024 Christmas Party, IA confirmed that the venue has been booked, and that 10 free tickets will be offered to members who otherwise would not be able to afford to go.
VL requested for the OpCom members to start thinking about budgets for their areas of responsibility, spanning 12 months from 1st April 2025. The target to review these budgets is the next OpCom meeting.
NB stated that he will include in his budget, funds to participate in the Milton Keynes relay race in March 2024.
IA will liaise with LA regarding payments required for the NYD10K in advance of his holiday. IA flagged that we need to consider how some of the messaging and wording on the pages of the websites (page narratives) will need to change from 1st December 2024 to reflect the CIO transition. IA is compiling a list of the URLs of impacted pages and says some work will be needed to make these page updates.
3. Races Update
SV explained the YoY variances in the report that she socialised regarding participation levels in the NYD10K and the Handicap. SV said in general the participation levels are lower than pre-pandemic times.
SV reported that the Monday track sessions had an excellent turnout (average is 30 people), and that encouragement is needed to increase the participation in the Handicap.
SV reported that there are challenges uploading Handicap and LFOTM results, in part caused by outdated technology. Owen is consulting with SV on this point and will advise on measures to remedy. A possible solution is the use of bar code scanning at these events. SV will forward recommendations from Owen.
VL stated that Phil Whitehouse will be in attendance at the next Handicap and will investigate with him how the Handicap results can be uploaded faster.
VL requested that we ask Owen whether the results software currently installed on the laptop can be migrated to the cloud, to mitigate the risks .
4.Technical Lead Update
LA will email all club members next week looking for volunteers for the NYD10K. So far there have been 122 entries to the race, and LA is not concerned about participation levels. LA reported the relatively new England Athletics ban on wearing headphones in licensed races.
LA agreed that it is worth VL asking the Mayor of Westminster, whether the NYD10K can be advertised to the Westminster community. LA confirmed that the 3km race should be advertised as a ‘fun run’ as opposed to a ‘junior’ run. LA also confirmed that the minimum age to enter the NYD10K is 16 years old.
LA reported on the progress to encourage more club members to apply to become certified LiRF and CiRF coaches. The applications are trending upwards.
LA asked for more to be done to promote the benefits of receiving a coaching qualification. An idea is to showcase individuals’ coaching journeys and hear first hand what the rewards have been. LA will consider how best to showcase stories.
VL asked to review the draft of the email that LA will issue, encouraging members to get run coaching qualifications. She asked for LA to review the Terms and Conditions associated with financial support to become qualified, and for these to be referenced in any communication issued on the topic. VL asked to conduct a final review of the Terms and Conditions, before these are updated on the website.
LA is going to issue a survey to club members, as a way of gathering feedback about all the training sessions, to gauge interest, participation, and things to change (possibly). The survey would also act as a way of welcoming new members to the club. VL asked for a communication to be issued to all club members, reminding people of all the training sessions available to them. LA stated her wish to start tracking participation in training sessions, from 2025. Currently LA does not have visibility on the participation levels of some of the sessions. NB confirmed that the 2025 Half Marathon Championship will be held virtually.
5, Competitions Update
NB reported that the Club Championships were good, with some good results. Of note was the 29min40sec 10km run by Callum Moody. There was also a good turnout for the London Cross Country Championships. VL asked that we need to do more to celebrate the successes of our athletes. NB reported similar levels of event participation, as last year.
6.Triathlon Update
VL reported that 58 people have signed up for the Lanzarote trip which is 1 person more than the 2024 trip. However, as of 28th October 2024, there are still 10 places remaining. Participants have been making deposits and the balances will need to be collected in the next few weeks. The coaches for the trip have been selected. The trip’s training plan will be finalised by early December 2024.
7. IT Update
VL reported that Abhi Jain is leading the team to review the IT infrastructure and website management. A decision needs to be made, whether to insource/outsource the work needed to maintain the website. There remains the challenge of updating and maintaining web page content. Currently, the plan is for appointed webpage owners to review, update, and maintain the content. VL will recirculate the list of appointed page owners. There will then be a call to advise on how to make page content ‘SEO friendly’.
8. Health and Safety Incidents
One accident has been recorded in October 2024. VL asked that the OpCom members consider if there is any risk increase in any of the sessions being run.
SV stated that there is no increased risk for the Monday and Tuesday track sessions despite the large number of participants.
9.AOB
VL is reviewing the risk policies to ensure we have adequate cover. The main requirement at club sessions is that every coach needs to possess a valid and up-to-date licence. For hill sessions, coaches need to be LiRF certified. Pool sessions require certified coaches.
VL will check with SV, whether there is adequate coverage in place to run the member-only races e.g. the Handicap.
NB confirmed that races for members only, will be covered through England Athletics certification.
VL will circulate the Risk Appetite Statement and requested feedback on this.
Most risk assessments have been conducted, save a few that still need to be uploaded to the website.
VL will ask each of the Lanzarote coaches to conduct risk assessments for their planned sessions.