Welcome and thank you for attending this evening.
I would like to start by thanking our hard working committee for their continued dedication in keeping the pool running successfully for another year! A big thank you also to all of our supervisors and helpers, who are the key to keeping the pool operating.
The weather has been less than perfect this season, which has resulted in a slight drop in membership (229 family memberships in 2007 from 250 in 2006) However, considering the awful summer, this is still good when compared with earlier years when membership fell to just 176! We need to continue to build on this and make sure that the pool is well publicised in the local papers and newsletters leading up to the start of the season.
It has been a fantastic year in terms of publicity and funding for the Swimming Pool. You will probably be aware that the Association was nominated for the Queen's Award for Voluntary Service, by Twyford Parish Council back in the Spring. Unfortunately, we were not successful but it was an honour even to be nominated and this doesn't mean that we cannot be short listed again in the future!
We also received a grant of £1210 from the Sport's Development Council
at Wokingham Borough Council for developing our family swim sessions. The money
is intended to go towards swim jackets, toys etc and for updating safety
signage and will be purchased in time for the new season. We also received a
grant from The Great Western Community Project for parasols, which were
presented to us during a photo shoot back in the summer.
Due to the poor
weather, the parasols have yet to make an appearance!
Here's hoping for a better summer next year!
As usual the pool has been available to various charities/groups including the Chernobyl Children's Life Line and most unusually to a large troop of Morris Dancers (complete with blackened faces) who converged on Polehampton!
Although supervision went well this year and we managed to cover most sessions, next year is going to be a real challenge because we will be losing two key supervisors. I would like to thank all of our helpers, especially Jan, Christian, Cheryl, Kath and Vanessa for all their hard work this year and also thanks to all of our under five's helpers who ran a successful rota between them. We need to recruit new volunteers as soon as possible in order to avoid supervision problems in next season. I am proposing to put an appeal in the school newsletter and Parish magazines.
I am delighted that we have managed to carry out a significant number of improvements to the pool plant this year, including a new pump, new pipe-work and completely replacing all the electrical switch gear. It is a fantastic achievement, in addition to all the routine jobs involved in keeping the pool operating efficiently and safely. Our biggest challenge next year will be to fund the replacement of our aging pool boilers before the start of the season. We will be discussing fund raising ideas later in the meeting.
There are numerous people who made a significant contribution in terms of giving up their time for the Association and we are very grateful for their help. Some of them are listed below:-
A big thank you to Bridget Saunders and her daughters, Lynn Bowen and Vanessa for running the swimming lessons so successfully again this year. All the children thoroughly enjoyed themselves and the weather was good. Thanks also to Lester Ellis and John James for managing the web site, there have been a number of improvements this year! Thanks again to Bernie and Steve for assisting with the pool clean. Finally, my thanks to Shirley Newman (Charvil Parish Council) and to Linda Dane and Kathy Peck (Twyford Parish Council) for all their help and for letting us advertise in their respective newsletters.
We are continuing to negotiate the lease with Wokingham Borough Council to ensure that we get the best deal for the Association. We are hopeful to have the final points resolved shortly. I would like to thank Alan Young of Willmett and Co. for continuing to represent us.
I am looking forward to serving as Chairperson for another year and I hope that together we will meet all of the challenges in the year ahead and ensure that The Polehampton Swimming Pool continues to flourish.
Sharon Baker
Chairperson PSA
11 December 2007
