TOUCHDOWNUK

AGM Minutes

17th November 2024 AT 5.00PM

1. Welcome and introductions Rebecca Cramb, Chairperson

Rebecca welcomed everyone and thanked them for attending, with special thanks to Alyson for arranging the meeting venue.

2. Roll Call & Apologies Rebecca Cramb, Chairperson

• Present – Charlie Banks, Judith Cramb, Rebecca Cramb, Tom Cramb, Karen D’Arcy-Kernan, Alyson Hepburn, Andrew Watts

• Absent – Veronika Lovas, Iain Sutherland

3. Acceptance of minutes of previous annual general meeting

Proposed and accepted by Rebecca, seconded by Andrew, and agreed by all Trustees present.

4. Financial report Rebecca Cramb, Chairperson, read the Treasurer’s statement and gave an overview of year for the charity.

Rebecca noted that after a challenging 2022-23 financial year, we have had a £10,191.37 increase in income. With the switch to subscription arrangement and an increase in numbers, subs revenue has increased from £5,457.37 in 2022-23, to £10,274.14 in 2023-24.

Income from grant applications has also increased, from approximately £4,500 in 2022-23 to just under £11,000 in 2023-24.

Our current forecast remains stable, with subs revenue estimated at c. £10,000 and increased focus on funding application (with particular credit to Judith, Alyson and Rebecca).

Conservative estimate of income for 2024-25 is c. £25,000.

Rebecca noted financials has been a big success for us this fiscal year. Alyson noted that income in 22-23 was £13,126.84 and this year £23,318.00; expenditure £26,644 in 2023-24, however in 2022-23 it was £19,500.00. The majority of increase in expenditure has been uniforms, equipment and wages, but most expenditure actually decreased.

Rebecca noted we have a shortfall of approx. £3,000 which is an improvement on last year; we have moved from a position of having to furlough the CDO in 2022-23 due to insufficient funds, to being able to buy new kit etc. in 2023-24. Without new kit we would have broken even in 2023-24. We are managing losses adequately.

Rebecca presented the subs tracker Excel file to the meeting and noted we have already received quite a bit of income from subs despite it only being a few months into the year.

Tom noted we are averaging just under £900 a month in subs despite numbers decreasing.

Rebecca noted that financial year ends in July; all the money we have raised through funding applications does not include the applications recently completed, nor any additional income.

Financial statements were proposed and accepted by Rebecca, seconded by Alyson, and agreed by all present.

5. Election of External Auditor/Accounts for 2023/2024

Rebecca proposed Rachael Hamilton at Independent Bookkeeping as our contact for 2024-25. Alyson seconded, and all agreed.

Andrew asked for clarification on charges for accounts – Tom and Rebecca clarified that Rachael provides services free of charge as a way of contributing to the charity.

6. Chairperson’s Report Rebecca Cramb, Chairperson

Rebecca highlighted some of the charity’s successes over the year – we embedded our new operational structure where we formalised monthly admin meetings and quarterly trustee meetings. The admin team consists of Alyson, Judith, Karen, and Rebecca. Rebecca thanked Karen for implementing changes to the Teams communication and filing structure to facilitate this. Monthly admin meetings ensure the team is keeping on top of things and remaining consistent.

Rebecca again mentioned the subs tracker which is new for this year and a way for us to robustly ensure we are getting the most out of our club subscriptions. This allows us to track when payments are both timeous and late, and to communicate with parents accordingly, which will assist us financially and contribute to professional reputation.

Funding applications – we have created a Kanban tracker which allows everyone with access to add in funds which may be suitable for the charity and for these to then be sorted, categorised and worked on. We have also created ‘cheat sheet’ documents as a time saving measure, which can be drawn upon for various applications rather than starting from scratch.

We have identified 38 potential funders, 10 were compatible. All funding rejections were due to the state of funding being too competitive currently. Rebecca noted that The Robertson Trust and The Foyle Foundation both support our long-term goals but due to our financial position in 2022-23 did not feel confident in making grants.

Rebecca noted we tried over 2023-24 to raise over £20,000 to fund an additional role in order to balance the CDO’s workload; this was ambitious but not successful.

We launched a Patreon for Friends of TDUK with varying results – this is a work in progress.

We are still receiving support from long-term funders such as Essentia Foundation and The Nimar Charitable Trust. Judith noted that this is the final year for Nimar funding. Rebecca noted thanks to to Nimar and particularly to Lynn Summers for her advocacy.

Rebecca noted her gratitude to everyone for their work this year and notes special thanks to Alyson, Judith, and Karen for their work.

Judith noted special thanks to Rebecca for being a driving force for the charity and for bringing Alyson on board as Treasurer. Judith also noted that a number of charities in Scotland have had to close recently due to lack of trustees and thanked all present for their contributions. Rebecca seconded this.

Alyson asked if TouchdownUK is looking for new trustees and it Judith and Rebecca confirmed we are.

8. Charity Development Officer’s Report Tom Cramb, Charity Development Officer

Rebecca thanked Karen for creating the Chairperson and CDO presentations.

Tom noted special thanks to our club volunteers and specifically Sammy McLaren for their work with us in 2023-24.

We saw an average of 5,000 children at our sessions this year and all six clubs ran for the full year, with a full slate of scrimmage events which is the first time this has happened since around 2016.

We have had 150 children subscribe across six clubs which is relatively low – we would usually expect around 200. Sign-up numbers are an issue going forward.

We collaborated in 47 partnerships with schools and took part in 19 holiday camps/clubs/special events across the year.

90% of our volunteers are now former players which is very exciting, however newer players are all aged 14 or under so their transition to coaching is not currently possible due to age.

We are developing a coach mentoring programme and looking to have most volunteers receive at least a BAFA Level 1 qualification and a basic level of insurance, which relates to the succession plan for the CDO’s eventual retirement.

We have been working on a disengaged youth project – we have had some wonderful feedback regarding this. This has opened up new school partnership and funding opportunities. Tom noted this is a challenging role to carry alone and we need to recruit for this.

Tom noted we are moving away from grant funding as they are now more competitive and very specifically targeted, in a way which makes it difficult for us to justify our goals and aims. Tom noted there is a big question over the Discover camps going forward also. We are looking to receive 70% of income from our own working rather than from grants going forward.

Tom noted that the Friends of TDUK Patreon is up and running however it can be difficult to connect with those identified as potential contributors. Creating content is also another issue.

Tom gave thanks to everyone involved in the Board and admin team, and the club volunteers for their hard work and noted that although we have smaller numbers this year, the enthusiasm has been incredible.

9. Election of Trustees and Office Bearers

All Trustees excepting Rebecca Cramb stepped down at this time.

Rebecca noted that Charlie Banks had indicated he would not step back up as Trustee, and both Rebecca and Tom gave thanks to Charlie for his work and insight during his time with the charity.

Alyson noted that she will stay on as a Trustee and as Treasurer, however, will relinquish the Treasurer role by the next AGM/such time as a new Treasurer is appointed.

It was agreed not to require a second for each appointment.

• Rebecca Cramb proposed Alyson Hepburn as Treasurer.

• Alyson Hepburn proposed Judith Cramb as Secretary.

• Judith Cramb proposed Andrew Watts as Trustee.

• Rebecca Cramb stepped down; Alyson Hepburn proposed Rebecca Cramb as Chairperson.

• Rebecca Cramb proposed Iain Sutherland as Trustee, who accepted remotely.

• Rebecca Cramb proposed Veronika Lovas as Trustee; acceptance noted in absentia as no objection noted prior to the AGM.

• Veronika to confirm at next Trustee meeting in February.

10. Questions to Trustees and AOCB Rebecca Cramb, Chairperson

 No questions were noted.

11. Meeting close Rebecca Cramb, Chairperson

 Rebecca formally brought the meeting to a close.