This page contains full reports of the last AGM and Committee meetings held on 12th April 2006. Links to the minutes of previous meetings follow these reports, in chronological order, at the foot of this page. North East Regional Annual General Meeting Northumbria Centre, Stephenson Road, Washington, NE37 3HR Wednesday 12th APRIL 2006 Present: Paul Jones, Dave Stevens, Amanda Cantle, Dave Bell, Frank Hartley, Kay Wilson, Jem Lawson, Paul Gertig, John Bent, Nigel Ellam. Apologies: Ed Cooper, Helen Jones, Tony & Sandra Main, John Howells, Mrs. Lawson Previous Minutes & Matters Arising: Minutes from previous AGM were not available. There were no matters arising from last year’s agenda that aren’t on the agenda for this meeting. Chairman’s Report: This has been a fantastic year for Triathlon in the North East. We’ve seen more events which means more participants and better still we, as a region, have raised the standard of those events. With the Regional Plan we have achieved all our Key Performance Indicators thanks to the hard work of our volunteers, clubs, coaches & race organisers. To have increased participation by as much as 20% is a massive step forward. We have more coaches than ever before, more officials and more accredited clubs. As outgoing regional chair I would like to thank all the efforts of the committee over the past two years, particularly John Howells for his work on the website. I would have to say without the work that Paul Jones, our Regional Development Officer does behind the scenes, none of what we have achieved would have been possible. The work he has done in schools means the North East is leading the way in school participation and club links. Also the club development project that he set up with various partnerships has enabled the North East to have more accredited Triathlon clubs than any other region and means we are well on our way to achieving our target of ALL clubs accredited by April 2007. A lot of what Paul does goes un-noticed and un-rewarded but it is well outside of his job. I’d like to say that without the effort and dedication he has put in we wouldn’t have half the region we have right now. Once again I thank all those I have worked with over the past two years and look forward to seeing you on the circuit in the future. The committee would like to thank Ed for his time and dedication to the job in hand over the past two years. Treasurer’s Report: The accounts for the year just ended reflect considerably more activity than those for the previous year. Income has increased dramatically. As well as the regular contributions from the BTA, the region received a Community Foundation grant of £575, and an award of £1,000 from Newsquest in respect of the Northern Pulse website. In addition to this, there have been further contributions from clubs to the regional equipment pool, and entry fees for the North East League, following the committee decision to begin charging these from 2006. The annual presentation dinner once again made a loss, but at £248, this was considerably less than those recorded in previous years. This was because a small profit was made in respect of the dinner itself, thereby partly offsetting the cost of the trophies. In the past, the event has been priced so as to break even, leaving the trophy costs to generate a deficit for the function overall. The most radical difference in financial terms between this and previous years is the expenditure on the purchase of equipment. This follows the setting up and subsequent expansion of the Regional Equipment Pool. During the year, just over £4,000 has been spent on equipment for the pool. This amount well exceeds the contributions received to date from the regional clubs - £950 - the balance being funded from a combination of the windfall income detailed above, and general regional funds. Overall, the region is in a healthier position than ever before, with over £4,000 worth of equipment, and just under £2,000 in liquid funds. Jem Lawson raised the issue that in the past there had been funds ring fenced for Children’s Triathlon and asked was there any such funds set aside in the Regional Budget. The answer is no, not specifically, but there is now access to the Regional Pool for NECT and for funding to help with coaching courses and club development. There was, a few years ago, a budget of £500 which was used for children’s activity, however, this has been swept up in the annual regional funds from Head Office. The region now receives around £2000 from head office to be used to develop Triathlon in the North East. North East Regional Plan: Paul Jones went through the Regional Targets for 2006/7 after also going through the achievements of 2005/6. He pointed out the importance of attaining these goals and how it is important that we continue to develop as a Region. As a Region we need to continue to increase participation in events & encourage clubs to continue to work towards club accreditation. It was noted that most of the clubs in the region are working towards or have achieved Club Accreditation standards and the North East is leading the country on this. In addition the North East clubs need to continually try and attract new members and continue to develop. There should be a Level Two coaching course in February / March 2007. We now have something in the region of 50 level one coaches in the north east and 15 level two coaches. Paul also took time to stress the need for volunteers in our sport. The region has a target to register volunteers during the next twelve months. NE Coach & Club Development Project: As a region we need to encourage people to attend the courses being run in partnership with the County Sports Partnerships. In addition we really need to push the next Level Two Coaching Course within our clubs. There are various sources of funding to apply for. For more information contact Paul Jones (RDO). Schools Project 2006 Last year we saw 1200 children take part in the schools project. The children participated in various different forms of multi-sport activity: Aquathlon, Duathlon & Triathlon. Working with school sports partnerships and local clubs we will be pushing this project again in 2006. We have in the region of 20 events taking place this year throughout the North East. Which may see 4000 children taking part in multi-sport. It is key to the development of the region that local clubs are prepared to get involved in the project as they will provide the outlet to school children. In addition many of these children have not heard of triathlon before and thus their parents won’t have either. This is a prime opportunity to get fresh blood into the sport in the form of parental volunteers. Regional Pool of Equipment: Most clubs have contributed to the Regional Pool of equipment in 2006. Equipment bought with Regional Pool: 15x Road Signs with “Caution Cyclists” 5x Road Signs with “Caution Runners” 50m Plastic Mesh Fencing with 25 stakes 2000m of Red/white Barrier Tape 5x Stopwatches Finish Banner Fence Dressing Foil Blankets Flags To be bought: Walkie Talkies and Megaphone. It was agreed that the Regional Pool will be issued with an inventory of what is included and the person that takes over the equipment will sign to say that the equipment is in full working order and complete. That person would then become responsible for the equipment. It was also suggested that next year the region will look at insuring the equipment and instead of paying £50 per club to access the pool, we may split the insurance premium between the clubs. The committee will look into this in the coming months. Election of new committee: Regional Chair: Amanda Cantle (prop: Paul Jones; second: Kay Wilson) Vice Chair: Dave Stevens (prop: Paul Jones; second: Jem Lawson) Secretary: Kay Wilson (prop: Jem Lawson; second: Frank Hartley) Treasurer: Ian Maddison (prop: Paul Gertig; second: Dave Stevens) Young Persons: Paul Gertig (prop: Kay Wilson; second: Amanda Cantle) Tri England Rep: Jem Lawson (prop: Frank Hartley; second: Amanda Cantle) Welfare Officer: John Bent (prop: Jem Lawson; second: Kay Wilson) Tech Coordinator: Tony Main (prop: Amanda Cantle; second: Kay Wilson) Events Coordinator: Amanda Cantle (prop: Jem Lawson; second: Frank Hartley) Website Coordinator: John Howells (Co-opted) There are two new positions on the committee this year. The region needs to have a Regional Welfare Officer as a point of contact for Head Office to dissipate information down to the clubs. In addition the region needs to think about how it can develop its events to continue the growth of Triathlon in the region. The position of Events Coordinator is a role which will grow and develop over the next twelve months. It was agreed that rather than having a representative committee the North East needs to have an effective committee. It was proposed that clubs who wish to send an official to the Regional Committee Meetings could. By doing so they would be able to voice an opinion or raise an issue. However, the committee would be the only people allowed to vote on any issue. It was also agreed that clubs which are not represented would be informed of when the meetings are and invited to send a representative. Any Other Business: Amanda Cantle reiterated that if anyone in the region has a complaint it should go through the Regional Chair and this was agreed by the new committee. Jem Lawson pointed out that we as a region should be encouraging club members to join British Triathlon. There are many benefits to being a British Triathlon member not least the insurance & legal aspect. Jem pointed out there was some promotional material at Head Office which could be distributed to the clubs. Paul Jones agreed to look into this and distribute when it became available. Jem Lawson also pointed out that the Extraordinary General Meeting for British Triathlon was taking place just down the road in Cambridge on April 29th, and encouraged as many as possible to attend. Thank you to those who attended. Meeting closed at 9:05pm BTA NE REGIONAL COMMITTEE - 12th April 2006 Present - D Stevens, P Jones, A Cantle, J Lawson, N Ellam, D Bell Apologies - H Jones, E Cooper, J Howells, S Main & T Main Matters Arising from Previous Minutes Police Championships will not be included in Alnwick Triathlon Children’s Series – As Cleveland Aquathlon clashes with Inter-Regional Championships (IRC) it was agreed that it is unfair to include this event in the Series, although Cleveland Biketraks dispute this. However this displays a consistent approach as the Youths have been excluded from the Haltwhistle event for a similar reason. There are changes to the IRC qualification requirements: For Tristar 2 & 3’s there is no change (1st at Haltwhistle then 1st at Monkwearmouth) for the Youths… The Haltwhistle event clashes with the National Youth Champs so now qualification will be: 1st NE at National Youth Champs and 1st & 2nd at Monkwearmouth (3 places for youths). Regional Pool of Equipment – now includes Finish Banner, Foil blankets & 3 large Buoys – still to acquire 4 walkie-talkies and megaphone. Storage of the equipment during the season is to organised by A Cantle at Seaburn Centre, Sunderland. Contributions received from all clubs except Gosforth RC, Newcastle University & Cleveland Biketraks. Club League – all clubs except Gosforth RC & Newcastle University have entered the competition. Club Development – currently working towards (unofficial) regional target for all clubs accredited by April 2007. The official target will be surpassed and its noted that the North East has more accredited clubs than any other region. Event Development Plan – current events/venues are becoming saturated so need to facilitate increased participation subject to continuing difficulties with police co-operation and the pending implementation of the ‘Event Safety Code’. Club Representatives on Regional Committee – tried in 2005/6 but has not worked with few taking up the opportunity to attend. The use of ‘fixed roles’ will be proposed at the AGM. The positions to be voted upon will be – Chair, Vice-Chair, Secretary, Treasurer, Young Person’s Officer, Website Controller, Triathlon England Representative, Welfare Officer, Technical Officer & Event Co-ordinator. However, clubs which are not represented on the committee by a fixed role will be invited to attend and are welcome to raise issues but will not have a vote at regular committee meetings. Any Other Business Requests have been submitted to the Region for sponsorship of individuals on behalf of ‘good causes’. It was agreed that the Region can provide support by way of publicity / promotion only but not in financial terms. Next meeting will be Wednesday 12th July (7pm) at the Northumbria Centre, Stephenson Way, Washington. Links to Minutes of Previous Meetings