AGM - 7 May

At the forthcoming AGM, the Committee will be asking you to approve a change in the structure of the Club. Currently we have an unnecessarily complicated structure, that serves only to add to the burden on volunteer Club Officers. This structure is rarely understood by anyone other than the Committees involved, and is not really fit for purpose.

There are in fact three Clubs involved, the Berkhamsted Sports Club (BSC), the Berkhamsted Cricket Club (BCC) and the Raiders:

1. BSC operates the Clubhouse and grounds on an informal lease from its landlord, a local charity called the Berkhamsted Sports Ground Association (SGA).
2. BCC runs the cricket activities at the ground – all its members are also members of the BSC
3. Raiders runs junior football at the ground and many other fields around the vicinity - all its members are also members of the BSC

The proposal is to bring together the BSC and BCC into one Club  - to be called the Berkhamsted Community Cricket and Sports Club (BCCSC), and to make it a charity, which offers certain advantages, not least in terms of fund raising. This Club will operate all the activity at the ground and clubhouse, including cricket. The Raiders is already a charity and will become an Affiliated Club of the BCCSC and continue to enjoy all its existing  use of pitches and the clubhouse in exchange for an annual fee (as paid at present) – nothing will change from a practical point of view.

At the same time, it is proposed, to outsource the management of the bar and hall hire activity to Jim and Darren’s company, called MG Ltd, under a service level agreement. This agreement sets out all the current requirements such as opening hours, no weddings etc on cricket days, provision of cricket teas and annual dinners etc, as well as rights to inspect their accounting records, etc. There are a number of reasons for this approach:

1. It places responsibility for the financial management of these activities into the hands of those who are there every day – it is unreasonable to ask this of a volunteer Treasurer of the BCCSC
2. It motivates Jim and Darren to optimise the revenues and profits from the bar and clubhouse (within the constraints of being first a sports club)
3. Profits after paying all operating costs can be gift aided to the new BCCSC charity free of tax
4. Profits resulting from Raiders’ participation at the Club can be used to offset their annual fee, motivating them to use the clubhouse
5. The new simplified BCCSC Club can focus on its primary aim, providing cricket and sports facilities for the community

Your Committees have been working hard on establishing this new way to manage the Clubs, have taken external advice, and believe it is in the best interests of the Members of the Sports Club, the Cricket Club and Raiders. Many Sports Clubs are adopting this structure. The Cricket Club Management Committee has approved the changes in so far as they affect cricket members and the Raiders Management Committed has approved all these changes in so far as they affect Raiders.  Our landlord, the SGA, is also happy with this new arrangement. Jim and Darren have agreed to new proposed outsourcing contract. At the AGMs we will be asking you, as Members, to vote on the following proposals:

1. Approve the merging of the BSC into BCC to form the BCCSC
2. Agree that the BCCSC should apply to become a charity
3. Approve the agreement between BCCSC and the Raiders
4. Approve the outsourcing of the bar and hall hire activity to MG Ltd under a service level agreement

If you have any questions, please contact Julian in advance of the AGM

Ian Merrett
Club Secretary
(ianmerrett17@gmail.com)