First of all let me say how pleased we all are to be back at our own pool. It has been a long time, two and three quarter’s years. We are grateful to everyone concerned that we were able tocontinue at Chippendale Pool in Otley. We had to operate in much reduced circumstances as Chippendale is a five lane pool instead of six plus some parents and poolside helpers could not manage the extra traveling and the change of one night of Monday to Tuesday.
The original time scale for the refurbishment of Aireborough was approximately 6months so we budgeted for 12months, however, for whatever reason it turned out to be much longer as I said earlier. This had a marked effect on the clubs funds to the tune of a loss of around £2,500. Now we are back at Aireborough we are now faced with very significant increases in Pool hire and Lifeguard cover however we are in talks with the relevant Leeds department to introduce these new charges over a period of 2-3years. We must however to take steps to secure the Clubs future therefore at our AGM on the 26th November it was decided to increase our membership fee from £45-£50. From this the club must pay £15 to affiliate to Swim England and the North East Region which leaves £35 for actual membership. It was also decided to increase the fee to swim from £1-£2. This is the first increase to the £1 fee for many years but we feel it is necessary and we hope everyone understands and accepts the reasons for the increase as we try to build up the membership; all these increases come into effect from the 6th of January 2020.
Despite these increases Aireborough is still the least expensive club in the Leeds, Bradford and Airedale and Wharfedale areas. I would also like to point out that anyone who helps at Aireborough Swimming Club is a volunteer and receives no financial reward whatsoever. Having mentioned volunteers, the club is in need of help in certain areas such as swimming coaches, this will require some checks and training which the club will arrange and pay for. We also need someone who is reasonably good with figures that would check and sign the clubs accounts. This will only involve a short time in late October or early November in time for the AGM. Volunteers to help with enrolments in January and to help collect monies on pool side would be very much appreciated.
What we would really like to do is reintroduce the selling of sweets on a club night but there is no way to hide the fact that this would involve quite a lot of time and commitment, but if we had a number of people helping this would share the load. The sweet sales raised up to £1500 per year for funds. If you could help in any way at all please have a word with one of us. Thank you for taking the time to read this and may I end by wishing everyone a Happy Christmas and a peaceful and prosperous New Year.
Bryan Dexter
President Aireborough Swimming Club.