Castle Canoe Club - Management Handbook *

2. Purpose

This handbook is intended to help new members of the Committee to understand their roles, so that knowledge is not lost as post-holders change.

3. History

Castle Canoe Club was founded in 1999, following an initiative by the paddlesports officer of the West Reservoir Centre. BCU members in NE London postcodes were contacted by mail-shot and encouraged to attend an information evening. The initial membership was recruited here; then a Working Party was set up, whose initial task was to create the Constitution; later most of the members of the Working Party formed the first Management Committee.

In the early days, the Club, like the Centre itself, operated from 'port-a-cabins' and struggled to stay in existence. However it is now well established with a distinct identity and even a web presence.

The West Reservoir Centre was originally part of the London Borough of Hackney, but has since been out-sourced to Leisure Connections.

4. Meetings

 

Committee Meetings

These are held bi-monthly after club sessions, generally alternating between Tuesdays and Sundays. Generally they are held in the upstairs bar of The Brownswood Tavern over a beer & a Thai curry! Minutes with action points are kept by the Secretary, circulated to the Committee for approval, then circulated to the membership at large. This may be part of the Newsletter contents.

 

AGM

This should be held 'in the Spring'. Ideally in would be held in late April or early May. This would give the Treasurer time to draft the accounts after the 31^st March year end, for the Auditor time to check them. The Committee could decide on a proposal for any changes to the fees for the next year, and the membership could vote on the fees before the start of the Membership year on 1^st June. The incoming Treasurer would be able to send out timely renewal forms.

Fuller details of notice, quorum rules etc are in the Constitution.

Minutes are kept, as with Committee meetings.

 

5. Committee Members Job Descriptions

• Pass on any information about canoe polo to be circulated. This may include courses and friendly tournaments (all year)
• Liaise with the 2 teams affiliated through CCC to BCU, ensuring we receive £15 per team & provide photocopy of BCU affiliation card to them. Contact: The Pink Ladies & Castle Dreamers (Mar/Apr)
• Organise training sessions (June/July)
• Organise a friendly tournament contacting other local teams eg Regents, Y Paddle (Aug/Sep)
• Supervise polo equipment storage, marking it with club name, secure with padlock.

1. Relationship with West Reservoir Centre / Leisure Connections

Address: West Reservoir Centre, Green Lanes, Stoke Newington, London N4 2HA.

Phone: 0208 442 8116 (?)

N.B. currently no website or email contact.

 

Subscription Calculation & Payment

Castle CC pays a Subscription to WRC.

This was originally an amount equal to 50% of full/concessionary membership fees, paid annually in arrears.

With the advent of Leisure Connections it changed to a more complex formula:

It is calculated for a half-year period in advance based on membership levels at 2 dates (? & ?).

It uses 6/12ths of ??%.

At the original time of cut-over from arrears to advance basis there was a payment holiday of a year (?)

Site Security, Keys, Access

There are 2 lots of gates.

Sometimes WRC allow trusted Committee members to hold a set of keys to the inner gates to facilitate WRC equipment collection & return. (?)

Normally there is only access during club hours:

10:00-13:30 on Sundays all year except mid-Dec to mid-Jan.

18:00-20:30 on Tuesdays in summer (mid-April to mid-Sept)?

Club members should be off the water half-an-hour before to allow time to change, shower etc

There is always some WRC safety cover at the time of sessions.

Club & its members must comply with WRC rules.

See also : Equipment hire below.

2. Training Policy

Training is high priority.

There is a preference to allocate funds to subsidise club members going on training courses (25%), at the discretion of the Committee.

Informal training occurs at club sessions, given by those qualified as instructors.

Details of local courses especially WRC ones are circulated to members.

 

 

3. Safety Policies

Duty officer responsibilities

Please note that in order for the Club to operate at the West Reservoir Centre we need a volunteer for each session (Sunday and Tuesdays) to act as Duty Officer. Having a member on duty is not an option - it is a requirement. It is your club, please help to keep it going by volunteering to be on duty. Please do volunteer for at least one session every two months, the more volunteers we have the fewer sessions you'll need to do

The Duty Rota (and other Castle Canoe Club [CCC] information) is available from the Centre Manager's office. The role of the duty officer is not difficult and is primarily to oversee the health and safety of all canoeists on site.

Key duties:

1. Act as a communication point between Castle Canoe Club and the West Reservoir Centre

2. Welcome casual users and prospective new members, showing them around the Centre's facilities- changing rooms, storage facilities etc and informing them about CCC

3. Ensure that all users sign in and out on the attendance sheet

4. Ensure that all new people have completed and signed a registration form before going on the water, especially the disclaimer on the back (even if they later decide not to join). EVERYONE going on the water must do this for the purposes of our records. The first week is free, if people decide to join then they must pay the appropriate membership fee.

4. Ensure that buoyancy aids are worn on and near the water in particular on the jetty (this is a health and safety requirement)

5. All paddlers are wearing appropriate footwear e.g trainers, sports sandals, wet suit boots (please note that health and safety forbids people from exercising their choice to paddle in bare feet, even though they may be old enough to realise the serious risk they are taking)

6.Please remain on land for the first hour, so that new and potential members are encouraged by the welcome they receive to continue coming along to the canoe sessions

Lastly, if anyone has any queries please contact the Safety Officer for advice.

 

4. Equipment Rules, hire & fees

1. BCU Affiliation & Insurances

web address. www.castlecanoeclub.org.