Hi Everyone,
The June Board meeting was a telephone conference held on Sunday
22nd June. The main items discussed at the meeting
were:
- The financial results - a copy of the summary reports are
attached for clubs information. The eleven months YTD results
to 31 May remain healthy with a $1.84m Net Operating Surplus, which
after taking account of timing variances is still on track to get
very close to the year-end target of a Net Operating Surplus before Capex and
Revaluations of around $1 million. After funding some
$565,000 of capital expenditure for which grant income has been
received, the amount of "free cash" that is our real level of
surplus should be around $450,000. Of significance this month
is that the planned Balance Sheet revaluations took place,
including Centenary books (written down by $61,800 to nil value),
Toy IRB's (written down by $67,500 to nil value), Centenary Teddy
Bears (written down by $8,900 to nil value) and the loan to
Lifesaving First Aid (written down by $217,661 to nil value).
This added up to just over $357,000 of revaluations and reduced the
Net Profit to $1.48m YTD. As previously signalled June
expenditure will include Capex items and the year-end forecast for
Net Profit will be around $609,000. This is still a very
healthy result and the write downs have no impact on the cash
position of the organisation. More importantly they represent
a major and final step forward in tidying up the decisions from the
2010/11 Centenary year. Clubs will shortly be given the
opportunity to access the written-down merchandise items for use as
gifts or for fundraising at no cost.
- In terms of decisions, the Board approved a three year
extension to the Service Level Agreement with the NZSAR Council for
provision of support of Search and Rescue activities, and a new
sponsorship arrangement that will be announced in the coming
weeks.
- Time was spent looking at the recent insurance claims history
of clubs as part of background for the current insurance review
project. It is pleasing to note that other than through
earthquakes the level of losses is generally low, and the Board
will keep pressure on our providers to ensure premiums reflect
this.
- Discussion took place on a paper which set out the legal
liability of SLSNZ and clubs around sports events (both our own and
where we provide water safety services at other events such as
triathlons) - and what protection our insurance cover does (and
does not) provide. This information was helpful and will be
repackaged and sent out to clubs for their reference as well.
- The Board also reviewed the latest information on the known
building projects around the country, to gauge the level of
activity and what role SLSNZ can play to support these.
Greater sharing of 'best practice' information on funding and the
planning/consent processes is an obvious area where more can be
done.
- Health and Safety also was a focus - with a draft report from a
Health & Safety Consultant giving an early indication of that
areas that need work across the movement. A Health &
Safety Plan is now in development and will be shared with clubs
early in the 2014/15 year.
- As usual we discussed Member Protection - noting the recent
court case in the Hawkes Bay as a leading example of why clubs need
to be vigilant and have robust processes for supervision in
place.
- The Board also noted that the call for applications for the
four SLSNZ Board positions coming vacant through rotation had gone
out to clubs - and strongly encourages clubs and individuals to put
forward candidates who they believe can make a difference at a
national level.
While a short meeting a lot was covered. By the time you
read this we will have reached the end of the 2013/14 year - a
challenging one for the SLSNZ organisation but the Board is very
pleased to have seen the turnaround that has occurred - and the
benefits of the 2012/13 restructuring start to bear fruit.
Our thanks go to the staff and all those who have supported the
organisation over the last year.
The next Board meeting will be held in Wellington on Sunday
27th July. So until my next update…
Yours in surf,
Geoff Hamilton
Chairman
Surf Life Saving New Zealand
