Hi Everyone,
The May Board meeting was held in Wellington on Sunday
25th May. The main items discussed at the meeting
were:
- The financial results - a copy of the summary reports are
attached for clubs information. The ten months YTD results to
30 April remain healthy with a $1.08m 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. The Board want to
emphasise that this is just the start - we will need several more
years of tight financial management to get back to a truly robust
position. A report was provided from a meeting held between
the Audit & Risk Committee and the SLSNZ Auditors (Munro Benge
Ltd) which covered the timing and areas of focus for the year-end
audit programme.
- The Board reviewed in some detail progress on the PAM database
upgrade project as this approaches some important milestones.
While building and testing will be undertaken in the remainder of
2014, the full cutover is not being scheduled until 1 July 2015, so
clubs will have the confidence to know that no changes are required
for the 2014/15 season.
- The Board also reviewed progress on the project being
undertaken to investigate the insurance needs of SLSNZ and clubs -
and noted the questionnaire that has been included in the annual
request to clubs to confirm the sums they want to have
insured. The Board strongly encourage all clubs to provide
feedback to the questions being asked, as this will guide the
approach taken with insurance over the next few years.
However, it is important to note that clubs should plan on the
basis of the existing insurance scheme continuing for the 2014/15
year (which starts on 1 September), as introducing any new
approaches that might come out of the review process will only be
done after careful consideration and planning. Fortunately as
noted in my last report, there is likely to be little or no
increase in insurance premiums from last year so this eases the
pressure on the need to do something radical quickly.
- In terms of decisions, the Board approved taking a change to
the Eastern Region staffing structure to the staff consultation
phase. Due to workload there has become a need to consider
splitting the Regional Programmes & Services role into two
(Lifesaving and Sport) and create another role to encompass the
club development activities and other support work. The
proposal has no change in total staffing for the region, and the
concept was discussed in detail with the clubs in the Region as
part of a reviewing the effectiveness of the structures.
- The Board also approved a Memorandum of Understanding with the
five clubs in the greater Gisborne area - to establish a strategic
group that can collectively drive the strategy for the area.
This was formally signed when our patron the Governor General
visited the Tolaga Bay Surf Life Saving Club on the 12th
June. The Board was very happy to see progress on this
initiative.
- At this meeting the Board spent quite a bit of time looking at
the progress we have been making in the Commercial area and what
the next big initiatives will be. While happy with progress
this year, we expect to see the downward pressure on grant funding
continue for in
the foreseeable future, so other revenue streams are needed to fill
this gap. This year our focus has clearly been on rebuilding
our reserves and continuing to focus on minimising costs. The
staff and management have done an excellent job, however there is
no room for complacency. We recognise some areas like our
fundraising initiatives do need more work, and this will be a focus
for the 2014/15 season.
- Each year the Board undertakes an exercise to identify it's
strengths and weaknesses. The report from this year's review
was discussed and the results will be passed on to the Board
Appointments Panel for their work in the coming months.
- And last but definitely not least, the Board had invited Peter
Dale, the Chair of Water Safety NZ to attend part of the meeting
and during which we got to discuss in detail the progress being
made by WSNZ in its new role as leader in the drowning prevention
sector. This was a good discussion and the Board valued the
chance to meet directly with Peter in this way.
This was a full day and highlighted that the 'off season' is
just as busy as our summer! The next Board meeting will be by
telephone conference on Sunday 22nd June. So until
my next update…
Yours in surf,
Geoff Hamilton
Chairman
Surf Life Saving New Zealand
