Hi Everyone,
The July Board meeting was
held in Wellington on Sunday 27th July. The main items discussed at
the meeting were:
- The financial results for the full year. While still
provisional, the Net Operating Surplus is looking like being just
over $905,000, which is very close to the original aspirational
budget of $1.04 million.. As previously advised the
Board took the opportunity of this good level of surplus to deal
with a number of historical items, 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). After these Balance Sheet
revaluations, which totalled just over $367,000, we have a
provisional Net Profit of $538,000. This compares to a
loss of $270,000 for the previous year. While it was all as
expected, the Board was still delighted with the confirmation of
the turnaround result, and look forward to it being signed off by
the auditors.
- The provisional Balance sheet is showing a level of Net Equity
of around $600,000, up from $102,000 last year which is equally
pleasing for both the membership and Board.
- The provisional CAPEX spend for the year was close to $690,000,
which was good to see, slightly ahead of budget. The amount
carried forward into 2014/15 will be substantially less than in
previous years, demonstrating that significant progress was being
made on a number of long-term projects.
- Overall, we are very happy to have climbed the first rung on
the ladder to financial recovery - but this is just one year and we
need several more like it to rebuild the cash reserves to a
pre-2010 level. A full set of financial reports will be sent
out in a few weeks to all clubs. In the meantime we won't
distribute the normal monthly Management Reports as these are only
provisional, and subject to final audit confirmation.
As usual the full set of financial accounts will be included
with the AGM packs.
- In relation to the AGM, I would like to remind clubs that they
have until 20th August to nominate their delegates to
attend the AGM, and advise if they have any agenda items. I
encourage every club to take the opportunity to attend, as the day
is much more than just the AGM, with the Chairs Strategy Workshop
in the morning and the National Awards of Excellence Dinner in the
evening.
- A good chunk of the remaining time of meeting was spent in
discussions around Water Safety. At the heart of this was a
Board-to-Board session involving a number of members of the Water
Safety New Zealand (WSNZ) Board where we spent time looking at a
variety of topics including the Sector Plan (a sector-wide strategy
to reduce the drowning rate in New Zealand) and how the various
parties in the sector can work together to best leverage their
collective expertise and resources. This was a valuable
session and it is good to see the close links being formed within
the sector. Our CEO and I will be attending a Sector Plan
workshop later in August and look forward to seeing some good
progress there.
- The Board received an update on the Board Appointment Panel's
work. There was an improved level of interest in the Elected
and Appointed Board positions this year which was good to see, and
continuing interest in the Independent Appointed position. At
the time of the meeting the Panel was undertaking its shortlisting
and was looking to interview candidates early in August.
- Management provided a summary of the current fundraising
strategy for the Board to review. It was good to see some
hard decisions had been made about exiting low-yield activities
over the last year, and while it appeared that income was down, the
bottom line profit was now improving. The challenge from here
for Management is to execute the strategy so that a step-change
improvement in this income stream can be achieved in the next few
years to be able to offset the seemingly relentless decline in
Gaming Trust revenues from fewer and fewer gaming machines out in
the market.
- The Board also reviewed a report on the use of high visibility
vests for the 2013/14 season. At this stage we saw no reason
to change the current approach of Clubs being totally accountable
for ensuring all vests are 'fit for purpose'. SLSNZ will
continue to provide guidelines, with the Clubs continuing to make
their own calls on design and colours. The Board will look at
this again at the end of next season just to make sure this
approach is still working well. The only shadow on the
horizon to watch may be the new Health & Safety legislation, in
the event this seeks to make SLSNZ ultimately fully liable for Club
actions, or inactions.
- On that note, the draft Health & Safety Plan development by
our H & S consultant was shared with the Board. At this
stage it is only in draft form, and clarification is being sought
on the level of accountability that our Constitution puts on SLSNZ
for the actions of individual Clubs. If it is concluded that
the legislation seeks to hold SLSNZ accountable over the action or
inaction of a member Club, then this would tend to suggest the need
for a heavier burden of top down, mandatory procedures for all
Clubs, with a more intense auditing regime. This is the view
Coastguard NZ have taken, and are implementing for their member
groups. If, as we believe, the level of accountability is not
so high, then a more flexible and supportive role can be played and
would be reflected in the strategy. This will be a very
relevant topic for the Club Chairs Strategy Workshop held just
prior to the AGM, as by then we will have advice on the impact of
this legislation on us all.
- The Board was provided with an update on Clubs having their
Constitutions aligned to the SLSNZ Constitution, a task that has
been going on for at least four years now. Last year the
final deadline for this was set as 30th September 2014
and it is good to see that the vast majority of clubs have
completed the task. However there are few remaining and the
Board strongly encourages them to finish this off as soon as
possible, and help is available from the respective SLSNZ and SLSNR
staff to do this. Technically, clubs who don't have an
aligned Constitution are not members of the organisation which
creates the risk of a number of unintended consequences. One
of these is that after September, NZLGB grants will be withheld for
clubs not close to completion, so please ask for any help that you
need to get the work done.
- On a much more positive note, the Board endorsed the National
Honours & Awards Committee recommendations for Service,
Distinguished Service, Life Member and 50 Year Badge recipients,
and look forward to congratulating in person those who can attend
the Awards Dinner after the AGM. The Board would like to
thank the Committee (Neil Reid, Neale Ames, Sheryl McLay and Murray
Wilson) for their sterling work once again on behalf of the
movement.
Overall, a long day of
work for the Board, but a lot of positive things to talk
about! The next Board meeting will be a phone
teleconference on Sunday 24th August. So until my next
update…
Yours in surf,
Geoff Hamilton
Chairman
Surf Life Saving New Zealand