It’s now three months since the Annual General Meeting in July, and those that were there will have not forgotten the spontaneous applause in the room when the new administration was elected. It was a tremendous welcome for me, as a Nunthorpe resident, and I am flattered at the well-wishers who spoke to me on that night after the election. I recall one member saying, “It feels like we’ve got our club back.”
The newly appointed officers and trustees of the NMPFA were keen from the outset to progress an agenda where “the club”, as we all know it, was open to all sports where we can accommodate them, and to welcome back those community representatives onto the committee who had been excluded for far too long, bringing back a spirit of working together.
I’m pleased to say that since then nearly all sports are currently represented on the committee and we have also been able to welcome back Quoits along with local Councillors and the Chairman of Nunthorpe Parish Council, all making valuable contributions to discussions at Trustee/Committee meetings. Indeed, this year the Parish Council have made an offer of financial support to the Recreation Club Xmas Fayre in December.
I understand that it has taken some three months to provide an update on our progress, and I wish to explain the reasons behind this delay. Upon taking office, there was revealed an administrative situation far more complex than anticipated, and indeed we have in some areas been held back by various things left over by the previous administration. The situation has not been helped by the tardy and poor quality of the handover from the former Chairman who has not responded to any requests to facilitate. As a direct result we continue to operate without access to bank accounts; which clearly presents risk and a challenge to ensuring normal operating and has resulted in what could have been an avoidable fine from the HMRC. Additionally; when we reached out to the former Trustees recently for information regarding the Fire Report mentioned below we were disappointed not to receive a response.
Over the preceding years, the former trustees had been working to move the NMPFA into a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO)
However, following a review by the Charity Commission earlier this year after three complaints were made to them, they advised the former Trustees that the assets, in particular the land originally gifted to the beneficiaries by Lady Harrison in 1965, could not be transferred to the new CIO.
There were other issues with the process too, and after taking advice from various sources including the Charity Commission, solicitors and the charity’s accountants, the new Management Committee and Trustees, at a meeting on 8th September, resolved to halt the process and continue operating as the NMPFA. This decision has not been easy but has been taken after significant research effort.
This, coupled with work to transfer financial authority to the new Trustees has taken quite some time and indeed some work is still in progress.
Despite this we have made progress: –
1. Legal and Financial Restructuring:
The new CIO (Nunthorpe & Marton Recreation Trust) will be mothballed, and we will continue to operate as the original NMPFA. We need to review our VAT and tax status, as well as updating our banking arrangements. We will also review the NMPFA bank accounts to ensure transparency and accountability.
We are reviewing the few existing policies and will introduce a suite of new policies where appropriate based on Charity Commission templates. This work is being undertaken now and encompasses: –
- Conflict of interest
- Health & Safety
- Complaints Policy
- Trustees Code of Conduct
- Whistleblower Policy
- Incident Reporting
- Data Protection
- Equality, Diversity & Inclusion
- Safeguarding
- Child Protection & Safeguarding Best Practice
- 3rd party Scope of Works on site policy
- Maintenance Policy
- Charity Reserves – building resilience
Going forward we will revert to Annual General Meetings in April or May of each year in accordance with the original forming document and this will be the case for 2025 onwards.
2. Safety and Maintenance:
Following the AGM, and in the absence of any information from the former administration we decided to undertake a comprehensive Fire Safety Risk Inspection and also a review of the main electrical distribution boards because there were no records to suggest they had been inspected recently and it would appear they have not been inspected for many years.
We were disappointed that inspections of this nature were so overdue, and whilst we are currently operating within safety guidelines, the recommendations in the fire safety report are sobering. We are working with a leading local fire safety company to prepare a project plan for urgent maintenance and implement an inspection and system testing regime. We engaged the services of a local electrical contractor to carry out a brief visual inspection in the building and we will be carrying out a detailed inspection imminently.
We have already taken steps to carry out urgent repair work to the garage near the tennis courts, which was long overdue, and have made the building more secure.
In the fullness of time, we wish to be in a position to redecorate the exterior of the building and other areas of the facility
3. Future Development:
The legal, financial and safety issues have held up our agenda regarding improving facilities. However, it is only right that we attend to safety matters first, as the safety of employees, club members and members of the public visiting the building will always be paramount. Nevertheless, we have made significant progress in some areas: –
- Trustees and committee members are already at work to create this new look for the NMPFA website including, as development proceeds, a sporting and recreation events calendar, and direct links to an NMPFA Facebook page with a new brand and logo as illustrated.
- We are engaging with a local contractor to cost the work needed to alleviate some of the flooding on the playing fields
- We are considering plans and graphic representation regarding the refurbishment of the kitchen area, currently being piloted by our Football representative
- Our colleagues in the Recreation Club are investing in new furniture which should create a light and more modern feel to the place
- A local contractor with the necessary expertise has been contacted in relation to cleaning the surfaces of the tennis courts, after which we will consider the future use of the courts.
- The tennis representative, and Vice Chair of the Trustees is in active negotiation with a leading provider of Padel facilities, which may lead to a partnership which will benefit the charity and be made available not just to club members, but the wider general public also – we are excited about this potential new development for the NMPFA.
Those who attended the AGM will recall the tremendously positive response to the statement that cricket would like to return, and this remains the case. However, we need to do this through proper negotiation with all users of the greenfields, and manage a cricket return that mitigates the impact on football, and alongside cricket pitch work which would have to be carried out by the groundsman.
Although our immediate focus is on stabilising the charity, rest assured that we are working hard to ensure the charity’s future is secure and prosperous. We particularly wish to see celebratory events in 2025 for the 60th anniversary of the charity.
We recognise there is still much work to be done but are confident that further positive changes are on the way. We are fortunate to have the support of a dedicated team of volunteer trustees and co-opted members, as well as the goodwill and backing of our residents, members and community representatives. With this new found open and collaborative ethos the NMPFA team is confident that through working together that we will soon be rewarded with growing membership levels across all sections.
We appreciate your patience and look forward to providing further updates in the coming weeks.
Contact: chairman@nmpfa.org.uk
Chris Foggin – Chairman
14th October 2024
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