The Annual General Meeting of SPORTKelso was held in the Cricket Club, Kelso on Monday 19th May 2003.
Agenda
1. Attendance
2. Apologies
3. Chairman’s Remarks
4. Adoption of Annual Report
5. Treasurer’s Report
6. Election of Management Committee
7. Future Plans
8. A.O.C.B.
Chairman's Report
I am pleased to report some further developments towards our aims and objectives in 2002 / 2003 and this is mainly as a result of the behind the scenes work of our Secretary, Charlie Robertson, the stalwart efforts of our Treasurer, Sandy Bruce and my fellow committee members to whom I extend my grateful thanks. Most of the features of our development are clearly laid out in this report and I am sure you will find a great deal of interesting reading therein.
I acknowledge the help and support of Scottish Borders Council and the two grants of £ 670 and £ 500 respectively received from SBC Community Support Fund toward two of our initiatives which are mentioned in the body of the report.
One of the highlights of the year for me personally was the Sporting Weekend last September, much of which was the ‘brainchild’ of Johnnie Pearson and his handpicked hardworking assistants. They arranged many sports events, ‘come and try’ sessions and the Two Bridges Race culminating with that ‘barbecue’ at Kelso Cricket Club. Apart from facility improvement, participation is high on our agenda and that weekend saw a massive involvement. I was honoured to welcome Mrs Margaret Jack along on the day to present the magnificent Bob Jack Memorial Cup kindly donated by Margaret on request of SPORTKelso as a tribute to her late husband who was the first Chairman and also a co-founder.
We also saw our first major grant application of over £ 110,000 to the New Opportunities Fund and although the first phase decision has now been delayed until June 2003 we are very hopeful of success. Kelso Orchard Tennis Club has our full support in their application for a sportscotland lottery fund facility improvement grant of approximately £ 118,000. The outcome of this will not now be known until August 2003. The Round Table themselves have been successful in their bid to bring a skateboarding facility to Shedden Park and this should also be constructed in the not too distant future. SPORTKelso commend the Round Table on this achievement.
On a perhaps slightly controversial and emotive issue we have had the proposal of a possible supermarket development in Shedden Park with the provision of sports and recreational facilities for all ages both there (but mainly in Woodside Park) as part of this scheme. SPORTKelso, guided by both their very widely surveyed ‘needs analysis priorities’ and their Constitution ‘aims and objectives’ which seek to enhance facilities and increase participation in sport and recreational activity in Kelso and District, see this as an exciting opportunity of achieving part of those objectives on behalf of all those in the area who are involved in sporting, recreational and even leisure activity in one way or another. We are therefore fully supportive of the initiative. However it is not unexpected that some do not share our enthusiasm and are of a different mind. Each individual will have their own genuine reasons to which they are fully entitled but I can only appeal to them to take a serious look at what is on offer here before finally making up their minds. It could be a very valuable opportunity lost for Kelso and the community. We continue to investigate every chance and avenue for funding our future initiatives and to extend our areas of work.
I welcomed onto the Committee during the year, Mrs Eleanor Pearson as SBC Education representative and Mrs Lynn Young, the Active Primary Schools Sports Co-ordinator for the Kelso area and I now offer my thanks to Mr Colin Black for his input during the year. Colin officially resigns from the Committee at this AGM.
Finally, I would like to thank Heather Batsch from Roxburgh Association of Voluntary Service (RAVS) for her major advisory input over the past year – this has proved invaluable to our success.
David Laing, Chairman
SPORTKelso ANNUAL REPORT
FOUNDATION
SPORTKelso was founded after a meeting of interested parties held in Kelso High School in December of 2000. In January of 2001 a constitution for SPORTKelso was adopted and a Management Committee with Office Bearers and a remit were established. The first Annual General Meeting of SPORTKelso was held on Monday 13th May 2002.
AIMS
SPORTKelso exists:-
1. To co-ordinate the improvement and development of sports facilities in the Kelso area
2. To facilitate the opportunities for participation in sport in the Kelso area
3. To develop Kelso as a Centre of Sporting Excellence
CONSTITUTION
The constitution adopted in January 2001 does not entitle SPORTKelso to be registered as a charity. Over the course of this year some work has been ongoing in consultation with Mrs Heather Batsch of Roxburgh Association of Voluntary Service to produce amendments to the constitution. These are now approaching completion and will be discussed and approved at a subsequent EGM.
MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE
The Management Committee of SPORTKelso has a maximum of 16 members. This is made up of three Scottish Borders Councillors for the Kelso area, a representative of Kelso Community Council, a representative of Kelso High School, a representative from the local primary schools (the last three to be nominated by their organisations) and eight members representing sports clubs and organisations in the town. In addition, Mr B. Keenan, SBC Education and Lifelong Learning Department and Mr T. Leighton, SBC Lifelong Care are non-voting members.
MEMBERSHIP
Councillors: Mr A. Hutton, Mr D. Lindores & Mr A. Nicol
Representing the Community Council: Mr J. Miller
Kelso High School: Mr C. Robertson
Primary Schools:Mrs L. Young
Other Members:
Mr A. Bruce, Kelso Bowling Club
Mr M. Tait, Kelso Football Club
Mr J. Connor, Kelso Cricket Club
Mrs J. Younger, Kelso Ladies Hockey Club
Mr D. Laing, Kelso Orchard Tennis Club
Mr P. Gillespie, Kelso Badminton Club
Mr C. Black, Kelso Athletics Club
Mr C. Tostevin, Kelso Round Table
Mr J. Pearson, Kelso High School
(Mr C. Black resigned from the Management Committee in March 2003)
OFFICE BEARERS
The following Office Bearers were elected by the Management Committee:-
Chair - Mr D. Laing
Vice Chair - Mr A. Hutton
Secretary - Mr C. Robertson
Treasurer - Mr A. Bruce
REMIT
The remit of the General Committee for the year 2002 / 2003 agreed at the AGM on 13th May 2002 was:-
AFFILIATION FEES
Affiliation fees were held at £10.00 for organisations and clubs and £1.00 for individuals.
REPORT ON PROGRESS ON ISSUES IDENTIFIED ON REMIT
1. Facility Needs
Initial plans and costings for an additional Indoor Sports Hall, a Fitness / Training area and a floodlit synthetic surface suitable for tennis and other sports were prepared. A total costing for this amounted to approx. £ 1.2m. The costings were prepared by Raymond Cherry, Assistant Architectural Manager with Scottish Borders Council and the cost of these drawings was met jointly by SPORTKelso and Kelso High School. The prepared drawings were forwarded to the Group considering the SBC submission for the NoF Funding and the bid for a synthetic surface for tennis courts and other sports was included in the bid forwarded to the New Opportunities Fund. A final decision on this bid is imminent.
2. Coaching Needs
The Easter School held throughout the Easter holidays of 2003 was very successful indeed. A total of 12 sports were offered during the fortnight to young people from the age of 3 to 15. More than 200 young people took part and there were waiting lists for some of the activities. The programme was organised by Lynn Young, the Active Primary Schools Co-ordinator.
3. Sports Provision
Progress in this area has been limited and it is hoped to establish closer links with a nominated official from sportscotland to enable us to make further progress in this area next year.
4. Sports Weekend
The Sports Weekend held over the weekend of 14th and 15th September 2002 attracted greater numbers at all its events. Over the weekend, it is calculated that some nine hundred people participated in competitive sport in the Kelso area. A new development this year was the introduction of “come and try” sessions in as many sports as possible. Though the numbers attending the “come and try” sessions were relatively small the amount of interest generated suggests that this will grow in popularity.
5. The Two Bridges Race
The Two Bridges Race attracted an entry of 98 and there were competitors in all the categories. In addition, there were team entries. At the end of the events, Mrs Margaret Jack presented the Bob Jack Memorial Trophy to the winner of the Primary Age Group Team which was Kelso Primary Hockey Team.
The winners of the other races were as follows:-
Men’s: Keith Lyall in 15 minutes 59 seconds (A new record).
Women’s: Sandra Robson in 22 minutes 55 seconds.
Primary Boys: Darren Lyall
Junior Boys: Greig Liddle
Primary Girls: Claire Hall and Gillian Davidson
Adult Team: Yetholm Football Club.
6. Youth Forum
A Youth Forum was established in Kelso High School and representatives of the Youth Forum attended a number of Management Committee meetings and special presentations.
7. Skateboarding
The Round Table’s plans for a skateboarding area on the old tennis courts at Shedden Park are ongoing. The necessary finance has been raised by them and preparatory work on the surface will commence when planning permission is received.
8. Fundraising / Funding
A number of options have been considered including a sports calendar and a fundraising dinner. Both of these have been deferred until 2004.
9. Kelso Orchard Tennis Club
The Tennis Club have now prepared and submitted a bid to sportscotland Lottery Fund.
10. Other Business
Broomlands Playing Fields
With the announcement that no part of the Broomlands Playing Fields would be sold off for development, SPORTKelso undertook to campaign as part of its stated priorities to have the field area upgraded to provide a good playing surface.
Active Primary Schools Co-ordinator
Mrs Lynn Young was appointed to the full-time post of Active Primary School’s Co-ordinator for the Kelso area. This post is funded by sportscotland and is one of only 40 in Scotland and is the only one in the Borders. The post came to the Kelso area because of the SPORTKelso initiative. Mrs Young took up her post in August 2002 and since then has worked with primary schools in sports activities and has used the facilities at Kelso High School to offer After School Clubs for primary pupils. Mrs Young also organised and ran the highly successful Easter Sports Programme.
Supermarket Development
SPORTKelso became involved in the discussions about proposed supermarket developments in part of Shedden Park and the potential sports benefits that may accrue from it. Mr Douglas Martin from Gryffe Developments met the Management Committee of SPORTKelso to outline his proposals, to discuss the level of sporting needs in the area and to discuss possible additional sources of funding through grants and other settlements. After lengthy discussion, the Management Committee of SPORTKelso decided to support the proposals for a supermarket development in this area because of the benefits it would bring to sports provision in the town. It was felt that this was a manageable way we could reach our stated aim of improving sports provision in the town. Included in the proposal is an upgraded cricket pitch, improved drainage at Woodside and upgraded football pitches, an all-weather surface for hockey and football and a 400m running track. Associated with this would be a re-siting of the skateboarding area and children’s play area with a 120m ‘tartan’ sprint track together with a re-siting of the cricket pavilion – possibly incorporating the façade of groundsman’s hut – and enlarged changing facilities at Woodside.
Structure Plan
As part of the preparation of the Structure Plan for the Scottish Borders Council area, SPORTKelso hosted a meeting for all interested parties with Mr Ian Aikman, Planning Officer with Scottish Borders Council. As a result of this, SPORTKelso submitted our proposals for sports development in the Kelso area for inclusion in the Structure Plan. Our suggestions are included below.
i) Shedden Park
We support the proposal to develop Shedden Park as a recreational centre but to include the provision of a cricket pitch and one full-size and one three-quarter size hockey pitch.
ii) Woodside
We support the proposal to develop Woodside as a sports area incorporating one all-weather playing surface, a 400m running track, two full-sized football pitches, a cricket practice area and a skateboarding area. An essential component of this is substantial preparatory works on the site to address issues of drainage and the suitability of the playing surface.
iii) Broomlands
We would urge the identification of the Broomlands area as a site for recreational land incorporating two or even three full-size sports pitches and other leisure and health facilities.
iv) Croft Park
We would urge that Croft Park is retained as recreational land and that a plan is developed to upgrade the grass surface.
v) Development South of the River Tweed
As Kelso continues to grow south of the river, the need for recreational sites in that area is, we feel, of growing importance and we would urge that any supermarket development in the bypass area also should identify recreational land and that the area around the Border Union Showground should include some recreational space.
vi) Church of Scotland Glebe adjacent to the Old Kelso Bridge
This site currently used for agricultural purposes would make excellent recreational space to encourage leisure use and walkways and picnic areas for visitors to the town.
vii) Rosebank Site adjacent to the New Kelso Bridge
Green space is currently available in this area which would also make an attractive feature at an important part of the town if it was retained as recreational or sports land.
viii) Sports Pitch beside Edenside Primary School
Currently this is not identified as recreational land on the Structure Plan. Perhaps it should be and it could be a focus for redevelopment.
ix) Paths and Walkways
The growth in interest in walking following the opening of the New Bridge is a significant contribution to health in the town. We would wish to see additional pathways identified both through Shedden Park and Woodside to extend the walks eastwards and through the Springwood area to extend the walkways to the south and west of the town.
Meetings with local Builders / Landowners
As part of the preparation of our submission to the Structure Plan review representatives of SPORTKelso met with local Builders currently working in the Kelso area together with Roxburghe Estates and others who may build in and around the town to determine whether there were any ways in which improved sports provision could be included in future building developments.
FINANCIAL STATEMENT
The Annual Accounts for SPORTKelso, having been prepared and audited by Rennie Welch Ltd, were presented to the meeting.
FUTURE PLANS / REMIT
1. Facilities Bid
Continue working with Scottish Borders Council to ensure progress with the facilities bid and to be ready to implement the programme as soon as possible.
2. Coaching
Hold further coaching and sports sessions in the Summer, October and Easter holidays.
3. Sports Provision
Develop links with sportscotland to produce Development Plans for certain sports.
4. Sports Weekend
Continue to boost the participation level in the Sports Weekend activities.
5. Two Bridges Races
Examine ways to extend the successful format of races incorporating the Two Bridges.
6. Youth Forum
Hold three meetings of the Youth Forum throughout the year.
7. Skateboarding
Continue support of the Round Table’s plans for a skateboarding area.
8. Fundraising / Funding
Produce plans for a fundraising dinner for September 2004.
9. Supermarket Development
Continue to work with the developer to ensure that the issues associated with sports facilities remain at the forefront of plans for a supermarket development.
