News
Club Secretary and Treasurer to vacate their positions at the end of 2023
After fifteen years serving the academy in the roles of Club Treasurer and Club Secretary Lynda and Nigel Fagg will be vacating their respective roles at the end of this year.
Lynda and Nigel were original members of a committee that was formed after the academies students returned from the World Championships in Karlsruhe, Germany in late 2008. At the time the club’s membership could be counted on two hands and the few students we had were training in a gym with no heating, poor lighting, minimal equipment and cracked windows. In the winter it was that cold that ice would form on the inside of the windows.
During Lynda and Nigel’s tenure the academy went through a massive transformation taking it to where it is today with an excellent temperature-controlled facility for our students (which continues to be the envy of many martial arts clubs who have visited us) and a mini coach to transport students and parents to tournaments and events. Both Lynda and Nigel were the major players in obtaining funding for these projects by getting significant donations and securing support from suppliers by building relationships with businesses who were willing to help the academy, many of these businesses have continued to support us by donating to many of the fundraising events we have held over the years including our famous fight nights staged at the academy.
When Lynda and Nigel took on the most important roles on the committee their key remit was to deal with all the administrative tasks associated with running the academy leaving Alf to focus on what he did best ‘Coaching’. It was clear that the membership level urgently needed to be increased and one of the key factors that helped achieve this was the introduction of the academies website which was designed by Nigel and the team at ISSL to provide a site for people enquiring about the academy and also as a source of information to our students, this along with other projects such as demonstrations in schools, Funday’s, Bag Packs and the introduction of the school collection service boosted our membership to over a hundred students at its peak.
When the Covid pandemic came along the consequences of it made a big impact on our membership with us losing over 40% of our students. We had to continue paying bills but had little money coming in, the reserves we had built up over the years of careful stewardship by our treasurer were disappearing fast and it was only through Lynda managing to secure several grants that we were able to get the academy through probably its most challenging period in its thirty-two-year history.
Several of the remaining committee members are looking to modernise the way the academy is run so it is likely you will see changes in how things will be done in 2024. If you want to be part of the future direction of the academy and are interested in taking on the important roles of club secretary or club treasurer then please apply to the Club President James Casey candidates should ideally be in a position to start in the roles from 1st January 2024.
Lynda and Nigel, who will continue in their roles until 31st December 2023 ask that everyone respects their decision and understand that they are taking a total break from any involvement in the academy in the future, they also wish the academy every success as it enters a new period in its long history.
