Dear Clubbies,
Congratulations again to our New Zealand Surf Life Saving team for
their win at the World Champs in Adelaide. Their performance over
the 4 days of competition was truly outstanding with every member
of the team bringing home medals.
The grand efforts of our New Zealand Under 20 team also command
praise. There were some stunning performances from the team and to
come a close 2nd to the Aussies on their home turf is a supreme
achievement. It shows the depth of capability we have and bodes
well for the future.
Well done to all of the coaches, managers, and particularly the
large ONE team of supporters following the event. Nice work all
round...
On to the notes from the Board meeting of Surf Life Saving New
Zealand held on 18 November.
Key points covered included:
- Governance - following direction provided at
the last Board meeting, the Governance Sub-committee reported it
had confirmed one preferred candidate for a co-opted independent
Board member role through until the next AGM. The Board discussed
the candidate and agreed the final selection process, following
which the sub-committee would be delegated the task of making the
appointment.
Other governance activity included: the Governance Sub-committee
are to draft a Board Charter; a 12 month Board Work plan is to be
formalised; Board members to identify their individual development
needs; and a mentoring programme to be considered as part of the
options to meet those needs.
- Grant Funding - a summary of current grant
funding sources was discussed by the Board. . The Board encouraged
taking a more structured approach to the grant application process.
Management were asked to develop a full schedule of all potential
grant sources (for SLSNZ and clubs) and prioritise those that
should be approached to generate new revenues. This will need to be
co-ordinated at a Regional level to avoid clashing with clubs.
- Government funding - the potential to attract
direct government funding has been discussed by many previous
Boards. Despite the challenges of achieving funding from government
in the current economic climate, it was agreed that further work
should still be done to assess this opportunity.
- Finances - the Board noted the paper providing
an updated budget for 2012/13 and an indicative budget for 2013/14.
The Board requested that the planning cycle for 2013/14 be brought
forward so that the signoff for the budget occurs at the February
2013 Board meeting, and that an 18 month rolling forecast be
integrated into the budgeting and reporting process.
The Board reviewed progress with the work to financially "future
proof" the organisation. A target of $1.5m in savings had been
targeted. Staff rationalisation and other cost cutting had achieved
forecasted savings of $1.13m in the current year ($1.3m when
annualised) and with some additional confirmed income would see the
$1.5m improvement target as being possible. While the Board were
comfortable with the current progress on cost cutting there was no
room for complacency and the Board will continue to closely monitor
actual cash flows moving forward. Feedback from Club Chairs
meetings about their priorities will assist decide if any further
changes are required and priorities for 2013/14.
The Board discussed the need to rebuild organisational reserves to
provide more working capital for the organistion and a buffer
against any future financial challenges. With an expense base of
more than $10m per year, and the need for a prudent level of
operating costs in reserves, it will realistically be a journey of
many years to achieve financial security. The organisation needs to
set its expectations in this regard. Management were asked to
update the five year targets for the 2013/14 Strategic Plan based
on achieving $4m in equity/ reserves ($3m in cash) in a five year
timeframe.
Management were also asked to bring forward the traditional
planning cycle so budgets for the 2013/14 would be signed off in
February next year rather than June.
- Club financial management - the Board
discussed the challenges that many clubs were facing in their own
financial management and Board asked that further work be done to
find ways to provide tools such as budgeting templates to assist
clubs who need it in this regard.
- Risk register - the Board asked that
Management update the risk register and present to the next
meeting. This would become the responsibility of the Audit and Risk
Sub-committee.
- Lifesaving First Aid - the LFA Sub-committee
noted progress about evaluating the performance of LFA although
more information was required before any work could begin in this
area. Management were asked to develop a detailed overview of the
purpose and performance of LFA.
- Club development - a written report from Mark
Weatherall (GM Club Development) was noted by the Board. A
substantial amount of reporting on the club network has been
developed at the request of the Board over the last few months.
Initial thinking from the Healthy Clubs Sub-committee was
discussed, specifically around reporting needs and actions that can
be taken to improve SLSNZ performance to Clubs. The CEO will
facilitate a regular conference call for the Sub-committee with
appropriate staff to progress this work.
- Programmes and Services - a written report
from Brett Sullivan (GM Programmes and Services) was noted by the
Board. The Chairman reinforced Brett's views supporting the good
work by volunteers and SLSNZ staff at the World
Championships.
Other items noted in this report:
- The Event Safety Review has nearly been finalised, and will
have a structured communication process around its recommendations,
in particular the recommendations on the use of high visibility
vests.
- Management will use the new processes to document in detail how
the Event Safety process works (for in-house and external events),
what insurance cover is in place, and how liability would be
assessed if an incident was to occur.
- Find-a-Beach - the new website was released in
late October and initial feedback had been very positive. This will
become a frontline channel for the public to interact with Surf
Life Saving.
- Club constitutions - the Board noted progress
with Clubs updating their constitutions to the new format. 42% of
clubs were confirmed as having updated their constitutions, 26%
were just pending SGMs or similar, and 9% were still underway.
- SLSNZ - SLSNR relationship - the Boards of
SLSNZ and SLSNR are planning to meet on 13th December to discuss
the future interaction of the two organisation
- Honours and Awards committee - the Board
approved the recommendation from the Honours and Awards committee
to appoint Debbie Hutchings (Eastern Region) to fill a vacant
position on the committee. A new selection process for members of
the committee will be introduced next year for the term of the next
committee which will start on 1 January 2014. The new process, as
previously reported, would involve nominations being presented by
Regional Club Chairs committees.
- Future Board meetings - the Board discussed
the importance of Board frontline engagement with Clubs and wider
member base over and above the regular meetings with Regional Club
Chairs Committees. The calendar of Board meetings for 2013 will be
reviewed to see if more meetings can be held regionally and any
could be rescheduled and located to coincide with events around the
country.
Next meeting
As usual, I greatly appreciate you feedback or queries.
Yours in surf
Michael Bassett-Foss
Chairman
Surf Life Saving New Zealand
