Hi Everyone,
The August Board meeting was held in Wellington on Friday
19th August and was our first meeting for the 2016/17
financial year.
At the time of writing we have just finalised the audited
accounts for the 2015/16 year, and these were sent to clubs on
Friday 2nd September. In the end, the final Net
Profit for the year was $260,795, which was better than the last
forecast due to a year-end adjustment the auditors wanted to make
to better reflect the timing of State Insurance sponsorship income
in the final year of the contract. Most importantly the year cash
position continues to improve and Net Assets are now at $1.453
million compared to just $102,000 at the end of the 2012/13
year.
Looking at the first month of the 2016/17 year there was a Net
Operating Surplus of $0.661 million, which is $231,000 behind
budget. This variance is all due to timing variations, an
explanation of these is in the attached Financial Summary
Dashboard. More relevant is the latest forecast the full year
Net Operating Surplus which is in still in line with the budget at
$356,860.
Significant items of note from the meeting are:
- One of the main strategic discussion topics this month was on
the management of sport - and to help with those discussions Brad
O'Leary, chair of the National Sport Committee was able to join
us. This was a good discussion and we covered a wide variety
of topics in relation to how well surf sport was being delivered
and noted a number of areas for improvement. Further work
will now be done by Management and the National Sport Committee to
improve the planning, communications and stakeholder
relationships.
- Sustainability was again a major theme for the meeting - with a
detailed discussion on the strategy to attract funds to the SLSNZ
Foundation. The short term focus will be on identifying
potential donors and preparing the necessary marketing
collateral. This will be a long term programme but the Board
is very keen to get things moving quickly. The Board also
discussed fundraising activities and initiatives to increase the
number of regular donors.
- The Board noted that over 40 clubs have registered to attend
the AGM on 24th September which is even better than last
year. The agendas for the AGM and the Club Chairs Workshop
were discussed and finalised from a Board perspective. Good
progress was noted on the Annual Report and the arrangements for
Awards of Excellence dinner. The Board was also given an
update on the progress of the Board Appointments Panel - a report
of which has now gone out to clubs soon ahead of the voting on the
Elected Board positions at the AGM.
- The Board reviewed the outcomes of the SLSNZ 2015/16 Strategic
Plan and was pleased with progress. We also reviewed the
results of the 2016 Staff Survey and noted a good increase in the
level of staff engagement and satisfaction with the
organisation
- A report looking at the geographical beach drowning 'blacks
spots' was noted. This information gave a useful insight into
the key areas of risk around the country.
- Good progress was noted with the implementation of the various
projects and activities to be funded by the one-off $1million grant
from the Infinity Foundation. Procurement for many of the
items coming out to clubs is underway, and represents a major
investment in surf life saving nationwide. Perhaps more
exciting is the opportunity the grant creates in building
relationships at a local level between Infinity and clubs, as on an
ongoing basis these relationships could create some great win/win
partnerships and access to funding for clubs.
- An update was provided on activities at Water Safety New
Zealand, most notably the appointment of a new CEO and the next
steps to be taken on a Sector Capability Review report.
And that's it from the meeting. The next Board meeting
will be held in Wellington on Friday 21st October.
So until my next update……
Yours in surf,
Geoff Hamilton
Chairman
Surf Life Saving New
Zealand
