DELAYED TILL 1ST JUNE – 2 MONTHS FREE
Last year, when it was membership renewal time, we were in lockdown, unable to use the Club’s facilities and our members responded magnificently, with the vast majority renewing their membership without being able to sail at the time. And, of course, since then there have been some months during the year when we have not been able to use the Club’s facilities.
We are confident that we will be back sailing very soon, with the possibility of a phased return to training, racing and double-handed sailing, etc but we will have to wait and see.
Given the uncertain situation, the Committee have decided, in effect, to delay the membership renewal date for 2 months, so we will not be asking our existing members to renew on 1st April but on 1st June. People who were members on 1st January 2021 and are not in arears with their membership and / or boat fees on 31st March 2021 will get 2 months of membership free – April and May.
Those who pay at the start of the year will then be asked to renew for the 2021/22 membership year on 1st June, paying 10/12ths of the annual fee. Those who pay monthly by direct debit will have no direct debit payments taken out for April and May and their direct debit payments will start again in June and run to the following March (10 months) and each payment will be 1/12th of the annual fees as usual. This will be done automatically – there is no need for you to cancel your direct debits for these 2 months – the money will not be taken out.
We estimate that this will cost your Club about £30,000. This will be covered by our emergency reserve fund. However, this is a serious financial commitment for your Club and we would ask those who would like to support the Club through this time to make a donation. As we are a CASC (Community Amateur Sports Club) these donations can be Gift Aided which substantially increases the money we will receive at no extra cost to you (as well as being tax-beneficial to you).
Any donations are entirely voluntary and confidential. We hope that those who can, will support their Club through this period with a donation.
2021/22 Membership Fees
You may remember that membership fees were not increased at the start of last membership year. Unfortunately, as you know, our commercial revenue was decimated and, of course, our rent increases by RPI every 5 years (and other costs increase every year).
It is absolutely vital that we keep track of these RPI increases each year, otherwise there will be a massive hike in fees every 5 years (as I am told has happened occasionally in the past) and a future generation of members will end up paying for our lack of foresight.
The Committee have therefore increased all membership and boat fees by 3% for 2021/2022 – The membership fees are published in the Regulations which can be found on the website.
As already discussed, existing members will only pay 10/12ths of the membership fees for 2021/22, so this will actually be a reduction on the amount paid for 2020/21.
We hope this comes as welcome news and we look forward to seeing you all back at the Club for a successful 2021.
The Committee