The Club’s Annual Report, for 2019-20

We’re delighted to today be publishing our latest annual report, for 2019-20, following completion of our submission to the Scottish Charity regulator, OSCR. You can find it, and all our previous annual reports, on our website’s charitable status page.

Club President, and Chair of the Board said the following in his introduction:

I’ve great pleasure in sharing Bellahouston Road Runners Trustees’ annual report, covering the period from August 2019 to July 2020.

It is only the third such report we’ve produced since we became a charity. But in the full 20 years since the club was first founded, I think it’s fair to say it is probably the most significant 12 month period we’ve experienced.

It’s a story in two parts.

The first half reflects a forward-looking ambitious running club, celebrating what it’s always done well: supporting members with their personal goals and targets, working well as a team, training and organising events – athletic and social – in the parks, roads and venues of Glasgow, growing our sport.

This period culminated in a fantastic 20th anniversary celebration at the amazing indoor track facility at the Emirates arena, and embarking on a potential next chapter with a new training base.

The second half was dominated by the fact that almost out of nowhere we found we could no longer meet or train together, no longer race together. Coronavirus meant we were at risk of losing the very thing many of us joined a club for in the first place: support and camaraderie in training and racing.

The club’s response was inspirational. Innovative member-led efforts brought the club together, even whilst we couldn’t meet in person. Members supported members to keep training and pushing themselves. The club motivated us, supporting our mental well being as the crisis unfolded. We made waves online, receiving positive coverage and attention, with the club – and its members – going on to win national awards.

The challenge for the next twelve months then is how to sustain that positivity, and tackle the uncertainty we face with a changing situation.

The club is in a strong position, with a solid coronavirus plan enabling a resumption of training as soon as rules allow, a growing membership, solid financials and brilliant coaches, trustees and volunteers.

Most importantly, we have kept that strong sense of community and shared purpose, passion for the sport of running, the benefits being a member of a club brings, both for ourselves, each other and the community in which we all live. Thank you to each and every member over the last twelve months.

I hope you enjoy reading the report, and look forward to working together over the next year taking our club forward.

Richard Leyton
13th February, 2020

Questions or queries about the annual report, or the club in general, should be directed to the club secretary, via info@bellahoustonroadrunners.co.uk