We’re delighted to today be sharing our Annual Report, for 2020-21. It highlights the achievements, performances and awards from right across the club, a few of our favourite photos, as well as the statements and details our charitable status requires us to make. We hope it helps show what a positive impact being a member can have, both to other members, but also the communities we are a part of. Club President, and Chair of the Board, Richard Leyton, said the following in his introduction: I am delighted to share the Bellahouston Road Runners Trustees’ annual report, covering the period from August 2020 to July 2021. Our previous reporting period was a story of two halves, pre-lockdown normality, followed by the club and its membership coming together over the first Coronavirus Lockdown. All in our 20th anniversary year. This reporting period picks up the story – and challenge we set ourselves – for the club to build forward. It has been a remarkable year. We were honoured and delighted to receive Scottish Athletics’ Impact and Innovation Club of the year award, Glasgow Sports Council’s Club of the year award, as well as many individual nominations and awards for the club and its amazing membership. We think these awards are a reflection on the huge contributions, achievements and innovations from, and inspired by, our members. We continued to innovate. Our Coronavirus plan, built on the Scottish Athletics framework, was widely shared and referenced. Directly because of our plan, our group training setup could respond quickly to rule changes as they impacted group sizes, travel restrictions and social distancing regulations. We were able to organise club-internal training events, enabling members to experience something close to a normal race experience in a club setting. We could also, when rules allowed, work collaboratively with other clubs to organise small scale track events. Looking to the future period, we are mindful of strategic challenges. There are significant changes to our local sports facilities, as well as changes in support from local authorities impacting them, and us. There will be additional risks and costs for event organisation which may have an impact on our finances. I am confident that the club and its membership will respond and adapt to these, and other, challenges. I’m continually reminded that the club has a real appetite to grow, build and innovate. At every training session or event I attend, our members are fostering a friendly, welcoming and supportive environment that embraces everybody. The feedback I regularly hear from members is that the club, and the friendships they’ve made through it, are important parts of their lives, supporting their physical and mental wellbeing. I’ve always felt that if we get these foundations right, everything else flows from that. I think this report reflects that, and I’m confident and optimistic we’ll continue to do so into the next reporting period. Richard Leyton, Chair of the Board of Trustees 20th February, 2022 NB: You can find full details about our charitable status, […]
charity
Our website news page has been a touch quiet over the last wee while, we’ve been busy at the club! Do check out our social media feeds (facebook.com/bellaroadrunner, twitter.com/bellaroadrunner) for the latest. A couple of big highlights from the last month! 2021 President’s Cup The President’s cup is a big part of the club year: It’s run as a handicap, with members setting off in time stagger relative to their estimated time. Theoretically, everybody should finish at the same time, and has a chance of winning, but there’s always a mix of circumstances to add a huge amount of fun. Last year it was run virtually, but with the easing of restrictions and group size limits for organised activities, we were able to stage it ‘for real’ on the 13th June. Organised in a couple of heats, and members who weren’t running or volunteering, were able to support everybody out on the course. Over 90 runners, spectators and volunteers stayed within Covid rules and had a fantastic time. And of course we can’t have a Bella occasion without plenty of cake afterwards!! Congratulations to our winners Joni Lindsay and Nick Windley , who collected their trophies from our President Richard Leyton 2021 AGM Tuesday 15th saw us hold our 2021 AGM, virtually on Zoom. Much as the President’s cup is a big part of the participation, the AGM is a big part of our governance. Member’s can access a recording of the AGM, the video featuring Leanne, Kevin and Richard, reflecting on the last 12 months, on the members’ forum. Our annual report is available on our public website. Key outcomes from the AGM, all of which allowed members an opportunity to question and discuss elements: Finances and Treasurers report were accepted Club annual report from the President was accepted COVID Coordinator, Emer provided an update on our Coronavirus plan Membership secretary Susan updated members on our membership A motion to formalise virtual meetings and voting (per OSCR recommendations) was passed unanimously. Membership fees were retained at present rate. Our Trustees were approved for another year. We held an open discussion about local sports facilities at Nethercraigs, and associated issues. Full details on the members forum
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
We’re pleased to publish our 2018-19 Annual Report. We’ve tried to make this year’s report – our second – a celebration of what the club has been up to over the course of the year, as well as including all the details we’re required to include about our policies and finances. It’s available to read here, and we hope you enjoy reviewing it. It covers from August 2018 to July 2019, which is the club’s formal reporting period. Many thanks to everybody at the club who contributed to this year’s report, and looking forward to reporting on the year in progress. All of our required documents, and previous annual report, is also available on our website
An amazing turnout of 70 Bellas and their families came along to this morning’s Club Everyone Festive Fun Run at Pollok parkrun then back to the after party at Nethercraigs. Congratulations to Claire and Kenny Wharton who won the best dressed awards and to Jane McNeilly whose name was pulled out the hat and donated a fantastic £240 to the Glasgow Children’s Hospital Charity. Merry Christmas everyone!
Many thanks to the many members who came along to last week’s AGM, and helped support the club. We’re absolutely delighted by the attendance, and think it might even be a first to have standing room only! It certainly reflects well on the club to have so many engaged, passionate and interested members. Well done and many thanks to you all! Copies of the slides, and a breakdown of the key decisions reached (full minutes will be available in due course), have now been posted on the club forum for members to access. But a ‘summary of the summary’ amounts to: Procedural motions to review and accept previous minutes, presented finances were accepted. The club strategic plan was presented, and accepted. The proposed adjustment to membership fees, allowing the club to dispense with stripping fees, and introduce a fees structure supporting concessions, and more flexible payment methods and schedules, was accepted. There’s no immediate change, as we’ll be moving forward with this later in the year: We will post details as we proceed with the implementation. We said a big thank you to trustees standing down, and welcomed new members as trustees to help take the club forward. Lots of great questions, suggestions and comments were made by members, and we hope to ensure those are properly considered as we take the key proposals forward. Members do please speak to any of the Board of Trustees with any questions, or post a note on the forum. The new board are all looking forward to getting started with taking the club forward with it’s new strategic plan. If you’re interested in becoming a member (or rejoining if you’ve lapsed), please pop along to training one evening for a chat! Lots of details on our website!
It was a great morning in Bellahouston Park where we held our Annual Festive Fun Run after the weather related call-off of Pollok parkrun, then back to our club base Nethercraigs for the after party. A total of £130 was raised for our winner Norman Boyle’s nominated charity of Alzheimers Scotland. Dancer (Kelly Ludwig) and Buckfast Monk (Gordon Goldie) won the awards for best outfits!
We’re pleased to share the news that Bellahouston Road Runners has recently become a charity: a Scottish Charitable Incorporate Organisation (SCIO). Our charity number is SC047300. All club members should now have received a fuller explanation in an email from Camilla – with links to the OSCR website for further info. Questions and discussion for members can be found on the Forum at https://forum.bellahoustonroadrunners.co.uk/t/scio-status-update/893 The change means the club is now a legal entity and we have a modern flexible constitution. It gives us a great opportunity to develop our club – and we will get back to you soon – to ask your views on how we take the club forward. In the meantime – happy reading!
A fabulous morning at Pollok parkrun for the club’s festive fun run, raising a total of £420 for local charities. Taking place at the parkrun for the first time, club members turned up in fancy dress, tinsel, santa hats and outfits, posed for a few pics, ran the 5k, then back to our base at Glasgow club Nethercraigs for the draw (and some festive refreshments!). £210 was contributed by members for a charity draw, and their names drawn out of a hat. Sarah-Jane Kissock was the name out of the hat, and her choice of charity is the Glasgow City Mission. The club will match that amount and donate it to our charity of the year which is the Glasgow Humane Society. Congratulations too to Norman Boyle and Roz Wilson who won the best fancy dress competitions. Thanks to everybody who helped organise the event, turned up on the day, cheered and supported, or contributed to a fantastic day. Thanks too to Gordon Goldie and Kevin Queenan for the pics. Lots more on our Facebook page and groups.
For those of you that don’t know Andrew Murray is a rather optimistic chap who has set himself the goal of running from Scotland to the Sahara desert. This is a total of over 2600 miles which he is planning to do running on 85 consecutive days. In doing this he hopes to raise £100000 for the Yamaa trust, a charity aiming to eliminate poverty in the Gobi region of Mongolia. As part of his run he invited people to take part in an ultra-marathon race from Kinlochleven to Tyndrum. In a moment of madness myself and Elsie decided this might be a fun thing to do. We arrived in Kinlochleven in the dark the night before the race to find Andrew Murray drinking beer, showing off his swollen Achilles and dishing out kilts for the race in an attempt to break the world record for the number of people racing in kilts (rather unlikely that there is one to be broken, but anyway…) Andrew shared some of his running tips, like eating 480grams of scotch eggs for breakfast in preparation for his fifth day of ultra marathon running. After a hearty lasagne and a pint, we retired to our luxurious (not) accommodation at the Blackwater hostel. Due to a minor administrative error on my part, we had failed to get our entry in on time, but Elsie charmed Andrew into giving us entry into the race. On the start line there was much discussion about the unconventional kit list for the race, which included safety pins and a mirror, but had no mention of items such as gloves or maps. There were also an impressive number of runners sporting kilts and other fancy dress items. We set off at 8:30 on a clear and cold morning, surrounded by snow covered mountains and headed south along the west highland way route. After a fair deal of climbing, most reached the devils staircase where there was plenty of ice and snow underfoot to make running interesting and a little bit scary. Others in the race (Grant included, Elsie excluded) failed to follow the well-marked path and ended up adding 3 miles of off-track, in-bog, over-mountain lost-shoe running…hmmmm, not what you need when doing an ultra, but what you get for assuming Andrew Murray knows the way and following him! Eventually us lost ones got back on course slightly muddier and tired than those competitors with the unfair advantage of being able to follow a path. Other race highlights included a spectacularly leaking platypus, meeting deer at the Kings House pub, multiple toilet stops, incredible views, running alongside men and women in skirts, and very wet feet. After a very long 28 miles (more like 31 in my case due to the scenic detour) we reached the finish line tired but happy, Elsie and her sister even managed to raise a cheer with a sprint down the hill to cross the finish line. We retired to the pub in Tyndrum to stuff […]