REVIEW OF ACC GOLFING SOCIETY BY CHAIRMAN GRAHAM SMITH 31ST OCTOBER 2022

Dear Society Member Firstly can I start by thanking all Society Members who replied to the proposal to move next year’s Spring Meeting to Whittlebury Park GC in Northamptonshire. I can now confirm that a firm booking has been made for Wednesday 26th April 2023. We have signed a contract for a minimum of 15 players so we ask as many of you as possible to support this event. This should be a good day and will include coffee & bacon rolls on arrival, sandwiches & chips for lunch, three course dinner and 27 holes of golf. The Society Committee is currently wrestling with the twin problems of increasing costs and diminishing participation. Age and distance are taking their toll and with most of the events taking place in and around the Army Golf Club, the cost of travelling is becoming a real issue to some of our most loyal supporters. Hopefully moving the Spring Meeting northwards will take some of the pressure off those who regularly travel to Aldershot. We are as ever, indebted to The Royal Logistic Corps Association which continues to provide a grant towards keeping Esprit de Corps alive within the Society. Additionally, a big thank you must go to the 60 or so members of the Society who have remained loyal to their subscription whilst not necessarily being able to participate as much as they might wish. As witnessed throughout the country, times are hard and getting harder for many people and support for the Society calendar by a hard core of members is greatly appreciated in keeping the Society going as a viable organisation. Looking at each of our area of our income and expenditure in turn the Committee has reached the following conclusions: Subscriptions: It was agreed that an increase in the subscription could result in a number of members cancelling their payments. Consequently, the decision has been made not to do so at the present time. Current Financial Situation: We have reviewed this and will provide a statement to members after the final accounts have been approved. We are carrying forward a small credit balance which will be reduced by up to £400 during 2023 and will be closely reviewed throughout the year. Grant in Aid: The Society currently receives an annual grant of £3,500 and a request for an additional £300 to £400 has been submitted to The Royal Logistic Corps Association by the ACC Association Secretary. Representative Matches: We receive the grant in aid primarily to support our continued participation in matches against other Corps and Services. Here again we have enjoyed subsidies of between £35 & £50 per head per match with a long-standing entry fee of only £10 per member. Therefore, the Committee recommends increasing the fee to £20 per head for all future Representative Matches from 2023. You may question why an additional match (ACC GS v RTR GS) at Tidworth has been added to the programme given the current situation, however it was felt that members may wish to participate at an additional away venue. The Committee is confident that with the increase in fees and the additional savings we are looking to make to the credit balance being carried forward, this extra fixture could be included. This decision can be reversed if sufficient members are not prepared to support it. Major Competitions: We are currently spending a significant proportion of the grant on our Majors competitions with subsidies of between £50 and £70 per head per event, which is clearly not sustainable moving forward and this needs to be addressed. The Committee recommends increasing the entry fee for all Majors by £10 per head. This will still represent good value for money and is only moving the cost to where it was a few of years ago. The Committee made the decision at that time to reduce the fees in the hope that it would attract greater participating, but unfortunately this has not been the case but has resulted in a significant reduction in our credit balance. Mileage Allowance: The Committee discussed this possibility for members who regularly travel some distance but have concluded that, with the current financial situation, this could not be supported and would be difficult to determine how and when it could be attributed. Conclusion: The overall aim of the Committee is to enable the Society to continue as a viable organisation which can only happen if the members support the above measures. Moving forward we will monitor the situation throughout the 2023 golfing season in the areas of membership participation and the developing financial situation, the result of which could reluctantly result in the removal of a Major event in the future. To that end could I ask you to review the above changes and confirm that you are happy to accept them or, if you wish to make any specific comments on these measures I would greatly appreciate it if you could respond to me by 5th November. 2022 Kind regards, Graham Smith Chairman ACC Golfing Society After Note: A number of thoughtful responses were received supporting the measures proposed and also some other helpful suggestions. There were no dissenters.