On what is the 20 pounds not returned to clubs spent?
Every year the Athletic Union has overheads it must cover to ensure it can continue to effectively support and develop the 56 Sports clubs under its jurisdiction. For example the AU must purchase insurance to cover all 56 sports clubs to play/compete/be active. This cost has increased over the years and this has not been reflected in the cost a student pays to the Athletic Union on a yearly basis. This means that year on year the Athletic Union does not meet its costs and amounts debts. Quite simply, with the new charity status of the union we can not amount any debts at the end of the year.
A complete restructure has taken place and with this an evaluation of the cost incurred to provide a student with the necessities to play sport at Bristol.
A new method of affiliating to the AU has also been designed to make it easier for clubs, to make sure we are insuring everybody and to make sure we are meeting our costs.
Is any of the money being spent on debt run up during previous years?
Can you say how much?
None of the money from membership is being spent on previous debt.
In future years, will clubs receive a set amount per member back from the AU fee, rather than it being split depending on the person signing up?
For this year we have no previous record of how many students take part in more than one sports club, this system will highlight this and allow us to evaluate the ‘cash back system.’ However the cash back system is vital, as it can provide a club with some reserve funds if they should need it, as well as providing an incentive to submitting accurate membership lists on time.
People have complained about this being keeping them from being able to properly budget. If not, why not, if so, can you briefly outline the mechanism?
It is a vital skill for Clubs to be able to budget for the year ahead. We are excited this year that we will be able to provide a training session from PWC on ‘managing club finances.’ Although the system does makes it difficult to estimate ‘cash back’ clubs receive we have encouraged clubs to view this money as additional revenue that could be put aside for emergency costs that may not be expected during the year or for further investments such as equipment or training.
How much money did the AU receive from clubs themselves in previous years?
In previous years each sports club was responsible for paying membership to the AU for every single individual member. The amount each club was responsible for paying to the AU was set at £8 with £3.50 returned directly to the sports club. This system has many problems; the key difficulties are highlighted below:
The system is an administrative nightmare, the sports clubs become responsible for providing lists of members and the corresponding amount of affiliation fees. In many cases club members and amounts paid to the AU by a club don’t match, meaning that the AU has to chase up to correct this. There are still outstanding affiliation fees owed to AU from the previous year even now!
The amount of money that each member pays to the AU has no explanation or context. It’s impossible to judge if it’s covering all of the costs as there is no transparency about what this money is supposed to cover!
5. One person we spoke to said "we can get cheaper insurance from other
organisations" - if this is possible, why do they need AU affiliation to
function assuming they are both insured and can afford equipment?
For the 09/10 year the AU has increased its level of insurance for every member. The new cover provides each member with numerous benefits which we are hoping to release in detail to our clubs shortly. However by doing this we have incurred costs which has meant an increase in our policy per head. Insurance from other sources may be cheaper but it may not be as extensive. Additionally as each member participates under our jurisdiction we must protect the AU and its members in the event of any incident. Without an all-encompassing policy, ie clubs insure themselves, it will be very hard to ascertain if we are fully protected.
6. Some clubs report having to slash membership charges to retain members,
hitting them financially. Others report actually having to increase them
because the AU charge has hit their membership dramatically - do you
regret this, and is there any action you plan on taking that will remedy
this?
Due to the nature of the sabbatical structure the planning and delivery of the system occurred over a very tight time scale. As a result we have had to respond to individual club issues with the membership system on a case-by-case basis. Those struggling to adapt have been offered individual meetings with the AU with the aim of reaching a solution specific to the club problem. In delivering this system the AU has undergone significant changes in order to continue functioning effectively and in return the AU Clubs must follow suit and adapt to the new system. Ultimately we are protecting the future of the AU and its clubs but we understand how difficult these changes may be and will continue to show support to our clubs during this time of transition.
And it is not completely a story of doom and gloom with the 08/09 Club of the Year Bike hitting record membership numbers during Fresher’s Fair.
7. Is this system similar to how other universities operate?
As part of this re-evalation into membership we looked at 47 different university systems. However as a university that is rated 13th in the country for sport (BUCS) the membership fee is in the same bracket as those universities performing similarly.
