Survival of the priciest?

Well, the YGWC seems, so far, to be thriving nicely in its new home. There are some challenges still dogging my efforts, though, so I thought I share some of the problems I've faced along the way and how I have or hope to deal with them.

1.  Committee.  It's obviously a truism to say so, but recruting volunteers for the committee will always be a pain in the backside.  Often, the volunteers are the last people you actually want to have controlling the purse strings.  And more often than not, you just can't get the volunteers to start with.  I've been lucky to have had one excellent volunteer and I don't mind saying that having just one other committee member has made the world of difference.  I intend to hassle other members to volunteer for the other jobs at the next AGM.

2.  Time.  We began in the new venue running from 6pm to 9pm.  But it quickly became apparent that this wasn't quite right.  For students and workers, making it for 6pm was just too much of a stretch and, even for homeworkers like me, getting the working partner into the house, feeding the horde and getting out of the door in time to set up for 6 was a nightmare.  We settled on 6.30pm to 9.30pm with much gratitude to the staff of Burton Stone Community Centre who arranged their shifts for our convenience.  They're great people.

3.  Money.  This was a tricky one.  I wanted the weekly cost to be low enough not to discourage potential members, but high enough to cover the expenses with enough surplus to get ourselves some insurance.  But, preferring to err on the side of cheapness, I allowed the club to grow increasingly in debt to myself, hoping that membership would pick up enough to cover the costs.  At the most recent EGM, though, the members themselves proposed an increase in fees to comfortably cover expenses, pay me back and accrue sufficient surplus to purchase insurance.  I agreed to a motion to raise fees by £1 per head until the AGM in April.  So fees are now £4 for non-members, £3 for members and £2 for committee members.

In other news, my determined new Secretary has also started something big.  After I challenged him to put his money where his mouth is, he brougth in the materials to build a Space Hulk board and we're now working out some proper rules for what I'm tentatively calling HulkHammer: a version of Warhammer 40,000 with a Space Hulk twist.

Watch this space for more!