HOW ARE WE DOING? Performance Review Annual Report 2013/14 Trafford Community Leisure Trust
Badminton
LIST OF TRUSTEES The Board of Trustees Mr Peter Martin CEng, FIET, FIM, FIMS - (Chairman) Mr Iftikhar Awan Mrs Rowena Birch Mr. Dylan Butt - (Council Nominee) resigned 16/05/2013 Mr Jim Cumbes Mr Mike Dean BEng (Hons) CEng WHSCH Mr. Brian Degruchy appointed 20/03/2014 Mr Ian Goulty Mr Gary Hebblewhite Mr Tarun Kapur CBE Mr. Rob Moore appointed 20/03/2014 Mr Steve Pullen MBE Mr. John Reilly – (Council Nominee) appointed 18/07/2013 Mr Mike Whetton - (Council Nominee) Executive Team
Mr Bernie Jones, Chief Executive Mrs Philippa Williamson, Executive Director Business Support Miss Jo Cherrett, Executive Director Business Management
Registered Office Marsland House Marsland Road Brooklands Sale M33 3AQ Contact Details: W: www.traffordleisure.co.uk E: info@traffordleisure.co.uk T: 0161 826 3940
Swim Well teacher delivering a 1-2-1 Alpha lesson at Manchester United’s Carrington pool, part of a community initiative to give swimming prevision to disabled children
CONTENTS 1
Contents
2
Background
4
Chief Executive’s Report
Achieving our Goals 10
Increase Participation
14
Improve Our Service
16
Develop Ourselves
20
Manage our Environment
22
Develop our Business
24
Increase Awareness of the Trust
26
Leading our People
28
Sound Finances
30
The Future
32
Partnership Delivery Plan
(PICTURES: Top to bottom)The Swim Well management team receiving their Golden Moment award. Tuf*C girls meet Olympic Gold medallist Victoria Pendleton at SSV for US Girls winning a National Lottery Award. 2013 Staff Awards, Anthony Girvan & Chris Lloyd ‘Stewart Heap’ Employee of the Year Award
1
BACKGROUND
Who We Are
T
rafford Community Leisure Trust was established in 2003 to provide sport and leisure opportunities for Trafford and the surrounding areas.
Trafford Community Leisure Trust is a ‘company limited by guarantee’, not having share capital. We have charitable status and are a ‘not for profit’ organisation. Trafford Community Leisure Trust is governed by a Board of 13 Trustees, who give strategic guidance and support to the Trust’s Management Team, which is led by the Chief Executive. The Trustees are all representatives of the local community and bring a wealth of experience and expertise to the organisation with representatives from Health, Education, Business, Community Organisations, Professional Sports Clubs, and the Voluntary Sector. Our Mission: Like all companies, Trafford Community Leisure Trust is governed through its Memorandum and Articles of Association which also detail a number of key Strategic Objectives. In order to simplify these for staff and customers the Mission Statement ‘more people, more active, more often’ was developed to encompass all of what the Trust is about. Our Vision 2020: The agreed Vision for 2020 is:
“
Enhancing the Community through the provision of first class sport and leisure opportunities
Our Strategic Aims
• • • • • • • 2
Increase participation Improve our service Develop ourselves Manage our environment Develop our business Increase awareness of the Trust Leading our people
”
BACKGROUND
What We Manage/Services We Provide We manage facilities across the Borough of Trafford and offer a huge range of activities and services for our varied customers. We like to think that we have something for everyone regardless of age and ability.
In addition to our ‘facility’ based work we have a very active and successful Sport Trafford Coaching Team, who work with a variety of schools and partners across the Borough to facilitate young people participating in quality sport and physical activity opportunities. Our Community Development Team work closely with the Sport Trafford Coaching Team and provide a variety of physical activity opportunities for adults across the whole of Trafford.
During 2013/14 the Trust operated and managed the following facilities: •
Altrincham Leisure Centre
•
Altrincham Golf Course
•
Flixton House
•
George H Carnall Leisure Centre
•
Old Trafford Sports Barn
•
Partington Sports Village
•
Sale Leisure Centre
•
Stretford Sports Village – Chester Centre
•
Stretford Sports Village – Talbot Centre
•
‘The Grammar’
•
Urmston Leisure Centre
•
William Wroe Golf Course
Trafford Community Leisure Trust also manages football pitch and pavilion hire across the Borough, on behalf of Trafford Council, which includes 31 venues and 55 adult pitches; 30 junior pitches; 11 9x9 pitches; and 13 mini soccer pitches. 3
CHIEF EXECUTIVE’S REPORT
Achieving More
BERNIE JONES, CHIEF EXECUTIVE
TRAFFORD COMMUNITY LEISURE TRUST
After a great year, Trafford Community Leisure Trust has yet again achieved so much
W
elcome to Trafford Community Leisure Trust’s Performance Review Annual Report for 2013/14. This report provides an overview of our main areas of activity, highlights and achievements during the year and outlines our plans for the future. It has been another good year for Trafford Community Leisure Trust. Despite the continuing difficult economic conditions and the uncertainty around Local Government spending, we have once again been able to achieve a significant surplus that can be re-invested back into the business and help with the planned reductions in support funding in the next couple of years. However, we are working closely with them and other key stakeholders to develop a sustainable model that will secure a high quality leisure provision for the people of Trafford. Whilst we have achieved a great deal in 2013/14, two achievements stand out far above anything else during the year. On 21st May 2013, 74 year old regular Altrincham Zest Gym user Gordon Hutchinson suffered a cardiac arrest. Thanks to the accessibility 4
The Altrincham staff receiving their Golden Moment Awards - Sue Mason, Mayor of Trafford Dylan Butt, Danny Cornwell, Mr Hutchinson, Jon Francis, Anthony Girvan and Jenny Walton (left to right)
of a defibrillator and their training, the staff were able to revive Mr. Hutchinson and keep him alive until the Paramedics arrived to take over. As if one such incident in a year is not enough, on 27th February 2014, Ian Holding, a 67 year old George H Carnall Leisure Centre regular badminton player, also suffered a cardiac arrest and was similarly resuscitated and treated until the Paramedics arrived.
Thankfully both customers are well on the mend and grateful for the Trust’s partnership with Greater Manchester Ambulance Service who provided defibrillators, the regular training that the staff receive, and the teamwork the staff did to ensure their safety. Most of the time staff are helping to change and improve people’s lives through increased physical activity which is really valuable. However, saving somebody’s life is priceless! Therefore special mention must go to the staff involved: Anthony Girvan, Danny Cornwell, Sue Mason, Jenny Walton and Jon Francis at Altrincham and Chris Lloyd, Tania Poznanovic and Steve Ashton at George H Carnall. Having seen the benefits of defibrillators the Trust got behind the Mayor of Trafford’s charity, which was to raise funds for defibrillators to be placed within the communities. The staff at Altrincham led the way and raised sufficient funds to buy a defibrillator that has been placed in the town centre. Another important date was 20th June 2013 when the Trust welcomed our 20 millionth visitor to our facilities or activities, which is an incredible achievement in just over 10 years. Rita Blythe, who has four children on swimming lessons at Sale Leisure Centre, was the lucky 20 millionth visitor and she received a lifetime Family Pass to use the Trust’s facilities free of charge, as well as all of the four children and herself receiving swimming lessons free for the next 12 months. George H Carnall Leisure Centre also celebrated its 30th birthday on 30th October when nearly 400 people took advantage of a Free Open Day and the opportunity was also taken to launch the new core area in the extended Zest Health & Fitness Gym.
New core stability area Zest Gym at George H Carnall Leisure Centre - launched October 2013 5
CHIEF EXECUTIVE’S REPORT Participation has continued to increase and total attendances at all of our facilities and activities exceeded 2.5million for the first time ever (an increase of over 8% on 2012/13 and nearly 300% on the Trust’s first year of operation in 2003/04).
“
Total attendances at all of our facilities exceeded 2.5million for the first time ever.
”
In the most recent Sport England ‘Active People’ survey, Trafford came out second in the league (for the North of England) for having the lowest percentage of people inactive in the Borough. We are confident that the increase in participation in Trust activities and facilities over the past few years has had a significant impact on the reductions in the levels of inactivity in the Borough. Despite its age, Altrincham Leisure Centre achieved over 500,000 visits for the first time ever in its history, making it the second
(303,568) also make the top ten. Sport Trafford, which includes community development, sports coaching and football development finished the year just short of ½ million visits (481,968), which is over 500% improvement on the attendances in 2007/08 when sports development was managed by the Council. Despite the Trust itself being a charity, each year the staff of the Trust nominate their own charity and raise funds for it. At the start of the financial year (April 2013) the staff chose the British Heart Foundation as their nominated charity, in memory of Head of Operations, Stewart Heap, who had tragically died in September 2011. As it was the Trust’s tenth birthday year, the staff also set themselves the target of raising £10,000 for the British Heart Foundation. Throughout the year the staff have been organising various fundraising events including: Soggy Teachers, Ramp-up-the-Red, Pong-off to name just a few. Thanks to an involvement of all Centres and all staff, on 5th April 2014 the staff presented the British Heart Foundation with a cheque for £11,800. A tremendous achievement!
busiest leisure centre in Greater Manchester. Sale Leisure Centre (476,832), Stretford Sports Village Chester Centre (397,749) and Urmston Leisure Centre
6
A representative from each facility presenting the cheque to Clare Cassidy of the British Heart Foundation to mark the 12 months fundraising.
“
strong as ever and we look forward to continuing to serve the community of Trafford for many years to come.
None of the success mentioned in this report could have been done without the support and efforts of our Trustees, staff and partners.
”
My thanks go to our Trustees who continue to provide leadership and support to the Executive Team; the Management and Staff who have once again excelled in delivering these excellent results; and our many partners who support our initiatives and whom we work with for shared goals. Our commitment to achieving our Mission of ‘More People, More Active, More Often’ remains as Trafford Community Leisure Trust’s ‘First Class Pitch’ a visual analogy for staff of the company’s vision, mission and strategic aims
Trafford Leisure
Achieving our Goals As detailed within ‘Who we are’ section at the start of this report, the Trust has identified seven strategic aims to help us achieve the Trust’s Mission of “More People, More Active, More Often” and our Vision 2020 of “Enhancing the Community through the provision of first class sport and leisure opportunities”. Detailed on the following pages are examples of how we have achieved some of our goals during the past 12 months: Others
Increasing Participation Improving our Service Developing Ourselves Managing our Environment Developing our Business Increasing Awareness of the Trust Leading our People
MANAGER
7
CHIEF EXECUTIVE’S REPORT
Customer Satisfaction
92%
£11,800 6,500 swimming lessons every week
£850,000
spent on facility refurbishment
in the last 2 years
8
500 Qualifications gained by staff
30,000 Children per month benefit from school coaching from Sport Trafford
Raised for the British Heart Foundation
2
20 MILLIONTH
Exceeds £9M
visitor in July 2013
17%
LIVES
SAVED
INCOME
Increase on Key Stage 2 swimming attainment
4,500 VOLUNTEER HOURS Altrincham, Urmston, Sale & Stretford
TOP 10 BUSIEST in leisure centres in Greater Manchester
In 2013/14
2.5M VISITS
500
people per week to Healthy Hips & Hearts
USAGE
300% increase on 1st year opening
Physical inactivity
2nd LOWEST in North of England
USAGE
8% increase on 2012 - 2013
200,000 VISITS Active Trafford
Junior Visits
1,128,340
Junior Visits up on 12/13 by
14%
9
INCREASE PARTICIPATION
Key Brands Health and Fitness and Swimming income still accounts for more than half of the total income raised by the Trust each year and are therefore critical to the sustainability of the Trust. Whilst both key brands, Zest and Swim Well, have faced significant challenges during the past 12 months, they have both continued to develop and grow, with the work done in developing swimming being recognised by British Swimming.
“
...the work done in developing swimming being recognised by British Swimming
”
However, a number of other key brands have contributed to the increase in participation during the year and these, in addition to Zest and Swim Well are also highlighted below:
Zest Health and Fitness The development of Zest Health and Fitness has continued in 2013/14 with continued investment into new and replacement equipment, which also saw the introduction of a core stability area in the Zest Gym at George H Carnall Leisure Centre. Despite the fierce competition from the many budget club operators springing up around Greater Manchester, the value for money offered by the brand is retaining members and the Zest team is continuing to develop and enhance their skills in this area to protect the brands market share in 2014/15. Underneath the data, Zest Health & Fitness is really all about improving the quality of life of our users through 10
increased physical activity. One such example is about a customer using Stretford Sports Village and looked after by Fitness Instructor Jess Sharples:
“Christine struggled with being overweight and this had led to painful joints especially her knees but we started on a new programme to get a good balance between strengthening and increasing the running. She loved it and the weight started dropping off but in a good way she lost inches too. After the first 4 months we had got her running twice a week as well as doing 3 hours in the gym and she had lost 4 stone!! Always the optimist Christine wanted to push herself more and thought the best way was to enter the Manchester 10k. I offered to take part with her as I wanted to make sure she kept going all the way through. We had 3 months to train so I changed her workouts to focus more on running stamina. I gave her different running techniques to practice at home. By the time that the run came around she had lost 7 stone in 7 months and was feeling so positive about her future. Together we completed the 10k in 1hour and 15mins and she didn’t stop at all!! I am very proud to say Christine has lost even more weight and has completed the Great North ½ Marathon Run!!”
Jess Sharples recieved a Golden Moment award for changing Christines life
Swim Well
School Sports Coaching Programme
The Swim Well brand has continued to grow its business for the 6th year in succession. This year saw a record 6,500 swimmers a week attend a Swim Well session and over 1,000 One-2-One swimming lessons delivered. Altrincham Leisure Centre Swim Well achieved an unbelievable 1,914 swimmers every week at their lessons. The significant changes made to the School swimming programme last year are already paying dividends with key stage 2 attainments levels having increased by 17%. The work the Trust has done with the Borough’s swimming clubs has also been seen as an example of best practice by the ASA and shared on their website. Overall participation in swimming continues to increase in Trafford whilst nationally it continues to decline.
The Sport Trafford Coaching Team have had another successful year with the Schools Coaching Programme continuing to grow, along with the development of Centre based holiday camps. Over 30,000 children per month are now benefiting from the Schools Coaching Team and in addition to the core curriculum sessions, breakfast clubs and after school sessions the Sports Coaches have been involved in a number of other activities including:
Into Sport Into Sport is the Trust’s adult participation programme aimed at encouraging those over 16 to get back into a sport they may not have played since school or just to try something new. The sessions take place across all sites, are coach led and suitable for all abilities. The timetable currently offers 20 sessions a week. The success of the programme is really paying dividends and has even lead to one participant of the Altrincham Volleyball session cancelling his Total Fitness membership to take out a Zest membership because of the Into Sport package available. The Trust is delivering the programme in partnership with eight National Governing Bodies of Sport.
Change for Life Clubs - Lunch time activity clubs for those not currently engaged in physical activity Inter School Events - Delivered several inter school events Winter Olympics - In partnership with Silver Blades first ever Winter Festival including Curling, speed skating, ice dancing and ice hockey Leadership Training - Six Playground Leadership courses involving 186 pupils; Leadership course for Sale High School & Badminton young Leaders course involving 26 pupils
Alex Blake, part of the Sport Trafford Coaching team delivering a school sports session 11
INCREASE PARTICIPATION Junior Golf Golf membership and the number of rounds of golf played have dropped significantly nationwide and therefore the Golf Manager has tried to develop future golfers by focusing on giving young people the opportunity to have a go or receive top quality coaching. Tri-golf was delivered to over 500 young people in their schools and a Tri-golf tournament held at Flixton House during the summer attracted over 120 young people. In addition the Trust has engaged the services of renowned Golf Professional Dan Whittaker to deliver golf tuition and promote junior golf and do everything to make it easy for local young people to take up golf and play it on a regular basis. Dan comes with an excellent reputation in golf tuition and was recently polled in the top 50 golf coaches in the world!
Football Development Football is one of the Borough’s highest participation sports and as well as supporting the many clubs who play football every week, the Trust also tries to increase participation and develop skills and clubs through a variety of initiatives including: Heart Start, Football Workshops, Celebrity Players, Club Development, Dads & Lads sessions and sessions for people with disabilities. Through our partnership with Manchester United local youngsters and local clubs get the opportunity to play or train at the club’s fantastic training camp in Carrington.
Healthy Hips and Hearts This is the Community Development team’s programme of chair based activity. The programme currently has 38 weekly sessions in place all led by trained local volunteers who deliver to approximately 500 people per week. These sessions have evolved this 12
year and now incorporate gentle sports such as boccia, curling and bowling. These sessions are essential to prevent isolation, and aid fall prevention, to reduce the number of hospital admissions for the elderly. This project proves age is no boundary to physical activity as our oldest participant turned 100 during this year.
Change for Life Programme Reducing obesity, particularly in children and young people, is a significant challenge for everyone. During the last 12 months the Community Development Team have worked with staff from Trafford Council dieticians team to devise a programme of support for children who have been identified by the National child weight and measurement programme as being overweight. This programme combines messages around healthy eating with advice and practical support for physical activity. Change4Life is a ten week family programme targeting overweight or obese children and their family unit.
Fit for Life “Fit for Life is a health screening and awareness event run by the Kellogg Occupational Health Team for its employees over the past 10 years. Trafford Community Leisure Trust has been an integral part of this event since its inception and has assisted in its planning and development. Each year, a Trust Team assists with the health and fitness assessment of our employees and provides exercise and fitness guidance. The Occupational Health Team see physical activity as essential to the health and performance of our employees and fully appreciates the Trust’s help in supporting this aim by encouraging our employees to use their local facilities with offers of free introductory passes, exercise classes, into sport promotions and many prizes”. Dean Frost - Occupational Health Advisor, Kelloggs Management Services Europe Ltd.
Key Performance Indicators Performance Indicator
2012/13 Actual
2013/14 Target
2012/13 Actual
Comments
Total Visits Leisure Centres
1,891,400
1,900,000
1,988,331
Up 20% on 2012/13 and the highest ever achieved
Golf Courses
62,107
70,000
65,277
13% up on 2012/13 due to better weather
Football (Development/Pitches)
61,704
80,000
95,208
55% up on last year due to overrun of last season
Sport Trafford
285,085
300,000
386,760
Highest ever total. Over 100,000 up on 2012/13
TOTAL VISITS
2,300,296
2,350,000
2,535,578
1st ever over 2½m visits during a year. 10% increase on 12/13
Leisure Centres
682,478
700,000
786,790
Highest ever achieved and 3.5% up on 2012/13
Golf Courses
885
1,000
1,075
22% up on last year
Football
38,584
54,000
57,074
48% up on 2012/13 due to overrun from last season. 6% up on target
Sport Trafford
266,340
275,000
363,945
Sports Coaching continues to grow - 37% up on last year & over 500% up on the last year with Council (2006/07).
TOTAL JUNIOR VISITS
988,287
1,030,000
1,128,340
First time Junior visits are over 1million. 14% up on 2012/13
Leisure Facilities
786,790
786,790
786,790
Sport Trafford
316,030
316,030
316,030
TOTAL GRANT
1,102,820
1,102,820
1,102,820
}
Leisure Centres
£0.40
£0.40
£0.38
Lowest ever despite grant/management fee being held
Sport Trafford
£1.11
£1.10
£0.66
First time below £1-00 per visit (includes Football Development) 40% improvement on 2012/13
TOTAL NET COST PER VISIT
£0.49
£0.49
£0.43
Continues to reduce despite grant/management fee being held
Junior Visits
Annual Grant to: Grant held from 2012/13
Net cost per visit to:
ACTIVE TRAFFORD 65+
91,077
95,000
96,103
Highest ever since changes to age band. 6% up on last year
People with Disabilities
22,800
25,000
21,091
7% down on last year’s record high total
Low Income
45,193
47,500
53,357
1st time over 50,000 for Low income earners. 18% up on 12/13
Referrals
249
300
343
Highest ever number of referrals
TOTAL ACTIVE TRAFFORD
176,582
190,000
195,227
11% up on last year
Women Only sessions
12,303
12,000
16,353
4,050 and 33% up on 2012/13
Football Pitch Utilisation
98%
98%
98%
Utilisation is at maximum at weekends
Number of attendances on Swim Well
32,735
33,000
37,086
13% increase on 2012/13
School Swimming Attendances
51,410
55,000
48,334
6% down on last year but now 1 hour lessons
Number of volunteering hours via TCLT
3,537
3,500
4,318
Increase due to more Healthy Hips and Heart & Health Walk sessions run by volunteers
Number of courses targeting volunteers
17
20
8
Other partners have been providing courses during 2013/14
Attendances at volunteer courses
328
400
109
Attendances reflect the number of courses
Quality of facilities
92%
90%
92%
General Cleanliness
90%
90%
90%
Staff
98%
95%
98%
Value for Money
95%
95%
94%
Programming
95%
95%
96%
Marketing
95%
95%
95%
CUSTOMER SURVEYS (% SATISFACTION)
}
Largest ever number of responses to Customer Survey with over 2,000 responses received. Results similar to 2012/13 but better validation
13
IMPROVE OUR SERVICE
I
n last year’s Annual Report we focused our aspirations of working towards delivering a ‘First
Class’ standard of service consistently across the facilities we manage. Significant progress has been made and our customers have recognised this through their improved scoring in the annual customer survey on quality, cleanliness and presentation of facilities.
Health and Safety Ensuring the health and safety of all our customers and staff is of paramount importance. This year we have reviewed how we managed Health and Safety across all of the Trust looking at our systems, procedures and policies and this has led to a number of changes in how we monitor and challenge ourselves to ensure best practice. An independent audit of our systems, procedures and policies is also undertaken and the results of this and any changes to legislation are used to inform our annual Health and Safety plan.
However, we accept there is much more to do and the focus will continue on delivering quality services in a safe environment. Listening to our customers has been and will continue to be crucial to our development and we will continue to challenge our staff to deliver service standards that meet the needs of our customers every time. 14
Whilst there has been a 6% increase in the number of accidents during 2013/14 from 1,057 to 1,370, equally there has also been a 10% increase in attendances to activities and facilities during the year.
“
10% increase in attendances to activities and facilities during the year
”
Customer Surveys The Annual Customer Satisfaction Survey was completed in November 2013 and responses were collected through two methods: • Users/Visitors were questioned face-to-face by a Researcher • Customers from our databases were e-mailed a survey
Customer Infrastructure Improvements The role of technology in developing a positive customer experience has changed dramatically over the last 10 years. Improving the customer experience has a clear and direct positive impact on the bottom line. Customers now expect a leisure experience tailored to their specific needs. They want more sophisticated information in less time. New technologies such as apps, online services and social media lead the way in many industries including leisure. This year the Trust placed orders for two new customer facing modules that bolt on to its current leisure management software. The addition of the Learn2 course management tool and Join@Home, an online membership sales system will dramatically improve the customer experience and significantly reduce administration processes within the Trusts key brands. Customers can expect to see these additions go live towards the end of 2014.
In total 2,086 Customer Satisfaction Survey responses were completed an increase of 63% to the previous year. Overall customer satisfaction was up by 2% from 90 – 92%. The specific areas from the survey results remain positive; there were significant improvements however in cleanliness and communication. Cleanliness satisfaction figures increased by 5% and Communication also improved by 3%.
15
DEVELOP OURSELVES Learning and Development We know that it’s our people who make a real difference to the customers, so as well as continuing to make sure that we have the right people in the right place at the right time we have worked to ensure that all of our staff receive regular training and reviews of their performance. In 2013/14 the total number of Trafford Community Leisure Trust staff who gained qualifications/ accreditation this year was over 180 plus 106 staff requalified for NPLQ and NRASTC. These qualifications included First Aid at Work, Pool Plant, Basic Food Hygiene, Level 1 & Level 2 Swimming Teachers and we also trained 2 staff to become NPLQ Trainer/Assessors. In addition to this we have invested in our Leadership and Management teams with exciting plans ahead for ILM accredited learning and qualifications planned for the year ahead. Over 30 staff had Defibrillator training for the first time bringing the total number of staff who are trained and qualified in the use of Defibs to over 130
The Swim Well management team 16
who will be refreshing their training at least annually. Once again the Trainer/ Assessor courses brought candidates from all areas including Dubai, Lake District, Yorkshire, Wales and Lincolnshire. In addition to the courses for the staff, a number of training courses were organised for individuals, groups and organisations within the community. In 2013/14 the Trust delivered a total of 106 courses to over 1,000 customers. The Trust is committed to the Learning and Development of our teams and continues to nurture and support our people’s development in the pursuit of First Class. Learning experiences include our Knowing Me, Knowing You learning, our 2013 First Class Training Programme and the PROfiling training programme launched in December and set to run through the coming 6 months to help our people use our new PROfiling tool intended to help shape and give clarity to what we need our people to do and just as importantly how they do it. These have ensured that 100% of our team has experienced a learning event with us. In June 2013, Swim Well hosted the first ever annual ‘Swimming Teachers Development Day’ at Partington Sports Village. The day consisted of a class room based session in the morning with a Swim Well ‘thank you’ and reflection, stroke workshops and team building. In the afternoon the Teachers had a session in the pool led by James Stannard.
Apprentices For a number of years the Trust has been offering apprenticeship schemes across all aspects of our business with over 90% of the apprentices going on to secure permanent positions in leisure on completion of their apprenticeship. Detailed below is an example of the journey of one such apprentice: During 2013/14, Asa Howarth was assigned as
apprentice at Sale Leisure Centre. Sixteen year old Asa joined the Trust straight from School and although very shy he showed a real passion for sport, particularly martial arts (Asa did not tell anyone that he was a champion kick boxer with an international reputation). However, Asa’s determination to succeed and get the most out of his apprenticeship quickly came to the fore, as did his total dedication to achieving his goals. A measure of the impact Asa had on his colleagues was that whilst still on the apprenticeship scheme he was voted ‘Employee of the Year’ for the centre and his colleagues have repeated the honour again this year. It was no surprise that Asa secured a permanent full-time post and he still arrives for work with the same passion and desire to make a difference and provide a first class service. His Manager has no doubts that this young man will have a long term successful career in leisure, just like his kickboxing career (with the same determination and drive to succeed Asa won the World kickboxing title in 2013).
Asa Howarth receiving his Golden Moment award for his success at the World Kickboxing Championship in 2013. 17
DEVELOP OURSELVES Staff Awards Recognising the achievements of our staff is important and the seventh Staff Awards Evening was held at Urmston Leisure Centre at the beginning of April 2014.
2013 Staff Awards, Anthony Girvan & Chris Lloyd ‘Stewart Heap’ Employee of the Year Award
Sharon Taylor winner of the Customer Employee of the Year 2013
Award
Winner
Position/Centre
Most Impact on Young People
Shonagh Strachan
Trampoline Coach, Trust wide
Most Endeavour & Commitment
Lee Cleaver
Fitness Instructor, Altrincham Leisure Centre
Support Employee of the Year
Annette Hirst
Membership Assistant, Support Services
TUF*C Volunteer
Yusuf Omar
Volunteer
Centre/Brand of the Year
Learning & Development
Customer Employee of the Year
Sharon Taylor
George H Carnall Leisure Centre
Trustees Special Award
James West
Golf Assistant, Altrincham Golf Course
‘Stewart Heap’ Employee of the Year
Chris Lloyd & Anthony Girvan
Duty Manager, George H Carnall Leisure Centre Duty Manager, Altrincham Leisure Centre
Trafford Community Leisure Trust’s 2013 staff award winners - Recognising the achievements of our staff 18
Community Champions The Community Development Team was successful in securing funding from the Trafford Housing Trust Community Panels to establish a community volunteering scheme called Community Champions in both the Urmston and Old Trafford areas of Trafford. The scheme supports local people to offer their time in return for access to personal development courses such as level 1 coaching awards. Once recruited the volunteers are trained and mentored before being re-deployed back in their communities to support and sustain local delivery. So far 21 people have been recruited through this programme; they have delivered 202 sessions and committed to a total of 738 hours of volunteering. They have accessed the following training:
•
NGB level 1 Football qualification
•
NGB level 1 Basketball qualification
•
Level 1 Boxing award
•
Disability training course
•
NGB level 1 Athletics
C H A M P I O N S
Staff Conferences In 2013 we held our first annual Staff Conferences. Reaching all our team over a week, we shared our achievements over the previous 10 years and our plans for the future, looked at all our personal achievements and made our commitments for the future.
Staff attending one of our conferences from 2013 19
MANAGE OUR ENVIRONMENT Facility Refurbishments The focus continues to be on delivering quality services in a safe environment. We continue to redefine our service standards and challenge our staff and management teams to deliver a service that meets the needs and expectations of our customer every time. Listening to our customers has been and will continue to be crucial to our development. We have made significant improvements within our facilities, particularly around presentation and quality, with investment and improvement works of over £100k going into changing, shower and toilet facilities across the Trust. Other improvements include: Altrincham Leisure Centre Refurbishing sauna into family/school changing room and new male wet changing room; replace roof over squash courts and pool changing room area. George H Carnall LC Refurbishment of toilet areas and the development of a new core stability area for the Zest Health & Fitness Gym. Sale Leisure Centre Refurbishment of pool filters; replace shower area in female 1st floor changing rooms and replace barrier alongside Club Pools; drainage work in car park. Stretford Sports Village Developed ‘Cheeky Monkeys’ play room; external painting of building. Golf Courses Both golf courses have seen developments over the past 12 months with new construction work and improvements to the general standards of the courses, including the continued improvement in the quality of 20
Altrincham Golf Course has seen developments over the past 12 months
the greens. Some of the old fashioned bunkers at both courses have been reconstructed (the programme will continue over the next couple of years) as well as creating two new teeing areas. The drainage work on the back nine holes at William Wroe last year has also paid dividends with significant reductions in flooding on the course, despite the terrible winter. In addition to the above, over 2,000 service faults were repaired by the Trust’s Maintenance Team. The introduction of energy initiatives continued which was predominately the replacement of conventional lighting with LED lighting.
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2,000 service faults repaired by the Trust’s Maintenance Team
Outdoor Health The Community Development Team has a big role to play in improving the health of Trafford residents. As an entry to physical activity we have a comprehensive programme of Health walks, Nordic walks, running groups, buggy walks and cycling sessions. These all take place out in the community to take in the parks and open spaces of Trafford. They are a great opportunity to exercise out in the fresh air no matter what your current levels of fitness are. Funding has been secured to train up several local volunteers to ensure the sustainability of these sessions.
Energy With continual operational pressures concerning utilities the focus again this year has been to reduce our consumption with a number of energy saving schemes. Significant schemes include installing energy efficiency Sports hall lights at both George H Carnall and Altrincham and the pool hall lights at Stretford Sports Village Chester. We also have considered how we responsibly manage our waste, improve safety and our environmental conditions; a good example has been the installation of salt chlorination system in Altrincham Leisure Centre replacing the use of chlorine as a pool chemical.
One of the Trust’s Nordic walking sessions setting off from Stretford Sports Village, led by Aasim Chaudhry 21
DEVELOP OUR BUSINESS Flixton House In May 2013, the Trust took over the operation of Flixton House, Flixton. Previously operated by a private sector contractor, the grade II listed building is one of Trafford’s most stunning events, conference and licenced wedding venues that has attracted a loyal customer base over the years. In the first 11 months of operation the Trust significantly improved the quality of services and facilities and has secured some substantial bookings for the coming year.
Flixton House, Flixton Manchester, the management of which was transferred over to the Trust in May 2013 22
Partnerships: Throughout the history of the Trust partnerships have been key to our success. As well as the key partnership with Trafford Council the Trust has developed many thriving partnerships with organisations that have mutual goals. As well as the long established partnerships with organisations such as Manchester United, Trafford Housing Trust, Kelloggs, and schools such as Altrincham Grammar School for Boys and Broadoak School, the Trust has a number of smaller partnerships that are equally beneficial to the community. A few examples are detailed below:
A key feature of the day were Healthy Hips and Heart sessions. The Day was a great success with over 70 people attending, having a go at various activities and receive advice from over 20 different local organisations that held stalls at the event.
‘Inscape House’- is a Together Trust specialist education service, who work with children and young people with autism spectrum conditions and related social communication difficulties. Gymnastics Trafford has been working in partnership with Inscape House coaching the students from Years 10 + 11 on a weekly basis which has culminated in the pupils gaining BTec qualifications in Trampolining.
British Amateur Gymnastics Association (BAGA) Over the past few years the Trust’s partnership with BAGA has developed at the same pace as the development of Gymnastics Trafford. In 2013, George H Carnall Leisure Centre became an accredited centre as a venue for hosting a comprehensive programme of education, skill/technique development, methodology, sports science knowledge and manual handling in Pre-School, General and Rhythmic Gymnastics and Trampolining.
Age UK - Our Community Development Team joined forces with Age UK to deliver an Older Peoples day of celebration at Stretford Sports Village on October 1st.
Sportivate - This year 26 new projects have been delivered across Trafford to 11-25 year olds in a variety of settings such as schools, local clubs and community facilities. The aim of this programme is to prevent young people dropping out of sport and physical activity. It provides access to funding for up to 8 weeks as an intervention to feed into a sustainable exit route. This scheme has been delivered following funding and partnership with Sport England.
NHS – During the past 12 months, George H Carnall Leisure Centre has developed a partnership with the NHS, providing facilities, meeting and treatment rooms for the NHS to offer a rehabilitation service to members of the local community. They have also linked in to the Trust’s referral scheme. 23
INCREASE AWARENESS OF THE TRUST Awareness Awareness of the Trust continues to grow with its facilities and activities continuing to receive local, regional, and national media coverage and attract interest from all parts of the world! During the year the Trust has also received recognition for its activities from a variety of sources including British Swimming, Barclays Spaces for Sport & Premier League, British Amateur Gymnastics Association and the Big Lottery.
Digital Marketing The “Marketing Budgets report 2014” finds that 71% of businesses plan to increase marketing budget expenditure on digital forms of marketing. Over the past 12 month the Leisure Trust has followed this trend and will continue to do so over the next financial year. The Leisure Trust’s databases continue to grow, and this expansion is expected to continue as the plus2 system
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is further developed with ‘Join at Home’ and ‘Learn 2’ upgrades planned for the 2014/15 year. As such a more strategic approach will be applied to the digital marketing delivered with the ultimate aim to increase ROI.
Web site In 2013/14 yet again the Trust’s web site has continued to grow by around 33%, receiving record visits once again. In January 2014 the site achieved 4m hits and 78,000 visits. The web site continually proves to be an invaluable communication channel for customers. On average the site generates 154 enquiries per week. During a promotion the site will receive on average 74 enquiries for that promotion. Online bookings via the web site for golf, fitness sessions and sporting activity has grown. Specifically for golf in 2013/14 online bookings account for 25% of all bookings, a 12% growth compared to 2012/13.
Email & SMS In 2013/14 the Trust sent 360,000 emails for 71 separate email campaigns with an average open rate of 22.73% and a unique click rate of 4.43%. For SMS text messaging the Trust has sent 70,000 texts for 120 differing sms campaigns.
Social Media The Trust officially entered the Social media arena in 2013 with the implementation of a social media project with the development and launch of a Facebook page, twitter account and you tube channel. With reference to Facebook and Twitter, over the 7 months of their existence both have grown fantastically – Facebook has 1300 page likes and twitter has 800 followers. Additionally several of the individual Leisure Centres have independent pilot pages and accounts. The plan over the next 12 months is to grow the amount of people we engage with and explore newer streams such as Pintrest as well as updating the social media project to include a system for all Centres to utilise social media effectively.
activities were carried out throughout the year, culminating in Rita Blythe being recognised as the Trust’s 20 millionth visitor.
Recognition Gymnastics Trafford has hosted the Trafford Primary Schools Key Steps Gymnastics competition for the past three years with schools from all over the Borough competing for a place to represent Trafford at the Greater Manchester finals. Due to the success of Trafford’s event, Gymnastics Trafford has been asked by Greater Sport to manage, run and staff the Greater Manchester finals at the Velodrome. Along with Gymnastics Trafford coaches and judges who will be officiating on the day, 34 young people from Ashton on Mersey and Wellington Schools have been trained as Sports Leaders and they will be helping the event run smoothly. Swim Well has been working very closely with the ASA and Swim North West to review and shape the future provision of club and performance swimming in Trafford. The ASA have recognised that the Trafford network is an example of good practice and this was highlighed when an article was published in February in “Your Sport” magazine.
10th Birthday April 2013 marked Trafford Community Leisure Trust’s 10th Year, and kicked off a year to celebrate the wonderful achievements the Trust, its staff and customers have been a part of. A host of celebration
Rita Blythe, pictured with her family above, was the lucky individual to be the Trust’s 20 millionth visitor 25
LEADING OUR PEOPLE First Class Team Results Our first class team continues to go from strength to strength delivering an exceptional service to our customers both out in our communities and in our facilities. Results speak for themselves and our customers are telling us we are getting better at what we do, with over 800 customers taking part in nominating their favourite staff members for employee of the year and 96% of customers showing satisfaction with our staff’s politeness and appearance.
Staff at Sale Leisure Centre - Dane Rashford , Asa Howarth and Lindsey Farthing (from left to right) 26
PROfile
The ‘Communication Working Group’ continue to meet and drive communication forwards. Its yearly aim was to improve the communication score on the staff survey and to try and move it from being the worst performing area on the survey. The fantastic news for 2013/14 for this project is that staff communication improved by 6% and by 18% compared to 2010/11. Furthermore it is no longer the worst area, in fact it had moved up 2 places!
This year has seen us launch our PROfile tool which makes it clear to each of us what we must do in order for us to achieve our goals. In one place, the PROfile does a number of things for our people and for those leading and managing them, in a nutshell: • What our team members should be doing in their role
• What knowledge our team members need to have • What skills a team member needs to deliver their role • How our team member should be doing their role in keeping with our values • Our annual appraisal system • Talent management tool for identifying our talents of the future and nurturing them • Succession Planning for our future needs We have now ‘PRO-file’ reviewed our Leadership and Management teams and we are due to embark on reviews for all our teams from April 2014.
Staff Survey & Communication Improvement In 2012/13 a strategy to improve communication was introduced on the back of feedback from previous Staff Survey results. Throughout 2013/14 the Trust has dramatically improved its communication channels and practices with its staff. A monthly staff newsletter has been produced and April 2014 will be the 14th edition. New staff noticeboards have been installed, Yammer continues to be utilised by staff and serves a fantastic tool for driving company initiatives such as the Trust’s wellbeing week.
PRO-file session between manager and employee 27
SOUND FINANCES Despite the continuing recession, the poor weather once again impacting on usage and income from both Golf Courses, and the increased competition, total operating income for the Trust increased by over 8% for the year and the total income exceeding £9million for the first time ever with all of the major Leisure Centres and Sport Trafford Coaching and Community Development, and the addition of Flixton House, all contributing to the increase. Despite the addition of expenditure related to Flixton House, expenditure for 2013/14 remained at a similar level to the previous year and again it is a credit to our Managers and their teams that they have been able to control expenditure despite a number of pressures during the year. Sadly during the year we had to make a small number of redundancies to ensure our continued sustainability going forward and these costs are also included within the expenditure totals. Given the challenges we have faced during the year, and the even bigger challenges that we face going forward, we are delighted to be reporting that we have exceeded our budgeted operational surplus for 2013/14, which will allow the Trust to continue to invest in its facilities and mitigate the significant reductions in grant funding in future years. Every penny surplus generated by the Trust is re-invested back into the leisure facilities or the service within Trafford. As indicated earlier within this report, the Trust invested over £100,000 on facility refurbishments during the year, and this was on the back of approximately £¾ million investment in 2012/13. Trafford is a diverse Borough with some of the most affluent areas in the UK as well as some of the most 28
disadvantaged areas. To ensure that all sections of the community have the opportunity to take part in regular activity, as well as the highly successful ‘Active Trafford’ scheme (which subsidised nearly 200,000 visits in 2013/14 at an average of £4-00 per visit), the Trust often uses income from popular activities or facilities to subsidise activities or facilities in less popular or more disadvantaged areas. With significant pressures on public spending, and with leisure not being a statutory service, over the next couple of years the Council is keen to minimise the support funding to the Trust. Whilst the percentage of our funding from Trafford Council has decreased from 35% of our total income in our first year of operation to 11% last year, further reductions in funding will inevitably have some impact on our ability to do everything that we would like to do. However, we are confident that we will be able to continue to provide a quality, value for money service, to the community of Trafford that is accessible to all of the community.
Financial Figures Once again, the Trust’s Managers and their staff must take great credit for the financial performance we have achieved. Details of the individual centre and service financial performances are detailed below:
Income
Expenditure
Profit (Loss)
Altrincham Golf Course
372,146
311,136
61,010
Altrincham Grammar School
219,706
194,234
25,472
1,555,018
1,181,967
373,051
Asset Management
271,781
412,297
(140,516)
Flixton House
70,655
70,655
0
George H Carnall Leisure Centre
486,779
463,019
23,760
0
185,149
(185,149)
7,456
164,198
(156,742)
310,396
410,952
(100,556)
1,485,542
1,119,610
365,932
Sport Trafford
590,776
580,707
10,069
Sports Barn
68,542
87,529
(18,987)
1,348,190
1,052,959
295,231
Stretford Sports Village – Talbot
137,541
187,125
(49,584)
Support Service **
865,683
889,206
(23,523)
Swim Development
89,177
108,849
(19,672)
Training
72,296
221,096
(148,800)
TUF*C/Urban Leisure
21,921
74,679
(52,758)
1,011,596
875,088
136,508
213,275
225,720
(12,445)
9,198,475
8,816,175
382,300
Altrincham Leisure Centre
Information Technology Marketing Partington Sports Village Sale Leisure Centre
Stretford Sports Village – Chester
Urmston Leisure Centre William Wroe Golf Course
TOTAL
** Support Service costs include central functions such as Corporate Services, Finance, Human Resources, Insurance, Legal and Professional costs. Such costs are not attributable to a single activity, rather providing the infrastructure that enables the activities to take place, although they are apportioned out in the statutory accounts on an allocation basis pertaining to the proportion of income derived from each activity.
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THE FUTURE The Way Forward on the Horizon The local government spending review is continuing to have an impact on the provision of many discretionary services including leisure. Over the last twelve months, the Trust and Trafford Council have established a Joint Officer Working group to progress the detailed work needed in looking at the options available for securing the long term viability of the Leisure services in Trafford. These discussions have proved productive and will allow the Trust and Trafford Council to reduce the reliance of leisure services on revenue funding and significantly improve the provision through investment into the range of leisure assets within Trafford.
ON THE HORIZON...
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Both the Trust and the Council are looking at new and innovative solutions to provide the people of Trafford with a state-of-the-art leisure provision which in turn will allow the Trust to generate additional income and reinvest its surpluses into the leisure facilities in Trafford. We have never said it would be easy, and despite our many successes over the last eleven years it hasn’t been easy. However, we are confident that by working together, better quality ‘fit for purpose’ facilities can be provided and we can ensure that there is an affordable community leisure provision in Trafford for many years to come. By doing this we will also be able to achieve our overall mission of ‘More People, More Active, More Often’.
Vision for the Future Potential avenues for growth.... Unique indoor climbing solutions Indoor skating and BMX New leisure centres for example with the new Altrincham leisure centre being developed as part of Altair
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PARTNERSHIP DELIVERY PLAN Partnership with Trafford Council As part of the process of setting up Trafford Community Leisure Trust, Trafford Council agreed to work in partnership with the Trust in the delivery of agreed ‘Common Objectives and ‘Key Performance Outputs’ for community leisure provision. The ‘Common Objectives are linked to the Council’s strategic objectives for the social, economic and environmental well being of the area as set out in the Council’s Community Strategy. Funding to the Trust was to be provided in return for the achievement of Common Objectives and Key Performance Indicators, as detailed within the Partnership Delivery Plan.
Partnership Delivery Plan The current Partnership Delivery Plan was agreed between the Council and the Trust in March 2013, as part of a one year Funding Agreement. Under each of the Common Objectives and Trust Objectives there are a number of ‘Key Tasks’ which have been detailed. In total 105 key tasks are outlined within the Plan and significant progress has been made by the Trust against all but one of the key tasks.
Top left - Chris Bone at SSV completing the 72 hour football World Record. Middle - In partnership with Silver Blades, first ever Winter Festival. Right - Tuf*C girls meet Olympic Gold medallist Victoria Pendleton at SSV for US Girls winning a National Lottery Award. Bottom left - Sport Relief event at Crossford Bridge, organised by the Community Sport Development Team 32
Key Tasks As indicated the Trust has 105 Key Tasks to deliver against. Below are a few examples of the Key Tasks and the progress made against them by the Trust: Key Task
Progress
Encourage participation in physical activity amongst disadvantaged individuals through the promotion of the Active Trafford scheme
Total Active Trafford attendances have increased by 11% from 2012/13. Particularly encouraging is the increase in participation by Low Income earners and 65
Enhance sporting opportunities for children & young people with disabilities
The Trust provides a calendar of inclusive activities, events and competition that provide new opportunities, increase participation and competitive pathways that lead on to the School Games Rebound therapy sessions are extremely popular at Altrincham & GH Carnal LC. The I Move Room at Sale continues to be utilized by a variety of groups such as Mencap, the Genie Network and special needs schools.
Reduce the subsidy per visitor to leisure facilities to lowest possible level
Subsidy per visit to the Leisure Centres has reduced to £0.38 (compared to over £2 prior to the Trust) and £0.66 subsidy to Sports Development activities (compared with over £3 in 2008). This will reduce again in 2014/15 with a further significant reduction in the grant/management fee.
Encourage swimming by all sections of the community through continued subsidised pricing
Trafford is one of the few areas in the UK where swimming participation has increased year on year at a time when nationally numbers are declining. The combination of regular programme and activity reviews together with value for money activities and sessions has ensured that the Trust has bucked the national trend. The national governing body, Amateur Swimming Association is now using Trafford as an example of best practice.
Identify key partners to develop existing and new business opportunities that help support subsidised activities
During the year the Trust took over the management of Flixton House. A key partnership that has been developed during the year has been with Alliance Leisure, who is our development partner as we look to improve the facilities over the next few years
Develop the school sport coaching programme
Since it was commenced in 2008, the Schools Coaching Programme has gone from strength to strength and the Sport Trafford Coaches employed by the Trust deliver quality PE and sport to over 30,000 school children every month. The Sport Trafford Coaches also provide coaching at the Trust Leisure Centre holiday camps and as a result a number of full-time posts have been created and attendances at holiday camps have increased significantly
Development of Stretford Sports Village
Stretford Sports Village, Talbot Centre opened in September 2012. Attendances and activities have steadily increased since the Centre opened and the Centre is now reaching the budgeted income and attendance levels.
In partnership with Manchester United, provide opportunities for children with disabilities or learning difficulties to learn to swim
45 children with disabilities access the sessions at Carrington. ‘Alpha’ lessons for children with disabilities are also available at Stretford Leisure Centre, where a further 50 spaces are available. A Family Fun session, aimed at those families with children with disabilities is held at Partington on a weekly basis.
Deliver an annual programme of festivals and events for the community
Approx. 120 events are supported annually. All Leisure Centres with swimming pools run an annual Aquasplash Festival. Nearly 10,000 have attended the above events
Promote the achievements of local sportsman and sportswomen
Sport Trafford have been holding an annual ‘Trafford Sports Awards’ for 13 years now with winners going on to represent the Borough in the Greater Manchester Sports Awards. . In addition, for the last 9 years the Trust has also recognised any user who represents their country at international level. There are now nearly 120 names inducted on the Roll of Honour including a number of Olympians/Paralympians and even two Olympic Medalists including Tae Kwon Do Gold Medalist Jade Jones.
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Trafford Community Leisure Trust is a Registered Charity No. 1105629 W www.traffordleisure.co.uk
T 0161 826 3940
E info@traffordleisure.co.uk