Open letter to all KAC members from Lesley Malarkey

 Dear Everyone,

As many of you will know, following the recent AGM, I am the new Chair of Keswick Athletic Club and I wanted to write to all members straight away with details of the new committee and to raise a couple of the issues which we, as a club, will need to make decisions about in the near future.

The committee is as follows:

Lesley Malarkey (Chair) news@keswickac.org.uk

Sam Stead     secretary@keswickac.org.uk

John Nicoll    treasurer@keswickac.org.uk

Rob Jones      Membership Secretary

Steve Hebblethwaite      Men's Captain

Cat Evans       Ladies' Captain

Ange Turnbull      Junior Coordinator

Steve Jones         Website Coordinator

Adam Campion    Park Run Link

Steve Harwood     Members' Rep

Jenn Mattinson      Members' Rep

With so many changes to the key posts, we do, as a committee, have a lot to learn.  Please feel free to get in touch with any of us if we forget anything or do something wrong!

The first meeting of the committee will be on Tuesday 25th November in the cricket pavilion at 7.30 directly following training.  If you have anything pressing that needs discussion or action, please contact Sam directly.

One of the key issues already up for discussion is the organisation of training.  Dunc Overton has coordinated and lead this brilliantly for a long time but has decided to step down.  I anticipate setting up a meeting for interested people to decide the best way of organising it but I really would appreciate views from as many members as possible about what they want from training. Please contact me with opinions on this.  All views, new ideas, types of sessions etc would be most welcome.

Another important issue for discussion this year is the development of a club base.  There is a current proposal to extend the cricket pavillion to provide better facilities for the club. This would be a big commitment for KAC and over the next few months a decision is needed to fully commit to this or to withdraw.  There was some discussion of this at the AGM and it is clear that there are mixed opinions.  I would ask all of our members to give some serious thoughts to this venture in order that a decision can be made based on the wishes of everyone concerned.

I also want to say, on behalf of all of us, a very big thank you to the officers and committee members who have stepped down.  Pete, Ian B., Ian D., and Dunc, in particular, have done so much for the club over the years but also Andrew and Clive for their contribution over the past year.  I hope all of you can now just enjoy your running and be ready to advise us when we need help.

Finally, congratulations to all those who ran in the Brampton to Carlisle race.  A brilliant result and excellent publicity for the club!

Here's to the continued success of KAC,

Lesley