2023 Presidents Report

Again I think we have backed up last year with another successful one.

A few decisions through the year didn’t work out as well as we hoped but in general it was very positive.
New traps, remotes and some cub house renovations, including a new stove, show we still have energy in the group and we are still moving forward.

We have a shed to put up this year and that will be terrific to give us more space for trap storage and other stuff.

Again this year we have tried really hard to engage with our members through social media and we have some exciting stuff on that moving forward with Neale and Natalie starting to take over this side of things. They are young and energetic, exactly what our club needs and I thank them both for their contribution.

Finally, our shooting numbers are up, breaking our attendance record twice this year. which is one of the ways we can measure our success. The second way is the smile on peoples faces and the amount of young people starting to participate in our amazing sport.

It’s taken me a while to realise that we are not here to promote “sim field”, sporting clays or field and game, we are here to promote Dorset, the club that is fun to come to and encourages everyone.

Looking forward my general thoughts are that we need to:

– As per last year we need to maintain the momentum. Don’t take anything for granted and realise it is a two way street, we don’t have a club without competitors and they want a fun, family club to come to. Again, recognition of people’s efforts are really important, if someone helps, let them know how appreciated it is, there is plenty of other things to take peoples time up these days, so encouragement is a must.
– Our open dialogue between other clubs has not only worked out enjoyable but fruitful. It would be remiss of me not to thank the Triffitt family for generously purchasing containers of excellent targets but handing them on to us at a cost price. This has worked out invaluable for our club.

Projects moving forward, in no particular order:

– Work on the grounds, get Range 2 established properly, gravel the rest and generally keep tidying it up as it presents brilliantly, mainly because of Shane.
– Try and get the club in as good a financial position as it can be. Have some money in the bank that we are not using up every month and get to a stable, financial position.
– Encourage more young people to the sport, maybe working with schools etc.. to try and increase our participations rates to the next generations.
– I think the wetlands could still be possible, grants may become available and we should look for anything like that, while still being cautious to ‘stay under the radar’ of unwanted attention.

So in summary, a great year, lots of success and can’t wait till this year to see how far we can go.
Finally, I thank the committee for all their support.

Peter for coming on board, Tony, Whisky, Leroy and of course Shane, thank you all.

I have to say one final thank you. No one sees the contributions that Tony does for this club closer than me. He has devoted huge amounts of time, money and energy into our club and I cannot thank him enough for all his help and friendship.

Todd Wilkin

President – Dorset Field & Game

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