Wilsden Village Society History

Squash Courts 2

To mark the tenth anniversary of WVS, the society published a booklet ‘Ten Years On’ summarising the formation and structure of the society and the activities and considerable achievements of its various committees over the decade. As far as the squash club was concerned, the account ended with the opening of the club and the statement, “A membership of over 200, plus casual users, shows that we are not catering for a minority interest and Wilsden now has provision for a sport that can be played at any time of day and all year round.”

There was a cautionary note that the society had loans to repay, and a bank overdraft to tide it over the early days of the squash club’s life, but the expectation that the club would then bring in a steady income to be used for the good of the village. Eventually this was indeed the case but before this happy state of affairs there was a seriously bad patch to be lived through. 1980 was not a good year for WVS.

There were problems with the builders, first trying to get problems with damp rectified, then being required to meet the builders’ bill before the brewery loan was finalised. This loan was delayed for several months while acceptable security was negotiated. A bank overdraft enabled the society to meet its immediate commitments but left it with debts and more bills on the horizon. Although squash membership was good, actual court usage was not as high as had been hoped for during the summer. This picked up later and a group of keen young mothers set up a crèche rota to enable them to play during the day. Bar takings were an essential element in the club’s profitability and there were potential problems here. The licensee of the New Inn who had run bars for WVS dances, was not happy with additional licensed premises in the village. This was aggravated by squash club members using the New Inn car park and the squash committee had to issue pleas and warnings to its members about this. The society had a new solicitor by this time, T. Michael Walsh of Yablon, Temple-Milnes and Carr and a letter from his firm warned that there might be opposition to their next application for a licence. The squash club bar was frequently staffed by volunteers and it was essential that there was no laxity in the way it was run. Warnings about this were issued, to make sure there were no serious grounds for refusing a licence.

During this period of great anxiety about finances, another blow struck. Early in 1980, when it was obvious that the society’s income was of more than usual importance, the treasurer was having to ask repeatedly for the proceeds from a number of events. Collecting this money had been the responsibility of one individual who should have passed each sum to the treasurer without delay. When the money was eventually handed over, a shortfall was discovered. When this could not be satisfactorily resolved, the matter had to be taken to the stage of exchange of letters between the society’s solicitors and those acting for the person concerned. This decision was taken with regret, but necessary in the interests of the society’s treasurer and of the society’s standing as a registered charity. The discrepancy was claimed to be due to muddle as the person concerned tried to handle more organisation and fund raising than he was capable of handling efficiently. There were complicated explanations and justifications, some of which were demonstrably untrue. However the missing money was repaid and the person concerned and his wife resigned from their positions on WVS committees. The turmoil this left in the preliminary arrangements for the 1980 Aire Faire was one of the factors leading to the decision not to go ahead with this. The couple concerned later left the village.

It was a sad business, which inevitably left a nasty taste. The society had operated for a decade, raising and spending a great deal of money, always properly accounted for and audited, but in an atmosphere of trust between the various committees and groups. Control was now tightened up, to put what most people had always been doing on an official basis. A responsible person from each committee must forward statements to the treasurer showing all relevant details of each event; small bills may be paid out of takings with receipts produced, large bills to be paid by the treasurer, monies where possible to be in to the treasurer within two weeks of an event and no later than the next general committee meeting. A small team was appointed to audit the squash club books regularly, stocktake when necessary and look into control of stickers and emptying light meters.

A further outcome was a series of amendments to the constitution, suggested by Mr. Walsh. These clarified the responsibilities of the general and sub committees in respect of the society’s position as a Charitable Trust, administration of financial affairs and any matter likely to bring the society or a part of it into disrepute. They also spelled out the procedure for requesting resignations and conditions for readmission.

The squash club continued to have intermittent problems with membership numbers and maintenance costs but in 1994 they were able to report that the courts were refurbished and in excellent condition. From that date the society decided that it made sense for management of the squash club to be undertaken by the village hall management committee, with annual reports coming to WVS. The club suffered from repeated flooding during 1999 and 2000 but the problem was largely resolved when Bradford Council laid new land drains. Once it was properly running and in profit, the club made regular contributions to WVS funds as originally intended.

When the village society finally disbanded in 2007, the society’s solicitor, now Philip Taber of Simpsons Duxbury, was instructed to transfer the deeds of the squash club to the village hall management committee.