Agenda Item 1) Opening from DCC Chris Green – Chair of the MPSSA
Agenda Item 2) Address from the President – The Chief Constable of Merseyside
Agenda Item 3) Secretary’s Report – Delivered by Mark Pedder (association Secretary)
Agenda Item 4) Treasurer’s Report – Delivered by Anita Rotheram (association Treasurer)
Thanks passed to committee by Chair, DDC Green, for their work over the past 12 months.
Agenda Item 5) Proposal of committee members – Delivered by Ken Wagner (vice chair of the association)
15 formal proposals / seconded by association members. Committee structure proposed by Geoff Swinnerton / seconded by Dickie Dodd
Proposed Committee Members for 2025
Chris Green Ken Wagner Steve Brougham Kev Flynn Aly Keogh Mark Pedder Anita Rotheram Cliff Barr Paul Sinclair Mike Murphy John Denton Jamie Graham Gary Grosscurth Rob Ross Kev Hansen
Agenda Item 6) AOB
Geoff Swinnerton – states that 2 years ago he was critical of the association and the committee but now he wants to pass thanks on to the committee for their work getting the association back to a high standard. Asks to know what is going on with the ex-treasurer – MP advises that at the request of the committee referrals were made and there were no findings amounting to disciplinary matters and work is ongoing with the accountant and should any information come light suggesting that there has been any wrongdoing this will be reported as appropriate.
However, at this stage MP want to be clear in saying no wrongdoing has been found.
CG comments on the manner in which decision making is now managed internally be the committee which should hopefully give the members confidence.
Clive Finch – raised a concern last year around an increased honorarium being paid to ex committee members during Covid and the validity of those payments. Simon Kirkham advises work is ongoing and anything of concern will be raised with the Treasurer and committee.
AR – formally thanks all who’ve turned up and to all who’ve supported her over the last 12 months.
MP – proposes slight amendments to the association rules
1st proposed change relates to the timing of the AGM.
Original rule:
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
The Annual General Meeting shall be held at the end of the Financial Year on a date to be agreed by the General Management Committee.
To be amended too:
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
The Annual General Meeting shall be held on a date to be agreed by the Management Committee.
2nd proposed change relates to the management committee structure:
Original Rule:
ELECTION OF GENERAL MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE
The General Management Committee shall consist of 14 elected representatives of the members, at least 2 of whom shall be representatives of retired Police Officers.
To be amended to:
ELECTION OF THE MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE
The Management Committee shall consist of elected representatives of the members, the amount of which to be confirmed at the AGM
3rd proposed change relates to the definition of an association member.
Original Rule:
Membership
Full members – a fully paid up serving Police Officer or civilian employee on the payroll of the Merseyside Police Authority, plus all retired Police Officers of the same Force, providing they were Full Members of the Association prior to their retirement.
To be amended to:
Membership
Full members – a fully paid up serving Police Officer or civilian employee on the payroll of Merseyside Police plus all retired Police Officers or retired civilian employee of the same Force, providing they were Full Members of the Association prior to their retirement.
Rules proposed by Clive Finch / seconded by Pete Mc
Paul Sinclair thanks for Chief and the Chief officers for attending on behalf of the committee and the association
18:35 meeting ended
Welcome to the 2024 MPSSA AGM
I would like to thank you all for attending today and showing your support and interest in the
association.
The past 12 months has seen the association enter into a period of stability and sustainability.
Following on from the disciplinary process which ran through 2023, the association successfully
defended an employment tribunal claim in September with the presiding Judge finding no case to
answer. Should you have any questions around this I would direct you to the report which can be
found at Employment tribunal decisions - GOV.UK
With this result I hope we can collectively look to move forward as an association and concentrate
on what the MPSSA is built upon, our members and sporting sections.
The MPSSA currently supports our members in their participation of Cricket, Basketball, Football,
Golf, Hockey, Tennis, Netball, Rugby, Swimming, Volleyball, Judo, Crossfit, Cross Country and Rock
Climbing.
This year we were able to increase the allowances afforded to our sporting sections by 33% percent
across the board.
Owing to the timing of this years AGM we find ourselves in the middle of a number of sporting
seasons so I’m sure there will be many success stories to report as we move into 2025.
I have, however, been made aware of the efforts of the Cross Country and Athletics team at this
years PSUK Championships. Led by Keith Swift, Merseyside competed in a number of disciplines with
Josh Crombleholme defending his national titles in the 1500 and 800 meter events. Pete Stephenson
was also able achieve bronze in the vets 100m and Ian McPhail secured bronze high jump and silver
in both the long jump and pole vault. Under Keith’s stewardship the section is continuing to grow
and develop with regular meets occurring both locally and further afield.
In Judo, Constable Seb Green attended the PSUK Judo Competition, hosted by Police Scotland and
was able to secure silver and bronze medals across two weight categories in what was a highly
competitive competition involving international standard participants.
The association would also like to congratulate Sgt Geoff Bodie on his call up to the GB Swim Team
for the World Aquatic Masters Championships due to take place in Singapore in July 2025.
The MPSSA will continue to provide support and funding moving into 2025 and I would invite
representatives from each section to contact me so we can discuss how this can best be achieved
moving forward. I would also like to remind all representatives from the various sections that they
are more than welcome to attend committee meetings to discuss any requests or needs they may
have.
In terms of our membership base, we are still seeing a steady increase in our subscribing members.
A significant factor in the uplift is the work completed by the gym SPOC’s, resulting in nearly 2000
active gym users across the organisation.
I would like to formally thank, on behalf of the association, the following people for their tireless
efforts around the gyms and recruitment of new members:
Inspector Phil McManus (OCC)
Inspector Chris Burnham (Rose Hill)
Constable Alasdair Rankine (The Academy and now Edge Lane)
Inspector Aly Keogh (for all round support)
I’d like to offer a special, personal, thanks to the associations current assistant Secretary, John
Denton for the incredible amount of work he’s done around memberships and recruitment.
As we move into 2025 we will be looking to increase our support for the gyms. Work is ongoing with
MerPol to hopefully bring several other sites online as “official” gyms. This will enable the
association to further increase our membership base whilst supporting MerPol with the
maintenance and upkeep of the gyms.
Last year, two key areas were highlighted at the AGM by members as being of some concern.
These were the lottery and the website.
I’m happy to report that our website is now fully functional having been rebuilt from the ground up.
The committee are always happy to listen to suggestions or ideas for how you would like to see the
website being used and what information you, the members would like to find on there.
Furthermore, work is underway with MerPol’s internal comms team to launch a page dedicated to
the MPSSA on the iForce platform.
In terms of the lottery, I can confirm that this is now fully up to date. Monthly draws are taking place
with the results being added to the website. It is our hope that we can reinvigorate the lottery,
opening it up again for new subscribers and increasing the prize pool further.
Finally, I would like to thank Sarah Doyle for her support and commitment to the association. I’d also
like to formally thank Joanne Duggan for her work alongside Sarah behind the bar here at Riversdale.
There are an exciting 12 months ahead for the association, with opportunities for growth both
through the sporting sections and commercially at Riversdale.
Should anyone have any suggestions or requests I would welcome you to get in touch.
Thank you to all those who have taken the time to attend this year’s meeting and for those who
have been unable to attend I hope this report finds you well.
Mark Pedder
MPSSA Secretary
Mark.Pedder@merseyside.police.uk
MPSSA Annual General Meeting. 16th December, 2024
As was reported last year, when I took over the role of Treasurer of the Association in August 2023,
the future of the MPSSA was in serious doubt.
Since that time I am delighted to report that we have seen a huge transformation in the physical
appearance of Riversdale Sports and Social Club and also the financial situation of the Association as
a whole.
Our fortunes began to change when the Committee became a cohesive unit and began to work
together to improve facilities for our members, in particular the serving officers using the gyms and
the sporting sections. Members of the Committee, assisted by family, friends and volunteers,
worked tirelessly to improve the facilities at the Club. The changing rooms were cleaned and
painted. A new decking was built and the driveway resurfaced.
All this work incurred significant expenditure, especially for the decking and the road but we were
able to obtain these works at very competitive prices. The varnishing of the decking, the varnishing
of the wooden flooring inside the club and the cleaning and painting of the changing room area was
carried out by volunteers and did not incur any cost to the Association save the varnish and paint.
The refurbishment of the seating was very kindly carried out by a member, completely free of
charge. I would like to take this opportunity, on behalf of the Committee and the MPSSA to thank
all those who volunteered, gave up their valuable time and worked so hard.
Careful management of finances, in close liaison with our Accountant, Simon Kirkham, and good
housekeeping has led to the bank balance, correct on 10th December, 2024 being £27,394.65. The
Association owes £24,416.21 to HSBC Bank for the Bounce Back Loan which was taken out during
COVID and is steadily being repaid. The Association has made a number of savings in the last 12
months which have enabled us to carry out so much work and also increase revenue to the Sporting
Sections. These savings can be explained in simple terms.
The Association moved from Utility Warehouse, who had never previously been challenged
regarding the exponential increase in electricity prices for the Association, to Scottish Power and we reduced the cost for electricity annually from almost £37,000 to less than £13,000. A saving annually
of £23,874.05.
Likewise, the gas supplier, Corona, was changed to Scottish Power and the gas bill was reduced from
almost £7,500 to just over £1,500 per annum. A saving to the Association of £5,934.73. As you can
see, this is a total saving to the Association of almost £30,000 per annum.
Savings were made also by cancelling Sky Sports and BT Sports which cost the Association almost
£7,000 per annum.
Outstanding debts of £17,000 that were owed to two companies have now been paid, as has a loan
to cover an outstanding brewery loan.
The Association has an outstanding debt to HMRC of just over £22,000, there having been no taxes
paid by the Association for over three years. We are working with HMRC and our accountant to pay
these debts and expect that they should be cleared within the next 12 months.
Bar takings have steadily increased and this year we are expected to take over £120,000 across the
bar in comparison to £77,000 in 2023.
Following the issues raised at the last AGM about the MPSSA Lottery, I can now report that the
lottery draws and payments are now up to date with over £30,000 having been paid out to
outstanding and current winners. Winners are now posted monthly on our new website,
mpssaclub.co.uk.
To sum up, the Association is now in a healthy financial position and a promising future lies ahead.
Many thanks to all who have helped in this turnaround.
Thank you for coming today. This is your Association and we need your support.
Anita Rotheram
Treasurer
MPSSA
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