EDINBURGH AREA CIVIL SERVICE SPORTS ASSOCIATION
ANNUAL REPORT
Year 2012
FOR PRESENTATION AT THE AGM
27th March 2013
EDINBURGH AREA CIVIL SERVICE SPORTS ASSOCIATION
ANNUAL REPORT 2012
1.
Foreword
1.1
2012 was the second full year of the newly formed Edinburgh Area Civil Service Sports
Association set up after the closure of the Edinburgh Civil Service Club and grounds early in
2010. Like the public sector in general, the Civil Service Sports Council (CSSC) has come under
a lot of scrutiny and has had to face up to the fact that its annual grant from Treasury is being
reduced and eventually phased out completely. As a result CSSC has less income which means it
has to be run more effectively and efficiently. It is a fact that the Civil Service as a whole is being
reduced in size and despite the best efforts of our head office staff and local volunteers to recruit
new members by opening up membership to other public sector organisations and introducing
linked membership, the overall membership of the Edinburgh Area fell slightly in 2012. Staff
leaving the Civil Service and not retaining their membership of CSSC is an issue we have to look
at.
1.2
As regards general membership of CSSC one of the interesting facts is that only 18% of
eligible civil servants have joined the organisation. Perhaps we should be concentrating our
efforts on getting the 82% who are not currently members to join. This is something that the
Scottish Region and the Edinburgh Area will be looking at this year.
1.3
A grant of over £42,000, based on an average membership figure of just under 3,500, was
made available to the Edinburgh Area Management Committee in 2012. In the table below is a
breakdown of where the Edinburgh Area membership works. These figures are provided by
CSSC when calculating our annual grant.
Department
Members
Audit Scotland
British Telecommunications Plc
Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission
Civil Service Sports Council
Crown Estate Commissioners
Crown Office
Department of Environment, Food & Rural Affairs
Department for Work & Pensions
Department for Transport
Department for Education
Department for Business Innovation and Skills
Direct Subscriptions
Foreign & Commonwealth Office
Forestry Commission
Fujitsu Services Ltd
General Register Office for Scotland
Historic Scotland
HM Revenue & Customs
HM Treasury
Meat Hygiene Service
Medical Research Council
3
10
1
2
2
55
2
92
10
1
23
7
3
23
1
1
33
497
4
1
1
2
Department
Members
Meteorological Office
Ministry of Defence
Ministry of Justice
Nat Air Traffic Cntrl Systems
Natural Environment Research Council
National Audit Office
National Library of Scotland
Northern Lighthouse Board
Ordnance Survey
Post Office
Registers of Scotland
Retired
Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh
Royal Commission for Historical Monuments
Science & Technology Facilities Council
Scot Agric Coll Research Insts
Scottish Courts Admin
Scottish Enterprise
Scottish Prison Service
Scottish Natural Heritage
Scottish Government
Temporary Membership 12 months only
UK Border Agency
Valuation Office
2.
3
44
2
1
17
1
3
3
7
97
159
233
6
1
1
1
82
1
65
1
1913
45
10
3
The Edinburgh Area Association Management Committee
2.1
At the 2012 Edinburgh Area AGM held at the Malmaison Hotel in Leith on the 22nd of
March, the following office bearers were elected to the Edinburgh Area Management
Committee:Chairman:
General Secretary:
Treasurer:
Bill Christie (Retired)
David Cant (Retired)
Avril Watson (Registers of Scotland)
2.2
Francis Smith, the Scottish Region BDE and also an Edinburgh Area member, agreed to
carry on as a member of the committee. Paul Martin was also elected as the Deputy Chairman
and the following members were elected as ordinary members of the committee:Derek Haynes (HMRC)
Bill Bellia(HMRC)
Ian Robertson (Retired)
Lesley Anne Cronin (Scottish Government)
Michelle Doig (Registers of Scotland)
Maggie Ritchie (HASSRA Departmental Association)
Stephen Young (SGSSA – Scottish Government Departmental Association)
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2.3
The committee had six formal meetings in 2012 and also met and discussed issues at the
Scottish Regional conference and meetings throughout the year.
2.4
Representatives from the Edinburgh Area Committee attended all of the Scottish
Regional Council meetings as well as the Scottish Conference held in Rosyth and also the
CSSC Annual Conference which was held over two days at Celtic Manor in Wales.
2.5
At the Scottish Conference, the Edinburgh Area was awarded the 2011 Scottish Area of
the Year and Avril Watson, the Area Treasurer, was awarded the 2011 Scottish Volunteer of the
Year. At the CSSC Annual Conference at Celtic Manor, the Edinburgh Area was nominated
for the 2011 Area Association of the Year and Bill Bellia was nominated as the 2011 Volunteer
of the Year. Unfortunately both the Area and Bill were unsuccessful but it was good to see the
Area being recognised for what it had done in 2011.
3.
Corporate Cards
3.1
In 2011 the Area had purchased a number of Corporate Cards providing access to
various attractions in the Scottish Central belt. In 2012 we had cards for:
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Almond Valley (2)
Butterfly World/Mining Museum (2)- Second card purchased in December
Dynamic Earth (4)
Five Sisters Zoo (2)
Museums (5)
National Trust (5)
New Lanark (2) – Second card purchased in October
Open Fairways (2)
3.2
Initially, these cards were dispersed round some of the Edinburgh offices but it was
becoming increasingly difficult to keep a track of these cards and in July 2012 Michelle Doig
took over the responsibility for managing these cards. Here is Michelle’s Report on the
popularity or otherwise of these cards and how the procedures she put in place worked out.
“The Almond Valley, Dynamic Earth and Five Sisters Zoo cards were out most weekends and
sometimes during the week over the school holiday periods. Butterfly World/Mining Museum
and New Lanark cards were also out every weekend. We had a reserve list hence the reason it
was decided to purchase a second card for each attraction. They were both out most of the time
over the school holiday periods.
The Museums and National Trust cards were not out as much and the Open Fairways cards
were hardly ever used although they have been more popular of late.
I’m currently taking stock of the cards with a view to possibly purchasing more of the popular
cards and reducing the not so popular ones. In terms of use, there has been a mix of users from
HMRC, Scottish Government, Registers of Scotland and other smaller offices throughout the
year. However, the main users were from Scottish Government as you would expect as over
half of our members are from Scottish Government. I’ve found that the members are very
appreciative of the fact we hold these cards and they can borrow them free of charge. They
now realise that they need to book well in advance especially during the school holiday periods.
4
I have to thank Bill Bellia for delivering cards from me to HMRC members to save us on
postage and to my own colleagues in the Registers who use VQ gym as they often hand
delivered cards for me. I have found that the members from Scottish Government have been
great at posting the cards to their colleagues using the internal mail system rather than returning
them to me to send out. This enables more people to get the use of the cards. I have also found
that members have been more than willing to collect them from Meadowbank House, especially
the Dynamic Earth cards, as that is near to our office. This has assisted me to get cards out
throughout the week as well as at weekends.”
4.
Theatre Tickets
4.1
In 2011 the Area provided for its members a wide range of offers. 2012 has seen this
taken to another level particularly in respect of theatre and show tickets. Listed below are the
tickets which the Area has been able to offer its members at a discount during the past year.
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January
February
February
February
March
March
April
April
April
May
May
June
July
August
August
August
August
August
September
October
October
October
November
November
November
November
November
December
December
Sleeping Beauty (Scottish Ballet) at the Festival Theatre
Avenue Q at the Playhouse
Singing Kettle at Festival Theatre
Sally Morgan at the Playhouse
Carnival Du Vampires Rock at the Playhouse
Spamalot at the Playhouse
The Steamie at the Festival Theatre
Chicago at the Playhouse
Calendar Girls at the Festival Theatre
Hair the Musical at the Playhouse
Dara O’Briain at the Playhouse
Oliver at the Playhouse
Starlight Express at the Playhouse
Frankie Boyle at the Playhouse
Radio Forth on the Fringe at the Playhouse
Comedy Gala at the Festival Theatre
Michael MacIntyre at the Playhouse
Tattoo
Jesus Christ Superstar at SECC
The Mousetrap at the Kings
Phantom of the Opera at the Playhouse
Punchline Comedy at the Usher Hall
Ross Noble at the Playhouse
Kevin Bridges at the Playhouse
42nd Street at the Playhouse
Greg Lake at the Queens Hall
Edinburgh Fireworks
Dirty Dancing at the Playhouse
Mother Goose at the Kings
In June the Area ran a free draw for members giving away tickets for Michael MacIntyre and
Jesus Christ Superstar. The Area also procured a large number of tickets for the Edinburgh
Fringe and these were given away to members in a free draw in July.
5
5.
Leisure Events
5.1
Over and above the theatre and show tickets, the Area also offered its members a wide
range of events throughout 2012. Listed below are some of the tickets and events on offer
throughout the year.
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January
March
April
May
July
August
September
November
November
November
Tour of Caledonian Brewery
Wine Tasting at Bond No 9
Trip to Liverpool
Sportsman’s Dinner at Rosyth Civil Service Club
Games Evening at Meadowbank Snooker Centre
Scotland v England Cricket International
Leuchars Airshow
Skiing and Snowboarding at Edinburgh Ski Slope
Christmas Shopping Trip to London
Karting
A report from the organisers of some of these events and trips is included in the appendix at the
end of this report.
6.
Vouchers
6.1
The Area also took advantage of the various voucher offers from web sites such as
Groupon, Itison, Living Social Deals etc. Listed below are some of the vouchers we offered
throughout the year.
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Spa at Macdonald Hotel, Holyrood
Foodies Festival, Inverleith Park
Cupcake Decorating Masterclass at 3D Cakes
Spa at Westwoods Health Club
Irn Bru Carnival
Outdoor Activities at Easter Hill Farm, Gartmore
Breadmaking and Baking at Jo Jo’s Danish Bakery
Ceramic Experience, Leith
Stock Cars at GMP in Cowdenbeath
M & Ds
Golf Coaching at Prestonfield Golf Club
Bodyboarding Lessons at Belhaven Beach
Brewdog Beer Tasting, Edinburgh
Shortbread and Truffle Classes
Tours of Mary King’s Close
Christmas Foodies Festival at EICC
Ice Skating and Big Wheel in the Gardens
Adventure Golf at Paradise Island, Livingston
6
7.
Sporting Activities
7.1
Throughout the year some progress was made on arranging and staging sporting
activities for the Edinburgh Area members. This year the list of activities includes the
following:
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Racket Nights
Skiing and Snowboarding
Basketball and Volley-ball taster sessions
Five a side football competition
Inter Area Golf Competition
Edinburgh Area Doubles Golf Competition
Angling
Reports from the organisers of all of these activities and other less formal events are included in
the appendix to this report.
7.2
Edinburgh Area members also participated in the Celtic Games and the North East
Challenge. The Celtic Games were held in Wales this year and for the first time golf was
included in the events. The Scottish Region held a qualifier at Pitreavie Golf Course in
Dunfermline in April and Jim Gordon from the Edinburgh Area was the leading qualifier.
Quite a few other Area members played and did well in the event. Unfortunately, Jim was
unable to take up his place at the actual Games.
7.3
The North East Challenge is a relatively new competition between the Scottish Region
and the North East of England Region involving various indoor activities. This year the event
was held in Newcastle and several members from Edinburgh Area took part. Bill Bellia and
Derek Haynes from the Management Committee were two of the participants. The feedback
from both was that the event was poorly run and not well supported by the members from the
North East. The event is unlikely to go ahead next year.
8.
Area Newsletter and Contacting Members
8.1
Last year we reported on what we were doing to improve communication for our
members. Most of the work was being done by Avril Watson, the Area Treasurer, and she has
made some progress in updating our members’ database. She currently has e mail addresses for
2198 of our members. Just over 1000 to go to complete our records.
8.2
Both CSSC and the Edinburgh Area are on Facebook.
9.
Assistance to Members
9.1
Last year we reported on work going on to establish a common subsidy policy across
the Scottish Region and this year two policy documents covering open and regional events have
been agreed and implemented by the Edinburgh Area. These policies are published and
working well for those who take part in CSSC sports events.
9.2
Financial support was again given to the Edinburgh Civil Service Angling Club.
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9.3
The Area provided a grant of £500 to assist with the purchase of equipment for the gym
at Grayfield House.
10.
The Way Ahead
10.1 Although the Edinburgh Area has had a very successful year in terms of what it has
been able to offer its members, there is still a lot to be done to make the Area more successful.
10.2 This year, the Edinburgh Area needs to work on the success of previous years to extend
the benefits to all its members and in particular to develop sporting activities for the members.
The Committee continues to suffer from a lack of representation from the Scottish Government
members and this is something we intend to sort out in the year ahead.
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Appendix
1.
Activity Reports
Edinburgh Civil Service Angling Club Report for 2012 (Eric J Fox)
The Club currently has 18 members, 14 of whom are full members of the CSSC.
In 2012 the club fished 13 outings to venues which included Butterstone Loch, Lake of
Menteith, Frandy Fishery and the Whinney Loch.
The 2012 Club Champion was Frank Jackson (Retired) and Andy Anderson (Audit Scotland)
was the runner-up. The Loch Champion was Andy Anderson and Frank Jackson was runner-up.
We fished the Scottish Club Championships at the Lake of Menteith but failed to qualify for the
semi-final.
Both Andy Anderson and Eric Fox (Retired) competed in the Scottish heat of the Civil Service
competition held at the Lake of Menteith. Andy was placed second in the singles competition
qualifying for the National Civil Service Final at Eyebrook. The combined catch of Andy &
Eric gave the club second place in the team competition. Unfortunately, due to work
commitments, Andy was unable to attend the final.
The Club also participated in the United Edinburgh and Leith competitions at the Lake of
Menteith. In the Inter-Cities competition Stuart Lees (Registers of Scotland) weighed-in a bag
limit of 5 fish contributing to the win this year by Edinburgh over Dundee & Glasgow.
2.
Edinburgh Area 5 a side Tournament (David Cant)
This year the Scottish Region had scheduled in three regional qualifying competitions in
Glasgow, Edinburgh and Dundee with the top two teams from each event coming back to
Edinburgh in November for the Scottish Regional Final. The Edinburgh event was arranged for
the 20th of September at the Corn Exchange. However, because of problems getting teams for
the Glasgow qualifier, the Regional Qualifiers were cancelled at short notice and the Scottish
Region decided to go for one open qualifier in November. I had already booked and paid the
deposit for use of the Corn Exchange so I went ahead and held an open competition sponsored
by the Edinburgh Area. Unfortunately, I can only assume that because there was no place at the
National Finals or the Celtic Games to play for, some of my regular East Zone teams did not
enter and I finished up with only five teams for my event. All five teams did come from the
Edinburgh Area and were:REGISTERS GALLACTICOS (Registers of Scotland)
DIAGNOSIS MURDER (Scottish Government)
STALLIONS (Scottish Government)
EMERGENCY HAIR GEL UNITED (Scottish Government)
PLGFC (HMRC)
As in previous years, we ran a round robin competition which allowed all the teams to play
each other. Each game lasted twenty minutes which proved to be quite testing for all the
teams. We did allow a longer recovery time between games. The standard of football was
excellent and although the games were highly competitive the players were well disciplined and
the referees had a fairly easy time of controlling the matches.
9
In the first round of games Registers Gallacticos beat Stallions in a highly competitive game
while PLGFC overcame Diagnosis Murder in another very close game. Emergency Hair Gel
United sat out the first round of games. In the second round Emergency and Stallions drew and
PLG had a comfortable win against Registers. Diagnosis sat this round out. In the third round
Stallions had a rest while PLG had another comfortable win this time against Emergency and
Diagnosis beat Registers in a tight game. PLG, already looking favourites, sat out the fourth
round of games while Registers discovered some form hitting 6 past Emergency. Stallions at
long last found some form and comfortably beat Diagnosis. In the final round, which Registers
sat out, Diagnosis beat Emergency and PLG, already winners of the league, beat Stallions 5-1 to
complete the competition undefeated.
Match Results
Emergency Hair Gel United
Stallions
Diagnosis Murder
Free Game
3 Registers Gallacticos
2 PLGFC
Emergency Hair Gel United
Diagnosis Murder
Registers Gallacticos
1 Stallions
Free Game
0 PLGFC
Stallions
Emergency Hair Gel United
Diagnosis Murder
Free Game
2 PLGFC
5 Registers Gallacticos
8
3
Free Game
Emergency Hair Gel United
Stallions
PLGFC
0 Registers Gallacticos
7 Diagnosis Murder
6
1
Free Game
Emergency Hair Gel United
Stallions
Registers Gallacticos
2 Diagnosis Murder
1 PLGFC
5
5
4
3
1
4
Final League Table
Team
Win
Draw
Loss
Goals For
Goals Against
Points
PLGFC
Registers Gallacticos
Diagnosis Murder
Stallions
Emergency Hair Gel United
4
2
2
2
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
2
2
3
2
20
13
13
14
5
5
12
15
18
20
12
6
6
6
1
Congratulations go to Kyle Barrett and his HMRC team for winning and the rest of the teams
who turned up to play. Kyle’s team held up the reputation of Revenue and Customs in the
absence of his colleague Brian Anderson and his team SPFC the usual winners of the East Zone
10
competition. This shows that HMRC might not score well in terms of customer services but
they do score well at football. Many thanks go to Francis Smith and Bill Bellia from the Area
Committee for assisting me with the competition. Special thanks also go to Bill for helping eat
the buffet.
3.
Edinburgh Area Doubles Golf at Duddingston (David Cant)
The Edinburgh Area Committee had asked Derek Hand from the Registers of Scotland to
organize an Area golf competition. Derek is a keen golfer himself and has a lot of experience
of organizing golf outings through being part of the Register House Golf Club, the club within
Registers of Scotland. Derek contacted several clubs in the Edinburgh area and managed to
secure a deal at Duddingston Golf Club for an afternoon outing for Tuesday the 18th of
September. The deal involved a round of golf and food and was advertised in the usual manner
through the Edinburgh Area Updates. It was decided to make it a doubles competition.
Unfortunately only 6 teams took part. The winners on the day were Derek and his partner, Jim
Gordon, both from the Registers of Scotland. The runners up were Gerry Wilson from Scottish
Courts and David Cant, the Area Secretary.
4.
Sportsman’s Dinner (Paul Martin)
In 2011 I volunteered to organize a sportsman's dinner for CCLASP, a children's cancer charity.
I welcomed the challenge but was not prepared for what lay ahead when things can go wrong
quite quickly. Within weeks I had a venue, the Rosyth CSSC Club, and an excellent meal
package was secured through George Churchill for the 24th of May 2012. I managed to get
dozens of raffle prizes and things to auction as well as a decent price for a bus for our
Edinburgh members. A lot of interest was also shown by CSSC members in other Scottish
areas. After another 2 weeks most of the tickets were booked.
Things were going well until both Hibs and Hearts had a very successful runs in the Scottish
Cup and reached the final - the day of the sportsman's dinner. I would estimate that 80% of
those due to attend were supporters of one of these teams. I then had to negotiate with all those
involved in the event - bus companies, caterers, the venue and the speakers. I must give a big
thanks to all of them as they all waived any charges and allowed me to rearrange to another date
- this time in September. Unfortunately my main speaker, John Gagahan couldn’t make the
new date but recommended John Davidson, who was turned out to be a fantastic stand in.
As regards the event, everyone enjoyed the humour of Scott Glynn, John Davidson and Jimmy
Logan. The meal was excellent and the staff at the Rosyth Club could not have been more
helpful or friendly. I would like to thank the staff very much. We were fortunate enough to
raise around £1400, which is great in these times of austerity. We had raffles, draws and
auctions throughout the night and everyone played their part in supporting CCLASP.
The one unfortunate thing was a breakdown in communication with the Glasgow Area. They
were of the opinion that because it was for a children's charity, the humour would be quite tame
and some of their members brought their partners. I wrongly assumed that people would know
that a sportsman's dinner would have adult humour and in the case of someone like Scott Glynn
quite strong adult humour. I had had a few requests from female members asking about the
dinner and I explained the format and that they were welcome to come along. No female
members bought tickets and I wasn’t prepared for the visit of the females from the Glasgow
11
Area. Although a few stayed for the speakers the rest retired to the lounge. I can only
apologise for the misunderstanding. The fact they came through to support this event says a lot
for inter area events and hopefully it hasn’t put a damper on future inter area events
5.
Liverpool Trip in April (Paul Martin and Michelle Doig)
This was Edinburgh Area’s first bus trip, so we were a bit apprehensive as to how much interest
there would be from the Edinburgh Area members. Our concerns were unfounded as it proved
to be very popular and attracted a lot of interest which resulted in us having a waiting list in the
event of cancellations. We did have a couple of cancellations but managed to fill a 51 seater
bus. The members who attended came from a range of departments and offices which provided
us with an opportunity to network and meet members from all parts of the Edinburgh Area. We
had a great mix of people who quickly bonded on the way down and this paved the way for a
very enjoyable weekend.
When we eventually arrived at the famous or “infamous” Adelphi Hotel, some of had to wait
some time to check in and others had to change rooms or wait to have staff deal with rooming
problems or room problems. Once that was all sorted, we were able to start enjoying our
weekend away. Some went to spend some time shopping and others wandered around the
centre of Liverpool, visiting the many hostelries and getting a taste of the music scene that
Liverpool is so famous for.
As part of the package, we had organized a meal for the whole group at a restaurant called the
Red Hot Buffet in the middle of the Liverpool 1 area. It serves up everything - Italian, Chinese,
Japanese, Indian and British cuisine - so it covered everybody's taste. After that, most people
headed for the famous Maxwell Street to listen to the many Beatles tribute bands in the bars and
savour the great atmosphere that this area has. For those who headed back to the hotel, we had
negotiated a 99p bar for named drinks so it was a cheap weekend if you so wanted to make it
that.
It was an early start on the Saturday morning, as we had included in the deal - a tour of
Liverpool Football Club's ground - Anfield. Everyone played their part in making it a
successful weekend by being on time for everything and the tour was no exception. The tour
was amazing and very informative and our guide used the famous scouse humour to good
effect. As most people are aware, the club has had its fair share of tragedy in recent years Hillsborough and Heysel, so a lot of the information surrounded these two things. It was very
sad what happened, especially Hillsborough, but it let us understand what really happened and
how it affected the club, the city of Liverpool but mostly the fans and the bereaved. After the
tour everyone was free to do as they wished - some shopped and some went to watch
Liverpool's rivals - Everton.
On the Sunday we headed home tired but satisfied with having had a good weekend and making
a lot of new friends. The feedback was to have other trips and have to them more often.
Manchester was mentioned as a possible trip and this is on the cards. Watch this space.
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6.
Brewery Tour (Bill Bellia)
After a successful beer tour run for the Area last year I organized another beer tour at the
Caledonian brewery for January 2012. This time we decide to do an evening beer tour at the
same brewery. We went for the Edinburgh's Finest Tour which involved a 40 minute brewery
tour, free beer sampling and an Indian curry buffet in the onsite pub for three hours. The cost of
the tour was £30 per person with the Edinburgh Area giving a decent discount to their
members. There was a lot of interest in the event with thirty people going along for the tour.
Before the tour started I decided it would be best for everyone to meet up first for a quick beer
at the local pub along the road from the brewery. There were members from the HMRC,
Registers of Scotland, Scottish Government and Scottish Court Services and also two non
members. These two did not receive the full discount given to our members.
Once we all arrived at the brewery we were taken round in two separate beer tours by the lovely
Gabi, the events co-ordinator, and Hamish. After the beer tour which everyone enjoyed we met
up at the onsite pub where we all enjoyed tasting a wide range of Caledonian beer as well as the
curry. I would recommend this tour to everyone.
7.
Karting (Bill Bellia)
The first taster event for Karting took place during the summer at Extreme Karting, Newbridge
where 18 members took advantage of the discount provided. The event was organized by Kyle
Barrett, one of our HMRC Edinburgh Area members, with a mixture of HMRC and Scottish
Government members taking part in this event.
Everyone got decked out on formula one overalls while the Extreme Karting staff explained the
rules of karting along with the dos and don'ts of driving the karts. The afternoon consisted of
everyone getting four practice legs to get use to using the karts followed by two three leg
qualifying races where the top nine would qualify for the main final race and the rest competing
in the runner up race.
The racing was very competitive with plenty of bangs and crashes. No one was injured. The
overall winner was Ewan Brunton. I would like to thank Kyle for organizing the event which
was well run. Everyone had a good time.
8.
Inter Area Golf (Bill Bellia)
This event was held in September and involved three Scottish Areas - Edinburgh, Central and
Forth Valley and Ayr – having a friendly competition open to members from their Areas. It was
the first Inter Area Golf event involving different Scottish Areas. Through one of our
Edinburgh members, Susan Chen, who is a member of Pumpherston Golf Course we got a
deal for a round of golf along with bacon rolls and coffee before the round and a three course
meal after the round at the cost of £35 per person. The three Areas provided an additional
subsidy to make it even more attractive.
29 Scottish Region members took part with six from the Ayr, ten from Central and Forth Valley
and thirteen from the Edinburgh. The thirteen Edinburgh Area members were from the HMRC
and Registers of Scotland and Scottish Courts.
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As this event was open to any golfer with or without a golfing handicap, we decided to run a
stableford competition where you gain points for scoring net bogies, pars, birdies and eagles at
each hole. Those members with national handicaps used that handicap and the rest were given a
handicap of 24. Each Area donated a sum of money towards prizes for the event.
We had prizes for the first three placed golfers with two other prizes for closest to the hole on
two par three holes. The overall winner was from the Central and Forth Valley member. David
Cant, the Edinburgh Secretary came third and Paul Martin, our Vice chairman, won one of the
nearest the hole prizes.
The event was very successful for all Areas with everyone enjoying themselves even if their
golf wasn't that good. That includes me. The next Inter Area Golf event is penciled in for
September and will be held in Ayrshire. I would recommend this to all members. We are also
looking to organize more golfing events this year including a possible competition with Central
and Forth Valley at Pitreavie Golf Course in Dunfermline.
9.
Social Night for Darts, Dominoes, Snooker and Pool (Bill Bellia)
This event was organized at Riley's Pool Hall, Meadowbank for the Edinburgh members. This
event involved members playing Pool, Snooker, Darts and Dominoes as the Riley’s manager
gave us a free room for the e evening. The idea of this was to setup regular darts and pool
leagues if we had enough members interested. The amount of emails I received back from
members saying they would turn up suggested that there would be fifty plus members coming
along for the event. The actual number of members turning up was disappointing with only
twenty members showing up. We had two from the Scottish Government and the rest were
from HMRC and Registers of Scotland.
As an organizer it always disappointing when you organize an event and the promised numbers
don’t materialize. Lessons have been learnt and if the Edinburgh Area decides to do another
such event, taking a deposit from members will be considered. The location could be looked at
also. However, those who did turn up had a good time and enjoyed taking part in all the
“sports”. A buffet was provided by the Area.
10.
Racket Sports (Bill Bellia)
Derek Haynes and I setup the racket section the original taster racquet night at Meadowbank in
November 2011. This had been very successful with thirty people taking part. The original
taster night we hired four badminton courts along with one squash and table tennis court which
were all used.
The rackets section during the 2012 was run at two different venues over 30 weeks. The venues
were Napier University, Sighthill and Meadowbank Sport Centre. The Meadowbank venue run
during the evening from 5 to 7 pm on a Tuesday night with the Napier venue running during the
day from 3-4.30pm on a Wednesday afternoon. This was used to encourage more members to
take part depending on the hours they worked.
At the start of the Meadowbank racquet night we ran the original four badminton courts with
squash courts and table tennis available. However, as the members were not using the squash
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and table tennis facilities I decided to take the booking down to just three badminton courts
which were used every night. The majority of members taking part were from HMRC and
Registers of Scotland with a few Scottish Courts and Scottish Government members taking
part. We have been able to sign a lot of linked members from the badminton nights which is
very encouraging.
The Napier University venue was mainly used by HMRC member with a few linked members
and retired members taking part also. It was disappointing that more members from other local
offices didn't take advantage of the facilities.
On reviewing the rackets sports for 2012 there were a total of sixty members who have taken
part during the year with a regular 25 members taking part in either location. It was
disappointing that we had to cancel the squash and table tennis bookings at Meadowbank as it’s
good to encourage all sports. The numbers from the Scottish Government offices turning up
was most disappointing.
The plan for 2013 will be to run only one venue, Meadowbank, from 5-7pm. The current run of
ten weeks stops on 2 April 2013. We plan to run the badminton up till mid May and then
during the autumn and winter months as this provides value for money for the members. In
May, at Meadowbank, we will be running the first competitive and social badminton
competitions. Depending on the interest from members we might start booking squash courts
table tennis facilities.
A taster tennis event will be organized in spring to gauge the interest from the members. If this
is successful a run of tennis nights/days will be organized during the summer.
The advertising of racquet nights requires to be improved. We need to advertise in as many
offices as possible to give each member the chance to take part in these nights.
11.
Volleyball and Basketball (Derek Haynes)
A Volleyball & Basketball taster session took place at Napier University sports hall on Tuesday
4th September 2012 between 5pm to 7pm.
Brian Daisley, the Scottish Volleyball organiser, came through with Sam Seepaul, a former
English internationalist, and they put on a great session which included great coaching and
thoroughly enjoyable games.
The Basketball was run by Katie Reid with help from Robert Taff, an ex professional player,
who helped coach the best out of the keen triers that turned up.
In all over thirty turned up and played in both sports. All agreed that they had a great time and
would love the chance to do it again. Enough people turned up from various offices throughout
the Edinburgh area to make the event a success and the organisers were keen to come back if
funding is available.
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12.
Skiing (Clair McKendrick)
11 CSSC members turned up for the taster to skiing session on a cold wet night up at
Midlothian Ski Centre (Hillend) in November. Members from many Edinburgh departments
attended including some from HMRC, RoS, SASA and Scottish Government.
The instructor was looking forward to introducing so many to skiing. Quick introductions and
then on to get ski boots and skis, after this the class set out over to the new nursery slopes to the
left of the main slopes. This new area had only opened weeks prior to our event. The class
started off with making there way slightly up the nursery slope side stepping, then attempting to
move out turn around and slowly slide to the bottom. There were a couple of falls early on but
overall there were no major falls that I saw anyway.
The class then moved to the top of the nursery slope, but instead of side stepping, they moved
onto the new installed travelator, many smiles at this stage as people were being taken up the
travelator to the top of the nursery slope.
From there skiers were moved out and tried some snow plough down to bottom. Again couple
of minor falls, nothing major. They did this a good few times and then the class had finished all
too quickly as we had only booked for 1 hour.
I received loads of positive feedback and people really enjoyed the course, only negative was
they wished the class had been longer.
13.
Snowboarding (Clair McKendrick)
6 CSSC members turned up for the taster to Snowboarding session on a cold wet night up at
Midlothian Ski Centre (Hillend) in November. Members from all over Edinburgh departments
attended including some from HMRC, RoS, SASA and Scottish Government.
The class met with Instructor Steve and we were given our boards and boots. We were given a
quick introduction to Snowboarding on receiving our equipment.
The class was taken to the new part of the Nursery Area to practice standing on the boards,
There were some falls at this stage. Then a walk to the middle of the Nursery slope to attempt
to slide down, with the help of Steve pulling us all out.
Then a walk to the top Nursery Area and we were shown how to slide down forwards using the
board as your brake, the whole board was facing south. There were many falls on this slope.
Then it was back to the top to try it backwards.
After this we got on the new installed travelator to the top of the nursery slope to practise this
over and over. Some were in control and some were not in control at all. Many classic falls at
this stage.
We then moved onto the main slope and we attempted to use the actual tow to take us up the
slope – I think only two people managed this and the rest fell off and had to walk up the slope.
This was very tiring. Then a couple attempts down the slope, then practice the Tow or walk up
again, then down and that was the course now over. Again great fun had by all and I am sure
there were a couple of bruised people in the morning.
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14.
London Trip (Avril Watson)
The Edinburgh Area made the Christmas Shopping 2012 trip a two day event this year
following feedback after the 2011 trial. There were initially 30 attendees, but a few late
cancellations and re-sales to our reserve list saw this fall to 27 in total (and a dog).
There was a wide spread from a range of departments, including SG (9) ROS (9), MOD (2),
HMRC (4) & retired members (2) plus 3 linked members. We also managed to secure a few
additional linked memberships to allow members' partners to benefit.
The trip got off to a good, albeit very early start. When we arrived in London the members, by
and large, did their own thing which included sightseeing, visiting friends/family, catching a
show and the compulsory shopping.
The journey home was hampered by the flooding on the East Coast, resulting in delays and a
change of trains. Folk were relieved just to get home safely after seeing the devastation on the
route home. The only miss-hap to report concerned two members missing the train home. They
managed to get a later one (with a seat). This was the train that everyone else ended up on
further up the line.... without a seat!!
Overall, a good time was had by all.
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