Dear Members,

Ahead of the AGM, I am writing with some very positive news about the future of our club.

For the past decade, the Club has been working to negotiate its long-term future at Whitehall. Our current Service Level Agreement expires in 2030 and, in practice, has functioned as a hire arrangement - it gives us use of the track but very little control over the facility itself. With the agreement running down, resolving this has become vital.

I am therefore delighted to share that we are now working towards a long-term lease, with all parties aiming to sign later in the year. Cabot Learning Federation and England Athletics have been involved in these discussions, and Sporting Assets, an external agency, have helped shape a proposal to sustain the facility for years to come. This lease will secure the future of our home for decades, providing the stable foundation required for our club, athletes, coaches, and volunteers to thrive. Crucially, it gives us the ability to invest with confidence in our own future, and the potential to raise funds to upgrade the track - so that our hard work leads directly to a first-class training experience for generations of club athletes to come.

As part of our due diligence, we have sought specialist legal advice; their clear recommendation is that the club adopts a new legal status - to be ready to sign, we must change our organisational structure now.

Why we need to change our structure
Currently, as an unincorporated association, Bristol & West AC is not a "legal entity" and cannot technically hold a long-term lease. So that we can move forward, we are proposing to incorporate the Club as a Company Limited by Guarantee (CLG).

What is a Company Limited by Guarantee? In simple terms, this is the standard legal structure used by many modern sports clubs in the UK.

• Non-Profit: It is not a "commercial" company; there are no shares and no one takes a profit. All surplus funds stay within the Club.

• Legal Personality: It allows the Club to act as a "legal person." This means the Club itself signs the lease and contracts, rather than individual committee members.

• Professionalism: It provides the professional governance structure that landlords and local authorities now require for facility agreements. Additionally, this status is a requirement for many National Governing Bodies and external grant providers, unlocking potential funding opportunities.

• Continuity of Democracy: Crucially, the heart of how our club is run will not change. The Club will remain a membership-led organisation. While the title for those running the club will change from "Committee Member" to "Director" to meet company law requirements, this is a change in title rather than a change in how the club is run. Our officials will still be elected each year at the AGM via a fair and democratic vote, exactly as they are now.

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Why your participation is vital at the AGM
At the upcoming AGM on April 29th, we will be putting forward the formal motions to transition the Club into this new structure 

Because these motions involve "Winding Up" the current association (under Section 22 of our Constitution), we are required to achieve a 75% majority of those present and voting for the motion to pass.

If we do not achieve this majority, we will not have the correct legal structure in place to sign the new lease. This would put our long-term future at the track at significant risk.

We are at a defining moment for generations to come for Bristol & West AC. By participating in the AGM and supporting these motions, you are directly helping to secure the track for our current athletes and for generations of young people in Bristol to come.

Questions and Further Information 
We understand that you may have questions about this. Ahead of the AGM, we have set up the following process:

• Submit Your Questions: Please email any questions to chair@bristolandwestac.org by Monday, April 13th.

• Q&A Document: We will collate the questions received and share a Q&A document with everyone on Thursday, April 16th.

• Drop-in Sessions: We will also host two informal Q&A drop-in sessions via Google Meet for anyone who would like to discuss the proposal further:

  • Thursday, April 16th: 7:00pm – 8:00pm

  • Monday, April 20th: 7:00pm – 8:00pm 

  • (Links to these meetings will be shared alongside the Q&A document).

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The formal wording of the resolutions will be included in the AGM Voting Pack.

Many thanks

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Ben Maliphant

B&W AC Chair
(On behalf of the committee)