Club finances

[Agrippa]

Being an accountant (stand by for a barrage of the usual comments ) I've dealt with
quite a few social and sports clubs and their finances, many  of them having a bar/lounge, fruit machine, pool, karaoke and hiring out a room for a party etc , all of which contribute
a large part of the club's income.

In model rail clubs (any gauge) with own premises and large layouts  how are
these financed without making members subscriptions very high? If  a club has a  large
layout based on a  particular area /period is the appropriate rolling stock club property
or members' own?

PS I'm assuming all model rail clubs' treasurers are of impeccable character, some people
I've dealt with in W of Scotland social clubs couldn't be trusted with a kid's dinner money
never mind fruit machine and bar takings. One club  would arrange its AGM to
coincide with an event like a big football final , or the Grand National etc
so less members would turn up and ask awkward questions...

[Roy L S]

Being an accountant (stand by for a barrage of the usual comments ) I've dealt with
quite a few social and sports clubs and their finances, many  of them having a bar/lounge, fruit machine, pool, karaoke and hiring out a room for a party etc , all of which contribute
a large part of the club's income.

In model rail clubs (any gauge) with own premises and large layouts  how are
these financed without making members subscriptions very high? If  a club has a  large
layout based on a  particular area /period is the appropriate rolling stock club property
or members' own?

PS I'm assuming all model rail clubs' treasurers are of impeccable character, some people
I've dealt with in W of Scotland social clubs couldn't be trusted with a kid's dinner money
never mind fruit machine and bar takings. One club  would arrange its AGM to
coincide with an event like a big football final , or the Grand National etc
so less members would turn up and ask awkward questions...

Interesting questions and I think the answers will vary greatly from club to club.

Layouts: -

Some clubs finance these entirely others partly finance and expect members to contribute too, I suspect it is also possible that some club layouts are fully financed by interested members but I don't know that from personal experience.

Stock: -

Most club layouts depend on members' stock with only a few pieces of rolling stock (if any) in club ownership.

Financing of Clubrooms: -

Cost of clubrooms varies, some are lucky enough to have cheap (even peppercorn) rent as a local a community amenity or due to a generous benefactor, others pay a fully commercial rate.

Some pay high annual subs, others a lower amount plus a weekly payment on nights attended. Any shortfall on subs to cover clubroom cost is likely to need to be met by way of income generated from other activities such as exhibitions.

Regards

Roy

[Agrippa]

Cheers, I'm a bit nosey when it comes to money....

[PLD]

As Roy says, almost every case will be slightly different.

In the case of Hull MRS, the clubrooms are in a community centre run by a charitable association made up of users of the centre (They took it on when the council tried to close it down around 20 years ago!)

Layouts are financed by the Society, but the club does not fund the purchase of rolling stock. Funding of layouts is on merit - it is up to a group of members to get together and put a proposal to the committee including a budget for it. Unlike some other cases I know of, the amount of funding from the Society is not dependent on how many members are in the layout group.

Apart from subscriptions, the main source of income is the surplus made by the Exhibitions.

a few examples of other cases I'm aware of (but won't name)

• The club provides only the premises, members fund all layout building.
• The members fund all layout building, AND pay the club a 'ground rent' in addition to the subs for the space their layout takes up.
• The club provides £xx per year per member of the layout group towards layout building, any extra needed has to be paid by the group members.
• The club funds rolling stock specific to the layout.

At the majority of Clubs, subscriptions are formed of two parts: an Annual lump sum and a Weekly attendance fee (at some payable regardless of whether you turn up or not, at others payable only if you attend). The amounts vary widely as does the balance between the two parts.

Paul
(Treasurer, Hull MRS)