SwindonHarriers.com - the online home of athletics in Swindon

A message from Ian larrard, club chairman:

Many of you have enquired about the cost of track fees and the arrangements that presently exist. Firstly I think in order to put matters in context we need to revert back a few years to when we did not have a fence and the facility was basically falling apart due to vandalism. At that stage the club negotiated with Swindon Borough Council the construction of the fence, paid for by them, but this was only possible if we paid an increased rent for the facility.

Basically we were paying rent at approx. £3,500 per annum and this was increased to £8,000 per annum. A large increase but one that had to be accepted otherwise the club would not have had any facility to train on, nor for competitions to be held on. In return for the increased rent we now have the facility surrounded by a secure fence, facilities such as high jump and pole vault are now possible, as is the ability to leave a certain amount of equipment out. We now a number of storage cabins and will try to improve these as best we can.

In return the committee asks that members and non-members pay their track fees in line with our published tariff. Simply if people avoid paying fees, something that the fence has made less possible, then they are cheating on their fellow athletes who have paid and endangering the club if we do not have the resources to pay the rent each month. We have amended the tariff upwards at the last AGM, with a consequential reduction in membership fees, in order to apportion the club's costs to the people that use the facilities. We of course have season ticket arrangements which benefit regular users and members should be mindful to other athletes who may appear not to be paying when entering the facility have in fact previously paid in advance.

I trust that this clarifies the position and rest assured that every penny paid goes back into the club, for its growth and the benefit of all its members. All committee members, coaches and helpers give their time entirely freely and with only one thing in mind - namely the development and fun that comes from athletics.