England Touch Association - Annual Report 2014 England Touch Association - Annual Report 2014 | Page 52

ETA Annual Report

FINANCE
The England Touch Association (ETA) is a not for profit association, which exists as an association in financial
terms, for the benefit of its affiliated members. The ETA has for many years operated on a ’hand to mouth’ basis
barely scraping by with affiliation income keeping the association afloat but not allowing it to grow or flourish in
any notable way. At times the ETA ran at a cash flow negative position and was supported mainly by the
directors and benevolent individuals.
This has changed dramatically over the past couple of years with the advent of department budgeting as well as
new partnerships being formed, which has allowed ETA delivery objectives to be able to be planned against
forecast income. The ETA has managed to keep a sustainable positive bank balance over the past couple of years
and this has only improved during the 2014 year, even with the numbers of coaching and referee courses, events
and High Performance support staff increasing to keep up with the demand for these services.
The main source of income has still been from ETA member affiliations, with over £12,000 in income coming
from these affiliated memberships. This is anticipated to grow in 2015 as the ETA experiences a growth in
numbers requesting support for referee and coaching services, especially with the RFUs O2 Touch initiative
reaching more clubs in the lead up to the 2015 Rugby World Cup.
The events and coaching courses run by the ETA have both been slightly cash flow positive (ca. £400) against a
budgeted negative cash flow position, even with some capital spending having taken place this year, which
should put the ETA in a stronger position for the next few years to capitalise with an even stronger positive cash
position by the end of 2015.
The high performance area, encompassing nationals teams and international tournaments, has seen a very slick
2014 European Championships campaign coming off the back of a solid 2013 Home Nations tournament, result
in another positive cash position due in main to accurate budgeting and additional kit sales. This will allow the
ETA to hopefully continue to contribute towards individual player costs, as there is still a large financial burden
on the players to support themselves at international tournaments.
It is hoped that in 2015 with the Touch World Cup allied to additional courses and National events that the
financial position of the ETA will improve further such that it will be able to continue to support its members and
the growth and outreach of the sport of Touch in England.

Mike Abromowitz

Finance Director

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England Touch Association