Wimborne Wagtails
Swimming Club for the Disabled
Spring Social
Over 30 Wagtails enjoyed our spring social at The Priest House Museum. All enjoyed the tasty lunch plus bric a brac table and it was a great chance to catch up with friends.
April 2023
AGM
Our Annual General Meeting was held at Holt Village Hall on Friday 2nd June. It was attended by nearly 40 members and their families.
The Trustees presented their reports and the swimming awards:
This year's cup winners were:
"Young Swimmer" Sam P
Special mention to Rafe
"Volunteer Cup" Ann
"Elsie Stone Cup" for a mature swimmer David
"Endeavour Cup" for most improved swimmer" Oscar
Special mention to Marie and Polly who both received a medal
"Endeavour Cup" for swimming through adversity" Ru
Special mention to Jo
Swimmers were presented with a Wagtails certificate to celebrate their latest swim achievements.
Julian thanked our wonderful swim instructor Rita who is leaving after over 20 years service to Wagtails. She was presented with flowers, a card, memory book and voucher. He explained that the situation with QE is still uncertain but it looks like it will be taken over by a private company.
Alex explained the latest accounts which showed an excess of £8,134. This was mainly due to the generous donation from Abbey Swimming Club and our very successful sponsored swim event last Autumn.
Sarah took over for the re-election of officers and all were re-elected after being proposed and seconded by the members. Julian - Chairman, Sarah - Vice Chair, Alex - Treasurer & Secretary, Ros - Safeguarding and David - PR.
June 2023
Xmas party
Our Xmas celebrations started with a fun swim with games and races in the pool organised by Rita and Michelle. This was followed by a party in studio 2. Nearly 50 attended and enjoyed the festive buffet food from Sorrels, games and raffle. The amazing prizes included tickets for the Oceanarium, The Tank Museum, Wimborne Model Village, a hamper from Morrisons and many other prizes which raised £100.
Wagtails enjoyed pass the parcel and pin the nose on the Reindeer plus a group festive jumper photo.
December 2022
Picnic at Shapwick
Over 20 Wagtails enjoyed a BYO picnic at Shapwick field after swimming. Luckily there was plenty of shade and a breeze as it was one of the hottest days of the year! Many chilled out with a drink or ice cream from the nearby Anchor Inn.
August 2022
Wareham River Boat Trip
I went on my first boat trip with Wimborne Wagtails recently and I really enjoyed it. The weather wasn’t very good and was quite drizzly to start with, but did get better. I went with my Mum and loved the beautiful views, we saw lots of birds and I counted 54 swans. We travelled from Poole Harbour to Wareham Quay and back. We had fish and chips when we got to Wareham and ate them on the boat, they were very tasty. The helpers on the boat were very nice and gave us lots of information and facts. I also enjoyed making new friends on the trip as we had time to talk and get to know each other. I hope we get to go again.
By Rebecca, age 13
The boat trips are possible thanks to the Friends of the Dolphin Charity https://www.thefriendsofdolphin.co.uk/
August 2022
AGM
Our Annual General Meeting was held at Holt Village Hall on Friday 20th May. This was the first to be held as a social event for 2 years and it was lovely to see everyone socialising and enjoying a hot supper together. It was attended by over 30 members and their families. There was also a chance to buy a Wagtails T-shirt or polo shirt (which raised £26) and win a prize in the raffle (which raised £73).
The Trustees presented their reports and the swimming awards:
Rita's tribute to the winning swimmers can be read here.
This year's cup winners were:
"Young Swimmer" Luke O
Luke has swum with Wagtails for many years and loves his swimming particulary back stroke
Special mention to Oscar, Sam, Torin and Ru who all received a medal
"Volunteer Cup" Di and Ossie
Di & Ossie are such friendly and reliable volunteers who add to the welcoming
atmosphere at the Club
"Elsie Stone Cup" for a mature swimmer Wendy
Wendy has endured several operations and has kept on swimming to aid her recovery
"Endeavour Cup" for most improved swimmer" Harry
Harry has made enourmous strides and now swims 800m - 1000m each session ( up from 50m when he first started)
He loves front crawl and his swimming technique and water confidence have improved dramatically in his time with the Club and we are so pleased to have him amongst us
Special mention to Greg, Laura and Sarah M
"Endeavour Cup" for swimming through adversity" Sean
Sean is always smiling and cheerful although facing many challanges in his daily life
Julian welcomed everyone and thanked our wonderful swim helpers Rita, Di, Ossie and Michelle. He welcomed the many new swimmers since lockdown including Torin, Maggie, Polly, Harry & Oscar, Sean & Jackie (returning swimmers), Isaac, Charlotte, Ru, Jo & Rebecca, Tyler and Wendy. He explained that the situation with QE is still uncertain. The Club will be introducing distance awards starting in July for those who are interested.
Alex explained the latest accounts which showed a loss of £776. This was mainly due to no donations in the year or a sponsored event. The bank balance is high at £8,800 (this includes £2,119 in restricted funds for Galas, training and equipment). Due to the QE situation we need to keep reserves high but we aim to break even each year. Hence the need for a sponsored event later this year.
Sarah took over for the re-election of officers and all were re-elected after being proposed and seconded by the members. Julian - Chairman, Sarah - Vice Chair, Alex - Treasurer & Secretary, Ros - Safeguarding and David - PR.
Julian explained that the Club will be organising a sponsored event in September where each swimmer will have a personal target that they will be getting sponsors for. These lengths can be swum in the 4 weeks in September ending with a fun Gala day on the 24th September.
Ros spoke about the Club's latest social events planned (the boat trips) and thanked Alex for organising the event.
"We had such a lovely evening, the food was amazing! and it was just such a lovely relaxed evening and nice to get the chance to talk to everyone.
The boys were so proud of their awards and can’t wait for the next social and we’ve already booked onto the boat trip! "
May 2022
Spring Social at The Priest House
A very enjoyable social with over 25 Wagtails enjoying a light lunch, chat, tombola and bric a brac stall. These raised £70 towards our club so thank you to everyone who donated and supported the stalls.
April 2022
Xmas party
Our Xmas celebrations started with a fun swim with games and races at QE. This was followed by a party at Holt Village Hall with a delicious festive buffet. Over 30 Wagtails attended. There was a fun festive jumper competition won by Greg and a super raffle which raised £92. A game of skittles was enjoyed won by Jack with Lucy second.
This was also an opportunity to thank the swim helpers who were presesented with flowers and chocolates.
We said farewell to Liz who is retiring after 20 years service with the Club.
This is Rita's tribute:
Liz has been a stalwart helper for many years, and her reliability has been flawless. It is so nice to be able to rely on your fellow helpers to be there and to share the workload.
She has been managing the gala timings for years on end, and her meticulousness has been much valued by all the swimmers. Her precision is such an asset to the club. This combined with her kindness, her gentleness in her approach, the way she is so quietly spoken but gets things done all the same, is really remarkable. Her talents as a swimming teacher are also invaluable.
Liz is a remarkable person in every way. She has been there for all the swimmers and the fellow helpers, as well as a much-valued committee member.
To me as a fellow helper, she has been such an asset both because of her precision in the swimmers’ gala timings, her precision in running the rota, and her reliability. If she says she will be there, she will be there come what may. That is what the club needs to run effectively, kind and reliable helpers and Liz is certainly that. She has also kept a close eye on people’s welfare, by telephoning members, making sure they can attend the galas, making sure they are well, etc. She has been a stalwart over the years, and she has always been an excellent team member. Her organisational skills are much appreciated by all.
December 2021
Memorial Cream Tea for Elsie
Many Wagtails past and present attended the Memorial Tea at The Priest House in November to remember Elise who died earler this year. We shared our memories and enjoyed looking at Elsie's swimming memorabelia.
This was also an opportunity to thank Jacqui for her work at Wagtails including 3 years as Chairman.
November 2021
Cream Tea at The Priest's House
Our first social event since lockdown was very well attended and enjoyed by 26 Wagtails including their family and friends. The scones and cakes provided from Sorrels were absolutely delicious and thoroughly appreciated on the mild Autumn day. The raffle raised £28 and the sale of other items £26.
"It was great to see so many happy faces"
"Thank you Wagtails"
"I love it that socials are back again"
"A fab do it was perfect"
October 2021
Panto Jack and the Beanstalk
A group of 30 Wagtails and friends enjoyed the Panto visit to the Tivoli Theatre Wimborne in June 2021.
This was third time lucky for the annual panto trip due to COVID cancellations and they all enjoyed the event.
June 2021
Christmas Lunch at Bentleys
On Saturday 14th December Wimborne Wagtails held their annual Christmas Dinner in Bentley's Restaurant at Dudsbury Golf Course. The food was top quality as in previous years and Keith and Beryl did an amazing job organising it all. Sadly this will be their final year so new volunteers required for 2020!
Jacqui spoke of the Club's successful year and presented distance swim awards to Luke, Bob and Sarah M. Wine was handed out to all pool volunteers thanks to our photo competition win from Dorset Volunteering. Julian spoke about the 4 Galas Wagtails entered last year with news of our first ever Inter Club Gala held at Canford in March. Next year we will be again hosting this - so keep 21st March free.
There were a huge number of excellent raffle prizes won with the top raffle prize of a £100 voucher for a studio portrait session won by the Oliver family.
December 2019
AGM
The Annual General meeting was held at QE school after the swim session on 27th April 2019. This was attended by 36 members who enjoyed the free after swim lunch and raffle (which raised £31).
The Trustees presented their reports followed by the swimming awards:
This year's cup winners were Helen C "Endeavor", Sarah M "Endeavor", Ossie "Outstanding contribution" and Rita "Volunteer". There were also Wagtails medals for 2 junior swimmers Ben and Tilly for their swimming achievements .
Jacqui announced that the disabled swim session is to be extended by half an hour to 1pm, when there will be a chance to offer swimming lessons in very small groups. More details to follow.
Alex explained the latest accounts showing a small profit with a healthy bank balance of £11,000 with £5,000 left of the restricted funds. Continious fundraising is essential and various ideas were discussed.
Julian spoke about our 2 recent very sucessful Galas at Canford School showing the Club the top swimmers shield won by Robbie and also the Champions Cup Wagtails won at Sherborne last September.
Ros spoke about the Club's latest social events planned and the need to find more volunteers to enable the usual socials to continue.
April 2019
Skittles at Pamphill
A good turnout for this post Christmas event with 33 members attending and £32 profit from the raffle. The tasty buffet food was provided by Sorrells. After a "no balls" start to the evening skittles were played and won by Luke and Liz with Greg officiating. Thank you to Alex for organising.
February 2019
