I would like to let everyone know that we are going to have to re-evaluate the range of fee structures that we charge for training and membership of the Club.
Holy Name Primary School has been exceptionally generous over the years, and has charged a minimal rate for us to use their facility. Due to significant increases in their operational costs (especially electricity) they have asked us to increase the amount we are paying from an effective $10 per hour for evening classes to $15. This is still a very generous rate compared with similar facilities. However, it still poses a 50 per cent increase in our rental costs.
Although the Club has been in a sound financial position to this point, we need to ensure that we have ongoing viability, particularly going into the summer where we have a natural ebb in students due to them taking time away from Toowoomba. As a result, the Executive will be discussing a range of options as to how we can best manage this.
The first, and most likely is that we will have to increase the amount we charge for training contributions, both monthly and per session. We are still very competitive with other similar Clubs in the district, but are mindful that we will continue to be one that supports full-time students that often have minimal capacity to make direct financial contributions.
Second, we will also be looking to ensure that folk make their contributions in a timely manner, whether that is financial or in-kind work that attracts "Dojo Dollars".
The third option is to look carefully at how we are currently providing our spread of classes, and we may have to rationalise by reducing the number of sessions that we offer through the week. This is personally my least preferred option as we had set up the timetable with an eye to maximising member's opportunities to participate in a wide range of activities.
From October, we will be using Martialytics to keep track of all member contributions to the Dojo, so please bear with us as we bet this system down over the next fortnight. We also intend to have an Executive meeting early next week to decide on the best way forward for the Club so that it can continue to provide the excellent level of service to members.