Long Eaton Judo Club was founded in 1961 after a group of local residents attended a beginners course and decided they liked it so much that they set up their own club. 55 years on the club has over 100 members and boasts its own purpose built dojo. All of this growth has been underpinned by effective financial management at the club. 

“We try and have one committee meeting every other month where we can monitor finances”, said David Hawkins, who’s mother Mary was a co-founder of the club. 

“We are fortunate in that our club treasurer Malcolm Longford is a qualified accountant. He is the parent of an old member but stayed involved with the club and still does our finances to this day. As a club we are really lucky to be able to have someone with his experience and expertise keeping an eye the financial side of things”. 

Like most judo clubs, the majority of Long Eaton’s income is generated by mat fees, and the club has developed an efficient system log this key income. 

“The club has a membership book which is we use to tick off the mat fees every time someone comes in and when they’ve paid. This is all put into a spreadsheet which the treasurer uses to create the profit/loss accounts, balance sheets etc. for the committee meetings and the AGM. It’s a simple system we’ve had for a number of years now and it works well for us”, explained David. 

The club also logs all of its outgoings and have trained up a group of individuals at the club so they are not over reliant on a single person to monitor the clubs income and expenditure. Keeping accurate records in this way has allowed Long Eaton to identify and address any discrepancies that may arise in their accounts over the course of the year. 

In 2007 the club successfully obtained £497,000 Lottery Funding from Sport England which paid for the construction of a new dojo which the club owns. The club had to produce a detailed feasibility study which included a comprehensive financial review in order to receive the funding. This was made easier thanks to the effective accounting practices the club have embraced. 

The effective financial management systems Long Eaton Judo Club have adopted has also allowed them to accrue additional financial reserves which have helped safeguard the club’s long term future. They also frequently make a small profit at the end of each year which is reinvested back into the club to help it grow further.   

“For judo clubs I think the most important thing is that they get a [financial management] system that works for them which is also transparent so people’s integrity cannot be called into question”, added David. 

Long Eaton Judo Club run sessions on Tuesday and Thursday evenings and Saturday afternoons at Long Eaton Judo Club, Cross Street, Long Eaton, Nottingham NG10 1HD. For more information visit their website at http://www.longeatonjudoclub.co.uk/.