Ajax has always had a strong Group Executive Committee, mostly comprising parents of the youngsters in the Group and with a succession of excellent Chairmen. The hard work of the GEC over the decades has kept the Group finances in good shape so that funds have always been available for operational requirements.
Income is also regularly supplemented with grants from various sources, perhaps most importantly the Royal Navy from whom we are eligible to receive grants because we are an RN recognised Unit.
Fundraising in the earlier years was raised mainly through jumble sales, Christmas fares, dances, Christmas dinners and the like. In the early 1970s the net profit from all of these activities was less than £1,000. Our main fundraising events are currently the Plant Sale, the bar and refreshments concessions at the Claygate Flower Show and the Esher May Fare which the Group took over in 1996, when the Rotary Club withdrew. Today our fundraising events generate net income of over £15,000 per annum.
With our current Chairman, Andrew Roberts, taking the lead, we are making very positive progress towards our building development goals – most importantly the provision of proper changing facilities both for girls and boys as well as male and female adults.
This is an edited excerpt of George Barber’s “70 Years of Ajax and 65 Years an Ajaccio”, first published in the 2018 Ajax Group Annual Report