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My role: Treasurer


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Craig - our prudent, Scottish treasurer!

I first starting coming along to OCV tasks in the autumn of 2006. In late 2007 I finally caved in to the OCV press gang and "volunteered" to be treasurer. Apparently someone thought it would be a good idea to copy New Labour, and have a prudent, Scottish Presbyterian influence on OCV finances! The main task of treasurer is to keep records of all our financial transactions and make sure the books balance. As a registered charity, we are required by law to keep such records. The other main task is to keep the committee up to date on the state of our books so that we can make informed decisions on our budgeting.

Our main sources of income are task fees. Yes, that's right, people do pay us to start bonfires on their land, and drink cups of tea - brilliant! Fortunately, between cups of tea, our volunteers do lots of excellent work and so our clients invite us back to do even more work. We can also apply for grants from a variety of places, although there are a lot of charities desperate for funding, so the amount available to us appears to be decreasing all the time. Our membership fees also help to cover some of our expenses.

Our income needs to cover the expenses of our activities. Our main expense is the running of our magic bus. Our van officer does a great job of looking out for the best deals in terms of servicing etc, but insurance and fuel all add up! We are also aware that one day the minibus will have to go to the great tool shed in the sky, so we always try to save a little each year, for when we eventually need to buy a new bus.

Our other major expense is replacing old and worn tools and buying new tools. We work on the philosophy that you have to spend money to make money. If we have good tools then we can work more efficiently and do a good job for our clients. There is nothing more demoralising for a volunteer than struggling to do a task with a tool that doesn't work well. It is also important to get as much mileage out of the tools as possible. This is why we have a tools talk at the start of every task. As well as the safety aspect, it reminds volunteers how to use tools in a way that will reduce wear on them. We are also fortunate to have had enthusiastic tools officers who have done excellent jobs looking after our tools over the years.

I've really enjoyed my time as treasurer. It has given me a good insight into how the charity functions. I'm always amazed at how much work the committee members put in to keeping OCV running smoothly. This is made so much easier by having a reliable, enthusiastic bunch of volunteers who can tackle a wide range of conservation tasks and produce good results for our clients!

Craig Waugh

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