The announcement is a great start to the summer season and and is the culmination of months of hard work behind the scenes.

The new status as a charity will give the club much greater access to funding to improve and develop all areas of our activities for the benefit not only of members, but also the wider community. It will also help us to develop the club's local, national (and even international) profile.

We will shortly be organising a social event to celebrate the news and it seems like a good excuse for a proper beach barbecue! Watch this space.

For those who are interested in the technical side of things, NSVL's entry in the Register of Charities can be found here.