Minutes of the Annual General
Meeting held at
Rte Viva Espana on 30 January
2007.
The
first meeting was declared quorate and opened at 10.45.
David
Kitching and Edward Kendall were elected as President and Secretary
respectively for the purpose of the meeting.
The
President read the minutes of the last Annual General Meeting and these were
agreed by the meeting.
The
President explained the procedures for the second meeting, and the first
meeting was then closed.
The
second meeting opened at 11.10
President’s report
The
Club started the year homeless, but the EGM on 23 March chose overwhelmingly
Viva Espana. Good relations have been enjoyed with the restaurant management
since and there has been general satisfaction with the quality of the food and
service.
Familiar
activities such as day trips, theatre trips and a car treasure hunt had been
augmented with longer away trips – to Granada, Cordoba and Sevilla, to Mojacar
and a Christmas trip to Barcelona – which had proved very successful and were
self-financing.
Hopefully
2007 would include trips to Portugal, Teruel and Mojacar. Two new club
activities had been launched – fishing which despite Roger Stroud’s best
efforts had never got in the swim, and ten-pin bowling which had proved highly
popular. Golf, petanca and the walking groups continued to be well supported.
Bingo as a dinner evening activity had not been well received and had now been
dropped.
The
Committee had lost the services of Pat Edwards, and Sylvia and Jim Vanner.
Volunteers for co-option to the committee were being sought. Sylvia had also
resigned as Welfare Officer and David asked for volunteers to take on the role.
Secretary’s report
Edward
Kendall, as acting Secretary, said that there were 273 members at the end of
the year, compared to 222 the previous year. We had been more successful in
recruiting new members at the walking and petanca groups.
The
first mailing of a Christmas card, AGM agenda and What’s On to all members had
been achieved despite some problems with the new Club software. There would be
a further all-member mailing in March.
Treasurer’s report
David
Kitching explained that in Michael’s absence Alan Green had agreed to field any
questions on the accounts. David Patterson asked about the recce expenses for
walking – David said that this was for a projected walking weekend that did not
take place. The raffle income had been a major contributor to the surplus on
the accounts.
Election of Committee members
Pamela
Ellis was elected to the Committee by a majority of 68 – 2, and Colin Brown
with a majority of 66 – 4.
Motion: free membership for
serving members of the Committee
Several
members commented that serving on the Committee was a fairly thankless task,
members giving not only of their time but often being out of pocket as well.
Members then voted 55 – 19 in favour of the motion.
Motion: that the club shuts
down in August
Jean
Perkins asked why this was being proposed, Kay Wallace responding that a number
of people had suggested it, but it was put forward simply as an option. Comment
following referred to members having guests in August, and that the restaurant
was content to serve reduced numbers. Clive Thompson pointed out that the
Summer Ball in 2006 August had been attended by over 100 members. The motion
was lost on a vote of 30 – 42 with 3 abstentions.
Motion: charitable donations
It
was proposed that 10% of the annual surplus accrued from the weekly raffle be
donated to charity. Clive Thompson said that the Club could not have charitable
giving as one of its formally stated aims as this would violate its legal
constitution. The view was also expressed that the Club was not set up to raise
money for charity. David said that the vote need not bind the club in the
future. The motion to donate half of the 2006 raffle surplus to MABS and half
to the Franciscan Brothers was carried on a vote of 53 – 17 with 3 abstentions.
Any other business
David
said that Margaret Slepyan was doing an excellent job with the club website.
There had been 4,168 visits at a rate of 10 a day – many hits were from the
U.K., 71 in the previous week alone.
Clive
Thompson said that members not ordering in advance for Club dinners were being
inconsiderate to other members who had to wait whilst substitute meals were
prepared. Several members spoke in support of this point.
Ron
Perkins said that it would be better socially for tables to compete as teams on
quiz nights, rather than teams of four. David replied that this change would be
effected from the next Thursday.
Alan
Jones commented that members without internet access booking for events had
difficulty finding out when dates were changed. David said that the Committee
were aware that this had been a problem recently and that alterations to
announced events would be kept to a minimum.
Jean
suggested that prizes for fancy dress events should be for participating, and
David undertook to discuss this with the Committee.
Peter
Norton said that members should thank the Committee for their work, which met
with general agreement.
The
meeting closed at 12.17