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The minutes of the 2009 Annual General Meeting of the Harrogate Rambling Club, held on Monday, 5th October, 2009 are below. Please click on the links to go directly to the appropriate sections.
1. Opening RemarksAndrew Batcup, President and Chairman opened the meeting at 7.10pm. by welcoming the members present and thanking them for their attendance (52). He then introduced Mike Bevington of the Yorkshire Air Ambulance, who gave a short presentation and showed a video of the work of the YAA. After thanking Mike, Andrew asked everyone to observe one minute’s silence in memory of Gordon Wright and David Vickers who had both died during the year. He then declared the meeting open. 2. Apologies for AbsenceThese had been received from Molly Askew, Muriel Carter, Brian and Shirley Clarke, Judith Cornfield, Sylvia Etherington, John Foster, John Fowler, Susan Henton, Sandra Howarth, Julia Humphries, Lynne Noble, Peter and Sarah Russell-Floyd, Gerry Veart, and Peter and Delia Wells. 3. Minutes of the 72nd AGM, 13th October 2008The minutes had been circulated and the President asked for approval. Acceptance of the minutes was proposed by Mike Wilesmith, and seconded by Michael Smith. All accepted and the President duly signed the minutes 4. Matters Arising from the 2008 Minutes
Acceptance was proposed by Joe Regan and seconded by Dorothy Renwick. All approved. Andrew asked if there were any further matters arising. John Marsden asked about the surplus funds from last year and was told that Buck would deal with it in his Treasurer’s report. 5. Annual ReportsThe President introduced the officers' reports and requested that all questions be saved until the end of the reports. (i) General Secretary. Pam was able to report successful donations to the four charities agreed to at the last AGM. Cheques for £1,000 each had been presented by the President and Treasurer to the Yorkshire Dales Society, the Ramblers Association, the Yorkshire Air Ambulance, and the Yorkshire Green Dales Alliance. She pointed out that photographs, newspaper cuttings and letters regarding the events were on display on the notice boards for viewing after the meeting. She reminded members of the previous year’s donation of £1,000 to the Yorkshire Dales millennium Trust, and informed them that the money had been used to plant trees in two woodland areas at Timble. Molly Askew would be leading a walk there on Wed 7th Oct to see the planting. Pam had received three accident reports and one footpath obstruction report. Contacts with other organisations had increased with requests for help with charity walks and for volunteers to help the Harrogate and Ripon Society for the Blind amongst them. These had usually been circulated via email due to insufficient notice. To conclude, Pam thanked the present and past presidents and committee members for their help and support during her term of office. It had been an enjoyable experience which she felt would be equally so for her successor who would do an excellent job. (ii) Programme Secretary Yvonne reported another good year for the Club with 376 walks offered. This was a slight reduction on the previous year due to combining the Sunday C and D grade walks. Although there had been 131 walks leaders they only represented about a third of the Club membership, and that only a small core of leaders led most of the walks. She urged existing leaders to encourage others and be a bit more proactive in recruiting people. Yvonne thanked June and Joe Regan for producing the first Programme for her as she had not retired from work at that stage. She also thanked Jen Harland and Noreen Logan and their team for distributing the Programmes. She said that the as the Programme seems to be getting thicker there is a danger of exceeding the second class post limit. To avoid this she planned to make a few format changes and use some abbreviations. She also urged people to give only a brief description of the route, to allow for five entries on every page. (iii) Membership Secretary Julia informed the meeting that the current membership is now 464, made up of 93 couples and 278 individuals at 371 addresses. This includes 16 honorary members. There were 8 more members than last year and 33 new members, with a few less individuals but a few more couples. Membership email addresses had increased from 57% last year to 63%, and she had sent out about 30 email updates. She had established that the overwhelming way in which new members had heard about the Club was by word of mouth, usually via a past or present member. (iv) Webmaster David reported that the website use had grown with a third increase on last year. The number of visits to the site averaged 25 per day, peaking at 50 in the last month. Usually 2-3 pages were viewed per visit, with most people visiting the walks listing, although about 20% were looking up membership information. Interestingly he had recently noticed visitors who had reached the site via the Canadian and Swiss Google pages. David had found that the photos had not been looked at so much recently and felt some new ones were needed. He had received some individual photos but required sets to be able to add a new album. June Regan pointed out that Joe Regan had sent a photo of a walk at Simon’s Seat and David asked him to send some more to make a set. Colin Kershaw asked about the size required and David replied that they needed to be as big as possible because he could reduce them but not increase them if they weren’t large enough. Michael Smith enquired as to the best place to send them and David replied that they could be emailed either to the website or to himself. David then reminded everyone of the website links to other useful sites such as Dalesbus, the RA, the National Parks and the Green Lanes Alliance, also a small ads section. (v) Summary of Events. The President then introduced summaries of events given by various members. He began by reading a report on the long awaydays on behalf of Sandra Jacklin. Sandra reported that there had been 5 long awaydays in 2009, all of which had been well attended with numbers ranging from 10 to the mid twenties. She briefly outlined each walk and extended many thanks to all the leaders. Andrew said that Sandra would be stepping down as long awaydays collector after several years’ of sterling service to the Club. He asked for a volunteer to take over from her. Andrew then read Lynne Noble’s navigation workshop report. An indoor session of the workshop was attended by 10 members and the outdoor event attended by only 8 members. Andrew then called upon Buck White to give an account of the evening walks. These had been resumed again following a request from some members. Buck reported that six walks had taken place to coincide with the August to November programme. Attendance had varied from 8 to zero. He had concluded that evening walks in future should be limited to 4 weeks each side of the longest day, that they should start at 7pm and all should meet leader at the start not at Trinity. This would see a total of 9 walks from May 21st to July 9th 2010. Anyone interested should contact Buck. Andrew thanked Buck and called upon Brian Pringle to give a report as walks collectors’ co-ordinator. Brian told the meeting that because the Committee had been concerned about the poor attendance on the Sunday C and D walks, these had been combined into one group commencing with the April to July Programme. An average of 11 walkers and taken part in the new combined walk with an average walking distance of 7.4 miles, thus resulting in some complaints from the D walkers. Having suggested that it was up to these members to lead walks themselves, the average distance had dropped to 6.7 miles in the December to March 2010 Programme. This distance is still in line with current guidelines. He felt that the Club should continue with this group. He commented that although some members had felt the ‘NO LEADER, NO WALK’ notice in the Programme was rather harsh it had worked and there are fewer blank days in both the present and next Programmes. Brian thanked the walks collectors and leaders for their contribution and was sure that his successor would be equally well supported. Andrew thanked Brian and called upon Jen Harland to report on the social events of the year. Jen briefly outlined each event as follows:- the Christmas coach ramble organised by Buck White was attended by 33 people, who walked on the North York Moors, finishing with a meal at the Royal Oak Inn at Gillamoor; the Annual Dinner Disco organised by Jen was held at Millstones restaurant in February, with 33 people enjoying a good meal and some lively dancing; the Ceilidh, organised by Ros Kemp, was held at Armscliffe Hall in April and was well attended by 42 people, who enjoyed a faith supper, some hilarious dancing and who contributed to a raffle for St Michael’s Hospice thus raising £58. She went on to report that the spring coach ramble, organised by Judith Cornfield in May, had been attended by 49 members who went to Saltburn where approximately a third of the attendees did each walk. The walk was notable not only for excellent weather but for the flexibility of the starting points of the medium and short walks due to the breakdown of the coach. The Autumn coach ramble was organised by Sue Batcup in September with 42 walkers enjoying three levels of walk in the Holmfirth area. Jen then proceeded to inform the meeting of some forthcoming events. The Christmas coach ramble has been organised by Sue Batcup for the Richmond area with a meal at the King’s Head. The cost would be £29 and she stressed the need to book early. Jen herself had already booked Ascot House in Harrogate for the Annual Dinner next February, Ros Kemp is arranging a Ceilidh for next April, and Judith Cornfield is planning a Spring coach ramble for next May, possibly to the Lincolnshire Wolds. (vi) The President's Address. Andrew addressed the meeting, giving a few impressions of his first year as President. He said how impressed he is that the Club membership is now 464 and can offer 376 volunteer-led walks a year. He thought the four monthly Programme and website were equally impressive and achievements the Club should be proud of. He went on the say that it had been a joy to work with the Committee and that anyone volunteering to join would find it a happy group. He and his wife Sue had attended all but one of the coach rambles and social events and really enjoyed them. His only disappointment had been the lack of volunteers to serve on the Committee and that no one had come forward to organise a HRC Younger Walkers Group. Andrew then went on to thank his wife Sue, who had acted as Vice-President in all but name, all the walks leaders, walks collectors and co-ordinator, to Sandra Jacklin for the long awaydays, to Lynne Noble for the navigation workshop, and to David Peckett for the excellent website. Finally he thanked his fellow Committee members and Club Officers, particularly Pam, Julia and Brian who were standing down after their 3 year terms. He asked if there were any questions on the reports. There were none. 6. Election of Officers and Committee Members Pam asked members to turn over their Agenda sheet and look at the nominations. She pointed out that there were still nominations needed for the Vice-President, Membership Secretary and a Committee member. She said that Andrew would address the Membership Secretary position shortly and asked for any volunteers from the floor for the other vacant positions. There were none. She then asked for someone to propose and someone to second acceptance of the remaining nominations en bloc. Rodney Waddilove proposed and he was seconded by Brian Pringle. All present accepted. The President then addressed the meeting on the issue of the Membership Secretary. He stressed the key nature of the work in dealing with potential new members’ enquiries, updating the computerised membership list, receiving and recording annual membership fees and chasing up overdue fees, and circulating information via email. This involved about 140 hours of computer work and 10 hours of non-computer work. To date no one had volunteered to do this work, so Andrew again asked for a volunteer from the floor. No hands were raised. He then said that because the role was so crucial the Committee had come up with a Plan B, but it would cost money. Committee member Ros Kemp had offered to do the 5% non computer work and after trying in vain to outsource the computer work, Julia Riddington, the retiring Membership Secretary and a self employed computer consultant, had offered to do the work at cost for £715 pa. Andrew stated that if this solution were to be accepted the membership fees would have to increase to cover the extra cost and that Buck White, the Treasurer would explain the implications. After that there could be a vote in favour or against. He also pointed out that if a volunteer came forward during
the year, the necessary termination of arrangements with Julia would be made and
the volunteer would take over. He asked for any non-financial questions to be
asked at this point. Peter Bellman asked if the job could be split. Andrew said
that in addition to the split already mentioned, the emails were the only other
item that could sent by someone else. Colin Kershaw asked if an automated
message could be sent out with walks changes, and Julia replied that she hadn’t
the software to do this but that it wasn’t a problem – it was the membership
that took the time. John Marsden suggested that direct debit payments would save
a lot of time and Nick Anderson said that maybe there could be a financial
incentive to pay by direct debit. Rodney Waddilove pointed out that it should be
standing order not direct debit. Arthur Griffiths asked Julia if her system was
compatible with Apple Mac and she said it could be. John Marsden said that there
was time for members to change to standing order before the next renewal date to
reduce the workload. Yvonne Arntsen then pointed out that the fees would still
have to be set at the AGM 7. Annual Accounts and Financial Strategy Buck reported that the Club’s financial year ended 31stAugust 2009 with total assets of £2348 compared with last year’s total of £6640, a difference of £4292. A total of £4000 had been donated to the four charities nominated at last year’s AGM (photos of some of the presentations are here), and a sum of £58 was collected at the Ceilidh and donated to St Michael’s Hospice. Buck referred members to the circulated sheet showing income and expenditure and a balance sheet, accompanied by some explanatory notes. Referring to income he said subscriptions were down £147 on last year, Advertising up £13, and bank interest down £167,a total of £301 down on last year. Expenditure was up by £197 on last year. The outcome of income and expenditure is a drop of £500 compared with last year. He said that all sums had been fully accounted for, and the Club Auditor, Brian Clarke, had certified that the records are in accordance with the Club’s records. He then asked for any questions at this point. John Marsden queried the working surplus of £1500 at the last AGM. Buck replied that he had since studied the issues with two Club members and had found an underlying increase in costs and therefore the markers used to give the £1500 surplus had not been accurate. John Marsden then asked how the subscriptions could be down when the membership had increased. This was thought to be because of more couples joining and the over 80 effect. Nick Anderson asked why the insurance premium had increased. Buck explained the he had been advised by the insurers to increase insurance cover from £5million to £10million because of some recent cases. As underinsurance could lead to Club Officers being liable he felt he had no alternative. Buck then continued to explain the profit and loss aspects of club events. Some payments had been made in the previous year whilst others had been paid in advance, such as the deposit for the Christmas coach ramble. Planned subsidies amounted to £224 whilst real losses totalled a mere £42. There were no further questions and John Marsden thanked Buck for supplying the explanatory notes for the first time, as they had been very helpful. Buck proposed accepting the accounts and was seconded by Tom Snelling. Financial strategy. Buck said that the financial objectives for the year 2008-9 had been met, and assets of £2348 remained. He had already explained how, with reduced income and increased expenditure we were some £500 worse off at the end of the year than a year ago, and that there is every reason to suppose this trend to continue. Whilst the club held unusually high reserves we were able to accommodate increases in our operational costs, but no more. If the present level of subscriptions were to be maintained we faced the prospect of going into the red before the end of the year. It is the club’s intention to maintain reserves equal to one year’s operating costs as a buffer against unforeseen contingencies, and he advised that whilst expenses and revenues are highly volatile this buffer is of considerable importance. Andrew had outlined the possible need to outsource work if volunteers could not be found to fill vacant committee posts, in particular the Membership Secretary’s role. In order to meet the higher level of operating costs and to help boost reserves it would be necessary to raise subscriptions to £10 single and £15 double with effect from January 2010. Even so, the volatility of expenses and revenues was such that he could not guarantee not having to approach members again should the worst happen. Before asking for questions he put the proposals into context. The present level of subscriptions was set six years ago at the 2003 AGM, and only now has it become necessary to raise them. Thanks to negotiations with retailers, members could save more than the cost of the new subscription on a single purchase. His researches showed that the majority of walking clubs nationally charge the same subscription as the Ramblers, £27 pa. with only a few charging less, eg U3A £10 and the Fell & Dale Club £5, but for a mere one or two walks per month. We offered members some 400 walks a year, a professionally printed programme three times a year, plus away days, coach rambles and social events. No other club he knew offered so much for so little. The new subscription would be only 83 pence per month. He asked for questions. Patrick Clarke thought that maybe the over 80 concession should be reconsidered. At present there was no record of how many members would fall into that group but the new renewal form would have a tick box for age range. Isobel Beard thought that subscriptions could be voluntary for the over 80s. The President suggested that, notwithstanding the earlier resolution passed, the actual numbers of members who were over 80, as revealed by the year end renewal process, should be checked. A firm recommendation on whether to give free membership to those over 80 could then be made to next year’s AGM. Rodney Waddilove, who had not attended the previous AGM, thought that too much money had been given away. Buck explained that at the time the surplus was serving no purpose and a vote had been taken to give it away to charity. John Marsden said he had been under the impression that the working surplus would suffice but obviously not. The President then pointed out that at that time there had been no indication that the Club would have to pay a Membership Secretary. Peter Bellman thought the Club gave good value for money, for which there was general agreement, although John Marsden said that costs should be reduced to contain increases in subscriptions. Julia Riddington pointed out that considerable time is taken chasing up payments. Alan Storer felt that the increase would cover the costs to Julia. Buck then proposed that the financial strategy for 2009-2010, including the increase in annual subscription to £10 for single and £15 for double be accepted, he was seconded by John Marsden. A show of hands gave all in favour with one abstention from Rodney Waddilove, which he wished to be minuted. 8. Appointment of AuditorThe Treasurer informed the meeting that although absent, Brian Clarke had agreed to continue as auditor. There was unanimous acceptance. 9. Any Other BusinessThe President asked if there was any other business. Daphne Fisher asked if the Trig. Point at Grafton was still being looked after. Andrew said he would go and look at it to see if it needed attention. Andrew then thanked Noreen Logan and her helpers for the refreshments, which were now available, and closed the meeting. |
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