The AGM took place immediately following a lovely lunch at the Stapleton Arms on 8th November. The meeting started with the outgoing President, Helen Phillips, welcoming members to the AGM. Members were asked to read the minutes, copies of which had been placed on each table, and they were accepted as accurate with a proposer and seconder.
Helen gave her speech, saying what a pleasure it had been working with such a brilliant team and thanking each committee member for the special contribution each had made during the year. She then handed over to the incoming President, Julia Holman.
Julia began by presenting Helen with a beautiful bouquet of flowers. She thanked Helen for her presidency and said that she had been the warmest, kindest, most supportive President we could wish for. She then stated that the club would be adopting the committee structure as defined in the Constitution. She also thanked the four retiring committee members for their support and introduced the three new members: Sue McGoldrick, Glenys Newall and Sarah Keyse and thanked them for standing up to do this.
Julia explained some of the financial difficulties the club experienced through last year and explained that we now have a positive position from which to go forwards. Pre covid, the club had many more members and was easily able to pay for speakers, the website and other expenses from membership fees, but as the club now has fewer members, the income and expenditure did not balance. The website has proved very useful, but the maintenance costs were high. These costs have now been reduced.
The crisis was overcome thanks mainly to the Summer Tea which replaced the Summer Lunch. It was designed to be profit making and it was. The committee made everything and did not ask for any payment and Helen kindly allowed us to use the marquee free of charge. The revenue generated by this dug the club out of a big hole. Further, Helen has been very successful in recruiting new members and the numbers are now slowly increasing. Starting this year, we will have a committee member responsible for finding new members. Julia stated that some members prefer a slightly smaller, more intimate club so that is a positive aspect.
The Stapleton Arms serve us with lovely food and a warm welcome and we’d like the club to remain at the Stapleton Arms.
Julia explained that it is necessary to increase the membership fee by £8.00 a year to £40.00 in order to bring the club back into balance and make a small contribution to rebuilding our reserves. Historically, a tip has been paid to the Stapleton Arms at Christmas from club funds. From January 2024, a tip of £2.00 will be added to each meal which will go directly to the staff. The Stapleton Arms have agreed to keep the cost of the meal at £24.00, so from January, members will pay £26.00 for their meal which includes the tip.
Julia finished by saying that her main objective for this year is to consolidate the improvement in our financial position, and to progress to a system that will support all our activities and secure our future in the long term. She noted that it’s our 40th anniversary in 2025! Let’s plan a party. She would also like to consolidate and maintain all aspects of club life. She said we are a small, warm, supportive group who want to have fun, to make new friendships and reinforce old ones, to eat a lovely lunch each month and hear an interesting talk.
The Treasurer’s Report, copies of which were available on each table, were approved with a proposer and seconder.
Finally, Julia told us that the Christmas meal would be at The Stapleton Arms on 13th December. She reminded members that membership (now £40.00) is now due.
Hilary Smith