annual general meeting
Transcription
annual general meeting
AGM minutes 2014 NATIONAL COUNCIL FOR THE DIVORCED, SEPARATED AND WIDOWED ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING HELD IN THE FLORAL HALL SOUTHPORT HOSTED BY THE NORTH WEST REGION ON SATURDAY 22nd March 2014 AT 11.00am MINUTES The Annual General Meeting was held in the presence of: The Vice-Presidents Members of the retiring NEC and Individual Members Representatives from the following Branches: Amblecote, Aylsham & Norwich, Barnsley, Bromsgrove, Croydon, Darton, Doncaster, Dudley, Fakenham, Gateshead, Hull, Leeds, Longsight, Loughborough, Manchester, Mexborough, Northfield, Nottingham Locksley, Rotherham, Scunthorpe, Sutton Coldfield, Tamworth, Warrington, Wakefield, Willenhall, Worksop, Yardley VOTES FOR TODAYS MEETING Total Number of Votes 2/3rds Majority 1. 1823 1215 National Chair Martin Benson opened the meeting at 11.05 2. Welcomed everyone to the 2014 National Annual General Meeting hope we have a very productive meeting and I hope that, given some of the comments made from people as they came in, we can keep it short. 3. APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE Denise Robertson: National President Phil and Avril Greenaway: National Vice Presidents John Winterburn: Vice President Brenda Winterburn Joan Parnell Raw: Vice President George Raw Sheila Marsh, Sandra Green: Dudley George & Pat Carse: Sutton Martin would also like to wish Pat and George Carse a speedy recovery. 1 AGM minutes 2014 4. ONE MINUTES SILENCE FOR ALL NCDSW MEMBERS WHO HAVE PASSED AWAY DURING THE YEAR Martin then called for a minute’s silence for those Members who had passed on in the Organisation, during the last year and to remember those that are in less than ideal health that are among us. Martin: Denise has apologised for not being here with us today but she has sent in an address to you all which the Secretary will read out. 5. Denise Robertson National President - Address to Members During the last year I have really seen some green shoots of progress in NCDSW. This is thanks, in no small part, to your Chair and his Officials but also because of some super human efforts by individual members. I am really glad that NCDSW is surviving the current storms, because I cannot remember a time when I have been more besieged with pleas from people who need organisations like yours. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and I wish that I could be with you but please enjoy your time together and make sure that NCDSW can go forward to further success. Denise Robertson NCDSW President 6. APPOINTMENT OF SCRUTINEERS Martin then asked for volunteers. Carol Key (Amblecote) Margaret ........................ ........................ Scrutineers were presented to the meeting and were accepted. The colours of the voting slips were shown to the meeting to remind members, which colour to use when voting takes place. Roving mike: Sean & volunteered Martin: Asked that when you are talking on the microphone for the purposes of the recordings could you state your name and branch so that it can go down on record. We have in the room today representatives from 27 clubs and 2 individual members so the total numbers of votes in the room is 1823 and two thirds of majority becomes 1215. 7. MINUTES OF THE 2013 ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING Martin confirmed that everyone was happy to take the Minutes as read. There were no abstentions Corrections to the Minutes Secretary: Dear Mally I am writing to you to ask if you could amend the minutes of the AGM 2013 meeting and add two names who attended the meeting for Mancunian Phoenix Club, Manchester. They were Anne Leather and Ernest David Lloyd; hopefully they will be able to attend this year’s meeting. Minutes duly amended. Acceptance of the Minutes as amended Proposed by Richard Gregory Seconded by Keith Holbrook A vote was taken: All in favour, none against. Abstentions 0. Matters Arising None 2 AGM minutes 2014 8. ADOPTION OF THE REPORTS AND ACCOUNTS a) Chairman Report accepted Proposed by Shaun Marsh and Sec by Bill Jones All in favour No abstentions b) Secretary Report accepted Proposed by Bill Jones and sec by Tony Buckley All in favour No abstentions c) Treasurer Report Accepted Proposed by Val Bailey and sec by Malcolm Grey All in favour No abstentions Accounts There were no questions for David. The books were available today for any one to look at. Proposed by Harry Taylor Seconded by Tony Buckley Accounts accepted by all present. All in favour No abstentions d) Publicity Report Proposed by Bill Jones and Sec Shaun Marsh All in favour No abstentions e) Development Report Proposed Keith Holbrook Sec Harry Taylor All in favour, No abstentions. f) NCDSW Members Support Fund All in favour of accepting the accounts and report Proposed Wendy Sec Tony All in favour. No Abstentions 9. ADOPTION OF THE AGM STANDING ORDERS This is a straight majority card vote using the voting cards issued with the voting slips All agreed No Abstentions 3 AGM minutes 2014 10. TO CONSIDER THE RESOLUTIONS SUBMITTED AS FOLLOWS 10A Section N12, Annual General Meeting & AGM Standing Orders This is a constitutional proposal and requires a two-thirds majority to be carried. Please use voting slip 10A. Proposed by Tony Elsdon, National Publicity Officer & Wigan Branch member Seconded by Mally Trail, National Secretary & Willenhall Branch member Amend Section N12 as follows: Subsection c) remove the paragraph commencing ‘Corporate Members’ and ending ‘Four Representatives’ Subsection c) in the paragraph commencing ‘Each Corporate Member represented’ add the word constitutional between ‘each’ and ‘proposal’ Subsection d) replace the word’ resolutions’ with the word ‘items’ and replace the words ‘’a simple majority of those attending and voting’ with ‘individual votes of NCDSW members in attendance at the AGM’ Amend NCDSW AGM Standing Orders section ‘Voting’ as follows: Remove the words ‘On all occasions when voting by a show of hands is called for, no Corporate Member shall be allowed to show more hands than that according to the Constitution, Section N12(c). Persons present who do not hold Individual Member status and who would cause a Corporate Member to be over-represented shall not vote. So that Section N12 subsection c) reads: Voting rights at any Annual General Meeting or at any Extraordinary General Meeting of the Council shall be as follows: Individual Members - each member attending shall be entitled to one vote for each proposal submitted to the meeting. Each Corporate Member represented at the meeting shall be entitled to one vote for each of its members for each constitutional proposal submitted to the meeting on the basis of the last affiliation fee paid to the Council provided always that only fully paid up Corporate Members shall be entitled to vote. Representatives attending any NCDSW General Meeting shall have voting rights for one Branch only. So that Section N12 subsection d) reads: All items on the Agenda other than proposals to amend the Constitution shall be decided by individual votes of NCDSW members in attendance at the AGM. 4 AGM minutes 2014 So that NCDSW AGM Standing Orders section ‘Voting’ reads: All motions on the agenda and all elections shall be decided by a ballot vote. The Chairman shall ensure that sufficient tellers or scrutineers are appointed at the start of the meeting and they alone shall be responsible for the handling and counting of ballot papers. The Chairman shall declare the result of the vote to the meeting in accordance with the terms and conditions of the Constitution. A recount shall be taken if there is a call from the floor for a recount. All reports shall be circulated with the agenda and no new matter shall be introduced at the meeting. The voting for reports shall be by a show of hands. Immediately following a Council AGM the ballot papers will be lodged with the Senior Vice-Presidents. Speaking For the Proposal: Tony Elsdon: To simplify this proposal, I believe that it is you, the people in this room that care about what happens to our Organisation. For example, I believe that if you ask the ordinary member who the Individual Members Secretary is, they wouldn’t have a clue. The reason is that the ordinary members care about their Branch, dancing & other functions. I believe that it is you, the people in this room, that care about who runs our Organisation & therefore I believe that it is you who should vote. As an example & I’ll use Mally if I may, 3 branches each with 50 members may like Mally & feel she is doing a good job. One single Branch with 175 members may not like Mally & that one single branch can outvote the other 3 branches. Therefore I believe that it should be the people present in the room that have a vote on matters that affect the Organisation such as the election of officers etc. Constitutional changes should of course be put to the members & they should have a say. I therefore ask you to support this proposal so that it is you in this room that say who runs NCDSW not one or two big clubs. No-one wished to speak against. The Chair moved to a vote; Votes For: 1335 Votes Against: 488 Abstentions: 0 Motion Carried 10B Section N10, Control This is a constitutional proposal and requires a two-thirds majority to be carried. Please use voting slip 10B. Proposed by Mally Trail, National Secretary & Willenhall Branch member Seconded by Tony Elsdon, National Publicity Officer & Wigan Branch member Amend the wording in Section N10 to remove the words ’Development Officer and four members’ and replace with ‘and up to five members’ So that Section 10B reads: The Council shall be controlled by a National Executive Committee (NEC) consisting of Chairman, Vice-Chairman, Secretary, Treasurer, Publicity Officer and up to five members elected annually at the Annual General Meeting of the Council and one Representative of each Region affiliated to the Council who conforms to this constitution. The officers of the Council shall be Chairman, ViceChairman, Secretary and Treasurer. To Speak in support of the motion: 5 AGM minutes 2014 Mally Trail: We are not trying to get rid of a person from the NEC; as you can see we would like to increase the number of other NEC members. However, what we have found over the past few years is that we are quite geographically placed around the country. As an example, our National Development Officer this year is based in Redditch. If we had a need in Gateshead, for example, it makes better sense to send Tony Elsdon as he is geographically closer. What we would do is share the development responsibility out amongst the different members of the NEC. This would save on expenses also. Thank you. No one wished to speak against the proposal so the Chair moved to a vote. Votes For: Votes Against: Abstentions: 1823 0 0 Motion Carried At this point the revised voting slips required because of the passing of 10a were distributed. The number of voting members in the room was clarified as being 66. 11. NCDSW MEMBERS SUPPORT FUND MEETING David Hamilton: I stated in my report that I planned to open a Savings Acct for the Fund. This has now been opened so next years accounts sheet will show 2 bank accounts. Any new funds, donations etc will be paid into the Savings Accts. There are still some funds remaining in the other account to pay out any awards. Mally Trail: I’d like to repeat what I said last night. The Members Support Fund is there for everybody. It doesn’t matter if you are working, not working whatever your circumstances are we are here to help you. I think that this needs to be stressed to the Members; you don’t have to be on your last pound before you apply for an award. We will help any member within our Organisation. This fund was set up for you guys & your members at your branches. So, please let your members know. Everything is kept confidential; the only people who will know are the 2 branch officers who sign the form, the claimant & myself. When I discuss the claim with the rest of the Support Fund Committee, they are not told who the claimant is, or which area or Region they are from. All that is divulged is what the claim is for & how long the claimant has been a member. Harry Taylor: How many awards were made last year? David Hamilton: two Harry Taylor: We do need some really strong advertising for the fund. This is because in our Branches (NW Region) it is not being pushed. Even in my branch there is just a poster on the wall, no leaflets or similar. We need to advertise it better; as has been said we’ve only made 2 awards in 12 months. It’s no different than it was before. Our members are not using us. Our members need educating about the support fund. Martin: That is firmly on the Agenda for the next 12 months. 6 AGM minutes 2014 Wendy: My members are coming to me saying that it is means tested & that is why they won’t apply. Thank you Mally for making it clear both last night & today but can we not have something on the form that says “This is not means tested”. People, even if they are poor, are proud. Mally Trail: I have a form here. All we ask for is their name & address, their e-mail address if they have one, what the support is required for, the branch they are currently a member of & for how long, How long have they been a member of NCDSW. There is a space for the Branch officers to make any comments in support of the claim, & to sign the form with name & position. That is all we ask for. Anybody can apply. Wendy: Can we have the words “This is not means tested” on the form please? Martin: I don’t see a problem with that. I’m sure we can amend the form. Garrie Mercer, Northfield Branch: I’m concerned that you don’t look into individual circumstances. Surely that leaves the fund open to abuse? We have to draw a line somewhere. Ernest Lloyd, Mancunian Branch: I agree with the previous speaker, people with sufficient money of their own should not be able to apply for a grant from the Support Fund. Mally Trail: NCDSW does not discriminate against anybody for any reason. We welcome everybody into our organisation. Why should we now start discriminating against Members who come to us for help from the Support Fund? Richard Gregory, Loughborough Chair & Mid Reg Secretary: If a member brought a form to me I don’t feel, as a Branch Chair, that I should be saying that I wouldn’t look at it without a bank statement. Unfortunately, we do live in a society where we will get false claims. Surely it is better to have a few false claims than not have any claims at all. Tony Elsdon: There is a space on the application form for branch officers to make comments which can be positive or negative. These comments will remain confidential as does the entire application. Tony Buckley, Individual Member: I believe that the Branches have a responsibility as they know the member & their circumstances. The branch Officers should put their comments recommending acceptance or not as the case may be. John Rush, Nat Vice Chair & Yorkshire Reg Chair: I’ve listened to all of the previous comments, & I believe that anybody with sufficient money of their own would not claim off of us. I certainly wouldn’t. 12. ELECTION OF CHAIRMAN Chair handed over to the Vice Chair, John Rush for the election of Chairman. Martin Benson Proposed: Shaun Marsh (Dudley) Sec Bill Cropper (Darton) 7 AGM minutes 2014 As there were no further nominations Martin was elected unopposed. Martin thanked everyone. We have a lot of hard work to do, and thanked the members for their vote of confidence. 13. ELECTION OF VICE-CHAIR John Rush: Tony Elsdon: Proposed Val Bailey (Darton) Sec Malcolm Grey (Scunthorpe) 25 Votes Proposed Harry Taylor (Wirral) Sec Bill Jones (Hull) 41 Votes Tony Elsdon was duly elected as Nat Vice Chair Martin asked for a show of appreciation for the hard work that JR had put in as Vive Chair over the year, especially as he had to step in to replace Iris Morris who stood down from the role halfway through the year. (Applause) 14. ELECTION OF SECRETARY Mally Trail proposed by Harry Taylor (Wirral) & Sec by Wendy As there were no further nominations, Mally Trail was elected unopposed. 15. ELECTION OF TREASURER David Hamilton proposed by Shaun Marsh (Dudley) & Sec by Keith Holbrook (Tamworth) As there were no further nominations, David Hamilton was elected unopposed. 16. ELECTION OF PUBLICITY OFFICER Ken Rourke proposed Tony Elsdon (Nat Vice Chair) Sec Shaun Marsh (Dudley) As there were no further nominations, Ken Rourke was elected unopposed. 17. ELECTION OF DEVELOPMENT OFFICER No position to vote for as Proposal 10b was passed. 18. ELECTION OF NATIONAL EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE 5 members of the NEC as per proposal 10b above. Bill Jones Tony Buckley John Rush Malcolm Grey Shaun Marsh Janice Simpson Proposed Trish Seconded Gordon Proposed Tony Elsdon Seconded Val Bailey Proposed Mally Trail John Declined the Nomination. Proposed Val Bailey Seconded Bill Jones Proposed Keith Holbrook Seconded Tony Buckley Proposed Tony Elsdon Seconded Bill Jones As there were no further nominations the persons above were elected. The Chair asked that each gave a brief potted history as a way of helping the members know what their backgrounds were. 19. ELECTION OF STANDING ORDERS COMMITTEE There had been received confirmation from Avril Greenaway should she be proposed she would stand on standing orders committee. Avril Greenaway Proposed by Wendy Sec by June Holbrook (Tamworth) Garrie Mercer Proposed by (could not hear) & Sec by Dave Malpass (Willenhall) 8 AGM minutes 2014 20. ELECTION OF HONORARY VICE-PRESIDENTS Martin: This nomination is very special to me. As you are all aware we sadly lost Marvis Forber a few months ago. To me Marvis was an exemplary example of everything that a National Vice President should be. She was caring about the members, committed to NCDSW & determined to be as supportive as possible. Marvis not only went the extra mile but sometimes the extra two or three miles. Her loss left a massive hole in NCDSW & the NEC feels that the vacancy should be filled by someone who also goes that extra mile or two, who also cares passionately about our organisation & its members, someone who has never been known to say no when a request for help has come through. Nominated by the NEC: Mally Trail Elected Unopposed 21. APPOINTMENT OF AUDITORS Avril Greenaway Proposed by Harry Taylor (Wirral) & Sec by Shaun Marsh (Dudley) Confirmation from Avril that she was happy to continue to be Auditor. No one objected. Avril was appointed once again. Vote of thanks to Avril 22. DATE, TIME AND VENUE OF THE 2015 ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING The Spa Bridlington Saturday 21st March 2015 23. GENERAL DISCUSSION Richard Gregory: Is there any information about the 2016 AGM as yet? Martin: I believe it will also be in Bridlington but I have no Info about the dates. John Rush: As next year is our 50th Anniversary we booked the Spa as was agreed in early 2013. It is booked for March. Mally Trail: The October weekend is also booked for this year. Janice has agreed to host it again for us. We are going to be in South Shields. Friday 31st October to Sunday November 2nd. It will be at Hedworth Hall again. Harry Taylor: As the October Weekend will be over Hallowe’en can we have that as a theme? Martin Benson: Halloween as a fancy dress weekend? Is that ok with everyone? General approval. Harry Taylor, North West Reg Chair: can I suggest that we leave the NCDSW Constitution alone next year? We’ve fine tuned it over the last few years & I think that we need to leave it alone for a while so that people can get used to it. It’s just a suggestion. Mally Trail: At the end of the day, if members want to submit proposals to the AGM they do have the right to do so. Harry Taylor: I have had several comments made to me this weekend regarding Mercia Region. The region used to put on 3 or 4 special nights each year but that has stopped since the Region disbanded. I want to say that the member clubs are still in place & there’s nothing stopping them from banding together to put on a special night &inviting other clubs around them. 9 AGM minutes 2014 Martin: In reply I will say that it has been my experience that all of the clubs in what was Mercia Region still interact with each other & invite each other to their various events. If we do ever have a communication issue then the Branches can all talk via the National Secretary. As far as I am aware, everybody is welcome at every branch all over the country! Frank Latham (Amblecote): Regarding what Harry’s just said, the former members of Mercia Region are now all non-regional clubs & one would have expected the member of the NEC responsible for non-regional branches to get in touch. As far as I am aware that has not happened. We have had very little contact with the NEC at all. The only contact is initiated by us. Martin: I take you point Frank; there are a lot of things that have to change over the next few months & that is one of them. Richard Gregory (Loughborough): When we change the Constitution, is there any way we can just reprint the relevant pages? This would save everybody’s paper & ink. Mally Trail: I totally understand where you’re coming from but each edition of the constitution has a version number & date so if we change it then we have to re-do the whole lot. When we amend the constitution then I always put an explanatory letter with the new version to high light the changes. David (Sutton Coldfield): Our members have been discussing this magazine & they think that it is a waste of time & a waste of money. Martin: In what way? David: Well, it’s expensive for a start. It’s all pictures, there are hardly any stories at all in it. Martin: My standard answer to that point is that the Editor can only print what he gets sent. If the Editor only gets pictures then that’s all he can print. I personally would like to see a lot more articles included but who is going to write them? I can’t as I’m too busy. So the content boils down to what you & your members submit. As we now have to choose a new Editor, the format of the newsletter can also be looked at again. However, it will still rely on you & your members submitting articles for publication. Richard Gregory: I think that it is important that we retain the newsletter; I have had similar comments to David from the members in my Region. Perhaps, as we all get more computer literate, we could just publish electronically? Martin: As I said the newsletter is something that we are going to look at during the NEC meeting in the morning. Brian Felton, Chair Eagle Sports: I agree with the comments made earlier. We have 50 branches, only 15 of them get a mention. It is very expensive to produce. We spend thousands of pounds each year on it & I think it’s a ridiculous sum to spend to fund the few branches. The money would be better spent on advertising. Martin: As I said the newsletter is something that we are going to look at during the NEC meeting in the morning. 10 AGM minutes 2014 Harry Taylor: Many years ago members used to send in recipes, poems stories & similar things. This seems to have stopped. Frank Latham (Amblecote) : I’d just like to talk about the email newsletter. Having spent 5 years as Publicity Officer on the NEC, I spent a lot of time trying to get the email newsletter off the ground. I’ve only seen one recently & it wasn’t very good. If we are going to put a newsletter out there then it needs to have some content. Tony Elsdon: I agree with Frank but it’s the same as the paper one in that we can only publish what we receive. With both the electronic & the paper newsletter we can only publish what we are sent. We need you the members to send us items for inclusion. Also, looking at using the approx £4000.00 we would save for advertising, I think that the best way is to link up with the Regions & Branches to do a lot of local advertising as National advertising is out of our price range. Mally Trail: I have been discussing with our President the possibility of having a celebrity or two on board to publicise us? Denise will be approaching Esther Rantzen initially as she has launched the Silver Surfer charity. Brian Felton Eagle Sports: Perhaps the NEC could look at subsidising the branches expenses in advertising? Martin: That is something we have done in the past & I am happy to talk about doing it again. Frank Latham (Amblecote) : Perhaps we could look at working with Age Concern? They have a bigger organisation than we have & we may be able to get some benefit from that. Janice Simpson (Gateshead): We do a lot of Advertising in the North East. I have passed the info to Tony Elsdon. It costs our club £180.00 for 5 adverts over 10 weeks. However, it doesn’t matter how many people you talk to on the phone you have to get them through the door & we got one new member, that’s all. Richard Gregory (Loughborough): As branch chair I do a lot of the advertising for our branch. We’ve found that advertising in the “What’s On” column of the local paper is usually free. Mandy Humpage Willenhall): I don’t consider myself old so the idea of advertising in Age Concern worries me. I think that the clubs need to bring in younger blood so going to try & attract an older group seems to be defeating the object? We need to be looking all over not just at Age Concern. Eileen: Ref advertising we’ve advertised for the last 10 years or so in the “50+” paper which is circulated all over Nottinghamshire & Derbyshire. Martin: I know that in the past the NEC has supported local advertising initiatives as National Advertising is so expensive. I know we will be discussing it in the meeting in the morning but we do need to ensure that we get some value for your money. Cliff Glover: The best advertising is the free papers. If you write an article for your local free paper, they will always find room for it as they are generally crying out for copy. 11 AGM minutes 2014 Mally Trail: I’d like to let members know quickly, we are revamping the “Are You Alone” leaflets so that each branch can place them in local shops, surgeries, libraries etc, they will also be available as A4 posters & only one sided so that they can be used in windows etc. Bill Jones (Hull): ref these leaflets, they will be given to the Regional Reps to give to the Branches, what about the non-regional branches? Martin: Bill, in this context we use the term “Regional” in a geographical sense rather than an organisational one. Richard Gregory (Loughborough): We should bear in mind that it is not just up to the NEC to contact the branches; communication is a 2 way street & it should be up to the branches to keep the NEC up to date. Martin: This is very true. We have a lot of enquiries about the organisation come through us & if the info we hold for you is not current then we are not helping you or the prospective member. Frank Latham (Amblecote): Has the NEC considered the drop in numbers? We had 2700 voting members last year & only 1800 this year. Martin: Yes Frank, those were the numbers in the room but the NEC is conscious of the falling membership over all. Part of the aim in the amendments you passed earlier today is to allow us to look at ways of rebuilding the membership. We are suffering partly because of our own success. We were designed as an organisation, to attract the needy new member, help them rebuild their lives, make new friends etc & then move on taking their friends with them. We are very good at the rebuilding but we are hopeless at getting new members. However, it is relatively easy to get new people through the door. The hard part is keeping them. If any of you wish to share your philosophies on this please get in touch. David: People need to start looking at the forms I send out as part of the reason that we have so few members today is that the votes collection forms have gone to the last address because branches haven’t kept the NEC up to date. Also, the paperwork that should have been brought along today has been forgotten or no written letter of authority to collect votes has been provided. I also agree about getting younger people involved. I don’t feel old but 30 & 40 year olds don’t want the same things that some of the older members do. Maybe we could start a branch specifically aimed at younger people that could grow as the rest of us get older. THE CHAIRMAN MARTIN BENSON CLOSED THE MEETING The Chairman thanked the following people Standing Orders The Scrutineers The Roving Mic people And everyone who had attended today’s meeting. The meeting closed at 13.08pm Unconfirmed Minutes Martin Benson pp National Secretary December 2014 12