Minutes of the Annual General Meeting held in the
Crispin Community Centre
on Wednesday 23RD
Octobre 2019. La réunion a commencé à 7.30 pm.
1.
Present: David and Veronica Brunt, Tom Winn, Marina Richards,
Paul Badman, Jacqui, Francis, Isobel and Emily Knight, Claire Axten, David and
Catherine Atkins, Trevor Skinner, Barbara and Martin Cowell, Julia Welch, Kay
Strain, Gabbie and Martyn Butler, Ann Diment, Peter and Barbara Fry, Reg
Alford, Sally Bois, John and Maureen Parfitt, Gill Davey, Brian Read, Sheila
Urwin, Viv Squire, Sue Genge, David and Hilary Mozley.
Apologies: Kay Winn, Pauline and John Saunders, Grace and Bernard
Squire, Chris Puddy, Helen and Tim Phillips, Avril and William Berry, Mark and
Jenny Lewis, Katrina Dumontrotty
David Brunt welcomed
everyone to the meeting and checked that everyone had read the minutes from the
AGM in Oct 2018.
No matters arising.
2.
Chairman’s
report: Please see
report attached below.
3.
Treasurers
Report and presentation and acceptance of the annual accounts:
Marina presented the accounts for the financial year to 31st
Aug 2019, as checked by the accountant. The accounts were accepted unanimously
by all members.
Please see accounts attached below.
Current account balance £3,780.70
Deposit account balance £8,047.50
A reminder that membership payments are now due. £15 per
adult and free for children under 18. As stated in the constitution these
payments are due to be paid within 2 calendar months of the date of the AGM.
We
then moved onto item 5 on the Agenda before coming back to item 4.
4.
The proposed
new constitution:
In addition to the revisions already circulated to members
Catherine Atkins proposed that a paragraph was to be inserted under item 7 -
Money and Assets – after d) Cheques must be signed by 2 authorised members. New
e) The treasurer is authorised to undertake internet banking on behalf of the
Association. All payments must be notified to the chairman and secretary by
e-mail prior to the actual payment.
There were a few questions from members:
1. Would this hold up payments? No, Marina doesn’t need to wait for a reply it is
just a notification of what payments are going out.
2. Is Marina happy to do this? Yes
3. As with cheque payments, should there be two people
from the committee with access to the bank account in case Marina is not available? Marina stated that this is not possible. It is linked
to her personal accounts and so cannot have more than one person access it.
Marina stated that there is a contingency plan set up in case anything was to
happen to her, Paul (her partner) would have access to the account and
arrangements would then be made for access to be passed to the next treasurer.
David Atkins thanked the team who had reviewed the
constitution – Tom, Marina and Catherine.
The new constitution was voted on by a show of hands and the
vote was unanimous for it to be put in place. Please find attached the updated
version.
5.
Voting to
elect the chairman:
The nominations for chairman were received by the deadline
of 9th October.
David Atkins for Chairman
David Atkins left the room whilst the vote took place by a
show of hands. The vote was unanimous for David to become the new chairman.
David Brunt then gave a speech as he stood down as chairman:
Veronica and I first joined the Twinning Association and
went to Gravenchon in 1994. I was invited to join the committee the following
year. For some years I was the assistant to the treasurer. This usually meant
that I collected the ticket money at our fund raising events. After several
years I stood down from the committee as I had other interests.
The following year I had a phone call from Grace asking me
to re-join the committee and take on the job of treasurer. I continued in this
position until Marina took over from me.
Bernard our previous chairman retired two years ago and I
was elected to replace him. During those two years I have been supported by a
dedicated team who have worked hard to promote the best interests of our
association.
I now think that the time has come for me to stand down from
the committee and allow them to continue the good work under new leadership.
Ladies and gentlemen, I would like you join me in thanking
your committee for all their hard work and dedication and to welcome David,
your newly elected chairman.
David Brunt then presented David Atkins with the chain of
office. David Atkins thanked David and Veronica for all their hard work over
the years. Jacqui presented David Brunt with a gardening gift voucher from the
committee and a thank you card signed by the committee and members of the
association.
6.
Voting to
elect Vice Chairman, Treasurer and Secretary:
The following nominations were received by the deadline of 9e
Octobre.
Tom Winn for Vice Chairman
Marina Richards for treasurer
Jacqui Knight for secretary
Candidates were asked to leave the room and the vote taken
by a show of hands. The votes were unanimous for all three to be elected.
David Atkins then gave a speech as the new Chairman:
Thank you for entrusting me with the chair of the Street
Twinning Association. Whilst a relative newcomer I have had the experience of
twinning for 25years with another organisation of which I am a member.
Twinning is a great opportunity to learn a little about
other cultures/countries and to share experiences. Perhaps its role is more
important than ever as we live in an international environment and need more
and more to be tolerant of others.
As chairman I will have a simple approach and in no way
suggest this has not been the case in the past but is just the way I operate:
To be inclusive
To be respectful
To be loyal
To inject energy
To enjoy myself
We have an obligation to grow the Association, especially
after a number of long serving members have “retired”, and to make it fit for
the next generation. So I will be looking for members to help us search out
families who might like to experience twinning.
At the first committee meeting I will be sharing some
thoughts and asking questions as to how we can work a bit “smarter”. I feel we
need to spread the load a little more across members and to get more clarity
and ownership of tasks to make life easier and less onerous.
7.
Members
invited to volunteer to serve on the management committee with a target of at least
10 members:
David Atkins gave a brief outline of what the role of a
committee member entails including that they help to run the association and
meet up ten times a year, not including the AGM.
Members volunteering to serve on the committee for the coming
year are:
Kay Strain, Francis Knight, Catherine Atkins, Barbara Fry,
Peter Fry, Cages Butler, Trevor Skinner, Paul Badman, Sally Wood and Claire
Axten
Barbara Cowell and Katrina Dumontrotty are stepping down
from the committee. The Chairman thanked them for all they have done for Street
Twinning over the years.
8.
Loterie:
£20 no. 15 Veronica Brunt
£10 no. 32 Helen Phillips
£5 no. 30 Claire Brunt
Tom Winn is happy to run the lottery for another year and
David thanked Tom for taking on this role again.
Marina stated that if anyone would like to be paid by BACS
for lottery winnings, please contact her for this to be arranged.
9.
AOB:
1. Isny visit:
Please leave plenty of time for travel. There are road works/traffic lights in
Coxley and Walton will be closed. Also closures in Wedmore.
2. Gravenchon visit: A recent email was sent out with further information about costs.
There are still spaces available and there maybe the facility to add more once
it is booked.
3. Bric-a-brac:
Street Market Thurs 7thNov. Tom has kindly arranged this. Members were asked if
anyone had any bric a brac for the stall and there was a good show of hands and
so we will have plenty of items. Francis offered to help set up the stall at
8am ready for the stall to open at 9am. Usually the market goes on until 4pm.
Peter offered to help at the end of the day to pack away. Barbara Fry said
people are welcome to drop off items at their house but not until Monday 4e
Novembre. An email will follow shortly and a rota will be sent out. Members
that volunteered: Claire Axten, Sally Bois (afternoon), Trevor Skinner
(morning), Sue Genge (morning), Viv Squire (morning), Catherine Atkins, David
Atkins, Sheila Urwin, Tom Winn.
4. Christmas Cracker: Francis is happy to organise this and an email will go out at the
beginning of November. It is just going to be the water or wine stall this
year. Donations of wine would be gratefully received. There are plenty of
empties left over from Merriman park as long as the people who took them still
have them in garages etc.
5. Christmas Dinner: David Atkins suggested a social non fund-raiser get together for
Christmas. Open to all members. A show of hands proved that this was a popular
idea and January was suggested as everyone less busy. Plus de détails à suivre.
6. Quiz: Trevor
has kindly arranged this for Fri 8e Nov at the Victoria club Start
7.30pm. Entrance fee £2.50 per person. Teams of up to 4 people. Booking is
preferred so to book please contact Trevor 01749 689199 OR 07739 817136. Jacqui
has offered to do the raffle for this event so any donations of prizes would be
gratefully received.
David
Thanked: Claire, helped by Julia, for the tea, coffee and biscuits
Tom
for searching out the venue for the AGM
Jacqui
and Peter for circulating all the information for tonight’s AGM
Thank you all for attending.
The meeting closed at 8.20pm and
everyone was invited to stay for refreshments.
Date de la prochaine réunion:
Wednesday 27e Nov at 7.30 pm
in The Mullions breakfast room.
CHAIRMAN’S REPORT October 2018 to October 2019
As the years have passed, we
have lost members due to illness and age related complaints. Sadly, some of our
friends have died. But they have all contributed to the foundation of our
present day association. As they have left us we have been joined by new members
and so, with minor fluctuations, our numbers have been more or less maintained.
This year however, we have
more members than usual who are retiring from twinning and this has depleted
our numbers. To ensure the future of twinning in Street we need to recruit more
new members. So please, if you know of anybody, be it family friends or
neighbours etc., who might be interested, please put them in touch or tell a
committee member.
Last year I reported that we
had been running at a deficit for several years. I am pleased to report that
this no longer the case. This is due to the hard work and generosity of
committee and other members.
Following last year’s AGM,
our first activity was the “Get to Know Your Community” event, organised by
Street Parish Council in the Crispin Hall.
All of our local
organisations were invited to have a stall to publicise themselves and their
activities. It was a success, in that quite a few people showed an interest and
looked at information regarding both Gravenchon and Isny. In spite of our
existence for over fifty years, quite a few Street residents had never heard of
us.
We had arranged for a
bric-a-brac stall for the 8e Novembre. But this was cancelled due
to a poor weather forecast
Street Christmas Cracker was
held on 1st Décembre. We had two gazeboes situated outside Crispin
Hall. It was a very hectic day as we were running a Water or Wine stall, a
children’s game and a bric-a-brac stall as well as a tombola.
Members put a lot of work
into organising and bottle wrapping as well as preparing and manning the stall.
We actually sold out of bottles, which made it a very successful day.
Our friends from Gravenchon
arrived for their biennial visit on Saturday 6e Avril. We organised
dinner /dance for the Sunday evening. The delicious evening meal was provided
by Claire and friends and the music by Sally Vinyl and her disco.
Street Parish Council held a
reception for our French visitors on the Monday evening. This was held in the
Crispin Hall, where members of the council provided refreshments and
non-alcoholic drinks.
Tuesday saw a journey by
coach and train to Minehead where there was free time and a fish and chip lunch
in the Hairy Dog. On the return journey, the coach stopped for a visit to
Dunster Castle. A good time was had by all.
Our Gravenchon friends
departed from Strode College early on the Wednesday morning.
On Friday 8e
Février, Trevor and Sheila organised a quiz at the Victoria Sports and Social
Club. It was a successful evening and quite well attended. Although we would
have liked to see a few more members.
On Friday 17e
Mai, Tina and Tony hosted a Cheese & Wine Evening. It was a very enjoyable
social evening with games, delicious food, wine and lots of chatter.
In June, Street Library
building was closed for repairs and the library was relocated in the Parish
Rooms. This meant that our committee had to find another venue for our monthly
meetings. We were fortunate that the Mullions Hotel offered us the use of their
Breakfast Room, where we now meet.
When a class of children from
Gravenchon visited Elmhurst School, we donated £150 towards the costs of meals
during their stay.
The Elmhurst school fete,
called “Elmfest” was held on July 13e. We had a stall in order to
publicise our association. We handed out flyers, talked to parents and families
and ran a couple of games for the children.
Next Monday thirty of our
members will depart from Bristol Airport en route to Isny. We wish them a very
enjoyable visit.
Altogether it has been quite
a busy year with events for fund raising and publicity as well as the visit
from our Gravenchon friends.
This has meant a lot of hard
work for your committee in organising, setting up and manning stalls as well as
catering, clerical administration, various sub-committees, many emails, ‘phone
calls, transport etc. Not forgetting all those other members who have helped us
in many ways.
So a big thank you to
everyone who helped us and been so generous with their time as well as
donations of wine, raffle prizes etc. throughout the year.