MINUTES OF ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
Held at the Worcestershire County Cricket Club on
Monday 8 July 2013 from 20:00
Present
Canon Dr Alvyn Pettersen (Chairman).
Ordinary members: Steve Barton, David Beacham, Jim Clatworthy, Alex Hajok, Louise Hamilton-Glover, Sarah Hawkins, Julie Lawrence, James Mort, John Nicklin, Chris Phillips, Mark Regan, John Slater, Alistair Smith, Bernard Taylor, Jim Wheeler and Gideon White.
Associate members: Joyce Barton, Frank Minett and Paul Smith.
Non-members: Geoff Munslow and Saskia Palmer.
The Chairman opened the meeting at 20:00 with a prayer.
Quorum Check
Over half of the Ordinary membership was present so the meeting was declared quorate.
Apologies for Absence
Received from Peter Elliott, Liz Stanton, Mark Wilson, Andy Hartley, David Jenkins, William Regan, Stella Smith, Robin Walker, Sarah Franklin, Dan Jones and Simon Telford.
Minutes of AGM June 2012
The minutes of the previous AGM (25 June 2012) were accepted as a true record of that meeting and signed by the Chairman.
Matters Arising
It was noted that payments had still not been received from King’s School.
Election of New Members
Saskia Frisby was proposed by Bernard Taylor, seconded by Mark Regan and elected an Associate Member.
The following changes and transfers between membership classes were ratified:-
Very sadly Alison Regan had died during the year.
John Finn, Sophie Halliday, David Hudson and Morgan Hudson had not paid subscriptions (nor attended ringing) and were therefore removed.
By virtue of attendance:-
William Regan changed from Ordinary to Associate.
Alex Hajok changed from Associate to Ordinary.
There are therefore now 19 Ordinary members and 14 Associate members.
Officers’ Reports
Reports from the Ringing Master, Secretary, Treasurer, Steeple Keeper, Training Officer, Cathedral Community Representative and Friends’ Representative had been previously circulated and the following additional points were made.
Mark Regan described how the Guild had evolved and changed over the past few years and asked the members to consider what it meant to be a member and what their contribution should and could be. This he said should cover inter alia our duties to the Cathedral and greater community, and our on-going teaching work.
Although not present at the meeting, Mark Wilson asked for a statement to be read out to the meeting regarding the Worcestershire & Districts Change Ringing Association’s 2012 Annual Report. This was noted and a copy is attached.
Regarding the Steeple Keeper’s report, Bernard Taylor and others opined that some of the front bells are now more difficult to ring than before the frame strengthening work. Chris Phillips was not convinced but did add that he did not often ring those bells but would try to do so in the coming months.
Chris Phillips added that we do not yet have a quote for a new set of 15 ropes.
After some discussion it was felt that new ropes and/or tail-ends should be ordered on a rolling cycle (of say four or five) rather than a full set each time. This would probably result in some expenditure every year but would even it out.
Also quotes should be obtained from all the companies that have previously produced good quality ropes for us.
Mark Regan thanked Chris Phillips and all others involved with the frame stabilizing work.
Bernard Taylor advised that there was no sensible model available for the charging of King’s School for the ringing tuition of students. It was agreed that this needed more thought/discussion.
For outside visits to the TC a requested donation of £5 per head was suggested.
Bernard Taylor also suggested that we should not take on too many new raw recruits in the short to near term but concentrate on developing those we have. Also the keener ones should be encouraged to recruit ‘likely suspect’ friends themselves.
It was reported that the Worcester Cathedral Young Ringers came a very creditable 5th out of 16 teams at the Ringing World National Youth Contest (RWNYC) held in York on 6 July 2013. This was followed by cheers and applause.
Bernard Taylor advised that he would be leading the training of a new band of ringers at Barbourne. Encouragingly a good number of volunteers have come from the church congregation.
Jim Wheeler asked if there was any tie-up with the local churches where the various King’s School ringers/learners live.
Bernard Taylor replied that this was not formalised but was in principle a good objective but that there might be ‘issues’ with different teaching methods etc.
Louise Hamilton-Glover suggested that we send a card to Denise Inge (Bishop John’s wife) and family with our thoughts and best wishes. This was done.
Previous Year’s Accounts.
Steve Barton added that the Petty Cash summary includes ‘as and when’ payments to ringers for paid additional ringing.
The accounts were agreed.
Next Year’s Budget.
After some questions from the floor (and subject to the following motion re member subscriptions) this was agreed.
The Chairman thanked all the officers for their work and all the ringers for their efforts over the year.
Motion to Increase Annual Subscriptions
The motion (see attached) was presented by Steve Barton.
After much discussion the increase from £7.50 to £12.00 was agreed for 2013-14.
However the proposal was amended to the Treasurer reviewing the actual and budget figures for each year and making a proposal every AGM.
Election of Officers
Ringing Master. Mark Regan was proposed by Steve Barton, seconded by Chris Phillips, and elected.
Deputy Ringing Master. John Nicklin was proposed by Chris Phillips, seconded by Jim Wheeler, and elected.
Secretary. Jim Clatworthy was proposed by James Mort, seconded by Louise Hamilton-Glover, and elected.
Treasurer. Steve Barton was proposed by Jim Clatworthy, seconded by John Nicklin, and elected.
Steeple Keeper. Chris Phillips was proposed by James Mort, seconded by David Beacham, and elected.
Training Officer. Bernard Taylor was proposed by Alistair Smith, seconded by Saskia Frisby, and elected.
Committee Member. James Mort was proposed by John Nicklin, seconded by Chris Phillips, and elected.
Other Elections
Cathedral Community Representative. Louise Hamilton-Glover was proposed by Mark Regan, seconded by David Beacham, and elected.
Friends’ Representative. Mark Regan was proposed by David Beacham, seconded by Louise Hamilton-Glover, and elected.
Assistant Steeple Keeper. James Mort was proposed by Steve Barton, seconded by Chris Phillips, and elected.
PRE Paper re Recruitment
Peter Elliott presented a paper (see attached).
Mark Regan was pleased to observe the enthusiasm for the RWNYC at York and that the team had been inspired by the experience.
He also added that the OSM Wednesday practice was creating its own sense of identity and attracting ringers from other towers as additional learning/developing practice.
He thanked Peter Elliott for all his efforts.
Julie Lawrence complimented the Guild on the excellent sense of commitment, community and fun, and said it was inspiring for the young ringers coming through the ‘system’.
Future Events
Notice was given of a Christmas Party to be held (probably) on Saturday 21 December 2013 and of the Ringing World National Youth Contest to be held at OSM on Saturday 5 July 2014.
Bernard Taylor commented that significant local ringers’ support would be required for this national event so it was suggested to hold the WCGoB’s summer social event on the same day.
Any Other Business
Chris Phillips apologised for his reduced attendance during the year but said this was due to spending time away with Tracey in Staffordshire and preparing for a house move.
He also announced that he and Tracey would be marrying on 19 April 2014.
This was greeted with cheers and applause.
Date of Next AGM
The date of the next AGM will be decided after reference to next year’s Three Choirs Festival (in Worcester) and the open-air Shakespeare schedule.
The Chairman then closed the meeting at 21:30 with a prayer.
Jim Clatworthy
Secretary
Comment re 2013 Ringing Master’s Report
The paragraph beginning “Working with the PCC…” implies that the WDCRA claimed to have done the work at Severn Stoke; this is most definitely not the case. There is no allusion, implied or otherwise, that it was WDCRA project.
The Branch Secretaries report on any bell work done on towers in their branches, neither the branches nor the Association run “projects” - towers and ringers run “projects”.
To make this clear, the 2013 WDCRA AGM agreed to add a paragraph to the next and subsequent WDCRA Annual Reports stating that any mention of bell repair work reported in branch secretaries’ reports should not be taken to imply the WDCRA is responsible for the work undertaken.
This whole sentence strikes me a rather disingenuous considering that the then Branch Secretary is a member of the Cathedral Guild and most of the people involved in the work at Severn Stoke are members of the WDCRA!
There is no such body as the "WDCRA Bell Fund group”, as I, and others, have explained to Mark on a number of occasions. The Belfry Repairs Fund is a registered charity governed by the Charity Commissioners and as such the meetings of the trustees are not open and the minutes are not for circulation. The Clerk to the Trustees has been in conversation with the Charity Commissioners who are fully aware of this and agree that this is the correct practice.
Mark Wilson
6 July 2013
Proposed Increase in Annual Subscriptions
In order to fund more adequately the Guild’s annual expenditure, your committee has reviewed our expenditure and sources of income. The underlying principle must be that individual activities become self-funding i.e. we must cover the costs of the BBQ and other social functions from ticket sales, and the Teaching Centre must not rely on General Funds for support.
To cover ‘general’ items of expenditure our only source of income is the annual subscription of £7.50 per head. This has remained unchanged for more than 15 years, despite inflation (published CPI) exceeding 50% over this period, and is no longer adequate. In order to redress this shortfall, we feel it is necessary to increase the annual subscriptions to £12 per year.
The committee therefore recommends the following changes.
1. The annual subscription for ordinary and associate members to be increased from 1 April 2013 from £7.50 to £12 per year.
2. The annual subscription will be reviewed every five years and adjusted in line with inflation (CPI).
At present we raise approximately £225 from 30 members through the annual subscription. 30 members paying £12 per year (£1 per month) will raise £360.
Proposed: Steve Barton
Seconded: Mark Regan
Address to AGM 2013
We are lucky in Worcester to have a number of world class ringers and a committed, motivated and skilled committee of officers.
But if we leave recruitment and training to them then we will fail to build the vibrant and successful ringing scene that we want and need.
Recruitment and training is everybody’s job. Every one of us needs to be able to look in the mirror and say: “I contribute to the recruitment and training of our ringers.”
Our committee do a huge amount of tedious administration and paperwork to enable us to ring. We can’t expect them to do all the leg work on recruitment and training too.
You don’t have to be an ‘expert’ ringer to make a huge difference. In fact it can help a lot if the thing you’re explaining is something you’ve recently learned yourself. And one of the best ways of recruiting is by a personal invitation from someone you know.
Ringing is a magnificent obsession, and we need to lure people in and infect them with our enthusiasm for it.
While we should never turn recruits away we absolutely need to target people with the right attitudes and behaviours: people who are able to deliver the commitment and focus ringing demands. It is no accident that two of our best recent recruits have been choristers. We need to think hard about where else those personality characteristics are to be found and actively fish in those pools. Professional HR people know all about targeted recruitment based on the right attitude. We need to apply that lesson to ringing recruitment.
So please all get stuck in. We now have a training syllabus and practice structure that works. But we need a lot more throughput and a lot more good ringers as a result.
That way our wonderful hobby will carry on for as long as we are around to enjoy it.
Peter Elliott
Not an officer of the Guild.