Whitstable RFC

Notes of Annual General Meeting

9th July 2013

1. Brian Underhill opened the meeting at 7.35pm declaring the meeting quorate as the number of members required had been registered as present. The start of meeting had been delayed due to the website stating a 7.30 start time. BU asked members to take a couple of moments to read the notes of the 2012 meeting before he commenced proceedings.

2. There being no proposed amendments BU confirmed the notes to be the record of last year’s AGM. BU said that he wanted start by recording the best wishes of everyone at the Club for Colin James who continued to be very unwell.

3. BU stated his sincere appreciation to all members of the Committee and others who had given up their time in support of the Club. BU said that it shouldn’t be forgotten that this is a tough job and people are giving up their time freely as volunteers. He wanted all players to appreciate this whenever they ran out on to the pitch. There is a considerable amount of work that goes on behind the scenes to ensure games go ahead and that the facilities are there for training.

4. BU said it had been obviously a difficult season for all teams in the Club. The first team had been relegated although they had often played some really good rugby and this had been appreciated by those who had come to support. It has proved, as we suspected to be a tough league and we had flagged in the last quarter which no doubt Tim will be addressing at training but he believed the players should be proud that although relegated they fought well and hopefully this will show up in good results next season.

5. The seconds had lost important games due to the absence of players this had been an obvious knock on factor for the thirds. The financial report will also show a decline in both membership and income over the bar which has been very disappointing and has to be turned around. BU said that despite his message last year and the efforts of the Committee there are still people playing but not paying subscriptions and match fees. This is unacceptable

6. The revenue stream had been adversely affected by the lost matches, Saturday and Sundays during the bad winter weather but the Club needed to seriously increase players, membership and sponsorship. There are important things that need doing around the Club but this obviously requires funds which the Club just does not have currently.

7. Despite these difficult issues BU said that he had enjoyed his tenure as Chairman and he was hoping to be re-elected but there were others standing and this would be decided by the membership

8. Phil Gambril then introduced the financial statement for the Club over the past year. A copy of the statement had been made available to all members and copies were distributed at the AGM. PG invited questions.

9. Bob T said that there was a debt of £2700 recorded in the accounts, could the Committee reassure the members that this is being pursued. BU said that he could confirm that this debt was formally recorded. The committee is not in a position to disclose any details at this stage as the Club is actively pursuing repayment through a legal process and BU did not want to do anything that might compromise that action.

10. Alastair Russell asked a series of questions regarding the financial viability of the Club. He said he was aware of the outstanding debt issue and he had full confidence in the Treasurer who had acted in all good faith and who had appraised him of the position. However AR’s main submission was that the Club was financially fragile and could well have to close for business by Christmas

11. Peter Hudson asked why was the Club losing money. BU rejected the submission. He acknowledged that matters were not healthy but the main problems were players subscriptions remaining unpaid but also revenue down on last year by 20% due to fewer Club bookings and lower spend at events. People do not have as much money to spend on nights out as before

12. Richard Davies said that for the last 4 or 5 years there had been no Social Secretary and consequently there were no Club social events. RD said this was a poor reflection on the Club. BU agreed but said that this highlighted the key problem. Fewer people were prepared to put their hands up and get involved in the work that was needed to keep the Club running

13. AR said that the main problem was the hole in the accounts. He had spent some time going through the accounts and without the support of the Club’s biggest sponsor, PG then the Club would be close to bust. This meant the Club would be trading illegally. He said there was no option but to accept the accounts but this was a serious issue.

14. Iris Manning said that it was very clear that the Club had to move forward but we had to do this as a group. Everyone had to pull together. There were good players in the Club and the Junior section was healthy so it was about looking towards the future as a whole Club

15. Roger Dengate asked about the contribution from the Mini and Junior Section. PG replied that the Junior section had provided a donation to the senior section for specific items and they had made a larger contribution this year than previous years

16. Andy Newman asked whether the Club had a good picture of what was needed to run the Club and how much we need to raise from individual members? BU replied that we had a clear picture of current costs but further work was needed to put this into a financial plan as AN suggests

17. There followed a discussion around the subscriptions and various related issues. Gary Edwards reminded the meeting that this was a specific item on the Agenda. Pat Todd said that the meeting was in danger of losing sight of who we are as a Club and what the Club is all about. He asked the Chairman to move proceedings on.

18. BU then said that unless there was anything of significance to be added he would move to the next item on the Agenda which was the election of Officers for the ensuing year

19. GE conducted the vote for the post of Chairman as there were 3 candidates standing. Each candidate gave a short summary of what they would bring to the post. Following collection and counting of votes, verified by Pat Todd, GE confirmed that the AGM had elected Peter Hudson as Chairman

20. BU decided to step aside and allow Peter Hudson to chair the remainder of the meeting. PH thanked Brian and said that he was looking to move the Club forward, it won’t happen overnight and that he promised members that we would still be open at Christmas. Roger Dengate then said he had decided to stand down and would not be seeking re-election.

21. PH introduced the three other Officer nominations Pat Todd for President, PG for Hon Treasurer and GE for Hon Secretary. GE explained before the vote that this would be his last year as Secretary. He said that he had found the demands of the post difficult at times because of the high pressure at work and also various family issues. He said he welcomed any support from another person who might be interested in taking this on in the future. Jim Jackson expressed an interest. Following this a vote was taken on the 3 positions and PT, PG and GE were all duly elected without any dissenting votes

22. PH then moved to the next item on the Agenda, election of Committee Members, Club Coach and senior Team captains. Some posts were unfilled as there had not been any nominations as per Club rules. There were confirmations of Jamie Kemp as Sponsorship secretary, Steve Warwick as Club Captain and Tim Mathews as Club Coach. Steve Warwick was also elected as 3rd Team captain

23. The remaining positions were unfilled. PH reassured the AGM that he had good people in mind who would do an excellent job in these posts. GE confirmed that this was consistent with paragraphs 12.4 and 13.4 that empowered the Committee to fill such posts that become vacant outside of an AGM

24. PH proposed PG’s company to continue as the Club’s auditors. There was a question as to whether this was a conflict of interest and it was confirmed that it was not an uncommon situation for Club’s such as ours and there were safeguards in place to ensure the audit process was robust.

25. GE then explained that there were two proposals for changes to the Club rules in accordance with paragraph 8.1.8. These proposals had been duly notified to members in advance of the meeting. Both proposals were confirmed as accepted following a vote by a show of hands, GE recorded the number of votes for and against each proposed rule change

26. PH then said that the membership needed to consider the matter of next year’s subscriptions. GE reminded the meeting that the AGM could only recommend and the Committee had a duty to consider but would not be bound by the AGM.

27. PH proposed that in the absence of a clear proposal that it was too difficult to fix a figure here and that he would sort it out. Calvin Smith said that the Chairman couldn’t just pick a figure out of the air. GE said that in the past the lead had come from the Treasurer although there had to be close working with the Chairman. But in any event whatever was decided would need the backing of the full Committee

28. Pat Todd reminded members that there had been an excellent presentation from two Player members to the Committee at the Ship Centurion and one of their proposals was for a monthly payment plan. PT would like to see something along these lines

29. There followed some considerable discussion that was concluded with a general proposal that the matter would be left for the Committee to decide. PH asked if there was anyone who was unhappy with this and there was no response so the proposal was noted as carried unanimously

Any Other Business

1. Andy Delo asked if there were any plans for a tour this year. PH said that he wanted to get a tour committee together to plan this. PH said that he had a lot of ideas for the social side, a tour was really important for Club morale and he certainly wanted a Social Secretary in post asap

2. Bob Tomlinson said he had been the RFU contact for the Club and he wanted the Committee to know that he planned to carry on for just one more year. PH thanked him for this and for his efforts for the Club

The meeting was then formally concluded at 9.55

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