BISHOP SUTTON TENNIS CLUB
MINUTES OF THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
Held at the Clubhouse
At 7.30 p.m. on Wednesday 15 March 2006
APOLOGIES
Apologies were received from:
Janet WardenCelia GayHazel & Barry CharterCarol Bryan
Pat ChantPippa ColesClaire Tadgell
Valerie BattersbyRoger DandoSarah Lewis
Lallie GibsonSally BurkeLeone Hamilton
PRESENT
51 voting members with Chris Rylance in the chair.
MINUTES OF THE 2005 AGM
The minutes of the 2005 AGM were accepted as a true account of the meeting.
Proposed: Charly Dando
Seconded: Ron Grew
Agreed unanimously by the meeting.
CHAIRMAN’S REPORT
The Chairman told the meeting that Mike Browning had been taken into hospital suddenly that day, and he would therefore be absent from the meeting. Chris would attempt to provide a Treasurer’s Report in his absence.
Newsletter and Website
The key means of communication to members are the newletter and the newly formed website. January’s newsletter was as good as last year’s, and it is intended to continue to improve the appearance of the publication. The club is proud of the website, which is still developing, and Chris gave thanks to Rowland Janes and Toni Warren for their work on both items. The committee is still looking for a member to act as a newshound to update the website on a regular basis, in both adult and junior sections.
Membership
With 709 members in 2005, there has been a slight reduction in numbers, and it would appear that the membership has reached a plateau. The finances, however, are in excellent shape. To date membership is approximately two thirds of last year’s total, but this is normal at this stage. The club brags about being the biggest in Avon, and the best value, but if numbers drop then it will be necessary either to cut back on expenditure or raise subscriptions. To ensure that numbers are topped up as much as possible, the club is holding two recruiting open days on 18 June and 17 September. These will be run under the guidance of the LTA and are designed to encourage new players to come and join the club.
Grounds
Groundsman Ivor Watkins retired this summer, with the club’s best wishes. Local contractors “Down to Earth” have been employed, and have made a good start in maintaining Ivor’s standards. The front bed has been planted with ornamental shrubs for the second time this year, and the plastic barrier will be removed once the plants are well established.
The floodlighting improvements were completed in February. This comprised new lighting to court 3, upgrading and separating courts 1 and 2, courtesy lights, refurbishment of the lights on court 5, and a new three phase electricity supply. The £17,000 grant from the Foundation for Sport & Arts was refused, but £3,000 was granted by BANES.
At present there is £25,000 in the Clubhouse fund, but any additions to this will be restricted, as it was necessary for the club to provide the shortfall for the floodlighting scheme generated by the loss of the FSA grant. With the need for more loans and grants, it is anticipated that a new clubhouse will be at least three more years away. To this end, a decision was made to refurbish the existing clubhouse as cheaply as possible. Huge thanks were offered to John Watson, who is leading this effort, and to the faithful fifteen or so volunteers who helped with the decoration and refurbishment work. Particular thanks went to Mark Taber - one of the few non-retired workers -who has been chief carpenter and carpet fitter, and to Margaret Redding for making the new curtains.The committee is considering the purchase of a storage container at the rear of the clubhouse to allow more space in the changing rooms, and are in the process of checking any necessary planning conditions. Thanks also to the Willcox family for continued clubhouse cleaning.
The carpet courts 1 and 2 are in good form, thanks to regular sand and brush treatment. The annual deep brushing was missed in 2005, which requires dry weather, but this will hopefully be done in April. During this operation the courts will be out of action for 2-3 days.
Tennis
The Senior Summer league teams have all performed well. Highlights of the year were the Mens and Ladies first teams both finishing second in the 2ndDivisions, and the mens second team rising a division to VI. Chris Keast is the new mens team captain, and has run team training on Tuesday evenings with great success. The master plan is for the mens 1st team to enter Division 1, the mens 2nd team to rise a division a year, and the club has now entered a mens 3rd team to chase them up the ladder.
The two winter league teams and the veterans have also done well again, and Chris congratulated and thanked all the captains, organisers and players for their efforts.
The Juniors continue to thrive, with weekday coaching after school and Saturday club play being particularly busy. League and box matches (both Bristol and the newly formed internal boxes) are well supported, and the minis groups are also flourishing. Thanks were given to Sylv Willcox and all the parents and helpers. Head Coach Ron Grew and his assistant Matt Thompson are taking an even greater part in the management of the junior section, but would always be glad of more assistance. Four older juniors are ready to take the LTA Assistant Coach course, although the raised age limit of 17 has meant that two of them will have to wait until later in the year to attend the course.
Anne Collier has been liaising with ChewValleySchool to negotiate the use of their courts for the mens 3rd team, and is producing an agreement to this effect.
The club tournament, mixing Seniors and Juniors, was well supported and ran smoothly through the summer. The finals day in September produced some magnificent matches in a highly charged atmosphere, and climaxed with a crunching mens singles final. Thanks were given to organisers Angela Soper and Bridget Rylance. Entries were still open this year, with the draw in April, and the lists and results will be found and tracked on the website.
The backbone of the club remains the friendly 2s and 4s, with courts being well used throughout the week. Chris thanked Hazel Charter for running the court bookings, who has stated that she is willing to continue to do so.
Social
Monthly social events were held from April to October, starting with a successful St Georges Bash in the Chew Magna school room. This was followed by two fish and chip nights and three summer barbecues, all with tennis. These were all very popular, and the committee will repeat a ‘first Thursday in the month’ event again through this summer. Thanks were given to all the volunteer helpers, especially Mike Browning, Barbara Mabbutt, Belinda Seaton and Harry Connell.
A new event will be held on Sunday 23rd April, when Matt Thompson is organising an American style mixed tennis tournament during the afternoon. Tea and refreshments will also be served, and full details will be made available on the noticeboards and by mass email to all members.
Administration
Chris thanked all the members of the Committee for their efforts over the past year, and also to Harry for his warm hospitality for the meetings during the winter months.
There has been some success in the search for volunteers to take on key tasks, but there is still a need for more. Mike is stepping down as Treasurer, and his tasks have been split between four people, which is an indication of the huge effort he has put in over the years. Subject to confirmation by the AGM, Mark Taber has agreed to take on the role of Treasurer to a limited degree. Carol King is willing to become assistant Treasurer, on condition that she does not have to be on the Committee. Vanessa Watson has taken over the role of Membership Secretary over the past two months, also off the Committee, and is proving to be extremely efficient. There is still the role of Premises Czar to fill, which involves overseeing all aspects of the clubhouse, courts and grounds. Chris told the meeting that he will be pestering likely candidates over the next few months, but if no-one is available then it may be that the club will have to pay an outside person.
Chris thanked Pat Chant for her advice on horticultural matters, and for helping Toni, Mike and Vanessa with the packaging and distribution of the newsletter and renewal forms. He gave particular thanks to the Officers - Secretary Toni and Treasurer Mike. Mike won the BANES Chairman’s Sports Volunteer of the Year award, earning a cheque for the club for £500. He was also presented with a personal cheque which he donated by way of gift aid, giving a total of £850.00 to the club. This typifies Mike, and how much he has given the club in every way.
TREASURER’S REPORT AND APPROVAL OF THE AUDITED ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31ST DECEMBER 2005
Copies of the financial accounts for the year ended 31st December 2005 were distributed to the meeting.
Chris reported that 2005 had been a reasonably uneventful year, apart from the refusal of the grant by the Foundation for Sport & Arts towards the floodlighting installation. The scheme was therefore at a greater cost to the club, and has delayed the growth of the sinking fund for the new clubhouse.
Income totalled £34,336 and expenditure £20,864 (including £8,049 for re-surfacing court 4 and £4,602 for 3 phase electricity), leaving a surplus of £13,472. After transferring £5,925 to the sinking fund there was a profit of £7,547. The balance sheet shows that the sinking fund stands at £20,875 and the club still owes the LTA £13,393. There were cash deposits of £38,202 and investments costing £45,000. The club had a deficit of assets of £4,285, which needs to be worked off out of future profits.
Subscriptions for 2006/2007 have been increased by £10.00 to £120 for family memberships, by £5.00 to £70 for single and by £2.00 to £28 for junior memberships. Two thirds of subscriptions are already in, and we are budgeted to make a profit, which will reduce the accumulated deficit.
A decision has also been made to sell two thirds of the COIF investment shares, and further information will be made available when full details are known.
There were no questions. Paul Grange proposed, and John Watson seconded, that the accounts be adopted. Agreed unanimously by the meeting.
Chris expressed his thanks to Alistair Gibson for auditing the accounts with his customary efficiency.
Chris conveyed a personal announcement from Mike that he is making a monetary gift to the club by way of gift aid, which therefore generates a further 40% to the donation. Several ideas have been discussed by the three officers on how to spend this money, and they have decided on silver cups to present as tournament prizes, to replace the existing shields. Mike and Lynne have been sourcing good quality cups of an elegant design, and have already bought two, which will be engraved each year.
Chris proposed a vote of enormous thanks and gratitude to Mike Browning for everything he has done for the club, and Toni seconded this. This was wholeheartedly reciprocated by the whole meeting.
ELECTION OF OFFICERS
A single nomination for each of the posts of Chairman, Treasurer and Secretary had been received in writing more than 14 days before the AGM. Proposers and seconders were as follows:
NomineeProposerSeconder
ChairmanChris RylanceHarry ConnellRon Grew
TreasurerMark TaberMike BrowningChris Rylance
SecretaryToni WarrenChris RylanceSylv Willcox
Chris Rylance stood down whilst the vote for Chairman was taken and Toni Warren temporarily took the chair. Having been unanimously re-elected Chris retook the chair. The other two nominees in turn were unanimously voted into office.
ELECTION OF COMMITTEE MEMBERS
Nominations for the committee had been received in writing more than 14 days before the AGM. All of the committee members were willing to stand for a further year except Alastair McArthur, Belinda Seaton and Barry Charter, who all wished to stand down. Mike Browning, Chris Keast and Matt Thompson have all agreed to stand, and completed nominations had been received more than 14 days earlier. Details of proposers and seconders were as follows:
NomineeProposerSeconder
John WatsonBarbara MabbuttMike Browning
Harry ConnellToni WarrenChris Rylance
Barbara MabbuttRon GrewSylv Willcox
Ron GrewMike BrowningBarbara Mabbutt
Sylv WillcoxChris RylanceToni Warren
Chris KeastHarry ConnellRon Grew
Mike BrowningChris RylanceToni Warren
Matt ThompsonToni WarrenRon Grew
Each of the nominees was in turn unanimously elected to the committee.
Chris thanked the three departing members for their efforts over the last year, and welcomedMark Taber, Chris Keast and Matt Thompson. As new members of the committee, they will become trustees of the charity and will therefore be required to complete an appropriate Declaration Form. Mark and Carol will also have to sign Bank Mandate forms.
. These were not signed at the end of the meeting due to Mike’s absence, but will be done so at the earliest possible opportunity.
APPOINTMENT OF HONORARY AUDITOR
Alastair Gibson is willing to continue, and it was proposed by Toni Warren and seconded by Geoff Jones that Alastair Gibson should be re-elected as Honorary Auditor. Agreed unanimously.
ANY OTHER COMPETENT BUSINESS
Chris had received one item in writing prior to the AGM which John Watson had brought up at the last committee meeting, where it had been decided that a decision could only be resolved at the AGM. Chris asked John Watson to address his proposal to the meeting.
John proposed that the three posts of officers should have the opportunity of priority for the Wimbledon tickets draw in recognition for the hard work and commitment they give to the club. Chris told that the three officers did not agree with this proposal, and felt uncomfortable about it. Bridget Rylance also voiced her opinion against the proposal, but many members of the meeting wholly agreed that the officers were completely deserving of this acknowledgement.
Chris therefore asked the meeting to take a vote by a show of hands. A substantial number were in favour of the proposal, with two against and three abstaining. The motion was therefore carried, the formal part of the meeting was closed, and Chris said he would allow informal discussion on particular topics members might wish to raise.
Brian Fawcett asked for a broad vote of thanks to Mike Browning for everything he has done for the club, and this was agreed unanimously.
Karen Gough spoke of her pleasure at the juniors being given equal attention to the seniors at the club tournament last September, and hoped that more members would come and watch the junior matches at this year’s tournament.
Paul Grange asked whether it would be possible to give a Browning Cup as a particular award each year. Chris said that he had already raised this idea with Mike and Toni, and they had come up with the idea of the Browning Old Gits trophy, which could take the shape of a silver zimmer frame. This was greeted with great amusement and enthusiasm from the members.
Chris Keast took the opportunity to welcome any men and women who would like to play league tennis matches. He encouraged anyone interested to come along to evening training for ladies on Mondays at 6.30pm and men on Tuesdays at 6.30pm. Although there is no lower age limit, he stressed that players will be selected on their current form and playing ability. Chris Rylance reiterated that one of the reasons for setting up the Mens 3rd team is for the older juniors to gain experience in senior league tennis.
Wimbledon Draw
We are still awaiting details of the exact number of pairs of tickets allocated. A husband and wife in a family membership may both enter the draw but only one of them may win. Alison Letts will contact the winners to allocate tickets and Toni will forward the tickets when they arrive. The draw was then made and names came out of the hat in the following order:
1.Harry Connell
2.Jane Parkes
3.Liz Dagger
4.Officer
5.Suzie Matthews
6.Colin Withers
7.Alison Sheen
8.Officer
9.Evelyn Heighton
10.Alison Letts
11.Angela Klepp
12.Officer
13.Kate Callaghan
14.Keith Tomlinson
15.Duncan Soper
16.Angela King
17.Heidi Beck
18.Anne Collier
19.Sylv Willcox
20.Matt Thompson
21.Hilary Cripps
22.Ron Grew
23.Charlotte Milligan
24.Colin Timpson
The meeting closed at 8.30 p.m.