www.eyta.org.uk
Exeter Yaroslavl Twinning Association
Annual General Meeting 9 October 2017
Contents
Notice of Annual General Meeting 09 October 2017 1
Agenda: Annual General Meeting 09 October 2017 1
Minutes: Annual General Meeting 24 October 2016 2
Minutes Extraordinary General Meeting 6 April 2017 7
Constitution: Excerpt regarding General Meetings: 8
Reply Slip: Attending Annual General Meeting 9
Nominations for the committee 9
Membership Renewal Form 2017 - 2018 10
Notice of Annual General Meeting 09 October 2017
Our Annual General Meeting will be held at Heavitree Sports and Social Centre, Wingfield Park, 2 East Wonford Hill, Heavitree, Exeter EX1 3BS, on 09 October 2017, at 7:30 pm
After the business meeting, there will be a turkey carvery at £6 per person. We will also hold a raffle, with proceeds going to association funds. Prizes would be greatly appreciated.
Drinks will be available at reasonable prices from the Centre Bar. Parking is available. Please let us know whether you will be attending and having the turkey carvery. This will assist in planning and catering.
We welcome nominations for any officer roles or new committee members.
Agenda: Annual General Meeting 09 October 2017
1. Apologies
2. Minutes of Annual General Meeting 19 October 2015
3. Chairman’s Report
4. Secretary’s Report
5. Treasurer’s Report
6. Appointment of Independent Financial Examiner
7. Election of the Officers
8. Election of the Committee
9. Any Other Business
The meeting will be followed by a turkey carvery and raffle
Minutes: Annual General Meeting 24 October 2016
Held at: Heavitree Sports and Social Centre, 2 East Wonford Hill, Exeter EX1 3BS
Present
Peter Barker (chairperson), Barrie Coles (treasurer), Joyce Burgess (secretary), Bob Bradshaw (committee), Ron Crabb (committee), Clare Meiklejohn (committee), Marilyn Pegg (committee), Angela Samuel (committee), Keith Seabrook (committee), John Street (Exeter City Council), Alexei (photographer guest from Yaroslavl), Douglas Allen, Jan Barker, Elena Coles, Irene Derczynska, Kevin Fitzpatrick, event Pat Fitzpatrick, Helena Harrold, Christiane Haste, John Holman, Pamela Holman, Elisabeth House, Jeremy Lees, Marija Lees, Yvette Salter, John Shepherd, Nataliya Shepherd,
Apologies
John Burgess, Alan Jones, Ann Jones, Celia Smith, Allison Southcott, Dorothy Wagland
Minutes of AGM 19th October 2015
The acceptance of the 2015 AGM Minutes was proposed by Bob Bradshaw and seconded by John Shepherd. The minutes were duly signed by Chairperson Peter Barker.
Chairperson’s Report
Peter reported on a good year’s work, highlighting achievements and points to take forward.
Vespers at Exeter Orthodox Chapel included a talk by Peter Scorer, Protodeacon, then pizzas at the Globe Inn. We repeated this successfully for our Yaroslavl inward group. We had hoped for a talk on her Russian experiences by Danielle Sheridan, a journalist with the Times. Unfortunately, she had to cancel but we hope to rearrange this for a later date.
Our 2015 Guildhall Christmas Fayre and Coffee Morning went well. We would like to make improvements and have a Xmas Fayre Sub-Committee led by Joyce. The next meeting will be in George’s Meeting House on 26 Oct to which all are welcome. The Fayre is on 10 December 2016. Stock was brought back from Yaroslavl, to the value of 6320 roubles / £78.20 by Clare and Peter. Further donations of home produce, books etc. would be welcome.
Our Russian Xmas Meal was held at Exeter College @34 and our guest of honour was the Lord Mayor was guest of honour. Special thanks to Larisa Seward, our menu consultant. We were due to be on BBC TV but the crew had to attend an urgent incident. Peter was on Radio Devon on New Year’s Day – a telephone interview with Gordon Sparks. The College wanted to repeat the event, so we had booked 5 January 2017. We will make changes to improve things and not to squeeze too much in (e.g. Russian Play), giving more time for people to circulate.
The Quiz and Social Evening in the Spring had been good, with John and Joyce the quizmasters. We also performed a Russian Sketch (Багаж), with Elena as director. We included a quiz during the Inward Russian Visit with Victoria as quiz master and repeated the sketch.
11 Russian guests came to Exeter, the largest recent inward group, the usual limit, for both directions is 10. Peter planned a varied programme and our Russian partners were happy to leave most programme choices to us. Peter thanked Ron and Bob for the White Ensign Club buffet and rum ceremony and Keith for the popular Teignmouth day. Bob, Clare and Peter took them to London for a day. They enjoyed a Chinese Noodle Lunch in Exeter and we always had a dedicated person (Joyce) to keep them supplied with drinks at functions. We had industrial visits, i.e. Exeter City Council Materials Reclamation Facility (Elena Coles interpreted) and Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue. Generally, we have agreed not to provide interpreters, as the group invariably has fluent English speakers who help the others.
Teachers from The Olive Tree went to Yaroslavl in the Spring. We allocated them a grant of £750 to help with finance. Most are now EYTA members, although that was not a grant condition. They visited Yaroslavl, Tutayev and Gavirilov Yam schools and ran workshops for English Language teachers in Yaroslavl. Their visit was publicised on local media.
The combined Civic and Twinning Group Yaroslavl visit was in September 2016. 6 EYTA members asked to come, but after 4 withdrawals only Clare and Peter were left. The Civic Leaders’ visit went well and the Exeter House agreement was renewed. Clare and I gave talks to school classes. We also read poetry and presented prizes for the children’s competition. We had a day in Moscow where we met Elena and her friends and our final event was the formal joint dinner with the civic party. Clare enjoyed collecting mushrooms in the forest.
EYTA Facebook page is set up and we get enquiries through the webpage. The Russian conversation group meets each month, supported by 2 native speakers, Larisa Lyons and Natalia Gubina. Our membership is stable at about 81 members, with some turnover.
Peter thanked Exeter City Council for the grant and for the privilege of representing Exeter in Yaroslavl, our partners in Yaroslavl who are very easy to work with and the Committee and Members of EYTA who have supported the association in many ways
Peter pointed out that he had done the Chairperson’s role for 3 years. He had enjoyed it but did not want to do it indefinitely so eventually we must think about a change.
Acceptance of the chairperson’s report was proposed by Bob Bradshaw and seconded by Ron Crabb and agreed by those present.
4. Secretary’s Report
Joyce reported on a very successful year’s twinning in all activities. She thanked Angela Samuel who undertook many of the duties of secretary because of her long absences during the year. She also thanked Peter and the Committee for their hard work.
Publicity has continued despite the difficulty of attracting new members, particularly younger ones. There were 3 Radio Devon interviews, mentions and photos from time to time in the local paper and the website (thanks to Peter). At the Xmas Fayre we would have a dedicated publicity table, manned by Irene and Elisabeth; Joyce put posters and flyers in libraries, cinemas, arts centres etc. to advertise EYTA and the Xmas Fayre and entered the Fayre onto websites which advertise local events. Joyce asked that if anyone would like a poster or flyer to put up in a local library etc., as we would be grateful for any further help with publicity.
The Christmas Fayre Sub-Committee had been meeting during the year to organise the Xmas Fayre. We would have the following stalls, so contributions welcome: home produce (cakes, biscuits, jams, chutney, plants etc.), jewellery, books, bric-a-brac, cakes or mince pies for the cafe and bottles for the tombola. Donations could be stored until the Fayre. We can collect items. Please ask. Anyone who would like to help with the Fayre should contact Joyce.
Joyce was away from Exeter frequently and felt that she was not doing the job of Secretary to the full and Angela and Peter have done much of the work – so she would not be seeking reappointment, but was most willing to help when at home and to stay on the committee.
Acceptance of the Secretary’s report was proposed by Pat Fitzpatrick and seconded by Elena Coles and agreed by those present.
Treasurer’s Report
The past year has been successful, but our net total monetary worth has decreased a little. Our end of year balance was £482.26 down compared with last year’s balance.
Fundraising has been successful and Barrie thanked everyone who contributed their time and energy to achieving £724.84 to be added to the balance. Last year’s figures included funds held for the Sobinov orchestra, thus comparison of the years does not give a true picture.
The reduction of our net worth is mainly because your committee made the decision to use some of the association’s money for what it is really intended: furthering friendship between Exeter and Yaroslavl. EYTA will take every opportunity to do so again. To this end it was voted to subsidise a visit of a group of Exeter teachers to schools in Yaroslavl at a cost of £750. The largest portion of the cost was met by the teachers themselves, but this contribution allowed the visit to take place. A report written by one of the teachers about the visit appeared in one of our newsletters and is well worth reading. In addition, the Russian group coming here was a little larger than last year and a full programme was arranged for them.
Your committee also had a banner made for the cost of £124.80, to use in advertising the association’s presence at events. It is eye-catching and will last a long time.
Subscriptions are down a little, but several new members joined the association last year. Barrie thanked all those people who gave us voluntary donations. We have kept administration costs to a minimum, these include circulating newsletters to members and the cost of insurance.
Exeter City Council once again was generous and gave us a grant to continue our efforts in twinning with Yaroslavl. This helps to make a real connection between the two cities.
A charge was decided to cover costs of hall hire and other expenses in setting entry charges for social events, rather than use these events as a fund-raising exercise. The raffles contributed to funds, however, and thanks go to ticket sellers and those who donated prizes.
Barrie thanked Angela Samuel who hosted the Russian conversation meetings which raised £77.50. Deserving our thanks for raising £513.84 gross are members who gave their time to run stalls at last year’s Christmas Fayre. Many thanks to those who donated items for sale. We are preparing for this year’s Fayre, please contact us if you want to help or contribute.
Thanks go to Ron Crabb and Bob Bradshaw who helped with our Russian guests’ evening visit to Heavitree Social Club in July. I am conscious of the debt we owe to all those I have not mentioned by name but without whose help and time the association would be the loser.
Barrie Coles (Treasurer)
Angela Samuel and Christiane Haste pointed out a discrepancy which Barrrie explained.
John Shepherd wondered why some figures were missing from the accounts. Barrie said this was because on the outward visit we only had 2 members from EYTA, the rest of the group was from Exeter City Council. Also, we have not yet had the bill for this year’s AGM.
Acceptance of the Treasurer’s Report was proposed by Jan Barker and seconded by Irene Derczynska.
Appointment of Independent Financial Examiner
Barrie recommended Stephen Schlich as be Independent Financial Examiner for the EYTA Accounts next year.
Change to the Constitution – addition of a vice chairperson
Peter proposed changing the constitution by adding an extra committee post of vice chairperson. This would enable us to be sure of committee quorums and be deputy for the Chairperson. If the AGM agrees, it must be put to the rest of the membership within a month and, if 2/3 of the total membership agree, it can be adopted.
Elena Coles asked if the vice chairperson would automatically become chairperson. John Shepherd said that there would have to be a vote of the membership. Pam Holman asked for clarification of 2/3 of the membership. John Shepherd said that would mean 2/3 of the total members, including those here at the AGM.
Peter Barker suggested that Joyce Burgess might consider the Vice Chairperson role, but Joyce said that would pose the same problem as that of Secretary as she is so often away.
John Street suggested that the committee choose one of their members to put forward for vice chairperson and that the full membership could vote on it later. On a show of hands for the proposed addition of a vice chairperson, all 26 attendees were in favour. The rest of the membership would now be invited to vote by email or by letter.
Election of the Officers
Clare Meiklejohn was proposed for the post of secretary by Jeremy Lees. This was seconded by Yvette Salter.
Election of the Committee
The present committee was re-elected and acceptance was proposed by Angela Samuel and seconded by Ron Crabb.
Any Other Business
John Street of Exeter City Council – Twinning and Exeter House
John Street, from Exeter City Council, explained that part of his job was to foster international relations and twinning. He felt that we were doing a good job and that EYTA had become more invigorated and that he was happy to be working with Peter Barker in cultivating strong ties with Yaroslavl. He must report on Twinning to the Council and he feels there is enthusiasm in the city for twinning. Exeter was 1 of only 2 South-West authorities which voted to remain in the referendum. For the small amount of grant which the Council gives to twinning it gains a great deal.