NORTH SOMERSET AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY

Minutes of the 20th Annual General Meeting

Monday 22nd November 2010, 7.30 pm, Redhill Village Hall

Present:President, Sir David Wills, Chairman, Johnny Alvis and the 42 members whose names are recorded in the attendance register.

In attendance:Chris Porter of R S Porter & Co, Chartered Accountants.

The President, Sir David Wills, welcomed everyone to the meeting.
5501 / Apologies
Apologies were received from 15 members whose names are recorded in the attendance register.
5502 / Appointment of Tellers
Bob Cook and James Bardwell appointed as tellers.
5503 / Approval of the minutes of the 19th AGM held on the 23rd Nov 2009
The minutes of the 19th Annual General Meeting held on 23rd November 2009, having been circulated, were approved and signed on the proposal of James Bardwell, seconded by Phil Carnell. There were no matters arising.
5504 / Adoption of the Accounts for the year ending 31st August 2010
The accounts, having been circulated prior to the meeting, were presented by Chris Porter, Society Accountant. Chris explained that the accounts have followed a similar format to previous years and there was a similar surplus to previous years. He explained the reasons behind the increase in expenditure for the Show. A few questions were forthcoming from the floor. It was pointed out that the fixed assets less liabilities had been printed twice. Also it states that the bank holds security over 134 acres of land when it should be 130 acres, the bank should be notified. We need to make more of the public benefit the Society provides, this is essential to comply with the Charities Act. Tim will also try to have a breakdown of the harvest supper account for next year’s accounts. The accounts were proposed by Andrew Hillman and seconded by Richard Withers.
5505 / Chairman’s Report
Chairman, Johnny Alvis started by welcoming everybody to the AGM and thanked everybody for their support throughout the course of the year. The Show saw similar conditions to the one in 2009, cold but mainly dry, despite this we had over 2,000 more people come to the Show which is hugely encouraging. The day was deemed to be very positive for the Society and we can all be proud of our individual contributions. Johnny expressed his congratulations to the Ploughing Committee for running what was a good ploughing match in 2010 and it was to the credit of the committee that they had managed to reduce the cost of running the event to a small loss and hopefully next year it will be in a position to make some money for the Society. The harvest supper was well attended and once again the event continues to go from strength to strength. This year’s Carol Service is being held at Trinity Church, Burrington with the congregation being invited back to Langford Court for after service refreshments. The Auction of Promises was another fantastic event well organised by Freddie Ford which raised approximately £14,000 for the Society and thanks were given to Freddie, the Atwell Family and the Ladies that decorated the Barn. 2011 is nearly upon us and that means the preparation for the May Show is getting into full gear, we will no doubt have to deal with the usual problems as well as some new ones along the way, but July sees a new event which is an educational day for school children. We already have 2,500 school children signed up for it so the day should be a fantastic showpiece for the Society, however we will need a lot of help in the form of stewards etc so please do not be shy in coming forward. The VAT increase will of course have its effect on the finances this year so we must work hard to ensure expenditure remains as low as possible. When we change banks a further £17,000 will be paid off the loan to bring the loan down to approximately £139,700. The COIF account currently stands at £32,500 and the current account stands at £12,050. Once again he thanked everybody for their support.
5506 / Election of Council
The following retired by rotation and offered themselves for re-election:
Mr D J Bull, Mr P Carnell, Mrs M Cooksley, Miss T Hill, Mr T James, Mr R G Jones, Mrs N Kirsen, Mrs P Myers, Mr D Smith, Mr S Waters. They were proposed by Bob Cook and seconded by Tom Bardwell
All were in favour.
Mr A Gell informed the Council that he did not wish to stand for re-election.
5507 / Patron
Simon Brooks was prepared to remain as Patron for the ensuing year and thanks were expressed to Simon for his support of the Society.
5509 / Election of Vice Presidents
It was proposed by Mr Bob Cook and seconded by Toria Britten that the following Vice Presidents be re-elected en-bloc: Dr L Fox MP, Mr R Hill, Mr A Hillman, Mr J King, Mr W Otley, Mr R Simmons. Carried unanimously.
5510 /

Appointments of Auditors

It was proposed by Mr A Hillman and seconded by Mr P Cook that R S Porter & Co of Clifton, Bristol, be appointed as auditors to fix their remuneration. Carried unanimously.
5511
5512 / Date of the May Show 2012
The date of the 153rd annual North Somerset Show was noted and approved as Monday 7th May 2012.

AOB

Bob Cook asked if it was possible to co-opt a member of the Society on to the Council, it was agreed that it was. Billy Smith thanked BOCM Pauls and A E James for their continual support for the Winter Forage Competition.
Sir David thanked everybody for attending the AGM and closed the meeting at 20:24.

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