MINUTES of ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING - 8Th MAY 2013

MINUTES OF ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING - 8th MAY 2013

Present:

Adam Joesbury / Adam Joyce /
Andy Gower / Arlette Sanchez-Garcia
Brian Barlow / Brian White
Colin Mills / David Hall
David Lewis / Debbie Cox
Hilary Manning / JJ De Gorter
Jane Fenwick / Jeanette Tearle
John West / Gill Kemp
Keith Bedford / Kevin Kemp
Liz Newton / Maria Peralta
Marian Pelmore / Nikki Storey
Pam Buckley / Paula Morisco-Tarr
Rachel Toresen-Owuor / Richard Tearle
Sarah Loftus / Val Hall
Yvette Todd
Brian Baldwin (Independent Examiner)

Apologies:

Chris & Gerry Brookman / Dionne & Conor Whelan /
Vicky Collyer / Neil Briggs
Elaine Graham / Amelia Morisco-Tarr
Michelle Chum Djuric / Chrystelle Todd

Val Hall (Club Chairman) welcomed all members to the meeting. She also welcomed Brian Baldwin who had carried out the Independent Examination of the accounts for the year April 2012-March 2013. He explained that he is Treasurer of two local organisations and acts as Independent Examiner of six, being a member of the Association of Charity Independent Examiners (ACIE).

APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

Apologies for absence were noted from 10 members.

MINUTES OF 2012 AGM & MATTERS ARISING

Yvette Todd wished it noted that she could not approve the minutes as she had only seen them for the first time at the meeting. Val reminded her that they had been available for all members on the Club website from end-September 2012. In response to Yvette's further point that she would like them e-mailed to her, Val confirmed that posting the minutes on the Club website was a satisfactory method and no change to this would be considered.

There were no matters arising from the minutes.

Val proposed that the minutes of the 2012 AGM should be approved. All members present seconded this with the exception of one member .

REPORT OF CLUB SECRETARY

Jane Fenwick gave a summary report of Club activities from September 2012 (Appendix 1 to the minutes).

Yvette Todd did not agree with some of the statements in the report, including that the Club is a friendly organisation. She also felt that she should be a member of the Coaching team.

As none of these matters had been put forward by the deadline of 17th April for inclusion on the AGM agenda, Val said that these would be noted and discussed at the next Club Committee meeting.

The Club Secretary's report was approved – proposed by Andy Gower and seconded by Brian White.

REPORT OF CLUB TREASURER

Kevin Kemp presented his report (Appendix 2 to the minutes) which included the accounts for the year April 2012-March 2013 and Brian Baldwin's report following the Independent Examination.

Kevin pointed out that there was a balance of £2,304.84 remaining at the end of the year and this was a sensible amount to have as a reserve. Brian confirmed that this was in order.

He included in the summary accounts a column showing an outline budget for the year April 2013-March 2014. Hilary asked if £75 for the website had been listed in error against Xmas Dinner and Kevin confirmed that this would be corrected.

Kevin read out Brian's report following his Independent Examination of the accounts which confirmed that they represented a true and fair view of the Club's activities for the year to 31st March 2013.

Yvette asked why the accounts had been prepared on a receipts and payments basis rather than on an accruals basis. Brian explained that the receipts and payments basis was entirely appropriate for a small organisation such as MK Lakeside Runners as the accruals method was more sophisticated than necessary.

The Club Treasurer's report was approved: proposed by David Hall and seconded by Gill Kemp.

NOMINATION OF INDEPENDENT EXTERNAL EXAMINER

Val thanked Brian on behalf of Kevin and Club members for carrying out the Independent Examination and also thanked him for doing this for a fee of £20.

Val proposed that the Brian be appointed as Independent External Examiner for the coming year and this was seconded by Jane.

ELECTION OF COMMITTEE

Val advised that apart from two members, the rest of the Club Committee were prepared to continue for another year. All had been proposed and seconded as follows:

Chairman:

Val Hall Proposed: Michelle Chum Djuric Seconded: Nikki Storey

Vice Chairman:

Debbie Cox Proposed: Liz Newton Seconded: Karen Smith

Treasurer:

Kevin Kemp Proposed: Dave Lewis Seconded: Brigitte Cox

Secretary:

Jane Fenwick Proposed: Brigitte Cox Seconded: David Cooper

Social Secretary & Club Kit:

Paula Morisco-Tarr Proposed: Amelia Morisco-Tarr Seconded: Liz Newton

Head Coach:

Richard Tearle Proposed: Val Hall Seconded: Jeanette Tearle

Representing Late Group:

Andy Gower Proposed: Dionne Whelan Seconded: Conor Whelan

Jeanette Tearle and Chris Brookman had both had to resign due to work commitments and Val thanked them on behalf of members for their help and commitment as Committee members. They were replaced by:

Membership Secretary (replacing Jeanette):

Keith Bedford Proposed: Jeanette Tearle Seconded: Jane Fenwick

Representing Late Group (replacing Chris):

Dionne Whelan Proposed: Andy Gower Seconded: Chris Brookman

An additional post of Events Co-ordinator has been created and this is filled by:

David Lewis Proposed: Richard Tearle Seconded: Jane Fenwick

No additional names were put forward by the deadline of 17th April so all the above were elected unopposed.

CONSIDERATION OF MATTERS NOTIFIED BY DEADLINE OF 17TH APRIL

Jane confirmed that no additional matters for the agenda were notified by the deadline.

PROVISIONAL DATE OF 2014 AGM

Val confirmed with K evin that a date in May 2014 would be convenient and Jane will arrange this and advise members in plenty of time.

CHAIRMAN'S VOTE OF THANKS

Val thanked Brian and Club members for their support throughout the year.

MKLR AGM 2013 – APPENDIX 1 - CLUB SECRETARY'S REPORT

As those of you who attended the last Club AGM in September 2012 will remember, we approved a revised Club Constitution to make it more closely reflect the growth of the Club in the 7 years since its formation in 2005. One of the changes is to hold the AGM in May instead of September, as this is much closer to the Club's financial year which ends on 31st March.

For that reason, I'm sure you will be pleased to learn that my report this time will be shorter, as I am only reporting on 8 months rather than a complete year.

First of all some updates

At last year's AGM, the Committee were given an action to resolve finally the situation of the old Club Website and public Facebook site, both of which were misleading and on occasion misrepresenting the club and causing confusion for potential new members. I am pleased to be able to say that we finally closed them down soon after the AGM.

On membership:

At the last AGM in September 2012, we reported that we had 112 fully paid up members. Since then we have seen a very gratifying increase in membership, with people joining both the Beginners and the Improvers groups, so that membership grew to 166, an increase of 48%. One reason for this increase was probably partly due to the effect of the home Olympics which had such an impact across the country, but for whatever reason, it has been great to welcome so many new faces to the Club.

Since the last AGM, we've had two 10-week Beginners courses, starting in September and January, with 13 graduating in November and 6 in March. And we're now into the fourth week of the latest course, with 15 enrolled (10 completely new and 5 returners). At the start of these courses, most people can't believe they will manage to run 5k in 30 mins after 10 weeks and it is always heartening to see that they do, and their hard work makes all of us especially in the coaching team very proud.

Subscriptions for this year:

As you already know, the Club Committee discussed the matter of subscriptions for the year starting on 1st April, but decided to keep them at the same level as last year, at £30.

Parking at Willen:

Just to remind you that if you would like a car parking permit at Willen Lake, as Club members we get a very generous discount of £50 from Whitecap Leisure who administer the site, meaning that instead of £120/year, we are charged £70. BUT to ensure that only paid up members benefit from this, you have to pay the Club and we then pay Whitecap with a Club cheque. Just let me know if you want a permit and we can organise it.

Coaching team:

In December, we were all delighted when Richard passed his final examination and became a fully qualified Coach in Running Fitness and the Club's Head Coach. This was a very challenging process and demanded a lot of work from Richard who committed a great deal of his personal time whilst managing a busy day job, so we are all very grateful to him for his dedication and commitment. In November Debbie gained her Coaching Assistant qualification, so she along with the other Leaders in Running Fitness assist Richard in making sure all members are looked after as well as possible, by providing planned running sessions, route risk assessments and a variety of running routes and technical training for both summer and winter. Since last September, Andy, Chris, Dionne, Rachel and Kevin have all gained the UKA LiRF - Leader in Running Fitness - qualification and Sue renewed her permit, so joining Keith, Paula, Jeanette, John and me as Leaders in the Coaching team.

Members may not know that Richard arranges a two-months coaching schedule for Club nights so that each coach knows when they are leading or supporting an activity, what that activity will entail and what route we will take. We believe this makes Club nights run well and ensures that we get the most out of the time, even through the winter when the weather is against us.

Track sessions:

We've continued with monthly bookings of Stantonbury track, in September to November, and February to April. We also had a booking in January but this had to be cancelled sadly because the track was covered with snow and ice. Although on average about 15 people have attended the sessions from both the early and late groups, it would be great to see a lot more members there as it is a great experience to run on a proper running track instead of lumpy redways. Don't forget the next one is next Wednesday, 15th May.

Social events:

Paula has continued to arrange a number of social events for us: we've met at The Ship Ashore several times, then we had the very successful Christmas Indian dinner at the Calcutta Brasserie, and an enjoyable evening bowling last month. She's also busy organising the summer celebration on 15th June – the so called Knees Up Party, which we hope lots of you will attend.

And while mentioning Paula, let's not forget the splendid job she also does for us, ordering and distributing the Club kit, so thanks, Paula.

Running highlights:

As usual, there is such a wide range of events which members enter that I cannot list them all here, but I'll just mention a few:

Last November, a record breaking 53 teams turned up to experience the Squeaky Bone event, a cold, wet and muddy race in the countryside near Olney, and this included 2 teams of intrepid MKLR members.

The 3 Counties Cross Country league had 5 races between October and February, and Kevin and Bev (Croft) were each awarded a plaque for completing all 5. These relaxed events are run over 5 miles with no race timings and there's food and drink at the end!

In February the Quadzilla Enigma Running 4-day festival took place. This is 4 full marathons round Caldecotte Lake in 4 days! Special mention to Chris Brookman here as he managed to get his picture in the MK Citizen and a good write-up for the Club, due to doing great times over the full 4 days.

In March several people did themselves proud at the MK Half Marathon & 10k event, and on Good Friday there was a special Enigma marathon – again round and round Caldecotte Lake!

And also in March, let's not also forget our 8 members, all girls, who completed the Devils Challenge – 7 miles off road in a pit usually used for 4x4 events. Lots of nasty mud to crawl through and freezing cold water to wade through. I'm told it was nice when it was over!

In April, 17 of us turned out for the Flitwick 10k event – thankfully on a nice sunny day at last, and the photos on the Club Facebook page show what a fine sight we were, all but one in Club kit. For several people this was their first ever 10k event and they survived in spite of the 3 nasty hills. Actually having done this event 5 times now, each time I count more hills, or is it just that I go slower each time?!

And what about the Park Run veterans? - this regular Saturday morning event has suffered over the autumn and winter with flooding between the lakes, causing some to be cancelled. But in spite of this, a good number of MKLR members have earned their red t-shirt which they get for completing 50 runs.

Who could forget the sight of David Cooper dropping his trousers at Club night in order to persuade us to sponsor him at the London Marathon on 21st April? An interesting approach to fund-raising, not copied, thankfully, by Tim (Bleiby), Paul (Harrington), Rachel (Voss), Mark (Atkinson), Chrystelle (Todd) and JJ (de Gorter)! All of whom, including David, did themselves proud on the day.

Last but definitely not least - let's not forget the dedicated members who've braved the generally bad conditions since the start of the year, training on Saturday mornings for Half and full Marathons. Between 6 and 16 hardy souls from the Early group and around 12 from the Late group have been turning out every week, and after the first few weeks, they've even been starting at 8am due to the longer distances they've had to cover – what a commitment.