Minutes of the Annual General Meeting 2012

The National Bat Conference, University of York

Saturday 15th September 2012 at 6.00pm

The meeting started at 18.00 hours.

Kate Jones (BCT Chair) chaired the meeting and first introduced the others on the platform,

David Gibbons (Trustee) and Steve Parker (Trustee). The Chair covered some administrative matters.

Shereminded members thatrecording the meeting required permission of the attendees.
Shepointed out that spareAGM papers were available at the front.
She advised that as proxy voting had been made available,the Chair would call for a poll on every resolution so that the proxy votes could be included.
She described the manner of the poll – that it would be by a show of hands (in which the voting card should be held) to which the proxy votes would be added.
All those who had submitted proxy votes had appointed the Chair as their proxy.
She checked if anyone present had also submitted a proxy form – none had.

50 voting members attended at the start of the meeting

1. Apologies for Absence

Apologies were received from:

______

Draft BCT – AGM Minutes, 20thSeptember 2011 Page 1 of 10

Registered Charity No. 1012361 (England and Wales), SC040116 (Scotland). Company Limited by Guarantee, Registered in England No: 2712823. Registered office: Quadrant House, 250 Kennington Lane, London SE11 5RD.

Pat Morris

Mary Morris

Lisa Worledge (BCT Partnerships Officer)

Edward Wells

Helen Wells

Michael Ford (Trustee and Hon. Secretary)

Tom Andrews (Trustee and Treasurer)

2. Minutes of the previous Annual General Meeting on 17thSeptember 2011

There were no changes and the Minutes were accepted as a true record.

Resolution 1, to approve the minutes of the previous AGM on 17thSeptember 2011, was proposed byRebbecca Collins, seconded byBob Cornes.

For / Against / Abstain
Votes (those present) / 46 / 0 / 4
Proxy votes / 78 / 0 / 7
Total / 124 / 0 / 11
Motion carried

3. Annual Report of the Board of Trustees 2010-11

The Annual Report was summarised by the chair.

Last year saw BCTs 20th Anniversary and the Year of the Bat
BCT continued to provide a strong voice for bat conservation to meet the challenges of the economic downturn and the push towards development and growth at the expense of the environment.
We have continued to set best practice standards with the publication of the 2nd edition of the Bat Survey Guidelines, launch of the professional training standards and the launch of the Roost website to share best practice.
The Chair explained that we continue to be very proud of our science-based conservation approach, particularly with the development of a European bat population indicator using data from 9 countries and a habitat suitability map of the Bechstein’s bat species.
We are also very proud of our community outreach projects especially with our Count Bat Project which concluded this year reaching more than 20,000 people over the last four years.
The Chair noted that none of this would have been achieved without the huge dedication of the UK volunteers, valued members, supporters, funders and the BCT team.

Resolution 2, to approve the Annual Reportof the Board of Trustees for 2011-12, was proposed byRoger Jiggins, seconded byGail Armstrong.

For / Against / Abstain
Votes (those present) / 51 / 0 / 0
Proxy votes / 81 / 0 / 4
Total / 132 / 0 / 4
Motion carried

Another member joined the meeting at this point which brought the total eligible to vote in the meeting to 51

4. Annual Accounts and Auditors’ Report 20011-12

Steve Parker presented the accounts, standing in for Tom Andrews, Treasurer.

BCT adopts a risk-based approach for our reserves policy in order to define the amount we need to enable us to sustain our operations and protect us from unforeseen events. Based on the budget set for 2012/13, our target for reserves is £462,000. With an estimated £76,500 of additional funding covered by returns on our endowment, restricted and designated funds over the year, this leaves us currently short of our reserves target by £46,942. While we must aim to increase our reserves by this amount, it is important to highlight that our financial reserves are still in a very healthy position compared to many charities.

On behalf of BCT, Steve thanked all the BCT members, donors and partners for their fantastic support and our volunteers, bat groups and staff for their endless hard work on behalf of bat conservation. He stated that he would especially like to thank Gail Armstrong, the previous Treasurer, for all the hard work she has put in to ensure the financial stability and success of the Trust.

He then stated that everyone had been sent the Annual Review which contained the summary accounts, and that hard copies of the full accounts were available at the meeting. Steve asked if there were any questions.

Andrea Durn asked: - In the full accounts on page 23, Profit and Loss, the total figure in the 2012 column differs from the total in the Balance sheet on page 24. What is the difference(of £342) due to?

Julia explained that she would have to double check the difference and explained to members that the document had been checked by our auditors.

Andrea Durn expressed concern that the total in the Profit and Loss didn’t add up. She suggested that if the accounts don’t add up then we shouldhave to qualify them.

After a period of initial investigation Julia explained that there was an error on page 23 on the profit and loss sheet whereby the total 2012 governance figure was stated as £6,700 instead of £6,358 (as also stated in Note 6 for governance expenditure). This led to the incorrect total in the Profit and Loss. Julia said that she would fully check these figures and rectify the £342error, but she suspected this was a version control error.

The Chair suggested that we return to Resolution 3 at the end of the meeting, so that BCT staff could investigate further. It was decided that resolution 4 and 5 should also be postponed.

Another member joined the meeting at this point which brought the total eligible to vote in the meeting to 52

7. Election of Trustees.

The Chairexplained that there were 3 Trustees up for re-election, herself, Steve Parker and Sarah Escott.

The chair explained that in order for her to be re-elected as chair she would first have to be re-elected as a Ordinary Trustee.

Resolution 6, to re-elect Kate Jones as an Ordinary Trustee, was proposed by Roger Jiggins and seconded by Sarah Escott.