Draft Minutes of the Annual General Meeting of Scalby and Newby Twinning Association
held at 6.30 pm at Fledglings Restaurant, Yorkshire Coast College, on Thursday 19th January 2017
- Apologies and resignations
Apologies were received from: John and Evelyn Peterson, John and Hilary Flinton, Helen Jowsey, Ann Golder and Michael Plumb, Wendy Thompson and David Henderson.
23 members were present.
No resignations had been received.
- Approval and signing of the Minutes of AGM held on 21 January 2016
The 2016 AGM minutes were unanimously approved and signed by Chairman David Coates (proposer: Kaet Newton, seconder: Peter Harriott).
- Matters arising from minutes of AGM held on 21 January 2016
There were no matters arising.
- Chairman’s Report
The Chairman read his report to the members present. He reported that:
‘This has been another successful year for SANTA as we again achieved our aim to promote the concept of town twinning in and around the communities of Scalby and Newby in the borough of Scarborough. The association still has an active membership from across the town and has attracted new members from different parts of the borough. The twinning aims to develop friendship and mutual understanding between the two communities. This aim was certainly realized during the visit of the Pornicais.
The visit to Scalby and Newby moved back to the traditional weekend of Scalby Fayre, with forty three visitors being catered for. The group contained a large number of single travellers, mainly women. This made job of organising hosts more difficult and Michele is to be congratulated for the arrangements. The visit began on the Friday with a Free Day but many of us spent the morning being entertained at St. Peter’s School. All classes were involved in presentations in French. This was enjoyed and appreciated by all who attended, both English and French. In the afternoon many of us went to Sledmere House. I would like to thank Derek and Pauline Latham for organising this ad hoc visit and guided tours of house and gardens. We decided to hold the Safari Supper on the Friday evening to allow more people to get to know each other at the beginning of the visit. This went without a hitch. The Pornic stall at Scalby Fayre was again a great success. We had decided to have members of SANTA at the stall for the duration of the Fayre to give the English perspective on Twinning to encourage more people to join SANTA. On the Saturday evening we had the formal dinner at the Rugby Club. Prior to the dinner there was a drinks reception and presentation hosted by the Parish Council. The Twinning Charter was set up between the two Councils and it was much appreciated that, in these difficult financial times, the Parish Council was keen to continue their support for SANTA. The musical entertainment at the end of the evening was excellent with a good medley of music appreciated by all. Our thanks must go to Paul, Alex and Dylan. On the Sunday we had our walks and picnic. I would like to thank David and Glynis Francis for the use of their meadow for the picnic and Chris Found and John Flinton for their guided walks. On Monday the French had a successful trip to Fountains Abbey and Studley Royal. As usual they shopped in Morrison’s for their Christmas market. Thankfully this shopping trip only took one hour! Interestingly they had negotiated a £40 discount on their shopping.
During the Year we had two social events, which were enjoyed by all who attended. In April we had dinner at the Hospice followed by a talk given by Rachel Jenkinson, and in November we had dinner at South Cliff Golf Club followed by a talk on chocolate given by the proprietor of Arosa. Unfortunately the Treasure Hunt and afternoon tea organized for August was cancelled as few people were able to take part.
On a sad note Arthur Pilling, a founder member of SANTA and committee man for many years, died this year. Our thoughts go with him and his family.
All of the members of the SANTA committee have worked hard for the association this year, but one member deserves special mention and thanks. Michele Harriott, our secretary, has been the backbone of the association since I became Chairman. Sadly she resigned her role in August.
Finally I have decided to stand down as Chairman of SANTA. I have been the Chairman for six years and leave the post with mixed emotions. I am taking on new challenges and look forward to simply being a member of SANTA.’
There were no questions on the Chairman’s report.
- Treasurer’s Report
The Treasurer read his report to members present. He reported that:
‘Membership continues to drop and we currently have 48 members, so despite the increased in subscriptions this year, membership income has reduced from £870 to £720.
This year we introduced the idea of following our AGM with a dinner at Fledglings Restaurant. This was very reasonably priced and was well received.
We had 2 other social events this year: in April a talk by Rachel Jenkinson on her life in the Scarborough fishing community was followed by supper at St Catherine’s Hospice restaurant, and in November we had a talk given by the owner of Arosa chocolates after supper at South Cliff Golf Club. A third event, a summer treasure hunt was cancelled due to lack of support.
Income from social events has dropped substantially this year from £793 in 2015 to £272 this year and so to make sure that we are able to cover the future cost of hosting the Pornicais, your committee proposes to raise the annual subscription for 2017 to a flat rate of £20 per person so that we do not have to rely on social events to raise the necessary funding for the twinning.
In June 2016 we hosted 42 Pornicais twinners at a cost to the association of £1450, much reduced from 2 years ago when costs were £1000 more due in part to the extra costs of the 25th anniversary celebrations and also to the Parish Council this year paying for the drinks reception at the official dinner instead of paying for lunch at a civic reception.’
There were no questions on the Treasurer’s report.
- Election of management committee for 2017
There have been two significant resignations this year: Michele Harriott resigned as secretary in June and David Coates as Chairman at the AGM. Several committee members agreed to serve again (Chris Rhodes, Sue Harris and Shirley Jackson) and Richard Thompson remains as the parish representative. New nominations were received by the 9th January deadline: Michele Harriott, Ann Golding and Michael Plumb. These members were duly elected to the following posts:
POST / NOMINEE / PROPOSER / SECONDERChairman / Michele Harriott / David Coates / Richard Thompson
Treasurer / Peter Harriott / Shirley Jackson / David Coates
Secretary / Shirley Jackson / Christine Rhodes / Ann Wrigglesworth
Social Secretary / Ann Wrigglesworth / David Coates / Richard Thompson
Committee / Christine Rhodes / Shirley Jackson / Susan Harris
Committee / Susan Harris / Shirley Jackson / David Coates
Committee / Michael Plumb / David Coates / Christine Rhodes
Committee / Ann Golder / David Coates / Ann Wrigglesworth
- Setting of annual subscription for 2017
The Treasurer proposed that the annual subscription was raised to £20 to reduce the need for fund raising events. This would enable the social secretary to organise a more varied programme of purely social events. There may be some fund raising but that would not necessarily be the primary aim. Pauline Latham seconded the proposal and the subscriptions for 2017 were set at £20 per person. These may be paid by cheque, cash or bank transfer by 30th January.
- Information on 2017 Twinning: Thursday 14 – Tuesday 19 September
This year we will be visiting Pornic. Flights from Manchester to Nantes and back are now available from Flybe. Members were asked to let the committee know when they have confirmed flights so that numbers travelling on the coach can be calculated. Those travelling independently were also asked to keep the committee informed of their intentions. Currently, 13 members have booked flights and 6 aretravelling independently. Members were also asked to let the committee know if they knew who they were intending to stay with and to get in touch with their French hosts to ensure they were hosting this year. Those requiring new hosts were also asked to alert the committee. David and Glynis Francis indicated this would be the case for them.
There was a proposal to have a pre-visit meeting to clarify arrangements but members did not think this would be necessary.
Members were also asked for suggestions for the day out.
- Social events
Members were asked for suggestions for social events for the coming year. For example, Wrea Head would host a lunch for £20 for two courses. Other ideas included:
- Picnic in a member’s garden (David and Glynis Francis volunteered theirs again)
- Indian meal
- Theatre trip
- Barn dance
- Race night (not so popular)
- Any Other Business
It was agreed that new members were needed and publicity leaflets / nomination forms were circulated for members to distribute. Ways of encouraging new members such as approaching French classes, giving presentations and meeting over coffee were suggested though it was noted that these had been tried to no avail already. Discussion also covered approaching schools, especially music departments, and again these initiatives had been tried already. It was also noted that times were different in schools now with reluctance for pupils to miss days. Personal recruitment by members seems the best way forward.
David Coates was presented with wine and thanked for his enormous contribution to SANTA over his years as Chairman.
There being no further business the meeting closed at 7.15pm.
Signature of Chair:
SJ January 2017