Minutes of Invicta East Kent Annual General Meeting Held at The Lifestyle Fitness Meeting Room Monday 21st March 2016
Rex opened the meeting by welcoming everyone and thanking them for their time. He explained that although the meeting was, as usual, not quorate we would continue and if anyone not present objected to anything voted on we would deal with it appropriately. Rex thanked Nikki Old for making the refreshments.
Members Present.
Claire Battersby, Michaela Clay, Michael Gallyer-Barnett, Rachel Harding, Jasmin Harding, Sarah Hotham, Helena Millard, Peter Mullervy, Ralph Noel, Nikki Old, Rex Stickland, John Wilkins, Glenn Mousley, Steve Burt, Laura Reichhelm
1. Apologies for Absence.
Apologies were received from Marianne Underwood, Paul Higham, Rita and Nick Chappell and Melanie Carley.
2. Adoption of the AGM 2015 Minutes.
The minutes were accepted as proposed by Steve Burt and seconded by Sarah Hotham.
3. Matters Arising from the AGM 2015 Minutes.
Rex asked for any matters arising and there were none.
4. President’s Address.
Rex gave the following address to the meeting:-
Welcome every one, thanks for coming. On your behalf and also personally I want to thank all members of the Management Committee plus the other four officers who come to all the meetings. They have all put in a tremendous amount of time and effort over the past year to try and run the club in a way that you are happy with. if you aren't happy with their efforts now is the time to say so. Personally I think we are very lucky to have such a multi talented and dedicated group of people. I want also to thank all the other club officers and coaches who have contributed to the running of the club and without whom there would be no club. Thank you very much for another 12 months of loyal effort. You can all be very proud of what you have achieved. And to all the members of our club, thank you for your membership and I hope that Invicta has provided you with the athletic experience you hoped for.
It may not be fair to single out any one individual when so many have made such a great contribution but in thecase of Steve Burt I will do just that. Steve has been race director of the Canterbury 10 for more years than wecould reasonably have expected and during that time he has developed the race into a 'must do ' for runnersfrom all over the south east and beyond. We now have over 1000 entrants who have nothing but praise forSteve's organisation and our Club. The 10 mile is our major fund raiser and this year Steve's effort's resulted ina surplus of over £20,000 which we will be able to use across a whole range of development areas that wouldnot happen without this funding. So, Steve, great job, well done, many thanks.
At the last AGM we discussed the decline in our field events and thought about ways this could be reversed.We have made a fair effort in this direction and are beginning to see some positive results but there is still a
very long way to go so we need to continue in the coming year and beyond. The poor maintenance of the track and the field facilities remain a major cause for concern. Your committeehas been working on this over the past year but without a great deal of success so we are going to step up ourefforts over the next few months as the current situation is completely unacceptable.
A club run by volunteers is not the easiest of organisations to manage and over the years we have tried manyways of getting more help from more people - no matter how small their contribution it reduces the work loadfor other already hard pressed members. We have not had a great deal of success in but will continue to push.In the meantime you need to be aware that where we cannot get volunteers we 'buy in' the help we need.Obviously we would rather not do this but have no choice if we are to continue with our full range of activities.
One exciting project being considered is the introduction of electronic timing for training and competition. Wewill discuss this further this evening but if we go ahead we would expect to have the system in place by thistime next year.
Everyone in this room has a love of athletics but in truth athletics is an odd sport in the way that it covers somany different disciplines. What is the glue that holds this together? I think it's what is called clubspirit and over the past year we have seen more of this than in the recent past - long may this continue. Overthe past 12 months our athletes have achieved some fantastic performances locally, regionally, nationally andinternationally- long may this also continue. Invicta is a great club with a great future. Thank you.
5. Chairman’s Report.
2015 has seen the club move forward financially and believe we are on a very solid footing financially.
We are in a state of change. We have lost many of our successful athletes, notably the Clay sisters have moved on to university and we miss them. However, unlike Manchester United we are moving forward. Our membership has not changed and we are seeing a new crop of athletes coming forward.
In Abel Tsegay, Amy Old, Alex Millard, Louise Evans and Duncan Noel, just to name a few; careers are being formed and names are being made.This is good because at our younger end the Under 11s group are being well looked after by Laura and Steve. The groups are growing and they have older athletes to look up to and be inspired by.
In Nikki old we have a Social Secretary to behold. She not only organises the annual trip to Brussels and our Awards Evening, but next year we will take a large group of athletes to Tuscany for warm weather training. This takes hours of selfless dedication and we are very lucky to have such a volunteer. I would like to take this opportunity to thank her personally.
Also we would not be able to fund these awards and events without people like Steve Burt who we have invited to be Vice Chair. He again has worked selflessly on the Canterbury 10 over the last 3 years, raising nearly £63,000 for the club. Without him, subsidising the Brussels trip and the warm weather training wouldnot be possible. In everything he does he strives and succeeds. We are lucky to have him and I am personally thanking him.
We start this summer campaign very shortly, and I am very excited at what we can and will achieve. We have big plans to purchase a sophisticated timing system, we want to improve our facilities and use our funds to give our athletes great memories of their time with us; in the hope that when time is passed we can hand over the baton to some of our current band of athletes so their children can enjoy what is provided by Invicta East Kent Athletic Club.
A happy, successful, inexpensive club with a ‘can do’ attitude and a welcoming embrace that I hope will continue for many years to come.
6. Matters Arising from the Chairman’s Report.
None.
7. Hon Secretary’s Report.
Laura reported that during the year a number of club issues, general administration, tightening up of membership fee collections and registrations and enquiries from the public had been dealt with effectively in her role as Club Secretary. Laura has also been establishing contact with other Kentish athletic clubs with a view to advertising our open events and to achieve a ‘cross-pollination’ of support between clubs. Folkestone Running Club has offered to provide us with volunteers at our opens if needed. The Management Committee has met every month with an almost 100% attendance rate.
8. Matters Arising from Secretary’s Report.
None.
9. Treasurer’s Report.
Michael gave everyone copies of the balance sheet and the income and expenditure sheets for the operations and development accounts for the year ending 28th February 2016.
He reported on a healthy position of the bank account with a balance of £23k (before the projected chip timing expenditure.
Michael commented that there will be a projected outlay of £25k in the coming year for the set-up of electronic chip timing which will make life a lot simpler - which was unanimously agreed. Rex mentioned that grants were being looked at to help with the outlay cost.
The EA levy will be increased by £1 from 1st April to £13. It was agreed that the Club would absorb the cost rather than increasing the membership/training fees.
Michael credited Nikki Old for all her work and help in organising the Belgium Trip. He also credited Sarah Hotham for all her work on membership fees and on tightening up the membership process.
The Canterbury 10 made £12,340 above the projected income for this year. Attendees agreed with Michael that we should try to make the Les Golding event as successful as the Canterbury 10!
10. Matters Arising from Treasurer’s Report.
The Treasurer proposed that membership fees for 2016/2017 remain unchanged for a further year at £16 per adult and £15 per junior (including £5 friends fee).
11. Adoption of Treasurer’s Report.
The report was proposed by Peter Mullervy, seconded by Claire Battersby and therefore adopted.
12. Election of the Management Committee.
The following were elected. Proposed by Helena Millard, seconded by Nikki Old.
Position:
President Rex Stickland.
Chairman Ralph Noel
*Vice ChairmanSteve Burt
*SecretaryLaura Reichhelm
TreasurerMichael Gallyer-Barnett
Coach Co-ordinatorPeter Mullervy
*Coach LiaisonKyla Clay and Claire Battersby
Membership SecretarySarah Hotham
*Canterbury 10 Race Director Glenn Mousley
*Amendments/New. All other positions remain the same as last year.
Whilst Claire is stepping down in her role as vice chair Steve Burt asked that Claire continue to attend the MANCOM meetings to represent the coaching group.
Rex explained that the role of the Vice Chair is to focus on specific projects. There are two for the coming year:
1)Electronic Timing project
2)To liaise with the school governors and Lifestyle fitness to develop a better relationship to try and sort out the pressing issue of track and field maintenance.
13. Election of Club Officers, Team Managers and coaches.
The following were elected,proposed by Nikki Old and seconded by Michael Gallyer-Barnett
Position
Open Meetings ManagerRalph Noel (and others to be elected)
PublicityVacant (currently Chris Tutthill is fulfilling this role)
Officials SecretaryCillian Davidson
Child WelfareMarianne Underwood
Liaison with Local SchoolHelena Millard
Social SecretaryNikki Old
Website AdminChris Tutthill
Kit OfficerRalph Noel as buyer and Dominic O’Mahoney as distributor
Fixture SecretaryJohn Wilkins
Minutes SecretaryMarianne Underwood
Junior Athletes’ Rep (male and female)Jasmine Harding and Doug Noel
Senior Athletes’Rep (Male and Female)Vacant
Team Managers; Track (all ages)Rachael Harding and Paul Higham
YDL Ralph Noel and Michael Gallyer-Barnett
SeniorsVacant
Vets(This role wasn’t allocated last year it was John Gilbert)
Team Managers; Cross Country (all ages)Nikki Old and Helena Millard
to collect money & perform Team Management on the event day
Michael Gallyer-Barnett to do the entry and admin
Team Managers: Road Relays.Steve Burt and Michael Gallyer-Barnett
Coaches:
Coach CoordinatorPeter Mullervy
Middle Distance, Endurance, Steeplechase Peter Mullervy
Sprint CoachClaire Battersby
Sprint CoachCarlo Monticolumbi
Sprint Coach Sean Gilbert
Sprint and jumps Coach Marianne Underwood
Mid distance CoachJames Roberts
Para-athletes Coach Marianne Underwood
Multi Events CoachTony Piersall
Multi Events CoachStuart Earl
Multi Events CoachJacob Burton
Young athletes U11Laura Reichhelm
Young athletes U11Steve Williams
14 Motions to be Considered.
The motion was proposed by the Management Committee to spend some £25K on permanent electronic timing equipment to be installed at the track . This would provide state-of-the-art equipmentwith a transducer offering split timing with photo finish.
This could be used on training nights and would place IEK way ahead of other clubs. What makes it different is that it would be a permanent installation that could be hired out to other clubs and schools. It would heighten the profile of the club and less officials would be needed at events. It will of course need a lot of publicity.
Rex mentioned that there may be the possibility of getting a £10k grant towards the installation which would be investigated. He mentioned that Louisa Arnold at Kent Sports works with clubs to help obtain grants and that she should be contacted. The plan is to have electronic timing in place by March 2017 in time for the IEK Opens in April 2017.
Rex asked the attendees to entrust the committee with this project and that If the budget goes beyond £30k the motion will go back to consulting the membership in the form of an EGM.
The motion was adopted by a unanimous show of hands.
15. Any Other Business.
Ralph recorded that the IEK Opens will continue this year but until electronic timing is in place the club will have to pay for officials in order to qualify for Po10 . The Opens will be on Wednesdays this year.
It was agreed that more publicity was needed for the Club. Helena Millard suggested that the younger members write a report to send to the newspapers. This could be followed up with a Club award for the best report of the year. Using facebook more and doing more club related tweets was suggested (the twitter account is currently not used effectively. Currently Dominic is doing this but he doesn’t have the time. It was also suggested that each coach could write something on ‘What’s On’.
The use of social media as a promotion tool for the Club was further discussed with a reminder that anyone under 18 is also a publicity officer for the Club i.e. encouraging club members to use twitter @invicta, getting someone from each group to be responsible for uploading social media, giving access to people from each group. It was mentioned that teenagers uploading information would need monitoring as they sometimes are not appropriate!
Sarah Hotham is to ask Chris Tutthill if he can update twitter and facebook as well as the website.
Nikki Old said that she would put posters up in the Clubhouse advertising the Club Twitter and facebook accounts.
Liaising with local schools was discussed as well as the need for a leaflet to be sent to schools in outlying areas.
Ralph is considering moving the U11s opens to the last Sunday in the month once the cross country season has ended.
Ralph is to speak to Dominic O’Mahoney about the kit that needs to be ordered to restock the club kit at The Running Outlet shop. Once the kit is back in stock it was suggested that posters and examples of the kit on the walls in the Clubhouse would help promotion.
Ralph noted the lack of qualified officials at our club and that other clubs complain of our lack of officials at events. (We only have 5 trained officials). More are needed.
Ralph talked about the problem with the Club paying for members to compete in the Southerns and then members not turning up for the event. E ach entry is £7-£8. To discourage this it was suggested that people that wanted to take part could pay up front and then have the money refunded on the day.
Ralph commented on the good ‘turn out’ for the club awards night last Saturday night but that two people weren’t there to get their award. He then presented an award to Steve Burt to say ‘thank you’ for his work on the club’s main fundraiser the Canterbury 10. He also presented Rex Strickland with and award for’ his sterling work as President over the years’. Helena Millard also thanked Ralph and Peter Mullervy for all their work for the Club too.
The meeting closed at 21.12.