Minutes of the Anglia Region Council
Held at the Ipswich Hotel Copdock Suffolk on September 24th 2016
Attendees :
Name / Centre / Name / CentreMr K. Flexman (Chairman) / N. Essex / Mr G. Potter (V. Chairman) / N. Essex
Mr A Leslie (Secretary) / S. Essex / Mr B. Clark (Treasurer): / S. Essex
Mr G,Chamberlain / Exec. Committee / Mrs A McGarva / Norfolk
Mr N. Flowers / Norfolk / Mr J,Page / Exec Committee
Mr K. Higgins / S. Essex / Mr R. Rice / N. Essex
Mr J. Kent / Mid Anglia / Mr C.Stammers / Suffolk
Mrs J,Kent / Suffolk / Mr M. Threadgold / Nom. Member
Mr P. Maran / S. Essex / Mr L. Youngs / N.Essex
N.B : Due to Mr Flexman’s unavoidable late arrival for this meeting it was chaired in its entirety by Mr Potter.
1. Apologies for Absence
Apologies for Absence were received and accepted from Mr Malcom Finney and Mr David Wakeling
2. Minutes of the Last Meeting
The minutes of the last meeting held on June 25th 2016 were approved and signed by the Chairman.
3. Matters Arising from the Minutes
With respect to Cloud storage by the Club, Mr Threadgold advised that whilst this subject was under review by EGH he thought it unlikely that there would be any action in the immediate future and it was agreed that the item be deleted from the minutes at this time.
Action Item Closed
Mr Potter outlined his thoughts regarding the New Member booklet and felt that it should not seek to replace any such booklets produced by individual Centres but should act more as a pointer to what Centres can offer to New Members. He asked the Centres to consider this proposal and advise him of their decision since it will clearly affect his approach to design etc
Action All Centres & Greg Potter
The Secretary reported that he had contacted EGH regarding record retention periods and the need for them to be aligned to the Club’s policies. He had received a reply from Rebecca Newman (the “new Janet Pereira”) stating that the Club is reviewing its policies in line with new European Regulations due in 2018 and would be issuing a new procedure in 2017, She stated that on this basis and until the new policy is finalised, we should continue to hold financial records for seven years and securely dispose of other documentation as we saw fit, Her reply concluded that she agreed that in the longer term retention periods for both Club and Centres/Regions/Divisions should be the same.
3. Matters Arising from the Minutes (Cont’d)
In an ensuing discussion Mr Chamberlain reiterated the need for documentation to be disposed of securely even if it entailed extra cost e.g by using an external specialist contractor
All members agreed that until such time as the Club issue a new policy on this subject it should be considered closed.
Action Closed
With regard to Sports Activities at the National being spread over Saturday and Sunday rather than just on Sunday Mr Chamberlain said that this was currently being investigated by the Events Committee. However, it was dependent upon the outcome of discussions with staff at Sandringham regarding security issues. He stated that it was generally accepted by the Events Committee that sporting activities this year had been too compressed and if possible would be extended for 2017.
Action Rodney Lambert
In a general discussion regarding Friday night entertainment at the Regional AGM it was agreed that an alternative to Centre Chairmen sponsored fundraising for “Children in Need” should be found.
Action Item Closed
The South Essex Centre offered to host the Anglia Region “Get Together” for 2018. Mr Potter said that he would be happy to chair a sub-committee to co-ordinate planning and promotion etc.
Action All Centres & Greg Potter
4 Secretary’s Report
The Secretary reported that this had been a relatively quiet period as far as his position was concerned.
Having confirmed with all council members that they are still receiving items of general correspondence (e,g list of Club Contacts stc) which he distributes regularly, he did draw their attention to a recent change in Rules Governing Centres which has now deleted the title “Honorary” before various committee members e.g Secretary, Treasurer, and Rally Secretary. Where necessary letterheads should be amended accordingly.
He read an E-Mail from Martin Stringer praising the work that Centres/Regions and Divisions do in conducting their affairs and activities. This was reinforced by Natural England who had reported “very few” incidences involving the Club where their intervention had been necessary. Mr Chamberlain echoed Mr Stringer’s praise and thanks and said that such comments from Natural England were very helpful during discussions between the Club and the Minister of State for the Environment.
4 Secretary’s Report (Cont’d)
Referring to an E-Mail received from Jane Phillips (EGH Events Team) the Secretary requested that all Centres let EGH know as soon as possible details of any rallies they had planned immediately pre or post the National in 2017. Ms Phillips reported that EGH would be willing to promote such rallies on the Club website, and in the Magazine etc with a view to encourage visitors to the National to spend additional time in the Region either before or after the National itself. In the ensuing discussion members felt that the timing of the E-Mail left little or no time to prepare such rallies because many rally Secretaries already had their 2017 programmes virtually finalised.
5. Treasurers Report
On the subject of internet banking Mr Clark advised that following a long and protracted series of E-Mails and phone calls with the bank (necessitated by an administrative error within the bank’s system) , he now has a meeting with the Bank’s Business Manager on September 29th which should see all ‘issues resolved and that by the Regional AGM the system should be fully operational.
Action Brian Clark
In response to a comment from Mr Threadgold, Mr Clark said that the level of expenditure when using internet banking within the Region had been capped at £1250.
6. Vice Chairman’s Report
Mr Potter confirmed that all arrangements for next year’s question time at Colford School were well in hand including arrangements for the necessary publicity and equipment required. He was also in contact with the Club regarding arrangements for having a live external feed via Facebook or something similar to ensure that those members who were unable to attend could actively participate in the meeting
With respect to the website, he confirmed that lists of key Centre rallies were now uploaded and up to date. He requested Centres to continue to add to these lists to ensure ongoing relevance. Mr Kent said that he would make the necessary contacts to allow the setting up of a “Loners Group” page.
Action All Centres, John Kent & Greg Potter
7. Chairman’s Report
Mr Flexman began his report by saying that given the very busy time the Region had had earlier in the year, the last few weeks had almost been like “summer holidays”. He continued by saying that as Chairman it was not his normal way to single out any particular Centre or person for praise because clearly everybody was attempting to do and give of their best for members and non -members alike. That said he felt obliged to present his report primarily around one particular event – The South Essex Chairman’s Charity Rally that took place over the August Bank Holiday. Given the size and scale of the event he said he had been “very very impressed” by its organisation and co-ordination and that to him it represented the very best of what the Anglia Region should be all about.
He concluded his report by commenting that with the upcoming Centre AGM’s, The Regional AGM and the forum being held in January 2017, activities within the Region would very soon start to pick up again.
8. Centre Reports
· Norfolk :.Mrs McGarva advised the meeting that it seemed likely that apart from the position of Rally Secretary the Norfolk Centre would have a full committee for next year. The position of Rally Secretary has become vacant due to the decision of her husband not to seek further re-election to the committee in 2017. However, having made that decision he has said that he would be prepared to stand again for a further twelve months if nobody stepped forward for the position although that would be conditional upon him being able to relinquish his other job as advertising officer. Mr Chamberlain commented that perhaps the Centre might consider co-opting an assistant to support Mr McGarva to which Mrs McGarva replied that this was already under discussion.
In response to a question from Mrs McGarva as to why there were no Anglia Region representatives at the recent Inter Centre fishing competition, both the Chairman and Mr Kent had attempted to go to the rally but had been advised that the rally was full. In an ancillary discussion it was agreed that the cost of the trophies for this competition be met by the Region
Action Brian Clark
On a further issue Mrs McGarva advised the meeting that they were very unhappy with the quality of flags purchased less than a year ago following the good reports from North Essex about them. Both the poles and the flags were described by Mr Flower as “unfit for purpose” with poles splitting and flags now “almost transparent”, In the ensuing discussion it transpired that North Essex flags were of a different design to Norfolk’s making them less prone to wind damage. To date neither the supplier nor the original manufacturer are prepared to consider either replacement or financial recompense as they consider them “Out of warranty” – a fact that Norfolk deny. The Secretary suggested that in the event of continuing impasse perhaps Norfolk should consider referring the matter to the local Trading Standards officer.
8. Centre Reports (Cont’d)
· Norfolk (Cont’d)
Mr Flower reported that the Norfolk Centre was in the process of completely redesigning their accounting form. Rather than do this in isolation they were interested in sharing best practice and asked if other Centres would provide their forms for comparison. Mr Chamberlain stated that Mr Jon Laws and Mrs Janet Moore from EGH were currently running special Treasurers workshops for all regions. It was agreed that they should be contacted to run such a workshop for Anglia Region that could perhaps coincide with the Regional forum due to take place after the next Regional council meeting on January 7th 2017. This was agreed
Action Alan Leslie
· South Essex
Mr Maran reported that in general rallies in South Essex were running well. Turning to the Charity Rally mentioned by Mr Flexman he said that it had been a great success, had broken even, and on the weekend of the rally had raised the sum of £3800 for the four nominated charities bringing the total raised for the year up to £12000. Cheques for £3000 will be presented to each of the nominated charities at the Centre AGM on October.
When the programme presentation rally had closed there were still 20 rallies without marshals. This figure is now down to 10 and includes some open weekends where no venue has been selected in order to give marshals maximum flexibility should they wish to run one of these rallies in 2017.
With regard to the AGM he said that their Secretary and three other committee members were standing down this year and that there were two nominations for Chairman and three new members standing for committee.
He thanked the Regional Council for their support during his three years in office and said that he had “loved every minute of it” but it was now time to move on.
· Mid Anglia :
Mr Kent reported that all Mid Anglia rallies continue to be well attended.
Up to the middle of August it had seemed that the Centre was to be without a committee for 2017 but that following recent discussions he was pleased to announce that they would now have a full committee for the coming year, including himself - since although retiring as chair this year he was in fact returning as a Vice Chairman in the new committee. He concluded that had thoroughly enjoyed his time as Chairman and also added his thanks to South Essex for their “great” Chairman’s Rally
8. Centre Reports (Cont’d)
· North Essex :”.Mr Rice advised that since the last meeting North Essex had held twenty five rallies with an average of more than 20 vans per outfit. In particular he added that the Beamish holiday rally had reportedly been an excellent rally – a sentiment echoed by Mr Kent who had attended. During the period only two rallies had been cancelled.
He continued his report by saying that the 2017 rally programme was already out with only eleven left still needing marshals.
Van statistics for the year are broadly in line with 2015 but he was pleased to report that twenty new members had attended rallies this year which was a good indicator for the long term future of the Centre.
With regard to the approaching AGM he said that three committee members had decided to stand down but replacements were likely to take their place. However, it would appear that they would not have a Junior Committee for 2017 for whilst having quite a large number of children in the Centre they were regrettably all too young to take office.
He concluded that he had really enjoyed being the Chairman of North Essex and in reply to a question from Mr Flexman said that he would be standing again in 2017.