Draft Minutes of Annual ConsultativeMeeting held6:30pm Saturday 23July 2016 for approval at ACM 2017

Reading Canoe Club – The Warren, Reading RG1 8EQ

Start 6.30, delayed from advertised 6pm.

Present: Stan Missen – Bradford on Avon (v) (Chair)

Richard Ward – Exeter (v) Andy Barkway – Broadlands (v) Will Abson – Richmond (v) Reggie Elliott – Leigton Buzzard (v) Roland Lawler – Elmbridge (v) Jim Taylor-Ross – Exeter, Sarah Swallow – Chester (v) Melvin Swallow –Chester, Norman Mason – Nottingham (v), Kat Wilson – Reading, Evan Sheppard – Reading (v) Mo Moule – Chelmsford, Deborah Wilkes – Chelmsford, Mark Wilkes – Chelmsford (v) Gareth Wilson – Reading, Peter Moule - Chelmsford, Dyson Pendle – Norwich, Ali Pendle – Norwich (v) Vicky Metcalfe – Pangbourne (v) Graham Warland – Banbury (v) Jo Bates – Falcon (v) Ben Hayes – Gailey (v) Brian Chapman – SCA, David Enoch – Nottingham (Treasurer)Mick Nadal – Nottingham (Secretary) Stuart Fisher (Canoeist) David Joy (British Canoeing)

(v) = voting member

  1. Apologies – There was one apology Alan Laws (AL).
  2. Approval of minutesof ACM 22nd August 2015 Norwich – Proposed by Graham Warland, seconded by Peter Moule
  3. Report from Chairman – Rather than present a lengthy report, the Chairman indicated that after a few short words, his time would be allocated to David Joy, later on the agenda.The Chairman reported that there was no progress with improving female representation on the MRC, which remains a work in progress.
  4. Report from Treasurer – Dave Enoch– presented the report & accounts – separate documents were available to the meeting. He answered 3main questions. The first (MS) related to the MRC assets that were not made up of cash, but value. The second queried reference to the value of a Vajda K2 shown as £0. DE replied that in line with British Canoeing policy it was “written off” over a period of 4 years. The third (DP) related to athlete contributions – DE explained referring to accounts that all athletes do pay a contribution but that these are not reflected in the accounts but a direct reduction from gross international event costs incurred. The meeting adopted the report as presented.
  5. British Canoeing Update – David Joy
  6. David addressed the meeting on the progress of development of British Canoeing, reporting on the consultation of the membership around the country, disciplines etc. with a series of workshops on the theme of “How to Make British Canoeing Great.” These were aimed at what we can do to “join up BC Nottingham” with club and disciplines, working as well as possible with partners. This involved identifying “needs” relating to Clubs, Regions, Volunteers, Disciplines, and Coaches.
  7. This was intended to lead to improving services to members and support for clubs & increase membership.
  8. Work was already underway with improving coaching including support for competition and non-competitive elements within clubs.
  9. Access remains a challenge.
  10. The report on consultation is due out 6th December 2016
  11. Consideration of sources of finance were mentioned. Increased membership and sponsorship being key.
  12. Additions to the Board of British Canoeing were explained with 2 new members appointed through “open recruitment” – Richard Boreham & James Fry.
  13. David Joy then took a number of questions from the floor and offered answers.
  14. MM asked about gender balance on the Board of BC – DJ replied it would need 3 female members (25%) but that emphasis was on competence and that the nature of elections were not controllable.
  1. MS asked about media relations indicating that there seemed to be a “lack of consistency” between disciplines, with a “low media profile” for some. DJ replied that there was an movement towards establishing equal levels between Olympic and non-Olympic disciplines and increasing press coverage, with BC PR staffattending Nationals
  1. International Racing–
  2. SM reported that AL was standing down from his involvement with ICF Marathon Committee after many years valuable service. There had been only one nomination for a replacement but the deadline was not until 1st August 2016.
  3. SM reported that there had been a proposal to host a major international event at Worcester and invited other submissions. These need to be made before 5th September 2016.
  1. Domestic Racing
  2. SM spoke on safety at events referring to the incident at Worcester and how well their plans had worked and why it shows that the considerable effort put in place by us all must be seen of real value.
  1. Committee Elections
  2. Thanks to Sue Hawthorne – standing down
  3. Election of Chair – 1 nomination – Stan Missen prepared to re-stand, proposed by Keith Moule, seconded by James Smythe. Stan was re-elected.
  4. Members remaining in post for further year - Dyson Pendle, Dave Enoch, Ollie Harding, Keith Moule, Graham Warland
  5. Members for re-election – Roland Lawler, Alan Laws, Mick Nadal, James Smythe, Melvin Swallow. All were prepared to stand for a further 2 years. Proposed by MRC
  6. There were 2 further nominations: Katherine (Kat) Wilson ( Burbeck ) – proposed by Sue Hawthorne, seconded by Mick Nadal. Tom Daniels – proposed by Teresa Gregory, seconded by Angus Gregory.
  7. There were a total of 6 vacant positions and 7 nominations. Club representatives cast votes and the following were elected. Roland Lawler, Alan Laws, Mick Nadal, James Smythe, Melvin Swallow, Katherine Wilson.
  8. SM mentioned further domestic racing issues: K2s; the points position in a K2 where one crew member wears a vest and one doesn’t; wash hanging – the absolute need is to first report any protests about any matter or incidents to race organisers before they can be escalated to the MRC; Changes to the race levy for Juniors had not seen any apparent decrease in numbers entering events but wasbeing kept under review. The Chairman then opened the meeting to discussion.
  9. KW raised the issue of poor communication over nominations & voting at ACM – this was noted for action via MRC website.
  10. KW raised issue of communication relating to disqualifications at races – this was noted for action via MRC website. Should reasons for disqualification be published at race or higher level.
  11. VM noted that DW committee are using their website to improve communication of disputes and reasons why time penalty or disqualifications are imposed to deter others.
  12. A request that MRC minutes also be added to website as promptly as possible
  13. MM raised the issue of the appointment of an independent teller for voting at an ACM.
  14. KW raised the issue of racing K2s with particular reference to Division 3 paddlers and feeling “trapped” by the divisions/entries offered by the current arrangement. She suggested more flexibility was needed in the divisions. It was noted that there was difficulty in predicting entries before an event. It was suggested that paddlers/clubs communicate intended entries at an event to allow the “arrangement” of quorate races. It was suggested that one Div 2_2 K2 race should be arranged per region each season.
  1. RW raised the issue of coaching and asked for an opportunity to develop coaching for Marathon Racing. SM replied that co-options to the MRC was a way forward with this and would be a feature of the new committee. DJ mentioned the development of competition coaching so far, with more work to be done. RW referred to a “fractured system” that so far lacked assessors for competition coaching and the gulf between recreation & competition coaching. DJ responded that it was the aim of BC to “satisfy the needs” of competition in the future. Short timescales were pressed for and would be forthcoming.
  1. Two points relating to National Championships were noted post meeting by RE
  2. Additional number boards are needed at Nationals etc. to avoid situations where more than one range of numbers is used in the same class, leading to confusion particularly for less experienced paddlers. He cited an incident where a paddler had avoided a wash assuming it was a different class only to find that the individual was competing in his race. It also leads to confusion leading up to the start in the pre start line and actual start line.
  3. There appeared to be differences in how quorate/non-quorate races were dealt with at Nationals. There is little guidance. What should a starter do if a race shown as quorate on the start list (5 entries) appears to be non-quorate at the start (4 entries?)
  1. The Meeting ended 7.50pm with the Chairman thanking all those that attended.