MINUTES OF 2006 ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
The Annual General Meeting of the Reading and District Model Aircraft Club was held at St Barnabus Church Hall, Emmer Green on 5th December 2006.
Apologies were received from Dave Grey, Peter Mann, Michael Carraciola
The agenda was adopted with an item under AOB of presentation of prizes
The minutes were agreed as a fair representation of the meeting.
There were no matters arising that were not listed elsewhere on the Agenda
The year had included the 75th Anniversary event and thanks to the committee for their hard work in organising the event. Much of the work is ‘behind the scenes’ and not immediately obvious to those attending the event. There were one or two glitches along the way and the turn out of club members and the public was disappointing. The flying display had included some very good flying, particularly the display by Steve Carr from Wokingham. His large Extra flying to music was most impressive.
Our own event for club members at our flying field had been enjoyable, despite a couple of hiccups. The event was well supported.
Some things occurred during the year, which were not expected. In particular, a club member arranging a flying field for himself within two miles of the club site. This created a good deal of work for the committee, and particular thanks go the Andrew Stretton, Secretary, for the work and negotiations he has put in to resolve the issue. The final outcome is not yet decided, but at present planning permission has been refused. However the person can fly for 28 days in the year at the site, and proposes to do so having already paid rent for the field. Thanks also to the one member who contacted the chairman regarding flying on channel 90.
The work of the committee goes beyond just flying. We are required by the BMFA to have a policy on Children and Vulnerable Adults. We can no longer accept children into the club without such a policy. Thanks again to the committee and to the secretary for interpreting the BMFA policy on behalf of the club and drawing up the club policy document. This enabled us to demonstrate that we are complying with the BMFA policy.
We probably have not had the number of competitions that we have in previous years, and the flying year did not go quite as well. A number of A certs have been attained, but not so successful with B certs.
Despite a previous thorough review of our rules, the committee felt that there were some where further change would be beneficial. These proposals have been brought to this meeting and thanks go to Dave Belcher and the committee for the drafting work.
The strip is in better condition than for some time. Previous attempts to persuade our landlords to allow a path to be mown to the strip have been unsuccessful, but the contractor has mown a path anyway without us making any further request. As they are contractors to the park also, we presume the park are content. The down side of having a path is that it does encourage more people to walk and cycle across the strip.
We have had one or two leads for new sites and these are being followed up.
Enstone was enjoyable; Cholsey was a low-key event this year with the presumption that many modellers had probably gone to the show at Wroughton. There was less flying than in previous years, but it did raise money for charity.
Thanks to the committee for a successful, if challenging, year. We are now ready for next year.
The financial position of the club remains sound. We have made the savings promised last year. The balance of income over expenditure was £2482. Outstanding payments include field maintenance, rent of hall and Christmas party.
The cost of stationery was down for the year due to Hobbystores providing support. After transfer of monies to the building society account the float for the coming year will be similar to last year. As a result of the current position, there is no need to raise the club membership fee. Any rise can be restricted to the rise in BMFA fees which have gone up by £1 for senior members.
A copy of the accounts was presented to the meeting and accepted.
The chairman explained that in accordance with the club rules regarding the election of club officers the post of Treasurer Membership Secretary comes due for re-election. He confirmed that Ron Perkins was willing to continue in the post and asked if there were any other nominations.
Tony Roberts proposed Ron Perkins, this was seconded by Dave Belcher and there being no other nominations, Ron Perkins was elected unopposed.
Jack Bishop and Mick Mace had previously indicated they would not be seeking re-election to the committee. Existing committee members Dave Belcher, Neil Viney, Paul Joslyn, Kevin Mercer and Tony Roberts indicated their willingness to stand for re-election. These five were proposed by Ron Perkins and seconded by Joe Dray. They were duly elected.
Joe Dray was proposed as a committee member by Dave Belcher, seconded by Paul Joslyn and duly elected to the committee.
Paul Joslyn had previously taken over the newsletter editorship from Tony Roberts at short notice and confirmed his willingness to continue in that role. Tony Roberts was thanked for his hard work with the newsletter.
The full list of officers and committee members for 2007 is shown below:
|
Club Officer Post |
Post holder |
|
Chairman |
Martin Dance (also Welfare Officer) |
|
Secretary |
Andrew Stretton (also club safety officer) |
|
Treasurer and Membership Secretary |
Ron Perkins |
|
Committee Members |
|
|
Dave Belcher |
|
|
Tony Roberts |
|
|
Paul Joslyn |
Newsletter editor and webmaster |
|
Kevin Mercer |
|
|
Neil Viney |
|
|
Joe Dray |
|
It was confirmed that Dave Grey would continue with his role as a club safety officer.
A request was made for a volunteer to take on the tea making duties at club evenings. This request remained outstanding with no volunteers.
It was proposed that the club fees for 2007 be
|
Membership
fees for 2007 |
|||
|
Category |
Club |
BMFA |
Total |
|
Full |
£45 |
£27 |
£72 |
|
Junior |
£10 |
£14 |
£24 |
|
Senior citizen |
£16 |
£27 |
£43 |
|
Joining fee |
|
|
£50 |
No alternative
proposals were made.
The above rates
were proposed by Ron Perkins, seconded by Martin Dance and agreed unopposed.
Members were
reminded that they cannot fly at the club flying site after 31 December unless
they have paid their membership fees.
All fees are due by 31st December.
The following changes to the general rules were proposed:
The following be inserted into rule 7: New members will only become full members on completion of a 3 month probationary period. Probationary members will be entitled to all the benefits of full members with the exception of a vote in any club ballot. The club and BMFA subscription is payable on application. Unsuccessful applicants will receive a full refund of the club fees. The club reserves the right to refuse membership and to withhold the reasons for so doing.
The last line of rule 11 to be amended to read: Suspend or expel any member for conduct prejudicial to the Club.
Rule 18 be amended to read: Club members must not cause a public nuisance or behave in a manner likely to prejudice the club, or the sport of model aviation.
The following change to flying field rule 17 was proposed: In pursuance of BMFA guidelines the club operates a policy for the protection of children and vulnerable adults. A copy of which is available from the secretary. Junior members must be accompanied by a parent/guardian or person specifically appointed by their parent/guardian.
The changes were proposed by Dave Belcher, seconded by Neil Viney. The meeting voted to accept the changes.
The club policy on children and vulnerable adults was then put forward.
There was discussion on the meaning of ‘junior’ and ‘child’ and whether they were the same. It was explained that the term ‘child’ was defined by the legislation and meant someone who had not yet reached their 18th Birthday. It was acknowledged that this may seem anomalous in that a person could legally drive themselves to the flying field but could not remain on the flying field unless accompanied by a responsible adult. There is no flexibility in the legislation to allow the club or the BMFA to make an alternative interpretation. Whilst strictly the legislation may not apply to clubs, the BMFA had set out a policy which affiliated clubs are required to follow in order for the insurance to indemnify the committee.
The club’s policy is that it will not accept direct responsibility for children or vulnerable adults as it could place club members in jeopardy. Parents/guardians should be reminded of the club policy so that they make proper arrangements and they must not leave children or vulnerable adults at the flying site.
The club had decided that no one should act as an instructor for children or vulnerable adults unless they had received CRB clearance through the scheme operated by the BMFA. It was explained that this did not apply to a father or other near relative teaching their own son/daughter to fly, though they would be well advised to leave training to a registered club instructor unless they held such a position themselves.
The BMFA term ‘junior’ also includes full time students and the BMFA offers a discount to such people.
Tony Roberts proposed that the club accept the policy. Paul Simmons seconded the motion and it was
carried.
It was proposed that Tim Westcote be mad an honorary member of the club. It was explained that he had huge archive of material relating to the club and had put on a display from this at the 75th anniversary event. He had also brought along some models relating to the history of the club. The honorary membership should be in recognition of his contribution to aeromodelling and to the club. This would be a token of our esteem. It was explained that the honorary membership does not include BMFA membership.
The motion was proposed by Mick Mace, seconded by Paul Joslyn and carried.
A question was raised concerning Dave Grey and it was confirmed that he receives free membership of the club in recognition of his role as an instructor. It was proposed by Ron Perkins and seconded by Paul Simmons that this continue. This was agreed unanimously. The secretary confirmed that Dave had indicated his willingness to continue in the role.
Tony Roberts explained that he had been unable to participate fully in the 75th celebrations due to a car accident. He said that the anticipated involvement of the Air Ambulance at that event had not happened due to this, but that we should still support the Air Ambulance. A visit to the Air Ambulance can be arranged in the New Year. The Air Ambulance are still in need of funds. It is also possible that it will move from its current base to Benson.
It was explained that the club had received £60 from the Cholsey event which would be put towards any charitable donation. It was then suggested that the club should donate a further £50 from club funds.
It was proposed by Martin Dance that the club make a combined donation of £110 to the Chiltern and Thames Valley Air Ambulance. The motion was seconded by Ron Perkins and carried.
Presentation of prizes.
The Enstone Cup was awarded to Darren Wilkinson
The Concours d’Élégance. 1st Jack Bishop, 2nd Peter Mann, 3rd Terry Haley
The committee award went to Dave Grey
It was explained that Dave Grey was taking over the arrangements for Enstone
Church hall. The treasure explained that the fees for the hall were going up by £3.00 per hour from the beginning of January.
Visiting speakers. It was explained there had been some difficulties scheduling speakers and that Puffin Models had agreed to fill in at very short notice. It was hoped that further visit could be arranged. A visit by Deluxe Materials in the New Year was planned.
A request was made for anyone who knows someone who could come and give a talk to let the committee know. The talk does not have to be directly related to modelling, but should be aviation related.
Club website and newsletter. As previously noted, Paul Joslyn had taken over the newsletter at short notice and Tony Roberts was thanked for his work on the newsletter in the past. Paul said that any contributions or articles would be gratefully received.
There was discussion about using the website as a means of contacting other members if going flying. This would be valuable in view of the lone flying rule. Paul agreed to look into whether it would be possible to have a members area or forum on the website for this purpose.
There being no further business the meeting closed at 21:15. The 2007 AGM will be held on Tuesday 4th December 2007.