Minutes of the 37th Annual General Meeting of the Avon Group of The Motor Caravanners` Club held on 31st October 2015 at Chew Valley School.
The meeting commenced at 11.00 a.m.
The Chairman stood to address the floor and was suddenly taken ill so the meeting was adjourned for 20 minutes and he left the room.
On his return at 11.20 a.m. it was put to the floor that the Vice Chairman, Pet Heal, should take over and lead the meeting. There was no objections and the Chairman took his seat to oversee the procedure.
Chairman`s Introduction.
The Vice Chairman opened the meeting, welcomed the members and introduced Bernie Haylock, MCC Administrator, and then the current Committee:
Chairman - Trevor Dash Acting Secretary - Mike Edmonds
Treasurer - Kay Norman Rally Officer - Tony Heal
and herself Pet Heal - Vice Chairman
The Vice Chairman then asked the Secretary to open the meeting.
Acting Secretary
I hereby announce to the members that this is the 37th Annual General Meeting of the Avon Group of The Motor Caravanners` Club and the meeting is now convened.
Apologies
Apologies were received from:
Mary Newport Caroline and Dennis Morris Jane Winkworth Chris and Joe Maynard Mike and Marlene Dancey Anne Bond
Minutes
The minutes of the 36th Annual General Meeting had been distributed to the members and they were asked if there were any comments. With none it was then
Proposed by Paul Lobley Seconded by Rowena Moulding to accept the minutes.
The vote was unanimous.
Chairman`s Report
The outgoing Committee were thanked for their hard work. The members were thanked for attending the rallies and making them a success and especially the hosts for making the rallies possible. Pet went on to thank Carol for making the cut outs and other decorations for the National, stating it was a pity she could not attend and also disappointed there were not any photos of them. She expressed the hope that, as this year’s rally is at Hickstead, there would be a larger attendance from the Avon Group.
There was no Secretaries report due to the resignation of Christine.
Treasurers report
Kay read out the details of the account as follows:
Ordinary Account £4910.31
Savings Account £702.82
Charity Account £48.81
Less receipts for Christmas Dinner £866.00 and uncleared cheques £918.29
Working Total £3151.02
As there were no questions on these, the floor was asked to accept the report.
Proposed Mike Stock Seconded Pete Watson
The vote was unanimous.
Accounts Certifier
The treasurer confirmed that Margaret Reeves was willing to certify our accounts next year.
Proposed Bernie Haylock Seconded Carol Edmonds
The vote was unanimous.
Avon Supplement to the Constitution
There were several items that needed discussion and added to our current supplement.
1. e-Cigarettes
We currently have a ban on smoking in all marquees and halls that we use at rallies.
We, the current Committee, would like this extended to also include e-Cigarettes.
Bernie Haylock pointed out that these were not, at this present time, not illegal, but he was not condoning them. Terry Southcott said he was a smoker and he totally agreed and he would not even consider using these in any buildings,
Proposed Mike Stock Seconded Kay Norman
The vote was unanimous.
2. Dogs
It has been noted that at least one group will allow dogs into marquees and halls with the exception of when food is present.
We currently have a ban on dogs (except assistant dogs) from entering marquees and halls but this is not in our supplement and would like it added.
Proposed Mike Stock Seconded Bernie Haylock
The vote was unanimous.
3. Vouchers
Mike Edmonds asked that could there be a limit put on the number of vouchers that could be used by any one unit per rally. There have been occasions where the hosts had difficulty in paying the site in cash and there was not anyone present that held a group cheque.
It was suggested a limit of £15 but after discussion it was agreed to be 2 vouchers per unit per rally.
Proposed Mike Edmonds Seconded June Dash
The vote was by majority with 1 abstainer.
Retirement of outgoing Committee
The current Committee stood down.
Voting procedure
The floor was reminded of the voting procedure and informed there were changes to the voting slip.
Brian and Christine Gautier were no longer seeking re-election
and nominations had been received from
Trevor Dash Pet Heal Tony Heal Mike Edmonds Kay Norman
and there were 2 new additions Carol Edmonds and Paul Lobley
The slips would be counted and verified by Pat and John Kirby (members of the Severn Valley Group)
There was then a Tea/ Coffee break whilst the votes were counted.
The meeting was reconvened at 12.10 p.m.
Introduction of the new Committee
The results of the voting were announced.
All nominees were elected by majority with the exception of Kay Norman who had a unanimous count.
Absent Friends
Members were asked to stand and observe a 2 minutes silence in memory of absent friends.
Brian was asked if he would continue to look after the website but he declined.
Ted and Hilary Tyler no longer have a motorhome but they have now become associate Members.
June, Pat and Ann were thanked for doing the tea and cheese and wine and also any other member that helped out.
John and Pat Kirby were thanked for overseeing the ballot papers.
The meeting closed at 12.17 p.m.
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MINUTES OF THE AVON GROUP MEMBERS MEETING HELD AT CHEW VALLEY SCHOOL SATURDAY 31st October 2015.
The acting Chairman opened the meeting at 12.25 p.m.
The new Committee for 2015 to 2016 was the introduced to the floor:
Chairman Trevor Dash
Vice Chairman Pet Heal
Secretary Mike Edmonds
Treasurer Kay Norman
Rally Officer Tony Heal
Web Administrator Carol Edmonds
Committee Member Paul Lobley
The outgoing Committee were thanked for their hard work.
The floor was asked if they wanted to have a charity this year. Mike Stock told the floor that he thought the Committee had enough to do without having to worry about running a charity and members should do it. There were 2 proposals but nobody was prepared to organise it, so it was agreed that there would be no specific charity this year. It was asked if the money in the Charity account could just stay there, but there was an amount raised at one rally for MacMillam Nurses and it was agreed (post meeting) that this money would be sent to them.
Several years ago a member had their motorhome broken into and the charity tin was stolen from that van. It was asked what was the outcome of this as members had never been told. This was explained in a satisfactory way.
Mike Stock proposed (seconded by June Dash) that all rallies commenced at 14.00 hrs. with the exception of schools. This was again debated and the motion carried by majority with 12 abstaining. Once again (post meeting) it was agreed that it would be almost impossible to do this on all rallies but the rally officer would make as many as he could with a 1400 hrs start.
There then followed a long debate as to the benefits and costs of keeping or disposing of the trailer and marquee.
It was proposed by June Dash and seconded by Colin Horsley that the trailer and contents should be sold on the open market. We should sell the contents first as it would be difficult to store everything if the trailer was sold first but we would keep the electric water urns. The proposal was passed by majority with 4 against and 2 abstainers.
Mark Neale addressed the floor asking them to give the new Committee total backing and support and stop all the backstabbing that usually goes on. This was received with applause and sounds of approval.
The Rally Officer then ran through the programme for next year asking for hosts, with some of the vacancies being filled.
With no more questions the meeting was closed at 13.20 hrs.
APPROVED MINUTES OF THE AVON GROUP 37TH AGM. ON 31st OCT 2015
MINUTES OF THE AVON GROUP OPEN FORUM AT CHEW VALLEY SCHOOL 10.30 a.m. SATURDAY 31st October 2015.
The meeting opened at 10.30 a.m.
Before the meeting could commence Christine and Brian Gautier announced to the floor their resignation from the Committee to take immediate effect. Mike Edmonds stepped in to take up the position of acting secretary.
The Chairman, Trevor Dash, introduced the current Committee and welcomed Pet Heal from Council of Management and Bernie Haylock the club administrator.
He asked for more members to volunteer to join the Committee as it was now very depleted. He also asked if members could help at large rallies (for example the balloon fiesta), even if it was only for an hour or two to help take the pressure off the small Committee.Offers of help came from Mark Neale and Bernie Haylock (subject to him not being required at the Malvern show).
The floor was then asked if they had any questions.
Terry Southcott said he was upset that he took on the Moor Farm rally in August on the understanding that it would be booked again in 2016 and this has not been done. A long debate then followed with a satisfactory conclusion.
It was asked if more information as to things that were happening at rallies could be put into the rally booklet and the website. It was explained that the booklet was sent to printers in November and these things could not be finalised by that deadline. The website was updated on a regular basis but some things do get missed and we would do our best to put all relevant information as and when it became available.
The question of having a Facebook page was mentioned but it was overwhelmingly stated that our web page was the way to communicate NOT Facebook which a lot of members did not use or like.
The meeting was then called to a close as time was going on, 10.59 a.m., and the AGM was due to start
The Motor Caravanners' Club
Avon Group