PAINSWICK PROBUS CLUB
The Minutes of the Club’s twenty fifth Annual General Meeting held at the Painswick Centre on Wednesday 13th April 2016.
- Apologies
Apologies were received from the following members: Michael Breeze, Ken Hemming and John Watson.
2 Minutes of the twenty fourth AGM held at the Painswick Centre on 15th April 2015.
All members were issued with a copy of the twenty fourth AGM. There were no comments. Approval of the minutes of the twenty fourth AGM was proposed by David Walker and seconded by Peter Roberts. The minutes were duly signed by the Club President.
- Matters Arising
There were no matters arising from the 2015 AGM that required further discussion.
- President’s Report (Russell Herbert)
This was our silver anniversary year and we have tried to make it memorable.
This AGM is probably the first meeting of the year without the support of high tech visual aids, for we (Probus) contributed £250 towards the total of £1600 invested by the Centre in the electronic projection kit.
Many of you will not be aware of our reliance on Jennie Barber (Manager) to get the kit working on time for most speakers to commence their presentation.
This has on occasion meant we borrow her own, or her mother’s laptop to be compatible with the equipment used by the speaker. So I would like to commend Jennnie to you and mention that increasingly Mike Steed also gets us out of trouble.
Our meetings are of course focussed on speakers, we have not yet embraced dancing lessons or even serious pub visits, so it is pertinent to comment on some outstanding presentations organised by John Courts. It has been a target of mine to incorporate some Members contributions, so I am particularly pleased to have achieved this.
I believe the following were worthy of note;
Allan Reid The Bloodhound SSC Engineering Adventure.
Vince Williams A Personal Pilgrimage to K2.
Anita Edgar Rescue of Street Children in India.
Chris Roberts British Army Motorcycle Despatch Riders in WW1.
Gillian White Henry V111 and the Field of Gold.
David Lemon Walking the Zambezi.
David Sweet Controversy of the Dresden Bombing in WW2.
Peter Jenkins Sailing Excursion to Svalbard.
Others almost made my list were equally stimulating for different reasons.
The September visit to Jaguar Cars was also rewarding, we felt proud to be British having followed the XF sports car production line through to completion. It was also interesting to note that the buildings which housed the production facilities had provided the same service for nearly 13,000 Spitfires and 500 Lancaster Bombers.
Many of our speakers donate their fees to charity ,eg. Chris Roberts to Help for Heroes’ and Anita Edgar to a charity for street children. I believe it is to the credit of members who, after listening to particular touching stories freely donate additional monies to the linked charity.
Traditionally, the President at the termination of office donates £100 on behalf of Probus to an appropriate cause. This year I have chosen the charity founded and run by Anita Edgar for the Rescue of Street Children.
It is inevitable in a Club which draw its’ membership from retired professionals that we from time to time loose members in a natural way. This year the following members died;
David Stanley – July 2015.
Brian Carter- October 2015- Founder Member
Peter Sadler-January 2016
Gordon Weedon- April 2016- Founder Member and Past President.
On the plus side we have welcomed a similar number of new members, particularly from Richmond Village, who no doubt shortly will be setting up a bus service. Broadly, membership remains at a healthy level (60 plus) with average attendance in excess of 55%.
A significant change occurred this year with the resignation of Glynn Nixon due to his removal to Bristol and the passing of responsibility for the computerised side of membership communications and maintenance of the Club website to Henry Hall. Henry, my thanks for a seamless transition.
I commenced my year as President with two ambitions;
- To enjoy it and
- To win the annual skittles match and recover the trophy.
Both objectives achieved!
My thanks to those who have helped along the way.
Paul (Mary) Sparks for the dependable and successful dining occasions with the ladies. John Courts who, as Speakers Secretary takes a considerable load off the President with his detailed organisation in both selecting and supporting the speakers. John Rohrbeck and Ian Eastwood in their respective roles as Treasurer and Secretary.
Gentlemen,
I believe the Club has had a good year and I have certainly enjoyed both your company and our activity. Thank you for your support.
5 Treasurer’s Report
The Income & Expenditure account for the year ending 5th March 2016 and the budget and comments for the following year 2016/17 was circulated and discussed. The accounts were audited by Michael Middleton. The Club thanked Michael Middleton for once again carrying out the audit of the Treasurer’s Report.
The balance in the current account as of 5th March 2016 stood at £1500.02. This is £389 less than in last year’s report. This is the result of three non-recurring expenditure items, namely donation to the Painswick Centre A/V system (£250), sponsorship of St.Mary’s Yew Tree fund (£99) and champagne at the 25th anniversary summer luncheon (£220). It was therefore recommended that the annual Club subscription should remain at £45. The meeting agreed with the Treasurer’s recommendation.
Acceptance of the Treasurer’s Report was proposed by Derek Sanders and seconded by Basil Butler.
- Appointment of Auditor
Michael Middleton has agreed to continue to audit the Club Accounts. Appointment proposed by Peter Roberts and seconded by John Courts.
7 Appointment of Officers
The following appointments were agreed with no other nominations proposed.
PRESIDENT Ian Breckels
Proposed by Russell Herbert and seconded by John Courts.
The new President was given the Chain of Office by the outgoing President Russell Herbert and he formally took over the chair for the meeting.
VICE PRESIDENT Henry Hall
Proposed by Russell Herbert and seconded by John Courts.
The above appointments were unanimously approved by the meeting.
The Club Committee to comprise in addition to the President and Vice President the following:
Past President Russell Herbert
Treasurer John Rohrbeck
Secretary Ian Eastwood
Speakers Secretary John Courts
Club Functions Organiser Paul Sparks
Committee Member Philip Morris
The above appointments to the committee were proposed by Russell Herbert and seconded by Peter Roberts and was agreed.
- Address by the New President Ian Breckels
Ian Breckels began his address by outlining his career starting as a graduate mining engineer from Nottingham University, initially in research and then his international career with Royal Dutch Shell starting in The Hague. His working career with Shell involved a variety of appointments and responsibilities in the oil industry in countries such as Egypt, Abu Dhabi, Netherlands, Scotland and Norway. Eventually he retired and moved to Painswick in 2013.
He and his wife Dianna, have two married sons.
9 Club Outings
The meeting discussed a number of suggestions for this year’s club outing. These included:
- Historic Ships in Portsmouth. Tours of Mary Rose, Warrior and Victory.
- Wedgewood Museum in Burslem, near Stoke on Trent.
- Bombay Gin Distillery in Hampshire.
These were put to a vote and the result was as follows:
Historic Ships 15 votes, Wedgewood 7 votes and Bombay Gin Distillery 9 votes.
Other suggestions were later made, these included the Tank Museum at Bovington, the Aerospace Museum in Bristol and the National Motor Museum at Beaulieu .
These suggested places to visit in future Club outings would be explored by the committee.
Ian Eastwood (Hon .Club Secretary)
April 2015