DRAFT
Rev 4-HH
PAINSWICK PROBUS CLUB
The Minutes of the Club’s twenty sixth Annual General Meeting held at the Painswick Centre on Wednesday 12th April 2017.
- Apologies
Apologies were received from the following members: Geoffrey Archer, John Courts, Kenneth Hemming, Russell Herbert, David Linsell, Alan Major, David Newell, Derek Sanders, Robert Stevens and John Wylde.
2 Minutes of the twenty fifth AGM held at the Painswick Centre on 13th April 2016.
All members were issued with a copy of the twenty fifth AGM. There were no comments. Approval of the minutes of the twenty fifth AGM was proposed by Henry Hall and seconded by Philip Morris. The minutes were duly signed by the Club President.
- Matters Arising
There were no matters arising from the 2016 AGM that required further discussion.
- President’s Report (Ian Breckels)
I would like to start by thanking all the members of the committee: Henry Hall, my very capable vice President, John Courts, who again has excelled as Speakers’ Secretary, Paul Sparks who ensures our events run so smoothly, and of course Russ Herbert, our immediate past President. I would also like to emphasise the work of those who work mostly behind the scenes to ensure the smooth running of the club. In this regard I would like to mention Ian Eastwood and John Rohrbeck, our long running secretary and treasurer respectively. In addition, I would like to mention Jennie Barber, manager of the Painswick Centre who looks after our needs for our meetings and Mike Steed who is always on hand to assist when required with the technical stuff.
It is sad to record the deaths during the past year of Gordon Weedon (Founder Member and Past President), Alan Hudson (Past President) and Mike Buttrey. Craig Dunn resigned. On the positive side we had new members Duccio Leoni and William Eastwood. John Newhill has re-joined the Club.
Membership currently stands at 61 and average attendance at our meetings over the last 12 months has been 33 or 54% of the membership. This is somewhat below the historic average which is closer to 60%. I am not sure of the reasons for this decline. If anyone has any insights, I would welcome their views.
I think the reduction in numbers at our regular meetings is most unlikely to be due to the quality of the speakers which I consider very high indeed. I think John Courts has once again done an excellent job as Speakers’ Secretary in creating an extremely diverse and interesting selection of talks. The ones that stand out for me in the last year have been Peter Bungard, Chief Executive of Gloucestershire County Council on ‘’The Role of the County Council’’, Nik Marsh ‘’Anything is possible – an Ironman Journey’’, Gillian White ‘’Bess of Hardwick and Hardwick Hall’’, Tom Shannon ‘’From Medicine to Movies and Back’’ and David Lemon ‘’African Elephants’’.
A number of the speakers’ fees go to charity. In addition, your President each year is granted £100 to pass to a charity of his choice. My choice of charity for this year is the Stroke Association which is the UK’s leading stroke charity. Their research has helped to improve treatments and care which has saved tens of thousands of lives and their support services have helped hundreds of thousands of people get through one of the most frightening experiences of their lives and build a life after stroke. In addition they are involved in awareness campaigns such as the FAST campaign, which was developed to help people recognise the signs of a stroke and take emergency action.
We again held the Ladies Summer Luncheon and Christmas Dinner at the Hill and my thanks go to Paul Sparks for ensuring a consistently high standard.
Last week I had the pleasure of hosting the Annual Past Presidents’ lunch at the Bistro with 9 in attendance.
The annual excursion last October to Portsmouth Historic Dockyard was attended by twenty five members and guests. There is certainly a lot on offer there and choices were necessary as to do everything would take far more than one day. We were fortunate to have excellent weather which was very conducive to touring the harbour for those that chose to do that. For me, the highlight of the many exhibitions was the newly re-opened Mary Rose exhibit.
The one lowlight of the year was a narrow defeat at skittles to the ladies of the WI. In an evening comprising seven rounds with twelve team members per round, that makes 252 balls launched down the alley per team, we lost by three skittles. I shall have to leave it to the next president to rectify the situation.
It has been an enjoyable year as President and it has passed all too quickly. All that remains for me to do is wish for a continuing healthy and thriving club which is welcoming to new members, and also to wish our new President every success in his year of office. And finally I would invite you all to join me after this meeting for a drink at The Royal Oak.
5 Treasurer’s Report
The Income & Expenditure account for the year ending 5th March 2017 and the budget and comments for the following year 2017/18 was presented 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 2017 stood at 1948.49.
Income for the year exceeded expenditure by £498.47.
Though we have lost several members (see President’s Report), we have gained new members and we see no reason to recommend any increase in the annual subscription. The annual subscription will remain at £45.
The meeting agreed with the Treasurer’s recommendation.
Acceptance of the Treasurer’s Report was proposed by Basil Butler and seconded by Paul Sparks.
6 Appointment of Auditor
Michael Middleton has agreed to continue to audit the Club Accounts. Appointment proposed by Henry Hall and seconded by Chris Clarkson.
7 Appointment of Officers
The following appointments were agreed with no other nominations proposed.
PRESIDENT Henry Hall
Proposed by Jeff Clark and seconded by Peter Roberts.
The new President was given the Chain of Office by the outgoing Ian Breckels and he formally took over the chair for the meeting.
VICE PRESIDENT Basil Butler
Proposed by Ian Breckels and seconded by Henry Hall.
The above appointments were unanimously approved by the meeting.
The re-appointment of the Secretary, Ian Eastwood was proposed by Basil Butler and
seconded by William Eastwood.
The re-appointment of the Treasurer, John Rohrbeck was proposed by Paul Sparks,
seconded by Chris Clarkson.
The Club Committee to comprise in addition to the President and Vice President the following:
Past President Ian Breckels
Treasurer John Rohrbeck
Secretary Ian Eastwood
Speakers Secretary John Courts
Club Functions Organiser Paul Sparks
Committee Member Philip Morris
The meeting approved the Committee appointments.
- Address by the New President Henry Hall
(Because this address is currently in the website’s public domain the new President’s personal history has been redacted by deletion.)
This brings me back to Painswick, where I play the world’s most popular sport, i.e. bad golf. I chair a national campervan owners’ club, and pursue DIY projects which are currently dominated by home improvements which hopefully will give way soon and let me get back to my 1967 Lotus Elan which was abandoned since the journey to Painswick in 2014. I enjoy exploring the internet and using TripAdvisor.
In summary, seventeen postings, in seven commissioned ranks, but only six house moves while in the RAF, and just one house move since leaving the Service. I’m content.
Now, what does the next year hold for Painswick Probus?
First, we have another excellent and varied programme of talks arranged carefully by John to keep us all on our toes. Furthermore, we have just one more cycle of the summer luncheon and Christmas dinner at the fine dining venue of The Hill before the franchise changes hands. We will have to keep our ears to the ground for feedback to inform decisions for the 2018 cycle. The ladies are likely to wish to defend the skittles title in autumn so we will need to train a crack team to take them on, or fix the score in some way.
In October we will visit the Royal Mint in Llanstristant, the arrangements are already in place to ensure we got the chosen date. Again ideas for 2018 will be welcomed.
The format of our Club has changed little in recent years. I am open to suggestions for discussion in committee to keep the Club vibrant and responsive to the wishes of members.
- Club Outing
The annual Club outing is planned for 4th October when we will make a visit to the Royal Mint at Llanstristant.
The Committee would welcome suggestions from members for the 2018 outing.
- Any Other Business
There were no matters raised.
The meeting was closed.
Ian Eastwood (Hon .Club Secretary)
April 2017