Minutes of the Annual General Meeting of the Warminster Countryside Club, held in the foyer of the Athenaeum, High Street, Warminster, on 6th May 2009:
Present
Anne Thomas, Pippa Rosen, Edie Coward, Maggie Pryce, Pip and Di Potter, Geoff Hall, John Croad, Jim and Eve Banks, and Danny Howell.
Apologies For Absence
Apologies for absence were received from Biddy Shephard, David Wiltshire, Sidney Blackmore, Margaret Broughton, and Pauline Charlesworth.
Matters Arising
There were no matters arising.
Chairperson’s Report
Eve thanked the Committee and members for their support over the last year. The meeting in February was cancelled due to the snow and there had been a hiccup over the summer visit to The Maltings. The visits to Beggars Knoll [Westbury] and Sir Edward Heath’s house in Cathedral Close [Salisbury] had been particularly interesting as had the talks by Major Lewis on owls and raptors, and Brian Clarkson’s talk and demonstration on willow sculptures. (A copy of the full report is available on request).
Treasurer’s Report
Margaret Broughton submitted her Annual Report, copies of which were distributed to the members. Although there had been an increase in income over the previous year by £60.15 there had been an increase in expenditure of £168.13. Margaret reminded members that subscriptions were due in September, the current annual subscription being £10 (visitors are charged £2).
Appointment of Officers and Committee
(i) Chairperson: Eve Banks.
(ii) Vice Chairperson: Pip Potter was not prepared to be re-elected and there being no other member willing to take on the role, the post would remain vacant.
(iii) Secretary: Jim Banks.
(iv) Treasurer: Margaret Broughton.
(v) Advertising: David Wiltshire. Danny Howell would assist with this as he would be able to distribute copies of the programme to his contacts in the villages around Warminster.
(vi) Raffle: Geoff Hall.
(vii) Suppers. There was no formal appointment as it was decided that this would be done on a rota basis.
Public Liability Insurance
This matter had been raised some time ago by the Committee of the Athenaeum Centre. Whilst the Athenaeum Centre had insurance cover for any injury sustained by visitors to their premises as a result of negligence on their part – e.g. faulty electrical installations, structural failure of building, etc., this did not cover groups such as ours who are certain to their own members, e.g. injury by faulty equipment, etc., owned by the group. This was a problem being found by many groups such as ours using someone else’s premises. Wiltshire Trust for Nature Conservation had hoped to get together enough groups similar to our own in order to make viable to obtain a group insurance cover. Our club simply could not afford its own insurance cover which would be in the region of £200 p.a. We would wait to hear further from the WTFN.
Club Rules
Draft rules had now been compiled and copies were distributed to the members for consideration. The rules were agreed as drafted.
Programme
A summer programme had been prepared and copies were distributed. A programme for the period September 2009 to May 2010 had not yet been completed by the Secretary but copies would be sent out to all members and displayed in appropriate places once completed.
Any Other Business
There being no other business the AGM was closed at 8.50 p.m.