AGM 2023-2024 Part 1

Minutes of the Annual General Meetng on 27th September 2023

Held in the Dales Room, the Centre on Gracious Street, Knaresborough at 19:45

Present:-

Committee members: Matthew Webber (Chairman), Lesley Harris (Treasurer) and

Hazel Graves (Secretary).

Members: Paul Ellis, Joan Dunlop, Brian Atter, Duncan Snell, Bert Mackay, Phil

Pryor, Robert Harris, Julie Valentine, Sharon Webster, Tim Houghton, Mark Irwin.

Apologies for Absence:-

Wendy and Ian Ferguson, Raelene Goddard, Kez Welesby, Paul McGrath, Clive

Beake, Rod Thompson.

Chairman’s Report:-

Annual General Meetings are about ends and beginnings and this AGM marks the

end of my time serving the last two years as Chairman and a beginning with

hopefully a new leadership team to lead the club after this AGM.

After the last AGM we had a committee of 5 people - myself (Chairman), Lesley

Harris (Treasurer), Hazel Graves (Secretary), Mike Morley (Competitions) and

Wendy Ferguson (General Committee) and early in the year both Wendy and Mike

decided to stand down which left us with a core committee of 3. Over the summer I

was advised by Hazel that she wished to stand down at the AGM and more recently

Lesley also advised me that she would be standing down at the AGM.

Even with our reduced committee we were able to deliver both the already planned

programme that ran from September 22 until March 23 (17 zoom and 10 physical

meetings) and a number of face-to-face outdoor event over the summer months with

only casualty - a monsoon-like night in Ripon.

I would like to put on record by heartfelt thanks to both Lesley and Hazel for their

hard work and their support and candour during the last 2 years whilst I have served

as Chairman.

I would also like to acknowledge the commitment to the club of Mike Morley for his

long service in a number of roles. He was instrumental in managing our social media

output and introducing and managing competition software. We will all miss his

somewhat unconventional suggestions for still life sessions, such as Lego men and

his LED lighting techniques.

Lesley’s work as club Treasurer looking after the club’s finances began before I

joined the committee and over the years, she has also been instrumental in planningthe extensive and highly enjoyable programmes by researching and booking the

various speakers and managing many of the zoom sessions we’ve now done.

Hazel took on the role of Secretary when I became chairman and has supported me

at the committee and has also run meetings when I have been unable to attend due

to other commitments and also led on the Camera Club presence at the

Knaresborough Community Day and recently setting up and curating the display of

prints at the Knaresborough Library.

In addition to our own internal DPI and Print competitions throughout the year we

have also been active within the Yorkshire region. At this year’s YPU Exhibition we

had acceptances in the Print Competition for Mark Irwin and Lesley Harris, and in the

DPI Competition for Mark Irwin and Mike Morley plus an acceptance into the PAGB

Print Competition for Duncan Snell. On behalf of the club I would like to congratulate

all of these members on their achievements.

And yet there was another success and this time it was agreed that the club would

also enter the YPU Interclub Print Competition with the top 2 clubs going forward to

the nationwide PAGB Interclub Print Competition. Our club came 2nd and we are

now through to the final!

As some of you will recall the now Tuesday at 8 group was actually started by Robert

Harris just over 4 years ago on a Monday with meetings at the Friendship Club in

Knaresborough as a forum for all members to get together in a small group

environment to learn skills and receive feedback on their work. The group moved

to.a Tuesday during the COVID period and has been a constant feature of the club

up until recently when Robert announced he was stepping aside due to his study

requirements of his University course. Prior to stepping aside, he worked with the

Tuesday at 8 group members on potential images for the PAGB InterClub

Competition that culminated tonight with all members print submissions for a

competition selection panel that will need to be established by the new committee

prior to the PAGB event that takes place in three weeks’ time. I would like to thank

Robert for his hard work over the past 4 years plus all the members that took part in

the current Monday/Tuesday at 8 group sessions for their participation and believe

everyone has seen their photography grow.

I would like to bring my report to a close by thanking once again the retiring

committee and all the members of the club at both our regular Wednesday meetings

and the Tuesday at 8 meetings for supporting the club’s activities and wish everyone

success in future activities whether competitive or not.Treasurer’s Report:-

This is my final report as Treasurer to this club. I have held the position for almost

five and a half years and I have enjoyed the role during this time. I now feel that the

time is right for me to stand aside and allow someone else the opportunity to support

the club through taking on this position. I will provide as much support as the new

incumbent needs to enable a smooth transition.

I am happy to report that the last year has been a successful one with regard to

finances. I can report that the year ended in credit to the tune of £181.96p. The club

account now has a balance had £3983.14 as of 31 August 2023.

The accounts have been audited and found to be in order.

Membership - This remained similar to last year, with 29 people joining as members

during the year. We gained six new members over the year but had five members

who did not rejoin.

Income - The majority of our income comes from subscriptions, we received a small

amount of interest on the bank account due to the changes in interest rates over the

year. Amazon no longer offers commission through a link to affiliated organisations.

Expenditure - Costs for speakers and judges were slightly up on last year. This was

due to more speakers being booked (ten). We started having physical meetings

which accounts for the increased room rental figure. The room rental market has

changed significantly since the recent pandemic - In our case this has doubled.

Pre-pandemic members of the Monday / Tuesday at Eight face to face meetings paid

a small fee to cover room hire. To support the work of the group the committee

decided to pay the room hire.

Looking forward I have made a prediction of how much the cost will be for the

currently arranged 2023 - 24 programme. The figures are in line with the costs of this

year as the plans include continuing to hold both Zoom and face to face meetings.

This has enabled speakers to be booked from further afield and has also saved

rental costs for rooms.

The Committee recommends that the club needs to maintain suitable reserves to

cover the running costs for 12 - 24 months. The cost of the current programme is

£1500 per annum.

Over the last year the committee has had several discussions about the need for

equipment. The general view has been that because of the limited times that

projection equipment would be used this will give us the opportunity to explore

whether grants can be accessed. If suitable equipment is sourced (around £2500)

there will be additional costs, such as insurance storage and maintenance in future

years.

The committee recommends to the AGM a subscription rate of £50 for membership

with £90 for couples and £10 for full time students. This would be unchanged from

last year.

Please will the members approve this year’s accounts and support the Committee’s

recommendation for the subscription rate.Responses to the Reports:-

DS queried why the AGM was in Sept not Mar/Apr when a new committee could

imprint their ideas onto the club programme for the new season,

MW – Responded that programme took 6 months to put together, new committee

could make changes to it if desired.

BA asked why results of the YPU competition had not been circulated as in previous

years.

MW – responded that entrants could get them from YPU portal and it was his

decision not to circulate as permission would have to be gained from each member

who entered.

BA asked why there were two bank accounts, one of which was a personal account.

LH - Responded explaining the club account is held with Yorkshire Bank (now Virgin

Bank) and as an old type community account, it charges for every transaction made

so was used for to deposit cheques from members for subscriptions. A personal Nat

West account was used to enable members to use BACS transfers for subs and will

be transferred into the club’s Yorkshire Bank account.

DS asked if there may be a reduction, considering the level of reserves in the

account and no money has been spent on equipment for the club (projector/laptop).

LH – responded stating that running costs would not support a reduction in fees.

MW – explained the decision to buy a projector may be for the new committee to

consider, particularly if they wanted to ensure potential speakers had the best

equipment for their presentations.

PP - asked the meeting that if more was spent on room hire, the excess would be

lower, should subs increase?

LH – responded that on the current programme only 3 of the 6 speakers charge, if

the new committee have more speakers’, then higher costs may be incurred and an

increase in fees may need to be considered.

LH proposed and MW seconded to approve the accounts and for fees to be the

same amount as last year

Vote for approval of accounts and subscription fees – passed 10 for, 1 against.Changes to Club Rules and new Policies:-

RH explained that the rules change had come out of following the beginning of a

collaboration with a scout group in Knaresborough (following the Community Day

presence) when it was flagged that KCC has no policies on Conduct, Safeguarding

and Health and Safety to protect all participants. YPU directed RH to PAGB website

for guidance on these.

The changes included amendments to the club rules and the policies mentioned

above that had been circulated to all members prior to the AGM via email.

Following feedback some minor amendments were agreed as follows:

(I) Safeguarding – to protect the vulnerable –– making person and carer aware to be

able to make decisions about both working with and taking images of individuals.

(II) Code of Conduct – members agreed that complainant and individual the

complaint is about should not be on the panel considering the complaint.

A discussion was had about the rule about the Dissolution of club – RH put forward

that in the event of the club closing down, no individual should benefit from the

closure, but funds should be a charitable contribution to another club, promoting

photography.

DS – pointed out that P McGrath had put forward a proposal for dealing with club

closure. MW said it wasn’t proposed/seconded in time for the meeting and RH read

out an email from PM where he had agreed that this may want to be considered by

the next committee following this meeting.

DS/BA then asked raised the issue of the level of club membership subscriptions

based on current reserves. MW said this item had been dealt with by this meeting

under the Treasurer’s report and was not relevant to the item under discussion.

Amendment to club rules and associated policies with the agreed amendments – to

which members are automatically signed up to on joining the club – RH proposed,

JV seconded.

Vote carried in favour of new policies.Officers then stepped down to elect a new committee

Election of Officers:-

Chairman

Secretary

Treasurer

Competition Secretary

Committee members x 3

MW asked for a discussion on the appointment of officers, which resulted in no

appointments.

MW stated that the programme will collapse with the absence of a committee and

then proposed calling a short pause in the meeting for a refreshment break after

which there was a further discussion which resulted in no further nominations for the

committee.

It was proposed by MW and seconded by JV that the members would agree to a

pause in AGM meeting process and for it to resume it on Wednesday 11th October

2023 at 1945 by when members who could not attend the meeting would be notified

on the outcomes of this meeting so they would have the opportunity to attend the

next meeting to discuss the way forward.

As Acting Chairman MW announced that due to there not being a functioning

committee, the planned mono DPI competition on 18/11/23 would be cancelled but

there would be the planned meetings up to the resumed AGM on 11/10/23 to

facilitate discussions on the way forward.

The meeting closed at 21:30.