Minutes of the Annual General Meeting on 4th January 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). Apologies for absence received from Mike Morley (Competition Secretary) and Wendy Ferguson. 11 Club members present, apologies received from Brian Atter, Duncan Snell, Paul McGrath and Sally Wood.
The minutes of the last meeting held on 15 th September 2021 were approved.
Chairman’s Report: -
It has been a busy year and the Chairman thanked the Treasurer and the Secretary for all their hard work. There had been a good selection of events and since the new season started in September, there have been more physical meetings held at the Centre on Gracious Street and everybody agreed that the venue works well for both the Club meetings and for the Tuesday at Eight meetings. There was a variety of venues for the Summer outings – Ripon, Cycle Races and York etc, suggestions were very welcome from members to ensure the programme covered a range of interests. Two print competitionshave been introduced as the physical meetings can now facilitate the judging of these. DPI judging will remain online. Members agreed that the mixture of physical meetings and Zoom meetings was good; and the quality of the judges and speakers was of a high standard as the choice was much wider enabled by Zoom. Both Mervin Straughan(Committee Member) and Stuart Hartham(YPU Rep) have resigned their posts and were thanked for their contribution to the club success. Robert Harris is now our representative on the YPU.
Treasurer’s Report: -
I am able to report that the club had a financially successful year during 2021 - 22. The membership income increased by £100 compared to the previous year. This amount equated to 28 members which was up by one on the previous year. The changes consisted of three members who did not continue their membership, two new members and two returning members. The income from Amazon is quite a bit lower, possibly as a result of members being released from lockdown and therefore not spending online so much. It would be really helpful to the club finances if members who are making purchases could access Amazon through the icon on the Camera Club website. This does not affect the purchase price but does result in a small percentage contribution to the club. The other income lines are self-explanatory with a cash transfer to the bank and the YPU entry fees which are equal to the expenditure lines relating to this. With regard to expenditure judge and lecturer fees were reduced this last year compared to the previous year. We are still fortunate in being able to book these from a nationwide pool and as all the sessions have been on Zoom there have been no travel expenses and several of the speakers have not charged any fees. The Secretary’s expenses line relates to the fee for the Photoentry System. The YPU Insurance has increased as compared to last year in line with general increases in this sector. The YPU subscriptions have returned to their pre pandemic level. The rent is payment for the two nights that were held at Gracious Street (COGS). The final expenditure relates to the Annual fee for Zoom. This was paid in March and last for the next year. These transactions have led to a figure of almost £800 extra income compared to expenditure and a figure of £3801.19 as a balance at the end of the year. The books have been reviewed by an ex-Chairman, Phil Robbins, and been found to be in order. Although this is now a healthy balance the club is still in a situation of not having the equipment which could be needed when physical meetings recommence e.g. Projector and Laptop. Applications have been made for grants to assist with the purchase of these, to bothTwo Ridings Community Fund and Knaresborough Lions, but to date these have been unsuccessful. The programme for the next season has been planned and there are more physical meetings planned which will lead to rent payments. It is also proposed that the club pay for the rent related to the Tuesday at Eight physical meetings. The plan is for alternate Physical and Zoom meetings for Tuesday at Eight therefore approximately one rental payment a month. With these factors in mind it is proposed to keep the subscription rate at £50 for the year with a Couples rate of £90 and a student rate of £30. I am hopeful that the membership agrees with this. The current year’s finances have a subscription income of £1350 and an expenditure of approximately £400 which has related to Speakers fees, room rent and the fee for the photo entry system. The expenses which are yet to come include YPU Subscription, Insurance fees, further payments for speakers and room rental and Zoom fees, and any other expected expenses.
Election of Officers: -
As the AGM had been unavoidably delayed from September, the Committee has continued to work through until the AGM could be held. All members were happy with this and to continue through for the rest of the season. The members were asked if any one wished to join as an ordinary committee member as there has been a vacancy for a while. Nobody wished to take on the role at this point.
Chairman - Matthew Webber
Secretary - Hazel Graves,
Treasurer - Lesley Harris
Competition Secretary - Mike Morley
Committee members – Wendy Ferguson
Meeting closed at 20:15.