Club Night Report
Wednesday 9th November 2016
Club Night Report for 9th November 2016 - observations by Harry Rock
Mike Crawshaw opened the meeting and welcomed everyone. Apologies had been received from: David Branscombe, Ken Gately, Sam Pearce, Tony Rowan, and Keith Wraight.
The minutes from the 2015 AGM, having been circulated prior to the meeting, were accepted as a true record.
There were no matters arising.
Chairman's Report: Mike Crawshaw reported that the past year has been a successful one for the Club. Membership has continued to rise again and he extended a warm welcome to all of the new members who joined this year and gave his thanks for the loyal support of all our existing members. Financially we are in a strong position and we are adequately equipped to run member training days.
He stressed that the success of the Club depends on the membership and his special thanks went to those members who are always willing to help at Club events and with the setup and clear away on Club evenings. He also thanked the dedicated core of members who freely give their time and efforts to support our Training Days.
He also thanked the rest of the Committee and the Club officers for their hard work during the year; running all the activities and background tasks that are necessary to keep the Club running smoothly. He asked that members support the Club activities, especially the raffle, all-day events and the training sessions. Mike went on to talk about the new format for the Training Days which now allows more individual hands-on training (although with a smaller number of places being available) and he stated that we will continue these events for the benefit of the membership as long as there is a demand.
He urged members to let the Committee know what they would like to see happening at the Club, stressing the importance of feedback and suggestions on all aspects of the Club.
The Tools and Jigs Special Interest Group has had regular meetings during the year and have produced various prototypes and designs for items of interest to the members. This year's projects have included the continuing construction of an MDF Rose Engine and the building of a multi-function routing system. This will include pattern following, indexed work, sphere cutting and similar special effects using 43mm collar routers and/or a Dremel high speed drill. This SIG meets every month on the Wednesday before the Club Meeting. All are welcome.
We will have a display of all the Jigs projects at the Christmas Meeting in December.
He ended by saying that this is your Club and the more you put in, the more we will all benefit.
Secretary's Report: Arthur Kingdon reported that this was his third year in the job and it had been busier than ever. He wore several hats, with probably the most important one, and the most difficult, being Programme Secretary. This involves identifying and booking demonstrators, liaising with them prior to Meetings and, in particular, making sure things run smoothly on the night.
Booking demonstrators is getting more difficult as the pool he can draw from is getting smaller, due to more of them opting out of doing evening demonstrations. The distance they have to travel also limits the pool. There is also the cost consideration and of course those who are a good distance away may not want to travel. This means that each year we will have repeat visits from some demonstrators.
He had organised two Training days so far this year, with another planned for later this month - all of which were fully booked. They make a small profit for the Club but that profit is due to the instructors giving up their time for free, often materials for free and not charging travel expenses.
The programme for 2017 has three Training Days scheduled, all on Sundays. They are likely to follow similar lines to the latest format with only 5 or 6 students on each.
He thanked those who helped with the smooth running of the Club particularly:
Fred Lumsden for acting as Librarian and John Sawyer who has now taken over the role. And, our Catering Officer Derek Walton who continues to do an excellent and essential job. Also, Ace Reporter Vernon Hughes who produces excellent reviews of our Meetings. Further, thanks are due to Chris Frankum and Jim Jefferies who stood in for Vernon when he was unable to attend.
He stressed that it can be very busy at the start of the Meetings and wished to echo the Chairman's thanks to those who have helped with the setup and the clearing up afterwards.
Treasurer's Report: Ellie Thompson reported that financially the Club is doing very well. The membership income from Club Meetings, annual subscriptions and the raffle had covered the running expenses of the Club - including hall hire, refreshments, demonstrators, insurance, training days and raffle prizes (where not donated) with a healthy surplus.
The training days had paid for themselves and were welcomed by the participants. The cost of demonstrators had gone up this year and will go up again next year but she felt we could currently sustain this with the number of members that attend on a regular basis. We have also had an increase in the hall hire fees but hope that it will stay static next year.
We did not spend any money increasing our club assets and equipment this year, but we do have additional items that have come from a workshop sale - all of which are available for hire by Club members.
All this means that the Club is in a very good financial position. Our Club assets and equipment are very comprehensive and we have an increase in the bank balance.
Agreement of Annual Subscription Fees: The Treasurer proposed that the subscription should stay static at £20. This was agreed.
Election of Committee: As per our Constitution, two members of the Committee are required to stand down each year - Arthur Kingdon (Secretary) and Elaine Thompson (Treasurer). Both members were happy to stand for re-election - there being no other nominations - they were both elected for a further 3-years.
Show and Tell Format: The low number of items usually seen at the monthly Show and Tell had prompted the Secretary to canvass the members as to how this situation could be improved. He reported that there had been a good response from the members and there would be a number of changes to the format in 2017.
It was clear that a category for the less experienced members was desirable - therefore, starting in January 2017, there would be two categories to reflect experience level. There would be a Winner's shield for each category, certificates would be awarded and each Winner would be given a free raffle ticket. There was still some fine tuning to be done but members would receive full details prior to the start of the new format.
There were various suggestions on this matter from members present and the Committee would consider these.
Any Other Business: None.
There being no further business the AGM concluded at 19:55hrs.
The Show and Tell Theme for the evening was A Bowl. This was well supported and there were some fine examples of work on the presentation table.
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An excellent bowl in laburnum from Steve Body
secured him 3rd place this month
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Bill Savage was voted into both 2nd (bowl on the
left above) and 1st places this month (bowl on
the right above.)
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The main event of the evening was the Auction. There were 114 lots in the catalogue issued to the Club Members prior to the meeting.
Arthur Kingdon was the auctioneer (ably assisted by three 'runners') - and he efficiently worked through all of the lots in just over an hour. All of the lots (bar one) were sold. The bidding was brisk and the Membership was generous - generating a sizeable contribution to Club funds! |
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