Treasurer’s Report
The Treasurer advised the meeting that she would be retiring from the position of Treasurer, one she had held for two years, and that she had very much enjoyed the role. She thanked Don Hendy, who had audited the accounts, and Pat Stow who had assisted her in transferring the accounts from a manual to a computerised system, thereby streamlining the operation. She then invited Pat to present the accounts, an audited copy of which forms part of, and is attached to, these minutes. Pat explained the presentation, which combined the manual and computerised systems; she advised that for following years the computerised system would enable a simpler summary and would allow any report to be extracted. The Society was in a good financial position, having made a profit over the year of £485.45 and having balances in the current account and the savings account which amounted to £3,656.19. The Chairman thanked Yvonne Barnes and Pat Stow for their respective rôles in the Treasury function
Appointment of Honorary Auditor
His willingness to act as auditor for the following year having been confirmed, Patrick Stow proposed and Pauline Allen seconded that Don Hendy be appointed Honorary Auditor. He was duly elected unopposed.
Election of Committee
The Chairman explained that the election of the Committee would take place in two stages. Following the formal standing down of the retiring committee the Minutes Secretary would conduct an election for the Chairman; the new Chairman would then conduct an election for the other members of the incoming Committee. The Chairman, who would not be standing for re-election, listed the officer appointments to be filled and asked the meeting to bear this in mind when considering the second of the two elections. At this point the President, Howard Jones, paid tribute to Sue Linton who had stepped into the breach and steered the Society so ably at a difficult time. He thanked the other members of the committee for their hard work and, in considering the officer rôles to be filled, suggested that job share might be a viable option
The Chairman and retiring committee stood down and an election was conducted for the position of Chairman. Only one nomination being received, Patrick Stow was appointed Chairman. The Chairman explained how his background as a self employed structural engineer had given him many opportunities to solve problems, but that he was no artist. He thanked Sue Linton, the members of the retiring committee and all the members of the Society for their support and he commented upon the warm enthusiasm that existed amongst the membership.
The Chairman then conducted the election of the incoming committee. Five members of the retiring committee were willing to stand for re-election and Don Hendy proposed and Michèle Soufflet seconded that Pauline Allen, Iain Dow, Ann Anderson, Pat Stow and Rob Chappel be elected en bloc; the proposal was carried unanimously. Further nominations were invited and Sue Linton proposed and Pat Stow seconded that Ron Hall and Michéle Soufflet be elected to serve; the proposal was carried unanimously.
The Chairman explained that officers would be selected from amongst their number at the first meeting of the incoming Committee. He hoped that all members of the Society would engage with the Committee, and that certain tasks might be shared amongst everybody, not just those who served as a committee member.
Programme of Activities for 2010
Pat Stow presented a varied and stimulating programme of demonstrations planned for the following year. She reminded the meeting that the Society existed for its members and, whilst the 2010 programme had already been planned, she would welcome suggestions for future years. She had prepared a form to facilitate request making and asked everyone to tick the columns of suggested topics and enter any others that came to mind. Anthea Bareham then presented the programme of planned workshops which, she hoped, had something for everybody. She stressed that the financial success of workshops had been dependent upon enlisting delegates from outside the membership and hoped the incoming committee would continue to market workshops outside the Society to maintain their viability.