MINUTES OF ANNUAL
GENERAL MEETING
Held at
The Clubhouse,
Recreation Ground,
On
Wednesday, 27th
August 2008 at 8pm
Present:
Committee: Penny Brunton (Chairman)
Emma Sparks (Hon. Sec.)
Amoreé Radford (Hon. Treasurer)
Barry Cleeve (PR & Media)
Penny Dale
Mike Warrington
Jan Warrington
Craig Hodges
Charles Reeves
Mike Senior
Members: K. Light, R. Light, H. King, M. Picton, D.J. White, P.A.Collins, F.Clayton, J. Spurrell, P. Maggs, C. Maggs, S. Davies, J. Trump, L. Stevens, K. Brunton, A. Woodman, J. Woodman, D. Cole, S. Andrew, P. Gagg, A. Thatcher, C. Thatcher, L. Moore, Z. Adams, M. Robinson, J. Love, P.Issac, D. Fry, T.Downing, B. Measday, P. Measday, J. Cleeve, D. Stock, H. Armitage, A. Oxford, P. Miles, J. Arnold, V. Ody, R.D.M. Slade, V. Henderson, B. Hill, D. Gomm, C. Johnston, P.Dix, W. Dix, L. O’Brien, J. O’Brien
Welcome
Penny Brunton, Chariman, welcomed all those present and thanked them for attending. Penny then introduced Steve Meehan, Head Coach and the new season’s signings; Scott Bemand, Stuart Hooper, Robbie Kydd, Shontane Haype, Justin Harrison
Speaker
Having introduced
the new signings, Steve gave a brief look forward to the season ahead. There was a short question and answer
session, covering ELVs; referees; line-out calls; Robbie Kydd’s return; Stuart
Hooper leaving
The AGM commenced once Steve and the players had left.
1. Notice
Convening the Meeting
Emma Sparks, Honorary Secretary, read the notice convening the meeting and advised that, in accordance with Item 4 (b) of the Constitution, this notice had been published in the Bath Chronicle on 7th August 2008; had been issued to members via mailing and had been published on the BRSC website.
2. Apologies
Apologies had been received from:
D. Gibbs, Mr & Mrs Flagg, J. Voss, T. Coleman, A. Warrington, R. Drew, N. Barton, L. Wilcox, D.Burgess, J. Barnes, T. Sutton, D. Shearn, N. Jefferies, S. Jefferies, W. Armitage, I. Armitage, H. Armitage, B. Calleja, T. Lane, A. Fry, B. Fry, K. Fry, E. Fry, K. Dale, D. Dyer, L. Senior, A.T. Adams, A. Finch, R. Trump, S. Eades, S. Blanchard, A. Kirkham, F. Downing.
3. Minutes of
Annual General Meeting held on 4th September 2007 and Matters
Arising
(a) Last year’s Minutes, copies of which had been circulated on the evening and published on the website, were agreed (after noting that Hughie Armitage was also one of the scrutineers for the voting the previous year) and thus signed by Penny Brunton for audit purposes.
(b) There were no matters arising.
4. Chairman’s Report
Welcome
Welcome
to everyone and thank you for attending.
I hope that everyone has signed in at the door; renewed their membership
(if not previously done so), got their tickets for the Supper next week and
that all the men have their BRSC ties.
Chairman’s Report – AGM 2008
We
are now on the brink of a new season and we gather from Steve that
Last Season
With
the exception of a somewhat dubious win by
The
signing of Springbok scrum-half, Michael Claassens was a masterstroke and all
the ball that the pack had fought so valiantly to win in previous seasons to no
avail, was suddenly coming off the back of the scrum and out of a ruck at speed
and tries were being scored in abundance.
With the exception of the waste of space EDF Cup competition,
For
all the euphoria created by
The Rec
In
Bob Calleja’s absence, I have a statement regarding Bath Rugby’s future at the
Rec:
“Contrary to what you may have read in the papers, we are still in
negotiations with the Trustees, who report to the Charity Commission, to try to
find a way forward. As has already been
reported, they have now given us some indicative terms to consider.
Bath Rugby was given 10 days in which to consider the terms, which
clearly was not long enough and that is why negotiations are still ongoing.
If there is disquiet amongst some of those who signed the petition
(for an increase in capacity to 15,000) about the latest suggestions of
possibly having a 20,000-seater stadium, the aim is still for 15,000 but, in
view of the time delay, the door should be open for future expansion.
Much
as everyone will want to know more, there is little else to impart at this
stage, as all negotiations are extremely sensitive. You will have also read in the press that
Bath Rugby is in negotiations with Swindon Football Club for a ground share at
the
Rumour
upon rumour abounds but it would be interesting to know how those present feel
about the continuing uncertainty – should we cut our losses and leave the Rec
or continue to fight? How about a show
of hands? (Majority in favour of ”fighting on”.)
We
are more hopeful about being able to develop the facilities at Lambridge,
although the Council’s proposal to site the park and ride to the east of Bath
at Bathampton Meadows has now gone to public consultation; so there may yet be
more loud shouting before that will take place and Bath Rugby, after almost 20
years of waiting, will be able to do something about the woeful training
facilities at Lambridge.
BRSC Events
In
October, the BRSC tried a new venture – Bingo and Baps. As no-one on the Committee had played bingo
for many a long year, if ever, Amorée set about investigating and attended a
Bingo evening at the British Legion in Keynsham. She ended up borrowing their bingo equipment
and then having to explain the rudiments to the assembled company in the
clubhouse. Belly was our inimitable
caller and really entered into the spirit of the evening with some marvellous
calling – such as Number 3 – Legend! A
number of players attended and Eli was heard to mutter “World Cup for
The
incomparable Stocky (Dave Stock) gave a great evening to those who attended on
Wednesday, 14th November. 19
teams took part and they were all competing for the Barry Clough Quiz
Shield. The eventual winners were new
BRSC members 'Simple Minds'. The Shield
was presented by Barry Clough’s widow, June.
Many thanks, as always, to Stocky; to the players, 'Eli', Jonny and Jack
Cuthbert who contributed brain-power(?) to the proceedings and to Dean and all
the staff at the Clubhouse for a highly successful event.
Later
in November, we held another enjoyable Blue, Black and Pink Ladies’ Night, ably
organised by Penny Dale and Em. Thank
you to them and to the players who attended.
All proceeds from the evening went to the Children’s Hospice South West.
The
Clubhouse was packed on Wednesday 23rd January to listen to local
ref, Tony Spreadbury, speak on all subjects refereeing. During a session which lasted about two
hours, he covered everything from the new scrummaging set up (with audience
participation, no contact allowed!!) to the responsibilities of touch judges
and his opinions on many facets of the modern game, the laws and the law
makers, including clips from matches at the Rec. Many thanks, Spreaders, a great
evening!! I should add that he came to
see me at the Llanelli game last weekend and said “I expect you’ll want me to
give a session on the ELVs – just send me an email.” You bet, Spreaders! Any suggestions for a date (some time in
October, maybe)?
In
February, following the full house for "Spreaders Speaking", the
Clubhouse was again packed for (what has now almost become) the annual
"Coaches Evening". It was good
to see all of the 1st XV coaching team, Steve Meehan, Mark Bakewell
and Brad Davis on stage with excellent support from analyst, David Reed.
In
April, the Warringtons organised yet another highly successful Race Night, with
the eight races sponsored as usual by local companies. As the first team
players were preparing for the
Finally,
in July, we had another Mystery Walk that took about 40 of us wandering round
parts of Bath previously unexplored, ending with a drink and a burger at The
Boater – thanks again to Jan and Mike.
Absent friends
JERRY KEELING - HONORARY LIFE PRESIDENT, BRSC
Jerry
passed away on Tuesday, 18th September, two days after his 70th
birthday, following a short battle with cancer and just two weeks after it was
unanimously agreed at the 2007 AGM that he should be accredited with the title
of Honorary Life President. Fortunately,
we were able to let Jerry know of this accolade before he died and he was
hugely flattered.
At
an informal presentation before the
Also
remembered during the past season are members Graham Iles and Anne Stanton, as
well as past players Tommy Hicks, Robbie Lye and John Roberts. Condolences have been sent to all their
families.
Notice re coaches from Jan and Mike Warrington
Another
successful season (in more ways than one) regarding the Bath Rugby Supporters’
Club coach travel.
Starting
with a friendly at Llanelli Scarlets in August and the first Guinness
Premiership away to Leicester Tigers in September, finishing the season with
our ECC Final at Kingsholm in May, we managed to run one coach to all of our
away games and occasionally we ran two - to London Wasps, Bristol and Worcester
- and three coaches to Gloucester, the London Wasps Semi-Final and ECC Final at
Gloucester.
Unfortunately
the trips to
Another
big thank you to all coach travellers who, again, have been magnificent in
their support. A big thank you to all
those who have helped with stewarding when necessary and to everyone who has
contributed to the raffles. This season
we have raised another fantastic sum, totalling £1,480, which will be shared
equally between:-
Headway
in
St
Dunstan’s.
These
cheques will be handed over at our first home game of the new season.
We
look forward to seeing everyone again next season and hope to be able to
attract some new travellers to join us on our journeys around the Guinness
Premiership.
Last
season we sponsored young outside centre, George Hughes. He has now moved to
Finally, Thank yous:
To
all members of the Committee, who have done sterling work throughout the year:
To
Amorée for counting the money and organising the bingo; to George for counting
the members; to Em, who took over from Craig as Hon Sec; to Penny Dale for all
her hard work with the cards, organising the Awards Supper and the Ladies’
Night with Em; to Barry who took over from Lisa as Press Secretary; to Mike
Senior for his support; to Jan and Mike who have worked tirelessly organising
all the coach travel, the Race Night and the Mystery Walk, as well as coercing
the sponsorship for our players’ awards and supervising the installation of our
new trophy cabinet.
We
are sorry to be saying goodbye to Lisa and would like to thank her for all her
help over the past two years and last but by no means least, we are saying
farewell to Doug, who has been on the Committee for more years than we care to
remember and has been instrumental in raising the vast funds for the Community
Development programme, through the shirt raffles and Two in a Bath. Fortunately, he will still be working closely
with the Club with the running of the shirt raffles, together with former
chairman, Dave White. Thanks, Doug. In their places, we welcome back on to the
Committee, Craig Hodges and new to the Committee, Charles Reeves.
Other
thanks must go to Jan Gregory, Kate Dale and Kelvin Brunton – which shows you
don’t have to be on the Committee to be an integral part. Speaking of which, thanks go to David Roy for
auditing our accounts in previous years and to Vicky Ody who has stepped in to
the breach to audit our accounts this year.
Our
thanks, too, to Dean Quintin and Jerry Quinn in the Clubhouse; to Jackie Povey
in the shop and to all those working at Argyle Street, who have listened to our
concerns (although not necessarily acted on them!) and helped us in so many
ways that people may not appreciate.
5. Membership Secretary’s Report
The total membership for the 2007/08 season was 1,038, which was 13 up on the previous season. This is encouraging as for the last few seasons we have experienced a drop in membership.
The current membership for this season is around 600, which includes approximately 140 new members. This is comparable to last year, with the new members coming mainly from the forms that we send out with the season ticket applications.
This season it has taken me longer than usual to get all of the cards and badges out, and I am aware that many people are still waiting to receive theirs. Please accept my apologies for this and bear with me, I am determined that everything will be up to date and in the post before the first game of the season. Also, those of you who have set up standing orders, I may still be waiting for the “Statement with your name on”! to process your application.
6. Treasurer’s Report
As the start of the new season leaps into view we can safely say that, although the bank balance doesn’t look quite as healthy as it did this time last year, we are still well in credit and looking forward to using the account as evenly as before.
At the beginning of the year we bought ties and horns. We, to date, hold in stock, £663.00 of merchandise. These are ties and horns for anyone to purchase. Come on you guys, we have the Awards Supper coming up shortly and I’d hate to think any of you were going to attend such a grand evening only partially dressed! As to the horns . . . well . . . if I can blow one of these for the boys, then so can you! I’m up for a bit of competition!!
The events that we hold are enjoyed by many. All members are more than welcome and to bring along new friends is a brilliant way for us all to meet and enjoy some really good evenings! . . . . We are always open to new ideas, so don’t be shy, lets hear from you and have even more fun together! Suggestions for even more events will be welcomed!
We are a non-profit making club and endeavour to keep a check on this. Each event is quite finely tuned and the majority of the expenditure equal to the income. Some events do make some form of profit, Jan and Mike’s Race Night for instance, is highly popular and it does make a profit, but, all this goes as you can see, to charities.
As you will have noticed the cost of postage and printing
has gone up quite substantially over this year.
This means that, because the membership fees have not been updated since
Noah was in his
I would personally like to thank all the committee members for their help. Without their consideration my job would be made much harder and not such a pleasure. A special thank you to Jan – she knows why! I would like to say thank you to two kind friends who have reconciled the BRSC accounts. Firstly, to David Roy who was amazingly helpful to me in my 1st year as treasurer, and also to Vicky Ody who has given up her time to help me this year.
Thank you.
7. Nomination of Scrutinisers for Committee Elections
As two Committee members were standing down and two new nominations had been received, there was no necessity for an election.
8. Announcement
of the BRSC Awards
Emma Sparks advised on the voting as follows:
Player of the Season
3.Tied with Matt Stevens and Steve Borthwick
2. Michael Lipman
1. Michael Claassens
Young Player of the Season
3. Chris Goodman
2. Nick Abendanon
1. Matt Banahan
Try of the Season
3. Joe Maddock v
2. Matt Banahan v London Irish
1. Matt Banahan v Saracens
Ladies’ Dish
3. Michael Lipman
2. Dan Browne
1. Danny Grewcock
Season’s Unsung Hero
3. Alex Crockett
2. David Barnes
1. Peter Short
We should like to congratulate all of the winners.
9. Election of Committee
Doug Gibbs and Lisa
Senior were replaced by Craig Hodges and Charles Reeves. Welcome back Craig and welcome to Charles.
10. Any Other Business
(a) Subs: Queried as to why there might be such a small rise in subscriptions. It was explained that as we are a non-profit making club we do not see the necessity to raise it any higher
(b) Newsletters: Suggestion to send the newsletter out via email. It was pointed out that this was deemed unnecessary as it can be downloaded from the allez-bath.com site. There may be complications in reading the email addresses correctly from the application form. It has been thought of before and there seems to be no efficient way of sorting. It was suggested that there is a box on the application form for those that are happy to read the newsletter on line.
(c) Chairman: It was noted that there had been no thanks for Penny and so Dave Stock duly thanked Penny for all of her hard work over the season.
(d) Travel to
Swindon: It was suggested the Club
should provide free coaches to
(e) Parking at Lambridge: It was asked why Lambridge was not used for parking for when we travel to away matches – it was pointed out that there has been a lot if issues with vandalism, hence that is no longer an option.
(f)
(g) Awards Supper next Week: It was pointed out to those attending the club supper that prompt attendance was necessary; awards would be taking place first, as the players would have to leave before the meal.
11. Close
The Chairman thanked all for attending and the meeting was closed at 9.15pm.
Signed: _____________________________________
Penny Brunton, Chairman