Minutes of the Annual General Meeting of the B.M.F.A. North West Area held on
4 December 2007 at St Aidan's Parish Centre, Winstanley, Wigan.
Persons Present
Mike Colling FSMAE Vice Chairman
Derek Gilbert Secretary & Treasurer / Sale MFC
David Lloyd-Jones Area PRO / CCMAA
Roy Allam Achievement Scheme Coordinator/FCMFA
Sue Reeves Area Education Co-ordinator / PMAG
Keith Barker Area Web Master / Rochdale MAC
Joe Flynn Area Free Flight Sec
Gerry Ferer Auditor/Timperley MF
Jim Radcliffe Auditor/Timperley DMFC
John O'Donnell Timperley MF
Ivan Mottershaw Wirral RCFS
W Bonner Wirral RCFS
Neville Toft BATS
Mike Beese Sharston MAC
Wayne Pendleton Academy Flyers
Steve Ogden PMAG
Syd Lawton Phoenix MAC
Frank Fletcher R.A.F. Shawbury MFC
Edna Flynn NWFFG
Alan Cantwell Bury Metro
S Headland Rochdale MAC
Wayne Howman Smithy MFC
Tom Anyon Fylde Coast MFA
15, later 16 voting
The meeting commenced at 20. 11
Apologies for Absence
Chris Bromley, Andy Collins, Chrissy Stone, Ray Jones, Ken Morrisey, Andy Ellison.
Chairman
The Secretary read a letter of resignation he had received from the Chairman
explaining that due to ill health he needed to reduce his commitments and reluctantly
had chosen to give up his chairmanship of the area.
The PRO stated that he had also received the same letter and read to the meeting
his reply on behalf of the area.
Minutes of the previous meeting
Phoenix proposed and BATS seconded that the minutes of the Annual General Meeting
for 2007 are approved. The meeting approved the minutes F: 15, A: 0, Abst: 1
Matters Arising
None
There followed a discussion on the whereabouts of the area trophies and it was
noted that these were listed at the foot of the accounts. J Flynn confirmed
that the Gilbert trophy was used for the "Wind & Wellies" event
and was won by N Rogerson this year.
Officer's Reports
Vice Chairman
Mike Colling FSMAE, Area Vice Chairman had assisted with the Eddie Riding event
and noted the extra class made the compiling of the results a much bigger task.
He thanked David Lloyd-Jones' son for his efforts compiling a useful spreadsheet
for the event. On several occasions during the year he had been happy to deputise
for Chris at the area meetings.
Secretary
Derek Gilbert reported that his year as Secretary had been quite uneventful,
attendances had improved over the year usually 15 to 19 attending and we have
23 here today compared to 20 at last years AGM. The area had two proposals to
Council accepted asking for agendas and minutes to be available to members on
the BMFA web site. The Secretary also offered his thanks on behalf of the meeting
to Chris Bromley for all the work he had done for the area over the last 19
years and that his knowledge of what goes on day to day at Chacksfield House
will be hard to replace.
Treasurer
Derek Gilbert, as Treasurer, reviewed the accounts for the year ended 31st March
2007 which showed a deficit of £226 bringing the surplus funds down to
£6, 071. He went on to explain the major items of expenditure and that
he was very disappointed with the income from the sale of goods. Takings were
up at £975 however the invoicing from the office adjusted for the stock
count showed a loss of £17.
He said he spent quite some time investigating the figures and was at a loss
to explain them. The selling prices Sue and Steve were charging were checked
and these should give a reasonable profit and had obtained from the office all
the paperwork the office has to support the invoicing to us.
However it was found:
1.The office records to be very poor
2. Despite being asked to, Sue has neither kept records of orders and deliveries
of goods nor kept the treasurer informed of each order, so cannot be certain
that the charge by the office is in fact not over stated.
The treasurer reported that he was left with the conclusion that either the
takings are understated by at least £200, or the office has overcharged
us by at least £200. The office insists their records are correct, but
he did have his doubts, but without any back up records by Sue, can't prove
it.
The Treasurer went on to say that in this current year the sale of goods has
been much reduced, only £463, and the charge from the office for that
year does look sensible and he had been able to tie in this with notes from
Sue of her orders. However he could not report for certain the result as Sue
had not done a stock take at the end of this season. There followed a very lengthy
discussion on the topic and the Treasurer confirmed that because of the lack
of responsibility and accountability shown by Sue and Steve, refusing to bank
takings after each event- not ordering goods using the office form or by E mail
- not keeping copies or records of orders placed and delivered, the treasurer
was not able to be certain where the accounting error was. Steve Ogden refused
to accept responsibility and repeatedly stated, when questioned, that responsibility
was with the BMFA North West Area stand manager, Chris Bromley.
A considerable amount of dissatisfaction was shown by those attending about
this state of the accounts, and the Auditor was also unhappy with the situation.
A point was made that due to the increased amount of saleable goods purchased
from the office to the previous year, it might be expected to provide the Area
with more profit, not less.
John O'Donnell queried why the club meeting cost £330 and was informed
this was just the cost of the food, there were over 100 people there. The accounts
were proposed to be accepted by Phoenix- voting F12: A 0: Abst 4.
Area Delegate
David Lloyd-Jones, Area Delegate, reported that he had been happy to attend
all the Council meetings during the past year on behalf of the area and had
supplied the area meetings with written reports each time.
PRO
David Lloyd-Jones, Area PRO, reported that the Eddie Riding competition went
well, despite the tent only arriving on Saturday morning, with good weather
again this year. The new class for Eddie Riding designed models was well supported.
He was not able to attend Shawbury this year but thanked Frank Fletcher for
doing an excellent job. This year we had 26 pilots flying. He also assisted
with the Rochdale indoor events which had proved to be very successful.
Achievement Scheme Coordinator
Roy Allam, Achievement Scheme Coordinator, reported that most clubs had reduced
activity this year and the scheme reflected this. We have over 200 examiners
in the area and the number of clubs with no examiners is quite small. There
were two incidences of ACEs from outside the area taking tests in the area without
permission. P Spurway wrote to them and allowed the tests to stand as they had
been properly conducted. No explanation was given why the ACE had travelled
some distance, only that the club had asked for the visit.
Roy wished to thank all the ACE's for their work and would recommend that they
all be ratified for next year.
Area Education Coordinator
Sue Reeves, Area Education Coordinator, reported she had little involvement
during the year. She had been asked not to attend the Flight Challenge to save
travelling costs. The office gave us details of several schools showing interest
in the area and she asked several of the committee to contact them to assist,
but none of the schools responded. Sue reported that she was still waiting for
the flight challenge results.
Webmaster and Indoor Secretary
Keith Barker, Area Webmaster, said he was happy to continue to run the web site
for another year and would ask clubs to let him have details of club events
to include. The Rochdale indoor meetings had been well supported despite reduced
numbers on the occasional very good outdoor flying days. There had also been
good coverage from the magazines - thanks to Alex Whittaker especially. Sale
proposed and Rochdale seconded that Keith Barker be authorised to book the venue
for next season as soon as possible to get the best dates and this was unanimously
approved by the meeting.
Free Flight Secretary
Joe Flynn, Area Free Flight Secretary, noted that the search for a replacement
flying site goes on with little success with Rufford becoming less suitable
each year and probably unsuitable in about two years time. At present only about
9 flyers take part in the events. There was some discussion how events could
be advertised, but Joe Flynn informed the meeting that most free flight flyers
in the area knew of the events and Rufford has only space for parking 10 cars.
Area Chief Examiners Reports
Tom Anyon, and David Lloyd-Jones reported to the meeting and Ray Jones, Bill
Cowell, Andy Ellison and Richard Budd, had their written reports read to the
meeting detailing their activities in the year.
In general they reported a quiet year with only 18 tests conducted in all. Richard
Budd had been asked to help with promotional videos on "A" and "B"
safety matters and was keen to see more examiners meetings.
Roy Allam asked the meeting to ratify all the Area Chief Examiners for another
year and the meeting approved this with a vote F: 14 A: 0 Abst: 2
Election of Officers
With the resignation of the Chairman, as mentioned above, David Lloyd-Jones
offered to take the vacant post of Chairman. He was proposed by Fylde Coast
and seconded by Phoenix. With no others standing for the position David Lloyd-Jones
was elected until the 2008 AGM.
The following retiring Officers were prepared to continue in office and as
there was no-one wishing to stand against them, they were all re-elected to
hold office until the 2009 AGM:
Vice Chairman: Mike Colling FSMAE Proposed;Timperley Seconded; Bury Metro
Secretary: Derek Gilbert Proposed;Bats Seconded; Fylde Coast
Achievement Scheme Coord: Roy Allam Proposed;Sale Seconded; CCMAA
Auditor: Gerry Ferer Proposed;Sale Seconded; Fylde Coast
The Education Co-ordinator declined to stand and the PRO offered to resign
if someone else wished to stand and the following were elected unopposed
Education Co-ordinator: Wayne Howman Proposed;CCMAA Seconded; Rochdale
To hold office until the 2009 AGM
PRO: Steve Ogden Proposed;Academy F Seconded; Bury Metro
To hold office until the 2008 AGM
The meeting also elected, unopposed:
Webmaster: Keith Barker Proposed;Sale Seconded; Smithy
Free Flight Sec: Joe Flynn Proposed;Rochdale Seconded; Timperley
Scale Comp Sec: David Lloyd-Jones Proposed;Fylde Coast Seconded; Shawbury
Indoor Sec: Keith Barker Proposed;Sale Phoenix To hold office until
the 2008 AGM
Date of the 2008 AGM
The next AGM was decided to be held on Tuesday 2nd or 9th December 2008. It
was later found that the 2nd would not be available and consequently the 2008
AGM will be on 9th December.
The meeting ended at 22.15
These minutes are provisional until approved at the next annual general meeting