Annual General Meeting, Thursday November 23rd, Village Hall.

Apologies: Declan Kinney, Kate, Gary Fawcett, Peter Iveson, Joe Bunyan, Keith Whitwell, Danny Glover, Alan Whinfrey

Those present: Allan Clements, Colin Darlington, Nigel Bunyan, Roger Wood, Lynn, Stephen Booth, Chris Seed, Stephen Brown, Tim Hall, Chris Billows, Eddie White, Chris Bosonnet, Mrs Bosonnet, Marion Billows, Geoff Billows, Bob Little, Oxana, Mick Smalley, Doug Moss, Steve Mercer, John Hill, Mark Carlton, Iain Harris, Simon Reynolds, Claire Reynolds.

Chairman’s Report
Allan, paid tribute to Stella Moss and offered the club’s condolences to Dougie.

Allan then thanked both Dougie and Mick for their hard work on the ground, , and the players for their creosoting/dieseling of the pavilion. He reminded all members that more work would be needed in the Spring.

Treasurer’s Report:

Colin said that we had made a profit for the last accounting period of £618. Our cash balance was £1505 but we were also carrying the burden of a £3744 loan.
We were hoping to sell the red mower for between £1,200 and £1.500 in the Spring. In addition we would need a couple of fund-raising events in the coming year.

Chris Bosonnet suggested that the value of the pavilion should be included as an asset in the balance sheet. He suggested a value of £5,000. Other major items should also be included e.g. The mower and the roller. Colin said we’d have to make sure there were no tax implications.

Allan expressed concern that we still had a liability of £2,200 and he wanted over a reasonable time period to reduce this to zero.

Secretary’s Report

Nigel said we had received no correspondence. He thanked members for providing contact details and suggested that anyone not wishing these to be posted on the website to contact him.

Captain’s Report

Simon said we’d had a very satisfactory season, not least because so many youngsters had joined the club.

Captain’s Report (Midweek)

Tim expressed similar sentiments and highlighted the performances of Mark, Joe, Peter and Dec.

Election of Officers

President

Mrs Bosonnet told members that since she was approaching 80 she had decided to stand down as the club’s president. She said: “The cricket club has always meant something special to me. It’s sad to say goodbye in a way, although I’ll always support the club and come to your annual general meetings.
“I’d like to thank you for the tremendous support and friendship down the years.
“I’ve had many happy years. It’s been really lovely. I’ve appreciated you having me as your president for so long.”

Allan thanked Mrs Bosonnet for all her support to date, adding: “Long may it continue.”

Members voted unanimously to elect Geoff as the new club president.

Vice-president:

Chris Bosonnet was elected a vice-president.

Chairman:

Allan Clements was confirmed as the club’s chairman.

Vice-chairman:

Iain Harris was elected as vice-chairman following Steve Mercer’s decision to stand down.

Secretary:

Nigel Bunyan was confirmed as club secretary.

Fixtures Secretary:

John Hill was confirmed as fixtures secretary.

Treasurer:

Colin Darlington was confirmed as treasurer.

Auditor:

Eddie White was confirmed as auditor.

Social Secretary:

Roger Wood and Steve Mercer

Captain:

Simon Reynolds was confirmed as captain.

Vice-Captain:

Stephen Booth was confirmed as vice-captain.

Midweek Captain:

Tim Hall was confirmed as midweek captain.

Midweek Vice-Captain:

Iain Harris was confirmed as midweek vice-captain.

Players’ Representative:

Chris Seed was confirmed as players’ representative on the executive committee

Membership Secretary: It was decided that the club should have a membership secretary. Roger Wood was appointed.

Executive Committee:

It was agreed that Chris Bosonnet should join the executive committee.

Selection Committee:

It was agreed that Geoff Billows should join the selection committee.

Groundsman

At Mick’s suggestion it was agreed that Dougie should fulfil the role of groundsman with Mick as his deputy.

Fixtures

John Hill said Bolton Abbey were keen to continue their association with the club. Bob’s fixture would be played on July 14th. The Tyneborough game will be on July 2nd.

Iain proposed a tour to Prague and Zagreb (later amended to just Prague) at the end of August.

Subscriptions

Colin said that subscriptions had a minimal effect on the club’s income. Even if we were to double the full membership to £20 and the juniors’ membership to £20 we would only raise another £150 a year. He also pointed out that the members were the same people who supported the club’s social events.
He suggested increasing the match fees by £1.
Steve Mercer suggested that the club offer life memberships for between £100 and £150.
Colin said we didn’t need money in peaks and troughs; it was better to have a steady influx of money.
Eddie proposed an annual subscription of £20 for playing members and £5 for non-playing members.
Bob proposed a lifetime membership for playing members of £200 and described that the current level of £3 for non-playing members as “derisory”.
Allan proposed subs of £15 for players, £10 for social members and £5 for juniors, and match fees of £5 for adults and £2 for juniors.
Nigel said he agreed with all the amounts apart from the £10 for social members. He felt that given the fact that there was no material benefit in being a social member, such a relatively high amount might discourage those who might otherwise be happy to join the club.
He suggested a figure of £5. However, his request for a vote on this particular element was turned down by the chairman, who said that setting the figure at £10 would make it worth collecting.
The chairman’s proposal was carried by 16 votes to 3.
Allan suggested that the executive committee decide the levels for life membership. However, Iain said he felt it appropriate for those at the meeting to make the decision.
There followed a long discussion about the benefits or otherwise of offering life memberships. Stephen Mercer said it would result in a welcome injection of funds, Eddie said he disliked the club borrowing money, and Bob said the club might reach a point where it could not service the loan.
Stephen Brown was puzzled as to why we had missed four months of repayments. By his reckoning we had £1,500 available at the moment, plus between £500 and £800 from the presentation evening. In those circumstances he could see no need for life memberships.
Iain said that if the life membership was introduced there should be a distinction between playing members and those simply applying for social membership.
Allan said he was deeply unhappy about the club being in debt. He suggested having one vote to determine whether the club was in favour of lifetime membership per se, and another on what the sums should be.
The first vote was passed by 14 to 8.
There then followed a brief discussion about the amounts. The meeting then voted on the chairman’s summary of the discussion that these be set at £150 for players and £100 for non-players.
This was carried by 11 votes to 5.

Any other business

Iain raised the issue of nets. He said he was trying to organise sessions at Bowland High School, ideally on Sunday evenings at around 6pm or on Monday or Tuesdays.

Meeting closed