Minutes of the AGM held at Warnham on 9 March 2024

DRAFT Minutes of the East Grinstead & District Guild Annual General Meeting

held on Saturday 9 March 2024

The 2024 Annual General Meeting of the Guild was held in the ringing chamber at St Margaret’s Church, Warnham following the Guild practice which had commenced at 10.30 am.

A total of 18 members of the Guild attended the meeting.

The meeting commenced at 12.03 pm.

The Chairman, Kate Wills, welcomed everybody to the meeting.

1.    Apologies for Absence 

These were received from: Alan Millidge, Andy Wickenden, Anthony Leeves, Barbara Taylor, Betty Green, Emma Tamkin, Eric Roughley, Oli Thompson, Richard Dyson, Sheila Marsh, Tom Sutton.

2.    Minutes of the AGM held on 11^th March 2023 at Charlwood

       The Chairman said that the Minutes had been available to view on the Guild website and had been sent out to members by email before the meeting. No matters of accuracy were raised, and the Minutes were adopted on the proposal of Mike Bullett, seconded by David Finch.

3.    Matters Arising from the Minutes

There were no matters arising from the Minutes.

4.    Chairman’s Report for 2023

Kate Wills said that her report had been circulated to members by email.  The Chairman agreed to correct two small inaccuracies in her report, and the report was adopted unanimously.

5.    Statement of Accounts for 2023

       The Accounts were presented by the Treasurer. Mike said that the accounts were quite straightforward. There was a £28 surplus for the year, with subscriptions of £230 collected from 46 members, and £2296 in hand. There were no questions for the treasurer and the Accounts were accepted on the proposal of Mike Bullett, seconded by Andrew Brock.

       For information only, the Treasurer reported that no applications had been received for grants from the Rope Fund and that the Fund’s assets were currently £1561.

6.    Election of New Members

No new members were proposed, but those present ratified the election of Ingrid Rolland (Outwood) on the 2023 Guild outing.

7.    Election of Officers for 2024-2025

President: Andrew Brock – Proposed by Kate Wills, seconded by Mike Bullett, and elected unanimously.

Vice-Presidents: Robin Grant, Roger Cowsill, and Rosalind Cowsill were re-elected en-bloc.

(Andrew Brock then took over the chair for the next election and began by thanking Kate for all the work she had done to keep the Guild going over the past year.)

Chairman: Kate Wills – Proposed by Andrew Brock, seconded by Roger Cowsill, and elected unanimously.

Ringing Master: David Finch.

Treasurer: Mike Bullett.

Secretary: Patrick Wills.

It was agreed that the Ringing Master, Treasurer and Secretary should be re-elected en-bloc and they were proposed by Iain Davey, seconded by Candy O’Donovan, and elected unanimously.

Assistant Secretary: No nomination.

Committee Members (3): 

     Elaine Farrow – Proposed by Kate Wills, seconded by Ros Cowsill, and elected unanimously.

     Steve Newlands – Proposed by Kate Wills, seconded by Ros Cowsill, and elected unanimously.

     Stephen Pocock – Proposed by Kate Wills, Seconded by Mike Bullett, and elected unanimously.

Trustees of the E J Oliver Memorial Fund: Andrew Brock and Emma Tamkin.

8. Programme of Meetings for 2024-2025

The provisional programme of meetings for the year from June 2024 was agreed as follows:

8 June 2024 – Frant (6) – Steve Newlands to organise.

13 July 24 – Dorking (10) – Kate and Patrick to organise.

10 August 2024 – Outing to Andover area – Patrick to organise.

14 September 2024 – Uckfield (8) – Ros and Roger to organise.

12 October 2024 – Cuckfield (8) – Ros and Roger to organise.

9 November 2024 – Coleman’s Hatch (8) – Ros and Roger to organise.

14 December 2024 – Horley (8) – Robin to organise.

11 January 2025 – Rotherfield (8) – Mike to organise.

8 February 25 – Horsham (10) – David to organise.

8 March 2025 – Lingfield (8) – AGM – Kate and Patrick to organise.

12 April 2025 – Shipborne – Mike to organise.

Members present expressed a wish to continue with pub lunches before or after Guild meetings as these had generally been well supported. There was agreement that the lunches had replaced the need for an Annual Dinner, but that we should aim to hold one in 2027 to mark the 100^th Anniversary of the formation of the Guild. 

9. Any Other Business

Mike Bullett said that 40 members of the Guild had paid their subscriptions so far this year. Of those who have not: Ollie Watson has moved to Norfolk; Milica Reardon only occasionally attends meetings; John Verity will be moving to Somerset later in the year (but has paid his subscription for this year).

Elaine Farrow suggested that we should be doing something to recruit new members. Perhaps by sending a letter to all towers within our area, attaching a programme of meetings.

Average attendance at meetings for the last year had been 15 (this does not include the July meeting - scheduled to be held at Crawley - which was cancelled due to lack of support).

Patrick Wills agreed to add details of future Guild meetings to the Bellboard Diary, as he had done before the Covid pandemic.

Kate Wills said she had received a positive response to her email about ordering Guild clothing and would contact the supplier to confirm whether there would be any new charges for setting up the embroidery run.

Ros Cowsill said that Trevor Crowhust was now resident at St Barnabas Care Home in Lingfield and has paid his subscription for the current year.

There being no other business, Kate Wills closed the meeting at 12.25 pm. Members then adjourned to The Owl public house at Kingsfold for lunch. Afternoon ringing was on the Stonyhurst Ring (formerly George Francis’s Bell Meadow Peal). We are grateful to Edward Woodward for giving the Guild the opportunity to experience this privately-owned ring of ten bells in its new home.

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