MINUTES OF THE FRIENDS OF RANELAGH AGM

9 July 2011 at 13:00 in the Beacon Room, Ranelagh School

Present:Marilyn Lansley (President), Kathy Winrow (HeadTeacher), Neil Goodhand (Secretary), Grant Cunningham, Sara Howard, Keith Hunt, Louise Hodkinson, Marina Stone andTim Walpole.

Apologies:Peter Hulbert, Jan Maish, Richard Pelly, David Price & Alan Weston.

1. President’s Introduction.

Marilyn opened by thanking the Trustees for the professional manner in which the charity is run and for giving up their time for the benefit of the school.

She thanked Jan, who is standing down after leading the Friends for 6 years, for the outstanding job she had done and although she will be missed she has left the Friends in good order. The Headteacher echoed her personal thanks to Jan.

Marilyn concluded by noting that in these financially challenging times the work of the Friends is more important than ever and thanked the Friends on behalf of the whole Governing body for the exceptional contribution they make to the school.

2. Apologies.

See above.

3. Minutes of the last AGM.

These weresigned by the Presidentas representing an accurate record of the meeting having been proposed by Sara Howard, seconded by Kathy Winrow and agreed by all present.

4. Matters Arising.

Mike Cole agreed to continue in the role of Independent Examiner.

5. Trustees’ Report and Accounts.

As Richard was unable to attend the AGM, Neil Goodhand presented the Trustee’s annual submission to the Charity Commission which is comprised of 3 documents; the Trustee’s report, the Annual Accounts and the Independent Examiners report. These documents are attached below along with Richard’s notes on the accounts.

A key observation is that 3 years of transitional relief for Charities following the reduction in thebasic tax rate from 22% to 20% ended this year. Thus, with effect from6 April 2011 the amount of tax recovered from gift aid donations willreduce by 10%. That equates to about £2,000 of income in a year.

Louise proposed that the submission was approved; this was seconded by Marina and unanimously accepted.

6. Appointment of Independent Examiner

It was agreed that Mike Cole should be re-appointed as Independent Examiner. Richard to verify that he is willing to continue in this role Action: Richard

7. Chairman’s Report

As Jan was unable to attend her report was presented by Marilyn; this is attached below.

8. Election of Officers and Trustees.

Louise Hodkinson, Richard Pelly and Neil Goodhand agreed to stand again as Chairman, Treasurer and Secretary respectively and as there were no other nominations, they were elected unopposed. The nominations were as follows:

Louise Hodkinson:proposed by Keith Hunt, seconded by Tim Walpole.

Richard Pelly:proposed by Keith Hunt, seconded by Tim Walpole.

Neil Goodhand:proposed by Keith Hunt, seconded by Tim Walpole.

The following Trustees were re-elected for 3 years:

Keith Hunt:proposed by Neil Goodhand, seconded by Grant Cunningham.

Sara Howard:proposed by Neil Goodhand, seconded by Grant Cunningham.

All were unopposed

9. Headteacher’s Report.

Kathy started by expressing her thanks to Jan for the exemplary way she had lead the Friends for the past 6 years.

She went on to note that the years exam results has been excellent, the best for many years and the first IB results were good. Work was continuing with other school through various schemes and the 2 schools being directly supported by Ranelagh were both improving.

Regarding converting to an Academy she said was convinced that this was the correct decision. This had involved a lot of hard work by many people and this should be completed by August 1st. In terms of finance being an Academy will not make much difference, but it will mean that the school no longer has to find 10% of the costs of any capital projects and also the school can bid for funding of capital projects from central funds.

She ended by thanking the Friends for their continued support.

10. AOB.

Next year’s AGM will be on Saturday 7th July at 1 p.m. (to be confirmed)

The meeting closed at 13:20

Signed:-______(Chairman)______(Date)