Minutes of meeting held on 7th December

2015


LLANDAFF ROWING CLUB

GENERAL MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE (GMC) MEETING
Monday, 7th December 2015

7.30pm

Present

Name / Role / Initial
Gary Brace / Chairman / GB
Mary Yee / Captain / MY
Claire Masters / Secretary / CM
Laura Starrs / Vice Captain / LS
Dan Briley / Vice Captain / DB
Maurice Blount / Treasurer & Finance Committee Chair / MB
Christine Hughes / Membership Secretary & House Committee Chair / CH
Dave Simmonds / Communication Officer / DS
Sandra Franklin / Elected Committee Member / SF
Sian Rees / Elected Committee Member / SR
John McTeague / Elected Committee Member / JM
Jon Hine / Vice President / JH
Trevor Wing / Vice President / TW
Andy Janssens / Vice President / AJ
Hetty Palmer / Junior Representative / HP
Ben Roberts / Junior member / BR
Laura Hyatt / Club member (Chair, Fundraising Subcommittee) / LH
Susie Erirth / Club Member / SE

Apologies

Name / Role / Initial
Roy Nicholls / Vice President / RN
Minute / Responsible
Agenda Item 2: Minutes of the last meeting
The November GMC meeting notes were agreed as accurate and approved.
Proposed: Maurice Blount, Seconded: Dan Briley / CM
Agenda Item 3: Actions from last meeting/ Matters arising
The list of actions from the November meeting was discussed and updated. / CM
Agenda Item 4: Chairman’s report
GB shared the Thank you card and regatta photos from Jenny Ashman with the GMC.
GB noted the Club’s sadness at the passing of long-standing member Alan ‘Wally’ Bevan and mentioned that the funeral had now taken place, with an excellent attendance from LRC members.
GB confirmed that the meeting had taken place with the insurance broker. We are waiting for a formal quote for the insurance policy and this will be shared when available.
Trustee Issue
A list of nominations for potential Trustees to replace Martin Kelly and Steve Denley-Hill was put before the GMC. GB confirmed that none of the members on the list had been approached to ascertain if they would like to be considered.
After a general discussion around the best process through which to take this matter forward it was agreed that:
1)  A letter would be drafted to ask the members on the list if they would wish to be considered
2)  If members would like to be considered they should submit a brief outline of why they were interested in consideration for the role of Trustee
The GMC would then take a formal vote to select the two replacement Trustees from the list of potential interested members.
GB stated that his name had been put forward, he did not wish to be considered.
Landing Stage
GB asked LS to confirm the position of the survey which had taken place on the landing stage. LS confirmed that the surveyor had expressed verbally that they considered the landing stage to be safe for now and that JM had replaced a number of planks to improve the safety. No written report had been submitted as yet and LS agreed to chase.
DB stated that he had worked with JM to develop a solution to replace the landing stage and was happy to discuss this with the surveyor.
JH stated that any solution would need approval from the National River Authority (NRA). (now Natural Resources Wales)
It was agreed that GB, LS and DB would meet with the NRA to discuss the solution and gain their support or approval.
To support this DB would draw out the solution on paper by January
LS would liaise with the surveyor to identify the appropriate contact. / GB
CM&GB
DB
LS
Agenda Item 5: Rowing Committee’s Report
MY fed back to the GMC results at recent events that have been attended by LRC. Some excellent results were discussed and recent success was duly noted. Highlights from the indoor championships are below:
Rhiannon Morgan – WJ15 – GOLD
Jess Jones – WJ16 – GOLD
Manon Jenkins – WJ16 – BRONZE
Tom Willis –J16 – BRONZE
Izzy Peter, WJ18 – GOLD
Ben Roberts– J18 – GOLD
John and Robert Davies – J16 team – GOLD
Lona Thomas and Elin Kirkwood – WJ16 team – GOLD
Livvie Waters, Caitlan Wright, Becca Pinnell, Nia Manners–WJ15 team – GOLD
And not to be outdone, the seniors had some notable successes in their championships the day after:
Kieran Lynch, Lex Laurence, Maurice Blount, Andrew Dixon – Men’s team – BRONZE
Dan Briley, Steven Cox, Emily, Brace, Ellie Taylor – Mixed team – GOLD
Sion Dyfydd – Men 30+ SILVER
Emily Brace – Women Open – SILVER
Rosa Baik – Women Lightweight 30+ BRONZE
Megan Leitch – Women Lightweight open – GOLD
John Prosser – Men Adaptive – GOLD
MY confirmed that dates of the future rowing sub committee had now been publicised on the website.
MY confirmed that the ownership of all of the private boats had now been ascertained.
MY informed the GMC that there was an excellent WR course in January with Steve Gunn and members of the coaching team who would like to attend were being registered.
MY confirmed that feedback from club members was that the coached sessions from JT were well received and successful.
Junior Representative feedback
HP and BR feed back to the GMC that the first junior only meeting had taken place and was really successful. The intention is to hold meetings every half term. The key discussion points at the meeting were:
·  All junior members keen to be more involved in the club
·  The junior vote at the AGM is requested to be prioritised so that junior members have representation in decisions being made
·  Improved integration between the junior squad is high priority
·  More social events are desirable
Novice Membership Recruitment Drive
On behalf of the rowing sub committee SE presented an idea to run a recruitment drive in January to generate novice membership.
It was agreed that the idea was excellent and had the full support of the GMC
It was agreed that an open day would be organised in January to showcase the club and its facilities.
It was agreed that the mechanics of any subsequent membership / payments etc would be discussed outside of the GMC. / SE
CH
Agenda Item 6: House Committee’s Report
CH confirmed that a company was coming in to service the security cameras.
CH confirmed that a list of the outstanding maintenance jobs was being compiled to be shared with MB. DB requested that the list also be shared with him, so that he could identify jobs that he was able to do
CH confirmed that the food on Monday evenings was going well and that this service had been requested for Wednesday evenings as well.
Members liked the new sign outside the main door and CH confirmed that the plans for the official opening of the Gym were progressing for the new year
HP & BR stated that the juniors all had their t shirts and that these had been well received.
It was requested that the plaque regarding the earlier lottery funding which was displayed in the club house be put back up following the re decoration. / CH
Agenda Item 7: Treasurer’s Report/ Financial
GB commended MB for the quality of the Finance sub committee minutes which also used the report template as a summary page.
MB brought to the attention of the GMC the issue of grant funding being received by the club and not ring fenced for the expenditure it is received for. It is requested that MB is informed of all future grant applications so that the money can be correctly ring fenced.
MB presented the situation with the VAT issue and it was agreed by the GMC that the VAT bill should be paid off as the funds are available.
MB informed the GMC of his idea to appoint an assistant treasurer from among the Junior membership. This was agreed as a good idea to offer experience and greater involvement to junior members. An advert would be placed in January.BR expressed that this would be favourably received by the junior members.
The requirement for MB to have a DBS check was also discussed and MB agreed to include his name with the applications being processed.
Agenda Item 8: Fundraising Committee Report
LH gave feedback from the fundraising sub committee meeting and provided details of the up and coming events. LH confirmed that to date £820 had been raised.
A general discussion regarding club fundraising events led to the following being agreed:
·  The fundraising committee should act as the mechanism through which all fundraising activity was coordinated
·  Fundraising priorities for the club would be set by the GMC following budget allocation, to match any shortfalls between allocated budgets and the annual ‘wish lists’ of House and Rowing Committees
·  Whilst fundraising could be used by the House Committee for extraordinary building costs such as building repairs it must not be used for day to day running costs
·  The GMC would prioritise and approve the use of the fund raising income
·  All fundraising events/activities must be approved by the GMC prior to their implementation including the use of donation/ fundraising websites.
Agenda Item 9: Communications Report
DS confirmed that the photo of Jack Thomas and Dan Briley was published in the online edition of the Rowing and Regatta magazine celebrating their efforts to fund raise at the
Cardiff Half Marathon.
The ‘Women in sport’ feature is still going ahead and Bethan Moorcraft will be visiting the club on Saturday 12th December. LS has asked for volunteers from the women’s squad representing all ages, experience and aspirations to talk to Bethan.
DS confirmed that he now has control over the Twitter account.
The admin owner of the Facebook group has not been identified. This being the case, DS confirmed that a new Facebook page would be started and operated by the Comms team.
DS informed the GMC that the 1st edition of the LRC newsletter would be published next week. DS asked for any budding contributors to submit their stories for future editions.
DS stated that he thought the novice membership drive idea presented by SE was excellent and that the Comms team would be happy to help advertise the initiative.
Agenda Item 10: Health and Safety Report
Two Health and Safety concerns were raised.
Firstly, the lack of incident reports being formally submitted when incidents/accidents happen. It was agreed that LS would draft a communications message detailing the process for submitting an incident and stressing the importance of doing this.
Secondly, there have been occasions where private boats have been taken onto the river when the landing stage is partially under water. It was agreed that a polite message would be drafted for display in the private sculling shed asking all members of the club to follow the club safety rules. / LS
LS
Agenda Item 11: Applications for membership/ Membership’s Secretary’s Report
The GMC approved applications from:
John Prosser
Kevin Fowler
John Coles
Finn Martin Jones
Richard James
CH would now progress the applications.
The GMC approved a request by Stephen Cox to join as a country member.
The GMC rejected a request by a member to potentially have a part-year refund of the boat racking fees that have been paid for this membership year. It was agreed that the member is entitled to come to a private arrangement with the person who takes over his rack with regard to sharing the annual racking fee payment. / CH
Agenda Item 12: Correspondence
There was no Correspondence to be discussed.
Agenda Item 13: Matters to be treated as confidential
There were no matters to be treated as confidential.
Agenda Item 14: Any Other Business
The issue of the gas main at the top of the drive was raised.
It was confirmed that the cause of the damage was unknown and that the matter was with British Gas awaiting repair.
Agenda Item 15: Date of Next Meeting
The Date of the next meeting was confirmed as Monday 4th January

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