MINUTES OF THE 78th ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING OF LOWLANDS LAWN TENNIS & SOCIAL CLUB
HELD ON FRIDAY 20th April 2012 at 8 p.m. IN THE CLUBHOUSE, LOWLANDS ROAD, EASTCOTE.
Present: The following members of the retiring committee:
Mr N Illingworth-Law Acting Chairman
Mr I.Crew Secretary
Mr.W.Salisbury Treasurer
Mr.A.Arnesen Wine Convenor
Mr.R.Hames Table Tennis Captain
Ms L. Walton Social Manager
Mr.K. Langston Snooker Manager.
Mr J. Murphy Pavilion Manager
Mr.K.Tye representing the Tennis section
Apologies for absence were received from: Sue Garland, Ian Clark, Rosemary and David Knight, Richard White, Valerie Copenhagen, Jan Porter, Maureen Mullaney, Jennifer Beard, Ursula Pierce, Amanda Esslemont
1. The Minutes of the last Annual General Meeting
These had been distributed via the Internet, by post and to all those attending the meeting. Proposed by Mr Leigh Gibb, seconded by Mr. Roy Vann and unanimously agreed that they be accepted as a true record.
2. Matters arising:
None
3. The Chairman’s Report:
The Chairman read his report for the year 2012/12. He paid tribute to Marion Hayman, a former official of the club who sadly passed away. He listed the many achievements of the club in the past year which included root barrier protection, a new table tennis table, the decorating and refurbishment of the equipment shed, a new dishwasher and freezer in addition to the successes of our teams and the halving of the hall hire fee. He thanked all the volunteers who devote many hours to maintaining the success of the club inside and outside. Neville is not standing for election for 2012/2013.
4. Club Accounts for the year ending 28th February 2012
The treasurer went through the accounts. The bar has made a loss of £2,588 which is due to increased wage costs for more mature staff and the extra wages paid to staff during the earlier opening. Wage bill had increased by £3,333.00 over previous year..
Bar Gross profit up by approximately £1,100.00. Expenditure had risen by £2,629.00 in part due to the new Website costs. Income down by £1,550 due to losses on the bar accounts and social events. Net Assets were reduced by just under £2,000 and stand at £206,335.00.
David Higgins, a former Treasurer of the Club, spoke to the floor before the next item.
He spoke about the need to remember that whilst the Committee devotes a lot of time to the club, it must serve the members. He urged those elected to the Committee for 2012/2013 to stand back and reflect. Don’t knock down the club and then try to rebuild it.
5. Reports from Heads of Sections:
Reports were read from each of the following:
Mr.Kevin Tye Tennis Captain-
Kevin thanked the Management Committee for its support not just for tennis but other areas of the Club. He said that the club is thriving and all sections must pull together for the good of the club. Each section relies on the others. He commented on the good facilities we have at Lowlands, the good environment and the quality of the tennis. The tennis sections are thriving with more teams entered in various leagues throughout the year. There were increased internal tournaments such as the Currie Cups and Pimms Cup for both men and women, and the American Tournaments. There is good movement between the social tennis, off-peak and full tennis sections About 6 members have moved through from social tennis to full tennis membership.
Ms Lorraine Walton – Social Manager.
Lorraine thanked people who had attended the functions and those who had assisted her, in particular Sally Bevis.
Tony Arnesen – Wine Convenor
Tony thanked the Wine Sub-Committee for their support. We have changed supplier from Inbev to Dayla Ltd.,which had allowed us some flexibility on which drinks we supply. He said that the Management Committee will consider paying off the brewery loan which will give us even more freedom to purchase different drinks from different suppliers.
The opening hours have been revised. The bar will open at 6pm between April and September and open at 7pm between October and March.
Tony is pleased with the number of people who have shown a desire to be on the wine sub-committee although it was more than usual. He will contact the members on the list to discuss roles/jobs. Those Members who perhaps might already have a role in the club may withdraw from the wine sub-committee.
Kevin Langston – Snooker Manger.
Kevin thanked the Management Committee for maintaining the high standard of the snooker tables which are used by Middlesex for singles semi-finals. He thanked Paul Elderfield and Bill Miller the A and B team Captains. The A team finished as champions and the B team finished mid table in their respective leagues. Kevin and Paul reached the final of the doubles. Kevin announced that despite the rumours, he had been told by the Management Committee that the snooker room will not be turned into a coffee bar.
Steve Dunn (standing in for Roy Hames) – Table Tennis Manager
Steve thanked the Management committee for providing a new table. He said the table tennis section is in good shape with 10 teams spread across 7 divisions. Some players are ranked in the top 20 in the ? A Lowlands team won a League Cup beating a young London Academy team. Radovan won the singles handicap tournament beating Trefor Knott Cock 11 -9 in the first round (Trefor had a 9 -0 start!)
6. Election of Chairman for 2012/13
There were two candidates for the post of Chairman:
Nomination Proposer Seconder
Claire Brindley-Fellows. Ian Crew Gladys Miller
Pat Salisbury Les Butcher Henry Hall
Gill Flaxman asked Claire if she knew that she had put her name up after the deadline. Claire explained how she came to stand for election. Ian explained that it was his fault not Claire’s that the form said nominations closed on 13th April. He had not applied the rule about taking names down 10 days before. He said the floor could have a vote of no confidence in him if it wished. No such vote took place.
After voting took place for the Chairman, Pat Salisbury was elected for 2012/2013.
7. Election of Management Committee for 2012/13
Office
Hon. Secretary
Nomination Proposer Seconder
Mr.Ian Crew Mrs Marie Cirillo Mrs Jan Bartlett
There being only one candidate for Hon.Secretary, Ian Crew was elected.
Hon.Treasurer
There were two candidates for the post of Treasurer
: Nomination Proposer Seconder
Bill Salisbury Gill Flaxman Doreen Phillips
Lorraine Walton Anne Crew Ratana Kongaunruan
After voting took place, Bill Salisbury was elected as Treasurer for 2012/2013
Wine Convenor
Nomination Proposer Seconder
Tony Arnesen Charlie Nicholls Ingrid dryburg
There being only one candidate for Wine convenor, Tony Arnesen was elected.
Pavilion Manager
There were two candidates for the post of Pavilion Manager.
Nomination Proposer Seconder
Jim Cook David Buck Bob Gillon
Lee.Morgan Ian Crew Graham Porter
After voting took place, Jim Cook was elected as Pavilion Manager
Table Tennis Capt.
Nomination Proposer Seconder
Mr.R.Hames Steve Dunn John Murphy
There being only one candidate for Table Tennis Captain, Roy Hames was elected.
Social Manager
There were two candidates for the post of Social Manager
Nomination Proposer Seconder
June Cornwell Tony Arnesen Elaine Cook
Paul Elderfield Charlie Squires Keith Thompson
After voting took place, June Cornwell was elected as Social Manager
Snooker Manager
Nomination Proposer Seconder
Mr.K.Langston Eddie Salmon Ian McAlpine
There being only one candidate for Snooker Manager, Kevin Langston was elected.
Tennis Captain Mr.Kevin Tye had been elected at the Tennis AGM.
8. Election of sub committees for 2012/13
Wine Committee: The following were elected to serve on the Wine Committee: Kevin Tye, Dave Timbury, Bob Gillon, Peter Ford, Rod Sanger, Sue Garland, Lee Morgan, Terri Morgan, Sally Bevis and David Knight.
Social Committee: June will co-opt one volunteer from each of the sections of the club.
Snooker Committee: There were no names proposed for the Snooker Committee but Kevin Langston will continue with the support of the ‘A’ and ‘B’ team captains.
9. To approve an up to date set of rules for the club proposed by the Management Committee
Ian said that we had not had a new set of rules for a long time and that they had only been a series of additions and amendments. The Management Committee had considered 6 drafts and spent a lot of time discussing them. Now was the time to start with a new up to date, detailed set of rules. The proposed rules included most of the old rules. David Buck said the old rules had not been issued for people to compare with the proposed new rules and reminded the Secretary that the rules should have been displayed in the lobby but hadn’t been. John Armstrong said that he had read the rules thoroughly and felt they should be approved regardless of a comparison with the old rules. A vote was taken and the rules were approved.
Steve Dunn made a point relating to para.14 and the ability of the MC to enter into loans up to £50k by agreeing to accept a charge on the property. He said that this was an improvement on the present position where, there being no rule at all, the MC could probably enter into unlimited agreements and charges. However, he did not think that the MC should enter into an agreement which required a charge on the property without referring this back to the membership
10. To consider and vote on a resolution to have one committee and one AGM for the Club
Mike Birbeck explained his proposal for one AGM and one committee (the main points were on the proposal issued in advance and on the evening to Members). Kevin Tye, the Tennis Captain and Mike Askew, the Tennis Secretary and Men’s Captain articulated their views against the proposal. The proposal was unanimously defeated.
11. Moving forward- a message from the Secretary
Ian said that the excellent work done in the past would be built upon, that there would be better consultation and communication with members and that he hoped all sections of the Club would pull together in a spirit of unity. A suggestion box, survey and newsletter will be introduced. Management Minutes will be pinned up. It is important though that the club looks to the future and considers areas of the club which are less successful but could be revived. The Club must have an open mind.
12.AOB
· Leigh Gibb promoted the Golf Section and the forthcoming golf day on the 11th May.
· Pat Salisbury asked that Members make sure we have their e-mail addresses as with the cost of stamps rising significantly, it will be expensive to post documents in the future. Currently we have no e-mail addresses for 60 members.
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