ESSEX STRAGGLERS ORIENTEERING SOCIETY

MINUTES

V2 –

Committee Meeting Monday 28th November 2016 held at 7.30pm at Chris and Pat’s house:-

19 Hubert Road, Colchester, CO3 3SA. Tel 01206 574748

Present: Colin West (Chairman), David Lumby (Treasurer), Eddie Banks (Fixtures Secretary), John Collyer (Volunteer Coordinator), Kevin Machin (Mapping Officer), John Russell (Equipment Officer), Steve Partridge (Development/Schools Liaison), Geraldine Russell (Membership Secretary), Jenny Collyer (Club Captain), and Chris Childs (Secretary).

No / Item / Action
The Minutes do not reflect the order of business in all cases.
1.00
1.01 / Apologies
Apologies for absence were received from Julie Laver (Head Coach), Rachel Barford (Club Publicity Officer) and Lyn West (Club Welfare Officer).
2.00
2.01 / Minutes of Meeting 12th September 2016
The Minutes of the Meeting 12th September 2016 were approved by the Committee and the Minutes signed by Colin West (Chairman) as a correct record.
3.00
3.01
3.02 / Clubmark Renewal
Prior to the meeting, Andrew sent an email to the Committee (Appendix 1A) requesting an additional duty to the Membership Secretary’s role to include a report showing changes and trends to the makeup of the membership identifying reasons for changes and determining recruitment strategies. Geraldine reported that it is extremely difficult to monitor and members who do not renew their membership are contacted in February and again in March /April but the response is poor. It was thought we will still need a review of some kind to satisfy the Clubmark requirements.
Andrew included in his email a form downloaded from on the Clubmark website which is a self-assessment Clubmark Annual Review form (Appendix 1B) and should be completed annually. This form includes the above requirement. / Andrew
Andrew
4.00
4.01
4.02
4.03
4.04 / Correspondence
Mike’s News has been circulated to the Committee as and when issued by BOF.
(PM 4.02) The Renewal Notice for 2017 and the new Committee list has been sent to BOF 5th October 2016. David confirmed the £46.00 membership fee has also been paid.
Several Club members have been contacted by Paul Magner of Trail Plus about their proposals for a ‘new orienteering initiative’ including an event in April at Thames Chase. They need the hire of the SI kit and expertise in operating the system. Colin has consulted other clubs and the onus is on HAVOC to respond as it is in their area. Colin has advised Trail Plus accordingly but left the door open should they wish to hold an event in this area.
Steve and Julie had problems with registering activities on the BOF web site. BOF considered the problem related to the Club Annual Returns but resolved matters at their end. Geraldine had difficulties getting into the BOF web site and this has now been sorted after contacting BOF and changing passwords.
5.00
5.01
5.02
5.03
5.04
5.05
5.06
5.07
5.08
5.09 / Treasurer’s Report
David tabled the Treasurer’s Report - Appendix B
There is little change in the overall position to that reported at the AGM but there are monies due for payment and receipt.
Following Steve’s successful request for the ‘Get Active’ grant from Colchester Borough Council as agreed Steve has purchased new SI equipment to the value of £1817.06.
SOS is well behind on the payment of event levies which is currently about £900.
£1010 is due to John Farmer Associates for the coaching course and expenses but Chelmsford are due to pay half the total grant approx. £200.
The Brandon event the previous day had taken almost £1,200 and after costs and expenses was likely to give a profit of about £5-600. The event was well publicised and in a good location.
Event fees have recently been increased but there was a need for clarity on a couple of issues where there had been some inconsistency in the charging at Brandon. It was agreed there would be no charge for a second run, and there would be no charge for a second map where adults where running in pairs. It was assumed no levy would be chargeable on a second run as it would be non- competitive.
Kevin is also due some mapping costs.
Julie and Steve requested the Club supports them to attend the British Orienteering Coaching Conference at Crewe 14th/15th January. Total cost of travel course fees and accommodation approx £400. Recognising all the efforts of Julie and Steve the Committee were pleased to support them in this undertaking. / David
David
Kevin
Julie/Steve/David
6.00
6.01
6.02
6.03
6.04
6.05
6.06
6.07
6.08
6.09
6.10 / Fixtures
Eddie provided the latest 2016/17 Event Summary (Appendix 3 including update).
Geraldine noted that she could not commit to organising the Writtle event at this stage.
It was suggested that Daisy Partridge might like to plan the New Year’s Day event. (see also16.02) Steve would report back.
The Planner for Danbury is confirmed as Karen Ezard and Clive Tant will be Controller subject to EA approval. There has been some discussion at Regional level about whether a Controller should be from the same club or even the same family. No problems anticipated.
Julie is planning the Pods Wood event and Paul Lowe is Controller.
Julie Laver is Organiser for Hylands Park and Alex Planner. A Controller is needed.
Consideration is being given to the Urban event in May. Traffic is relatively light through the Town on Sundays - North Hill buses only travel up the hill and the High Street and Queen Street are both one way. It is intended to use First Site as part of the course. It is important to set up a meeting with the Local Authority at the earliest opportunity. Eddie has already asked for a meeting and will pursue. Andrew is the event Organiser and David Lumby will assist as ‘Event Centre Coordinator’.
WAOC have a quantity of gripples. EA have contributed to make it a regional asset and can be used for the event. It was noted NOR returned the gripples to WAOC the previous day at Brandon.
The Maldon Ultra Sprint on 20th May will be a level ‘C’ event. Lyn West will be the Planner, Colin West the Controller, subject to EAOA approval. Eleanor Evans is proposed as organiser and is requested to respond to Eddie. Permission for use of the park granted from 10.30am.
Permission still required for Danbury. / Geraldine/John
Steve
John C
Eddie
Colin
Eddie
7.00
7.01
7.02
7.03
7.04
7.05 / Volunteer Coordinator
From next year it becomes mandatory for event officials to have attended an event safety workshop and John has arranged for two such sessions at his house next Saturday. There are 9 attendees including one from Suffoc.
John C has compiled a list of members and their qualifications. The BOF web site remains badly out of date and inaccurate with some lack of clarity on qualification requirements.
John is also compiling a list of members showing volunteer jobs done to understand the skills within the Club.
A large number of volunteers will be required for the Urban Event. It will be necessary to start compiling the list.
Following on from some initial concerns for Brandon it was acknowledged that it is a small core of members who volunteer to assist at events. There were discussions about how to improve recruitment of volunteers. It was suggested that parents of participating juniors could be persuaded to assist which may encourage them to take part. Steve would provide John C with a list of names of families that it might be worth approaching about volunteering. A free run may offer an incentive. / John C
John C
John C
Andrew
Steve/John C
8.00
8.01
8.02
8.03
8.04
8.05 / Mapping Report
Pods Wood will need updating where walkers tread new paths through bracken etc. Julie can pick this up as planner.
Danbury Common an area has been cleared to recreate heath land.
Writtle to be reviewed.
In the new year John and Jenny will carry out remapping for the Wivenhoe event.
It will be necessary to purchase more paper. It was noted that a lot of papers seemed to be whiter than that which we use but also that some papers are of a plasticised nature and will not take a fold. / Julie
Kevin
Kevin
John/Jenny
Kevin
9.00
9.01
9.02
9.03
9.04 / Equipment and Club Kit
All equipment has now been returned to John R.
The tap on the water carrier is failing and it will therefore be necessary to purchase a new one.
At the Brandon event the power appeared to be failing in spite of having two batteries charged up beforehand. On the day this prevented the issue of split times to competitors. The cause of the problem needs to be resolved before our next event. John R would discuss with Andrew.
John will also discuss with Andrew any specific kit requirements for the Urban Event. / John R
John R/Andrew
John R/Andrew
10.00
10.01 / Webmaster’s Report
See Appendix 1A and 1B
11.00
11.01 / Permanent Course Officer’s Report
No report
12.00
12.01
12.02
12.03
12.04
12.05
12.06
12.07
12.08
12.09
12.10
12.11 / Development Committee
The coaching qualification process is quite difficult. To complete Darren Cook will need to do six sessions of coaching four of which need to be linked to show progression of a group. John C will discuss with Darren.
Chelmsford have agreed to provide funding for a permanent course at Hanningfield but to date Hanningfield have not responded to the proposal.
Chelmsford via Active Essex are offering up to £1000 grant from the ‘Active Ageing Fund’. Events have to be held in Chelmsford and participants over 55 years of age. Chris would contact John Allen who has connections with the U3A.
Rachel is heading a project comprising 6 sessions for ladies in Admirals/Central Park, Chelmsford under the WoMEnTIME project with £156 of funding from 'This Girl Can' to cover costs.
An application has been made to the Stansted Airport Passenger Community Fund for funding for the local juniors in Halstead.
An application has been made to the Jack Petchey Fund for encouragement of juniors into coaching and is ongoing.
The Club needs to invest money in SI equipment and technology. Items include 10" notebook £200 approx. Battery Printer £300 approx. Page Printer plus consumables £100, Mains Receipt Printer plus consumables £200, and USB Download station £103. Andrew was to be requested to set out a time line for these items with a view to a programmed acquisition. The readability of the screen was deemed important. Licensing is another matter to be addressed.
The annual regional training weekend in the Lake District is to be held at Hawkshead this weekend. Callum and Daisy are eligible to go. The fee is £75 per head. The Club are pleased to support them and will fund 50% of the costs. Callum and Daisy are requested to provide a short report of their weekend for the Committee.
A school team of four Hedingham School W1 Girls entered the World Schools Qualifier event. They narrowly missed out on the team selection. They did however turn the tables the following day, winning the Girls Year 11 team trophy at BSOC.
An application has been submitted to the 'Walking Sports' fund and contact has been made with the Heart & Sole group to run some sessions in Hylands Park, similar to thoseJulieran in the past.
An application has been submitted to the Chelmsford Corporate Aid fund for £1000 to cover costs of Schools Week and Junior Mini Series events in Chelmsford. / John C
Steve
Julie
Chris
Rachel
Steve
Steve
Andrew
Steve
Steve
Steve
Steve
13.00
13.01
13.02 / EAOA Report
Dates for EAOA meetings to be confirmed.
Following the meeting the following EAOA meeting dates for 2017 at Newmarket Town Hall were advised:-
Friday 13th January
Friday 10th March
Friday 12th May
Friday 15th September
Friday 10th November
14.00
14.01
14.02 / Membership Report
Difficulty of providing statistics as 3.01 above.
Pitching for new members is never very easy. It was suggested that a leaflet could help to outline our activities giving details of the club web site. Libraries will distribute notices to their branches if this was thought to be an appropriate method. Ramblers or other groups might be interested. The second of the winter mid-week series is listed on the Mid Essex Casuals trail run web site.
15.00
15.01 / Annual General Meeting
(PM 15.01) Lyn would be compiling proposals for an amended Constitution and a separate Disciplinary and Procedures document. / Lyn
16.00
16.01
16.02 / Any Other Business
(PM 16.02) Colin would check to confirm that he has passed details of the Carver Barracks proposals to WAOC.
Daisy has been selected to run in the ISF World Schools Championship in Sicily 22nd-28th April 2017. The Committee congratulated Daisy on her achievement. The cost would be approx. £850-£900. The Club would contribute 1/3 the cost and support her in any fund raising she might want to undertake. EAOA could be contacted to seek a contribution. It was suggested Daisy might like to undertake the New Year’s day event and use the occasion to raise funds. / Colin
Steve
17.00
17.01 / Date of Next Meetings
The dates and venues for the 2017 meetings were to be advised once the dates for the EAOA meetings were confirmed. / Colin/Chris

The Meeting closed at approximately 22.00 hrs

C:\Users\chris\SOS Secretary matters\SOS Committee matters\Minutes of SOS committee\2016\May 2016.doc

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