The Meeting Was Chaired by Chair of Trustees, Penny Denby

Minutes of the Annual General Meeting of Polymyalgia Rheumatica and Giant Cell Arteritis UK (PMRGCAuk), held at NCVO on Saturday 9th September 2017 at 11.30am.

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The meeting was chaired by Chair of Trustees, Penny Denby.

1Welcome and Apologies(as attached list)

2Minutes of the 2016 AGM

There were no issues of accuracy.

Kate Gilbert proposed that the 2015 Minutes be accepted. This was seconded by Wendy Morrison. The meeting voted unanimously in favour.

3Chair’s Report and Treasurer’s Report

Penny Denby presented the Chair’s Report and the Treasurer’s Report.

Penny outlined the content of the report and thanked the trustees, staff and volunteers for all the ways they have contributed to developing and supporting PMRGCAuk in the past year. Janice Maddock proposed that the Annual Report and Accounts be accepted. This was seconded by Clare Marshall. The meeting voted unanimously in favour.

5Examiners

It was resolved to approach Derek Peter of Green and Peter Accountants in Whetstone, London, to examine next year’s accounts. Robin Hamilton proposed that this be accepted and was seconded by Helen Wiener. The meeting voted unanimously in favour.

6Appointment of Trustees

The retirement as Trustees of Robin Hamilton, Christine Young (by rotation) and Sarah Mackie (by rotation) was noted.

(a)Sarah Mackie and Christine Young stood for re-election as Trustees. Sarah Mackie’s appointment was proposed by Anne Storey and seconded by Debra Pitt. Christine Young’s appointment was proposed by Shirley O’Connell and seconded by Wendy Morrison. Both were elected unanimously by the meeting.

(2)Robin Hamilton stood down as Trustee. He was thanked by Penny for all he has done for the charity.

(3)Janice Maddock was co-opted onto the Board since the last AGM and so her appointment needed to be ratified by the Members at the AGM. Janice’s appointment was proposed by Penny Greenwood-Penny and seconded by Nigel Paterson. This was agreed unanimously by the meeting.

(4)Penny Denby asked if the meeting were happy that she remain as Chair and Andrew Osborne replace Robin Hamilton as Treasurer. This was proposed by Robin Hamilton, seconded by Frances Treanorand agreed unanimously by the meeting.

7AOB

Change of Membership fees:

Chair Penny Denby explained that the trustees are planning to change the membership fee structure for the charity in early 2018, from the current £10 for retired/unwaged people and £25 for waged people, to a single subscription rate of £15 a year. Combining the rates will make it simpler for everyone and we hope it will ensure that people who are low waged are not paying more than they can really afford. After outlining the plan, Penny invited comments from members. One member suggested that people on very low incomes could be allowed to pay less. One member suggested two rates of subscription – one for receiving NewsWire by post and one by email. An indicative show of hands demonstrated support for the trustees’ proposed changes.

Vote of thanks to Penny Denby

Kate Gilbert thanked Penny and all the trustees for all the work they do.

8Date of next meeting

This is the first Members’ Day that has been held on a Saturday. Penny Denby asked for feedback from those present as to whether this was a positive change. Comments indicated that those present did indeed prefer a Saturday meeting. The date of the 2018 meeting will be printed in the Winter NewsWire.