NMC AGM Minutes

Wednesday 22nd January 2014

Attending

Alison Jones, Cliff Robson, Dave Hume, Alastair Boardman, Dorothy Cragg, Derrick Cragg, Clive Goodwin, Malcolm Rowe, Jim Aiken, Sam Webb, Ian Birtwistle(IB), Peter Flegg(PF), Jean Robson, Doug Blackett, David Angel, Paul Quin, Peter Bennett, John Spencer(JS), Jim Rigg, Will Tapfield, Richard Pow, Robin Kane, Lewis Preston, Sarah Follmann(SF), Ed Sciberas(ES), John Mountain, Martin Cooper, Adam Spiller, Eva Diran(ED), Ian Ross(IR), Andrew Shanks(AS), Adrian Wilson(AW), John Dalrymple(JD)

1 Apologies

John Vaughan, Trevor Langhorne, Hedley Smith, Neville Hannaby, Derek Cutts, Bryn Roberts, Carolyn Horrocks, Mike Frost, John Earl

2 Approval of Minutes of 2013 AGM

Minutes approved by SF, seconded by ED

3 Action Points and Matters arising

• No matters arising

4 Secretary's report

The dominant business at the start of the year was the termination of the lease of the Bowderstone Hut. Since the the work of the committee has been driven by the four newly formed working groups – Membership, services,communications and publicity.

• The membership group has driven the introduction of a streamlined membership process

• The services group has strengthened links between the NMC and other local clubs, as well as the BMC through the BMC festival of climbing and walking and multiple crag cleanups

• The communications group has focused on developing the NMCs strategy for use of Facebook and the forum

• The publicity group has consolidated the club branding across various materials and has produced posters to be used to promote the club at local climbing walls

5 Membership Secretary's Report

• The GoCardless subscription system has proven successful – a full direct debit system has been rejected for reasons of cost

• A membership survey was sent out at the start of last year and the responses have helped shape the club's activity over the past year

• Last year's winter meets and socials were well attended

• This year's winter skills training course was fully attended

• Last year's meets programme included the Bowderstone Hut Farewell meet, the New Member's meet in Langdale, the early May bank holiday meet in North Wales, a camping meet in Eskdale, the annual pilgrimage to Mingulay, a summer meet in Glencoe, the annula dinner at Bellingahm, a Galloway sea-cliff weekend, a Peak District meet, a navigation skills course, cleanups of Ravensheugh and Crag Lough, a learn-to lead course at Bowden, a late summer trip to North Wales, North Yorkshire Grit and the President's walk.

• Out of a total membership of 144, the membership secretary can personally recall seeing 75 different members at events he has attended

• There have been 7 new full members in 2013, and there are currently 10 prospective members and 8 honourary and life-members. Out of the total membership, 4 are under 18 and 31 are female.

General Secretary's report and Membership Secretary's Report approved by Ian Ross, seconded by Lewis Preston.

6 Treasurer's Report

• Income and Expenditure

◦ The accumulated fund showed a surplus of £1249 last year, in comparison with a £3693 deficit in 2011/2012, mainly due to the spending on the hut sewage system in 2011/2012

◦ Income from subscriptions increased from £2972 to £3458 due to the increase in membership

◦ Expenses have remained relatively constant compared with the previous years, with the biggest sum being the BMC fees increasing with increasing membership

◦ Spending on socials decreased from £1468 in 2011/2012 to £1145 in 2012/2013

◦ Before considering the Hut, Guidebook, library and winter climbing wall budgets there was a small deficit of £83

◦ £54 was spent on guidebooks for the library, and £40 was raised by selling off old guidebooks from the library for a net deficit of £14

◦ The hut lease was terminated early this year, so the hut showed proportionally smaller expenditures and income, with a net surplus of £1,536

◦ Combined guidebook sales showed a profit of about £1000, representing a reduction of about 50% from 2011/2012. There is a possibility for the future that unsold guidebooks may have to be written off

◦ 2012/2013 showed a £1055 deficit in the winter climbing wall budget, compared to £485 from 2011/2012. As a result of this the NMC is negotiating new terms with Hadrian Leisure.

◦ Training showed a small surplus of £70

◦ Away meets showed a £102 deficit

◦ Corporation tac has decreased due to the reduction in guidebooks sold

• Balance Sheet

◦ Assets are much the same as 2011/2012 - £45345 cash at bank and £12753 combined guidebook stock.

◦ Next year, the Bowderstone hut will no longer appear as an asset.

6b Treasurer's Report: Comments and Questions

• The club aims to increase the number of members and reduce the subscription charge to members by controlling costs

• Without the hut, the club does not anticipate large exxpenses in the future as it has seen in the past

• The BMC fees due per member have remained constant for the past 3 or 4 years. It is possible that the BMC will raise their fees by £2 per member in 2015.

• A small loss was taken on away meets due to occasional failure to collect fees from members who dropped out and overbooking of hut spaces.

• Martin Cooper requested an increase in the guest speaker budget for winter socials

• The possibility of joint talks with the Wanneys club is being explored

• Treasurer's report proposed by John Mountain, seconded by David Angel

7 Hut Report

• The Bowderstone Lease has been terminated with no further complications

• Fell and Rock are allowing 12 meets in one calendar year where clubs without reciprocal rights can use Fell and Rock huts.

• Propoced by Ed Sciberas, seconded by Peter Flegg

8 Guidebook Editor's Report

• The guidebook editor's report was delivered by John Mountain in John Earl's absence

• There is a discrepancy between the figures in the guidebook editor's report and the treasurer's report due to different start and end dates for the year

Northumberland Route Guide

• Guide was launched 25/12/2004

• There were 6000 copies of the Guide printed for a production cost of £13,000.

• The Guide retails at £18.95 and is available to members at £12.50 + postage and packaging.

• In the last 12 months we have sold 98 copies (134 in 2013)

• 3524 copies of the routes guide have been sold to date

• The income generated so far is approximately £41K (including sponsorship)

Northumberland Bouldering Guide

• Guide was launched on 29/05/2008.

• There were 4000 copies of the Guide printed for a production cost of £17,200.

• The Guide retails at £19.95 and hopefully is available to members at £12.50 + postage and packaging.

• In the last 12 months we have sold 160 copies (229 in 2012) bringing the total sales to date to 1758

• The income generated so far is over £21K (including sponsorship)

Comments

• The sales of both the routes guide and the bouldering guide are dropping year on year

• A guidebook supplement is in progress.

• Proposed by Adam, Seconded by Richard Pow

7 Change to Club Constitution and rules

• The subscription each year for full members shall be £23. Members aged under 18 and students in full time education shall pay a reduced rate of £15. Carried unanimously

8 Election of officers

• President: Ian Birtwistle

• Vice President: John Dalrymple

• Membership Secretary: Adrian Wilson

• General Secretary: Andrew Shanks

• Treasurer: Eva Diran

• Magazine Editor: John Spencer

Carried Unanimously

9 Committee members

• Ian Ross, Ed Sciberas and Peter Flegg to remain

• Gareth Crapper to be re-elected – approved unanimously

• Alastair Boardman, Jim Aiken and David Angel standing for election – carried

10 Vote of Thanks

• Thanks to John Vaughan, who is leaving the committee this year

• Thanks to Sarah Follmann, who has done a fantastic job as Social Secretary and is leaving to spread her infectious enthusiasm in South Africa

• Special thanks to Neil Cranston for his many years of dedicated work as Hut Coordinator

• Special thanks to John Mountain for his extensive service to the club as President and Treasurer, and in particular his work in negotiating the conclusion of the Bowderstone lease

11 Any Other Business

• John Mountain proposed a gift to thank Neil Cranston's wife for her patience with the extreme amounts of work he put in for the club – carried unanimously

• John Spencer announced that paper distribution of the County Climber was to be phased out by 2015, with the exception of copies delivered to honourary members.

• Peter Flegg proposed a vote of thanks to John Dalrymple for his extended term as President.