Minutes of the Annual General Meeting held at the Cliffden Hotel, Teignmouth, South Devon, on Saturday 10 May 2008 commencing at 1330 hours.
1. CHAIR'S WELCOME AND OPENING REMARKS:
Martyn Wilson cordially thanked everyone present for attending the meeting.
2. CHAIR TO READ AGENDA:
The Chair read the agenda, and this formed the basis for discussion at the meeting.
3. NOTIFICATION OF ANY OTHER BUSINESS:
Notification was received from Charles Peck, Phil Troll and Garry Wiggins.
4. ROLL CALL:
5. APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE:
6. APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES OF THE LAST MEETING:
At the request of the Chair, these were read by Alec Bridgewood.
re; Delete "Pig's Ear Beer Festival" and insert "Pigs Ear Beer and Cider Festival".
With this correction, the minutes were approved.
Proposed by Stephen Kingsberry and seconded by Colin Howard.
7. MATTERS ARISING:
It was noted that Charles Peck was voted off the Committee.
8. OFFICERS' REPORTS, CONTRACTORS' REPORTS AND WEBMASTER'S REPORT:
(a) - Chair:
At the time of the last Annual General Meeting we were busy looking for premises to house our office and studio.
I am pleased to report that at the end of June we moved to our new office at the Resource Centre in Chargeable Lane in Plaistow where we are still situated.
It is, however, not big enough for both the office and studio. So, at the moment, Phil has a studio elsewhere.
This has meant that we have been able to produce at least one tape every month for the past year.
There was a suspension in service until August to allow for the move, but the back issues were produced together in August so as to create a continuous service.
I wish to express thanks to all of those who helped with the move, as it was a great deal of hard work.
The charity also expresses deepest gratitude to the management of the Resource Centre and their superiors at the London Borough of Newham for allowing us to rent the office at a reasonable rent, and finally to Narinder Hundel and Councillor Shillingford for helping to negotiate this arrangement.
It has been another quite difficult year for fundraising for the charity.
As always, Paul Chinnery, with guidance from Mark Gerbaldi, has worked extremely hard on grant applications.
Future help from Mark is uncertain.
We received two donations of one thousand pounds each from Coutts Charitable Trust and Tompkins PLC in January and March respectively, and a written promise of £500 from Tate and Lyle.
Unfortunately, we have not received any large grants since the grant for the Website in April 2007.
As always, we undertook collections at railway stations throughout the year as well as some extra collections at Network Rail stations and pubs.
In 2007 these were average, but since the beginning of 2008 they have been considerably better.
So combined with the aforementioned collections and a grant from Londonations for a specific project in conjunction with Planning Aid for London, our finances are now looking better which has allowed us to extend the Contractors' fees until the end of June.
May I extend thanks to all regular collectors who have helped again this year.
Finally, I would like to express thanks to our Vice-Chair, Paul David, for taking the helm during my two recent periods of bereavement.
These are still challenging times for NTE, but I am hopeful we will be able to continue with a good service for the foreseeable future.
(b) - Vice-Chair:
Paul David said he had taken over as Chair briefly whilst Martyn was visiting Australia as well as during Martyn's bereavements.
He reported on the two member surveys which were conducted i.e. cassettes versus CDs and secondly what format the CDs should take.
The response to both these surveys had been mediocre.
He regretted that the much-promised prize draw had not yet taken place; this will happen during the coming year.
We have now been reinstated to the Community Media Association, so he will now receive information from them.
(c) - Secretary:
Richard Harrington said he had enjoyed the past year as Secretary for NTE.
He had booked the Cliffden Hotel for this weekend and the subsequent Annual General Meeting ably assisted by our Chair.
He had recorded most Executive Committee meetings before compiling and circulating the minutes.
However, he thanked the Assistant Secretary for recording the July meeting in his absence.
We had complied with the rules of the Charity's Commission by holding a face-to-face Committee meeting during the year.
He had written to the Civic Ambassador and Vice-President inviting them to attend this meeting.
(d) - Assistant Secretary:
Colin Howard reported that he is still looking after the E-group.
He is looking for ways to encourage more participation from members because this has once again not been particularly active.
An on-line forum might be a good alternative.
(e) - Treasurer:
Alec Bridgewood read his Annual Treasurer's report and balance sheet for the year ended 31 March 2008.
The income and expenditure accounts were also read.
The Chair congratulated the Treasurer on a successful year's work.
The report was adopted.
(f) - Appeals:
Jeanne Jackson reported she had sent out many letters appealing for donations.
We should receive two thousand five hundred pounds.
The Chair thanked her for a very good year's work.
(g) - DEVELOPMENT OFFICER:
Phil Troll said we have had a difficult year.
We were told by the landlord of our previous office to vacate the premises by May 2007.
We did, however, stay in the building for an extra month.
We did move into our new office in late June.
We gained publicity from an article in the Newham Recorder and from an interview on BBC Essex.
Our website has been improved this year thanks to hard work by our Webmaster Dave Durber.
We have upgraded the sound quality of our MP3 sound files and added a few more new features to the site.
People are increasingly abandoning listening on cassette and are now opting to listening online.
Paul Chinnery has worked hard on applying for grants. However, we are still trying to apply for more.
A team of students at the London Metropolitan University has redesigned our brochures.
They created a small leaflet called an "eyecatcher" and have created an NTE pack which can be used when visiting potential donors.
He thanked Mary Anne Forest, Tutor, for setting up this project.
He also thanked her support team.
He commended Stephen Kingsberry for the recorded interviews he has made so far and for those in the pipeline.
He thanked the listeners for their support and encouragement.
He hopes that NTE and Media Roundup will continue for many years to come.
The Chair thanked Phil for the work and commitment he has shown on behalf of the charity.
(h) - Assistant Development Officer:
This report was presented by Alec Bridgewood.
Paul Chinnery apologized for not attending the meeting.
He said that the past year has been a very unsettling time for the charity and himself.
As the result of our moving office we moved into smaller premises which are sufficient for the administration of the charity.
Unfortunately, it is too small to include the studio as well. This needs to be changed.
More volunteers are needed to cope with the increased workload.
He hoped that next year would give the charity a more stable time.
We are working very hard in London to raise sufficient funds to continue to produce two monthly magazines. However, more members should carefully consider fund-raising initiatives to help save the day.
The Chair thanked Paul for his work and commitment.
(i) - Webmaster:
No report available.
9. ELECTION OF OFFICERS:
All officers and Committee members were prepared to serve for the coming year.
10. ANY OTHER BUSINESS:
(a) - Phil Troll proposed that we should invest in newly-designed tabards for fund-raisers.
These should be made to measure for each individual collector who will be responsible for maintenance.
This to be actioned by the Committee.
(b) - Garry Wiggins was concerned that there is a lack of sighted people willing to help at collections i.e. buying refreshments when required.
This to be investigated.
(c) - Charles Peck wondered if a recording of this meeting could be posted on our website.
Colin Howard said this will be done by the Webmaster in due course.
(d) - Jane Sellers proposed that the Committee should start discussing what publicity NTE could provide in relation to the forthcoming London Olympics in 2012.
11. DATE AND PLACE OF NEXT MEETING:
It was proposed that next year's AGM would be held in London or Folkestone on 9 May.
Richard Harrington, Secretary
These minutes are subject to ratification at the 2009 AGM.
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