AGM by year:
29 members attended the AGM held at the Hyndman Centre, Bury St. Edmunds.
The Chairman: (David Kitson), reviewed the previous year noting that it had been most successful for the Federation. Due to the drought he had not been able to stage a Chairman's Day but felt this did not detract from things overall. It was encouraging to witness the growth of Golf Croquet and pleasing to note the social side of the new sport. Over the winter he had been assisting in the setting up of a new Website for the Federation together with Simon Hathrell and was very pleased with the final outcome, which he hoped would develop over time into a useful publicity tool. This he feels would impact on our publication 'Face East' and put its future in doubt. He informed the meeting that he would not be seeking re-election, not because he had not enjoyed the experience but felt that time is catching up and he would like to take things a little easier. He thanked all the members of the Committee for all the work they had put in but also for their support whilst in office.
At this point the Federation's Joint President Tom Anderson thanked the Chairman for all the work he had undertaken and proposed a vote of thanks and appreciation from the meeting, which was approved with acclaim.
The Treasurer: (George Collin), presented the accounts, which show a surplus for the year of £231.69 and a final balance of £3,547.59. Expenditure was well contained within income and he recommended that the affiliation fee remained unchanged.
The Secretary: (Terrey Sparks), reported that in his first year of his appointment things had progressed satisfactorily in taking over from his predecessor. The diary of events had gone well and appeared to be well received by the clubs. One new club Peterborough joined the Federation last year and was provided with assistance such as equipment and coaching. A new club at Dunstable is in the position of starting this year and already joined us as a member. Again assistance has been arranged to help this new venture. He also reported that following the introduction of the new Website he fully intended in the future to use this more for publicising news and events. A poster has been prepared for display and he hoped all clubs would make members aware of this facility. He would also be contacting all club Secretaries to see if in the future more use could be made of electronic mail. Bearing in mind the increasing cost of postage steps have to be taken to reduce this expense. Finally, he thanked all those clubs who had provided use of their grounds for staging events over the year.
Development: (Jonathan Toye), explained that over the year he had arranged coaching for Meldreth and the new club at Peterborough. He also mentioned that grants were available for disabled and other disadvantaged groups but care must be taken in grant applications to avoid rejection. Also information of a personal nature such as age might be requested and members should be aware of this in making an application.
Equipment: (Neil Chalmers). In the Equipment Officer's absence the Secretary read out a written report prepared by Neil and presented an inventory of equipment that the Federation holds and currently has on loan. Overall, after additional purchases we have sufficient stock, which is in reasonable state of repair.
Indoors: (Mike Percival), reported another successful year in which the Federation staged six weekends at Soham. Four were Association and two were Golf Croquet. A modest profit was achieved over the year. He estimated that the carpet has a four to five year life span. Bookings for six weekends were already in hand for next season.
National Trust: Jean Horton and Ann Sweeney ran a popular Golf Croquet Doubles and Singles respectively at Ickworth Hall this year. Due to increased interest Jean would like to increase the Doubles entry with the use of more lawns which has been agreed with the Hall's trustees. Jonathan Toye staged a successful short croquet tournament and next year would try to expand the entries and introduce full bisques.
Golf Croquet: (Tony Marks), reported that the past year had been very successful with the league developing quite well although handicaps prove to be a stubborn problem. He has plans to increase the league to 20 teams and also hopes to organise a referee's course in the area. Following a survey of member clubs last year the league rules have been adjusted to provide for a more senior player to participate and a B-Level tournament organised at the Newport club in July.
Croquet Association: (Arthur Reed), gave a brief report to the members on matters arising that might interest them. This ranged from likely subscriptions; golf Croquet activity and its likely implications on clubs and how to deal with it; the new Charities Act and whether or not to incorporate; plus a report from the Development Committee.
Election of Officers and Committee members: Peter Allnutt was elected Chairman and Terrey Sparks as Secretary. George Collin (Treasurer), Neil Chalmers (Equipment), Mike Percival (Indoors), Tony Marks (Golf), Jonathan Toye (Development) were re-elected. Also, John Hall and David Kitson were elected to the committee. Simon Hathrell was co-opted as the Federation's Webmaster. Arthur Reed remains on the Committee for a further two years to satisfy C.A. standing rules. Betty Carter was re-appointed Auditor.
Any Other Business: There then followed lively and short discussions on the Olympic Games and why croquet does not qualify, registered clubs within the Federation, and the different format of hoop designation between the association and golf croquet codes.
A copy of the AGM
report suitable for printing can be viewed/downloaded here
(
49KB).
See also the
EACF Constitution (
19KB).
