Temple Ewell Village Hall
3rd March 2010.
7:30pm
Members present
Bill, Ian, Jim, Gary, Mark, Nigel, Brian, Roy, James, Rachael, John N, Chris, Stephane.
Apologies for absence
Roger, Keith, David, Jane, Karen, Malcolm. Jean-Yves.
1) Minutes of 2008/2009 AGM
Proposed by Gary as a true record and seconded by Roy. All agreed
2) Chairman’s Report (IAN)
2009 provided our Club members with another year of safe and enjoyable diving out of Dover as well as at other UK sites and abroad on holidays. However weather once again affected greatly our dive numbers and we must hope that 2010 is kinder to us so that we can further enjoy our sport.
Your Club officers are about to present their reports so I won’t go into details on their individual areas but I would like to make a few points at this time.
Firstly the boat. As you know, last year our boat, the Admiral Douglas, was out of the water for a few weeks for essential maintenance. Many of us helped with the painting and repairs and thanks are due to all who gave of their time to assist. The Douglas may be slower than some commercial dive boats and have a more limited range, but I still believe she is a great asset to our Club as both a comfortable dive boat for regular divers and as a safe platform for trainee divers.
Secondly, membership. I have spoken with several other BSAC branches and as a general trend membership numbers continue to fall. The recession over the last few years has limited people’s ability to afford to take up sports where there is considerable initial financial outlay and so it is no surprise that diving has taken a hit as far as trainees are concerned. Dive shops report similar trends in their reduced sales of entry level equipment. PADI schools are still finding people willing to train to basic level so that they are qualified to holiday dive but are not finding many people willing to buy equipment and dive in the UK. We must therefore strive to keep our Club membership as high as possible by making sure we keep our current members, by trying to attract qualified divers to our Club and by advertising for and then training up new members. If you have ideas about how we can achieve this please speak to a Committee member later tonight or throughout the year. It is after all your Club and so relies on your support.
Thirdly, I would like to say that your Committee works hard to keep your Branch running smoothly and that it is backed up by several non-committee members who give of their time and effort to do tasks which I often think go unnoticed or unappreciated. I am very grateful to all who help keep our Club going.
And lastly, as mentioned in my recent email to all members, I am standing down as Chairman of the Club. I am very much aware that, due to other commitments, over the next year I will not be able to be at as many Tuesday evening meetings as I believe a branch officer should attend. For this reason it makes sense for me to step down as Chairperson and let someone else take over the role. I would like to thank the Committee and all members for their support over the last five years, and wish the new Chairperson well when taking over the position after tonight’s meeting.
3) Finance Report (Bill)
The fall in income and the rise in expenditure this year has resulted in a deficit of £xxx, but the club is still in a reasonable financial situation with net cash of £xx,xxx.
Fees
Membership continues to decline, 10 members have not renewed at this time
Rolling pool fees into membership
I have been asked if pool fees could be rolled into the membership fee, this is not possible as the club would then be ineligible for the Gift Aid tax rebate ( £xxx.xx in the year 2008 - 2009) as HMRC’s benefit in kind rules would be breached.
If there is interest however, I would propose that for a trial period of one year an up front annual payment of £100.00 allowing a minimum availability of 46 and a maximum of 48 weeks access to the pool a saving of between 15 and 20%. This, of course, is subject to the pools availability from Vista.
4) Training Officers Report (given by John)
The year did not provide many new people to the club and as a result not many members were going through training.
Two divers were trained to Ocean Diver, two divers to Sports Diver and one diver to Dive Leader. Two more divers are undergoing training at the moment.
As part of the above, two trips to Cliffe and one to Leybourne were undertaken for open water training sessions.
Lectures were undertaken throughout the year but do to the lack of people undergoing training, these were on an as and when needed basis.
5) Diving Officers Report (Jim)
Little diving in 2009. Diving safe with no incidents due to good training by our instructors
The time that the boat did manage to get out in 2009, it was full, so it shows the members are eager for it to get out as much as possible.
Jim hopes to get the boat out more in 2010, even in poorer conditions. Boat will travel further for better dive sites if necessary. Also we will reel off shotline if necessary.
6) Boat Officers Report John not able to attend so report given by Jim.
Boat repaired in 2009 including lots of fibre glassing. Fuel Filters changed and the boat has a full tank of fuel at this moment in time.
Jim asked for people to approach him if they wanted to learn about the Douglas.
Jim asked for people to offer help when getting the Douglas out and back into berth.
Boat fuelled and ready to go for 2010.
7) Subscriptions (Bill)
Given the current economic situation it would seem reasonable to assume that the clubs membership income, gift aid and interest on the club’s deposit account will all fall. Conversely it may be expected that expenditure on pool hire and to a lesser extent moorings will rise so more income must be generated.
Expenditure this year will also need to be restrained, unless income is better than expected, equipment will of course still be maintained and some equipment replaced if required.
Club fees during the last seven years fees have risen from £80.00 to £85.00, so from 2011 for existing members and from 2010 for new members I would propose that the fees are increased by £5.00 for full members and £2.00 for students, this represents an annual increase of approximately 1.4%, against pool cost rise between 2007 and 2009 rising by an average 3.2% pa and mooring costs over same period by an average of 4.3%.
It has been normal for club fees to be collected in one lump, I am willing for a trial period of one year to collect fees in six consecutive monthly instalments of £15.00
8) Election of Officers
Chairman - Stephane, proposed by Ian, seconded by Bill.
All other officers proposed en mass by Gary, seconded by James.
Changes to officers - Gill no longer entertainments officer. Karen has replaced her. All other officers as before.
Charity trustees - Bill, John Arter, Jim and Stephane.
9) AOB
Committee to look at costings of "fast courses" for holiday divers and at try dives for people thinking about training on holiday/
Rachael to look at school groups with help of committee.
Stephane suggested targeting gap year students.
Jim suggested we try to have more social activities including going to the pub after the Tuesday Club meetings.
Ian asked to look into more Eastbourne dives.
Shield for most improved diver to Chris and Tom Jefferson
Meeting Closed @ 20:25