Minutes of the NPLSC TENNIS SECTION AGM
Thursday 22 November 2018
1. Welcome and apologies
Present:
Committee Members: Richard Roberts (Chair), Philippa Godden, Roy Eglinton (Eggy), Russell Woods, Elliot Moyle, Chris Allen, Kevin McCarthy, Jane Ross, Sandeep Thenua, Berty Clayton.
Plus 11 members
Apologies for absence: David Bonney, Debbie Chawner, Sarah Evans, Liz Savage
2. Acceptance of Minutes of the 2017 AGM/ Matters arising
These were circulated on 1 November with the other papers for the AGM. These were accepted as a correct record.
Proposed by Jane Ross, seconded by Philippa Godden.
3. Chair’s report
Richard Roberts gave a verbal update covering
- progress made in encouraging more people playing more tennis through initiatives such as Sunday afternoon American Tournaments, Thursday Singles, Saturday Doubles Builder and Cardio.
- changes to constitutional arrangements, confirming NPLSC charitable status and the implications for the Tennis section. The structure of the NPLSC was shared and it was noted that the Tennis section currently have members on all committees with the exception of Finance. This matter will be discussed at the next Committee meeting. The NPLSC Governance Structure and current membership is attached for reference.
- appointment of Sinead McEneaney as Welfare Officer. This is a critical role and a new requirement of LTA affiliation.
- appreciation of specific contributions made by members including (but not confined to) Philippa Godden for support as Vice Chair, Jane Ross and Berty Clayton for all their work as they stand down from the committee, Sandeep Thenua for supporting committee during the year, Mike McKeigue for helping fix the net mechanisms, and Patrick Gordon for installation of notice boards in the clubhouse
4. Treasurer’s Report & Presentation of Accounts 2017/18 for acceptance
Eggy presented the accounts for the period 1/10/2017 – 30/9/2018
He noted that
- Subscription income is similar to the previous year
- The sectional charge had increased significantly and is under discussion with NPLSC. A provision has been held back against this but if the Tennis Section is unable to secure a revised charge it will be running at a loss (mitigated only by the contribution from Tennis England). The Treasurer will be meeting with Anthony Stratton, NPLSC trustee and treasurer before Christmas to progress this.
- It was noted that NPLSC and the Tennis Section currently have different accounting periods and this will be reviewed in Committee.
The Accounts were accepted as an accurate reflection. Proposed by Philippa Godden and seconded by Jane Ross.
- Team Captains’ reports.
The Ladies 1st Team had come a close second in their division. Ladies 2ndTeam involved lots of new players on court and will not go down. Men’s team (currently only fielding one team) succeeded in getting a team out for all matches will go down as mainly second team players having to play in place of a first team. The Vets team have struggled to get players and not won any matches this season.
- Welfare Officer’s Report
Sinead confirmed that the role of the Welfare Officer is the point of contact for welfare concerns (minor to major) and enable the Club to promote safe and inclusive tennis for children and adults. This also includes promoting the Club’s code of conduct (see attachment to agenda).
To do this, Sinead noted, that it is important to be personally visible and accessible and have a process in place so that everyone knows who they are and how to speak to them if they have a concern. To help accessibility she noted that it would be good to have more than one person and that the necessary training and DBS checks are cheap and straightforward. She also confirmed that all details are on the noticeboard and website, and will be provided to new members on joining.
- Election of Chair
Richard confirmed that he would stand again and described Club priorities for the forthcoming year. There were no other nominations and he was re-elected.
Proposed by Philippa Godden, seconded by Jane Ross.
- Election of Vice Chair
Philippa Godden was nominated and accepted to continue as Vice Chair.
- Special Resolutions
Berty and Robert were thanked for the work they had put into updating the Rules and setting out proposed changes for acceptance. Copies of these documents together with the (integral but unchanged) Code of Conduct were circulated in advance with the AGM papers.
The proposed Rule Changes reflect David Bonney’s withdrawal of postal and proxy voting put forward at last year’s AGM and accepted in principle.
There was a discussion about the decision to amend categories of membership following a review by the Committee. It was noted that the Committee had remit to do the review but that the conclusions of the review should have been formally presented for acceptance prior to implementation. It was also noted that the decision to implement was pragmatic and that, fortunately in this case, the incorrect application of procedure was immaterial to the outcome. Ken Raine was thanked for his clarification of the procedure which provides useful learning for the future.
The updated Rules and changes were accepted. Proposed by Philippa Godden, seconded by Sandeep Thenua.
- Election of the Committee
The remaining Committee were nominated and agreed as a group:
Secretary: Jo Pollard
Treasurer: Roy Eglinton
Membership Secretary: Roy Eglinton
Fixture Secretary: Chantal Matthews
Ground Representative: Sandeep Thenua
Projects & Maintenance Officer: VACANCY
Junior Representative: Russell Wood
Head Coach: Elliot Moyle
Men’s 1st Team Captain: Chris Allen
Ladies 1st Team Captain: Christina Wood
Ladies 2nd Team Captain: Sarah Evans
Mixed Vets Team Captain: Kevin McCarthy
Other (Events): Emma Moore
11. Any other business
11.1 Financial dispute with NPLSC
A request was made to seek a full set of financial accounts from NPLSC to inform the Tennis Section position and approach. Richard Roberts agreed to address.
Jane Ross requested involvement in Finance discussion. Richard welcomed this.
11.2 Raising matters of concern
It was proposed that members with matters of concern should raise them in the normal way and be identifiable to enable full and proper exploration and consideration. This was agreed. Proposed by Sandeep Thenua, seconded by Jo Pollard.
11.3 Elisabeth Nichol requested that the AGM agenda should be displayed in the clubhouse prior to the AGM in future. This was accepted as a reasonable request.
The meeting closed.