AGM

Annual General Meeting of the Louth Area Group of the Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust

10^th April 2015, Conoco-Phillps Room, Louth.

Present: 35 members

Apologies: Ken James, Margaret Boston.

Minutes of the last AGM were proposed for acceptance by Avril, seconded by Jane and carried, nem. con.

Chairman’s Report:

Ray Woodcock, chairman, gave his report as a PowerPoint presentation. Firstly he set out his parameters by defining the vast area of the LAG from the coast to the Wolds and by noting the objectives of the LAG as defined by its constitution. He was not able to ascertain exactly how many of the 26,000 LWT members were in the LAG area. However, the Lapwings magazine and the LAG Members’ newsletters are delivered to 1111 members in 608 households.

Ray felt that there was no means of interactive communication with these members and after discussion the committee agreed that, ‘Communication with and the involvement of LAG members’ should be the theme for the year and for future years. To achieve this a website and blog have been created, a specific to LAG email address has been set up and the newsletter has become the Member’s Newsletter. LAG members have responded by using these means to inform one other of their activities as volunteers whilst 80 or so members are now listed by email thus enabling instant contact when help such as seed gathering at Red Hill is required.

The Chairman explained how the committee functions and outlined the tasks of the committee members. He was very proud to be part of such a hard working team and stressed that decisions were joint decisions and that sometimes he was out-voted!

The last year’s monthly meetings were reviewed with accompanying pictures. The average attendance had been 32. The October 2014 coffee morning in Louth had clashed with too many other events and was not well attended. Nevertheless Ray was pleased to have the opportunity to meet LAG members there who were not able to attend the Friday evening meetings. The format for 2015 Coffee morning  is under review. 

The future programme is arranged almost until the 2017 AGM. Unfortunately the costs for the hire of the ConocoPhillips Room have jumped from £15 to £45 per session. (During the discussion about how to deal with this rise during the Members Input  following the AGM it was agreed to increase the entrance fee as an interim measure from £1.50 to £2.50 with effect from October 2015.)

Ray concluded by thanking the committee, all the LAG volunteers, those who helped with the refreshments as well as those members who attended the meetings and finally he promised not to give such a lengthy report next year! 

Treasurer’s Report

Brian Cooper, Treasurer, presented the accounts.

The main items of income were: £237meeting entrance fees; £215 coffee morning and about £200 from collections, donations and a raffle.

Principle expenditures were £110 room hire and £125 speaker’s fees.  £400 was transferred to Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust headquarters, in line with the group’s constitutional remit to support the work of the Trust.

That the accounts be accepted was proposed by Sue, seconded by Richard, carried nem. con.

That Charlie Hickman continues to be our examiner of accounts was proposed by Brian, seconded by Derek, carried nem. con.

Election of Committee members

Each of the outgoing Committee members was nominated for re-election and there being no nominations for new member, the outgoing Committee was re-elected en bloc. 

The new Committee thus comprises:
Chairman and Publicity: Ray Woodcock
Secretary and Website Manager: Biff Vernon
Treasurer & Safety Officer: Brian Cooper
Programme Secretary and Lapwings Distribution : Avril Huke
Newsletter Editor: Sally Taylor
LWT Council Representative: Colin Byatt
Other members: Ruth Gatenby, Louise Scott and Janet Woodward

It was pointed out that any member who wants to take a more active role in running the Group is welcome to volunteer to join the Committee.

A discussion was held regarding the increased room hire charge from £15 to £45.  Increasing the meeting entrance charge to £2.50 or £3 was suggested and it was resolved that the charge should be raised, at least in the first instance, to £2.50.

The idea of sponsorship or asking ConocoPhillips for a grant was mooted and will be investigated.

Members discussed recent observations, with birds of prey featuring; kites, and buzzards over the Wolds and peregrines settling, possibly to nest, on the spire of St. James’ church.

As part of the Wolds Walking Festival we will have a stall at Welton-le-Wold quarry on 16^th May.  Helpers welcome.

Don’t forget your Springwatch sightings.  You can take part in The Big Spring Watch at http://www.naturescalendar.org.uk/bsw

A raffle was held; some members shared their photographs of local wildlife; the meeting concluded with cheese and wine.