Committee Meeting September 2008

Minutes of the Committee Meeting held on Monday 15th September 2008 at Woodley Hall, Romsey

Present: Jane Field, Tony Peelo, Lynne Whitaker, Liz Slade, Greg Roulston, Paul Bradley, Nick Berryman, Julia Abab

Apologies: Gill Callus, Keith Stone,

Minutes of last meeting/ outstanding action points

Minutes of the previous meeting were approved.
Matters outstanding were as follows:
ACTION: Crop top photo to be added to website – photo to be provided by Newsletter Editor
ACTION: Press Secretary to confirm details regarding Kirklands Solicitors’ sponsorship of Braishfield Race to the Club Secretary so an invoice can be raised.
ACTION: Kit Secretary to supply an advertisement for kit and prices for inclusion in next newsletter
ACTION: Press Secretary to book Crosfield Hall in Romsey for the AGM on Tuesday 11th November from 7pm – 10pm

Session Leader:

The Session Leader confirmed that sessions had now been organized up to the end of November. The aim was to maintain 4 alternative routes for a Monday and 5 for a Thursday.
The bleep test had been carried out during a session at Romsey Sports Centre and the aim was to repeat from time to time to measure improvements.
Heidi Williams commented that a sprint session held at the Sports Centre recently had also proved popular and asked whether any form of sprint training could be incorporated into the winter schedule. The Session Leader explained that there were difficulties in finding a suitable, safe, well lit location.
ACTION: Session Leader agreed to consider any venues which members are able to propose.

Membership Secretary:

The Membership Secretary confirmed that membership was now at 105.

The following new members were proposed by the Newsletter Editor and seconded by the Fixtures Secretary:

Andy Cherrett; Kevin Jacobs; Hannah Knowles.

A brief discussion ensued regarding the information collected as part of the Membership Application form. It was confirmed that date of birth and e-mail information was collected; however it was not felt appropriate to use e-mail addresses for the circulation of general correspondence which is sent to the Secretary (such as offers on kit/ race information etc.) because of the risk of computer viruses and because not all members would wish to receive such unsolicited e-mails. We should continue to rely on the newsletter, the website, the fixtures book, and announcements at Club Nights to keep members informed.

However, it was agreed that we should add details of whether a member is First or Second Claim to the application form/ membership database, as this information is needed both for England Athletics, and for the calculation of the Pentathlon scores.

ACTION: Membership Secretary to amend application form to include First Claim./ Second Claim

Kit Secretary:

Little activity to report. The Kit Secretary agreed to order stocks of “blinkers” ( flashing lights) for use during winter training, plus ensure an ongoing supply of gloves.

Social Secretary:

The Social Secretary confirmed that we had been unable to recover the deposit to Braishfield Hall from the Barbecue which was cancelled, so this amount would have to be written off
ACTION: Treasurer to note
A proposal was tabled to book Ampfield Golf Club for the Presentation Dinner – cost would be £30 per head but a deposit of £300 was required to secure the room. The Committee agreed that the Club was willing to underwrite this deposit.
ACTION: Treasurer to provide cheque for £300 to Social Secretary

Press Secretary:

More excellent press coverage has been secured recently. The Press Secretary will adapt the results sheet to provide an opportunity for comments about races, which will assist her in writing the press releases.

Fixtures Secretary:

The Fixtures Secretary reported a lot of interest in the Pentathlon – he intends to promote this more, and in particular to reinforce the criteria for inclusion – namely that races must be on road, of a certified distance, and in Hampshire or neighbouring counties.
ACTION: Fixtures Secretary to publish information on Pentathlon and Cross Country Awards in the next newsletter.

Treasurer:

The Treasurer’s report was read to the meeting. The Club Bank balance currently stands at £3682.71. The new account with Nat West should finally be open by 19 September so new cheques can be raised from 22 September onwards. The only bill currently outstanding is a payment of £415 due to England Athletics.

Newsletter Editor:

The Newsletter Editor confirmed that the latest issue had now been distributed. Distribution had been considerably improved by adding the name of individual members to the top of each newsletter, encouraging members to take copies for fellow members. The Newsletter Editor registered his thanks to David Nixon for this suggestion.

England Athletics:

The Secretary reported that, in line with the views of the majority of the committee, the database of active Club Members had been updated on the England Athletics website, generating an invoice of £415 for this year’s individual member affiliation fees ( 83 active members @ £5 each)
This would be paid by the Club for this year but a policy needed to be agreed as to how we handle this going forward.
After some discussion it was agreed that the best solution was for the Club to continue to pay the individual member fees, which would be part of the annual subscription fee, UNLESS a member chose to “opt out “ in which case they could be eligible for a reduced membership fee.
ACTION: Treasurer to propose next year’s subscriptions, based on including EA affiliation fees within the annual subs. Reduced fee to be available if members undertake not to compete in EA races and hence to waive membership of EA.
This proposal to be tabled at the AGM
ACTION: Membership Secretary would also need to incorporate this into the membership form.

London Marathon:

The Secretary confirmed that she had applied for this year’s Club places in the London Marathon.
ACTION: Secretary/ Session Leader to remind members at Club Nights to retain rejection slips from the Marathon as this will be needed to apply for a Club place.

Parking at Woodley Hall:

The Newsletter Editor read an e-mail received from fellow users of Braishfield Village Hall ( those attending dance classes) about the perceived lack of parking on a Monday evening and a request to split the available places 50/50 between athletes and dancers.
He had conducted a study that evening and found that there were 38 athletes at training, but using only 18 car parking spaces, leaving a total of 14 for other users which appears to be more than adequate.
It was agreed that we would encourage athletes to share cars/ walk/ cycle to the Hall where possible, and also encourage thoughtful parking, but that no further action should be necessary. If a problem continues we may need to refer this issue to the Hall Committee.
ACTION: Newsletter Editor to respond as above – thanks from the Committee for dealing with this issue.

A.O.B:

The Fixtures Secretary suggested organizing either a racing or training weekend away for Club Members. There was considerable support for this suggestion and the Fixtures Secretary agreed to explore further.
ACTION: Fixtures Secretary to table a proposal.

The Newsletter Editor remarked that punctuality had slipped recently and that training ought to start more promptly. All agreed that we should call for messages at 6.30pm so that training can begin promptly thereafter.

Awards - Sally Sillence, Road Runner of the Year, Chairmans Awards – need to be resolved before the presentation evening.
ACTION: Secretary to add to next agenda
ACTION: Social Secretary to include a voting slip for Romsey Road Runner of the Year on the booking form for the Presentation Dinner

The Session Leader reminded Committee Members that if members wish to change from First to Second Claim or vice versa, there is a procedure which needs to be followed in accordance with EA rules.

The Session Leader also drew attention to the fact that the route of the Braishfield Beer Race may need to change in future because of Health and Safety considerations – there was growing concern over races which involve a right turn over a main road.
ACTION: Session Leader to e-mail Race Director to alert him of this possibility.

Next Meeting:

Date of next meeting is 27 October.

There being no other business, the meeting closed at 9pm.