2017 AGM Minutes

Chelmsford & District Welsh Society

Minutes of the AGM held on 26th June 2019

at Chelmsford Cathedral Chapter House

 

There were 53 members present including a representative from SNAP.

Following the singing of ‘Unwaith Eto Nghymru Annwyl’, the President welcomed everyone to the Annual General Meeting, including two new members.

  1. Apologies for absence were received from Cynthia Styles, Buddug & Ray Rowland Frank, Enid & John Morris, Margaret Cox, John Armishaw, Don Moody and Eileen Davy.                                                                
  1. The minutes of the last AGM held on 27th June 2018 were agreed and signed by the President, Ivy Price. The minutes are available to view on the Society’s website.                                                                             
  1. President’s Report-Ivy Price gave us a report of her year as President, and mentioned that it had been a pleasure and a very busy year. Ivy thanked everyone for their support. She mentioned how each month had been different and varied, with quite a few home spun evenings as well as visiting speakers. Her favourite was Deborah John from Swansea with her Edwardian Maid monologue. ‘Ar eich Cais’ was another highlight, and she thanked the members for contributing. The St David’s Day dinner was another successful evening and Ivy thanked Liz Armishaw , Kay Bright and David Brown for their work involved with organising the dinner.

The trip to Wales was a great success, and the daily trips were great fun, and the evening entertainment were all excellent. A special ‘Thank you’ to Mike Price for organising the trip and to Carys Williams for organising the financial side of the trip.

The Annual Concert was also a great success. Thank you to Arthur Williams for organising the whole event. Thanks also to the Bridgend Male Voice Choir and Serin for giving us an uplifting evening.

Ivy mentioned how our charity events have raised a substantial amount of money and thanked all members who hosted an event.

A very special thank you also to Don & Shirley Moody for letting us use their home for so many events.

Nearly all tickets have been sold for the ‘Afternoon tea’. Ivy also mentioned that the church services had been pleasant, and appealed to everyone to make an effort to attend next year.                         

Lastly, Ivy thanked the committee members for their hard work every month and to Buddug Rowland Frank and Enid Morris, who are stepping down from the committee.

  1. Treasurer’s report- Carys Williams gave Ivy and Mike Price a special ‘Thank you’ for a fantastic year. Carys mentioned that the standard and quality of the visiting speakers were exceptional. Carys presented her financial report which had been made available to all those present. A copy of the report is attached to these minutes for filing. Carys gave a detailed analysis of income and expenditure with comparisons between the current year and the position in 2018.

Carys mentioned that the only guaranteed money is the annual subscription from our members. The outing to Wales and the St David’s Day dinner made a surplus, which made up for the expenditure. Carys mentioned that the committee had discussed increasing the membership subscription from £20 to £25, to be able to maintain the standard of speakers and entertainment for our monthly meetings. The members were ask for a show of hands to show their agreement, and it was agreed that the subscription would increase to £25 in September.

The society has a healthy balance towards funding the coming year, and Carys mentioned that the concert also made a good profit. Carys thanked Gwil & Maureen Williams for organising and promoting the concert at High Chelmer Shopping Centre, and also thanked Liz & Jim Armishaw and Brian Framer for their effort with selling the tickets.

Carys also thanked Eddie Alcock for auditing the accounts and helping with the balance sheet. Carys finished her report by saying that we should also be proud of our society and long may it continue.                                               

  1. Presentation of a cheque to the President’s Charity-‘SNAP’- The president presented a cheque to the value of £1750 to Nicola Hitchcock, a representative from SNAP. Nicola thanked the society for the generous donation and for supporting SNAP again. Nicola mentioned that the charity have supported over 4,000 families since they started and currently have 2,700 families on their books receiving support. Ivy Price also presented Nicola with a money box full of small donations from our members. Ivy Price thanked Nicola for coming to accept the cheque.
  1. Handing over the Presidency-Ivy Price handed over the Presidency of the Society for 2019/20- to Liz Armishaw. Liz thanked members for the honour and privilege of being Society President for the second time and was delighted to welcome Arthur Williams as her Vice-President. Liz thanked Ivy Price for a fantastic, interesting and entertaining year. She also thanked Ivy & Mike Price for all that they do for the society.

Liz   mentioned that the J’s Hospice is her chosen charity for the year.  Liz thanked Eddie Alcock for his work as Auditor of the society, and also thanked Enid Morris and Buddug Rowland Frank for their loyal service to the society over the years. A special ‘Thank you’ was also given to John Morris for his work.               

  1. Election of Officers-Vice President-Arthur Williams; Secretary-Gwenno Pope; Treasurer -Carys Williams; Auditor-Eddie Alcock.
  2. Election of committee members-the following members were appointed to serve on the committee for 2019-20-Jim Armishaw, David Brown, Edith Brown, Mike Price, Shirley Moody, Ivy Price, Kay Bright, Sina Williams, Ann Simpson, Brian Farmer and Gwil Williams. One new member was also accepted on to the committee–Sue Almond.
  1. AOB-Janet Wash, one of the original founder members of the society, gave some supportive words to Liz Armishaw and the committee for all their work involved with running the society.

Following a strawberry supper provided by the catering committee, Gwil and Maureen Williams ran a fun and enjoyable quiz, and presented each member of the winning team with cakes baked by Maureen.

 

The meeting concluded with the singing of the Welsh National Anthem.