ENDURANCE GB SOUTH EAST GROUP

 

MINUTES OF BRANCH ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

HELD ON SATURDAY 9th DECEMBER, 2006

AT FELBRIDGE VILLAGE HALL, FELBRIDGE, SURREY

 

Committee Present:     Peter Davenport (Chairman)                   Leo Davenport (Treasurer)

                                    Su Middleton (Newsletter)                      James Chipperfield (Teams)

                                    Jane Cook (Secretary)                            Karen Carruthers (PR, Marketing & Merchandise)                                    Margaret Montgomerie (Groups Rep & Rides co-ordinator)

                                   

1.      Apologies for Absence

Apologies were received from Nicola Cramond, Ursula Wanostrocht, Fiona Hamilton, Heather Rishman, Jo Youngs, Sharon Covey, Lesley Groves, Charlotte Evans, Maggie Pattinson and Tracy Attfield.

2.   Minutes of Annual General Meeting 3rd December, 2005

These were approved and signed. Proposed by Karen Whittington. Seconded by Julia Harman.

3.   Matters Arising

      There were no matters arising

4.   Chairman’s Report

The Chairman reported a busy year with lots to report.  Starting at a local level and then moving on to national issues.

RIDES.

Within the SE Group there were 12 National ride days, 7 SE TRs and 3 escorted TRs.  As ever many thanks to all the ride organisers in particular to Jane Cook, Charlotte Evans and Diana Stewart for organising their first rides.  Personally I was sorry that we had to cancel Glassenbury due to changes in Bedgebury Forest, after an 18 year involvement with the ride Leo & I certainly felt that something was missing in July this year.

Ride changes for 2007:

·          Beachy Head to revert back to a SE TR instead of a national ride.

·          2 new national rides, both the Southdowns at Findon and Hornshill are returning, thanks to Rosemary for resurrecting these events.

·          The Chartham TR is taking a break in 2007, hopefully to return in 2008.

·          The Penshurst TR is not running due to the complexity of the route that is entirely on private land.

So confirmed are 13 national rides and 5 SE TRs.

I have one new SE TR looking for a co-organiser, Bryony Dickins will help co-organise a new ride in Friston Forest from the Beachy Head venue however she needs a co-organiser, any offers?  An experienced ride organiser will mentor as required so you will not be left on your own.  There is another potential SE TR from Pyecombe that could be run but needs an organiser or two.

TEAMS.

What a good year, may thanks to James for co-ordinating it all.

·          3 SE Teams entered the Mini Rufus Relay and did well.  3 teams of 4 horses each.

·          Our Team came 2nd in the Lindum Spirit Relay, 4 x 40km.  A 4-horse team.

·          And in the big event our team came 2nd in the Ludlow Inter-regional event.  A team of 10 horses.

In total 21 riders entered as part of a SE Team, some more than once, well done to all of you.  And in a team event I cannot forget to thank the crews who generally have to work much harder and for longer than on a normal ride.

Thanks to the generosity of Herografix (the supplier of the SE merchandise) and Clayson Landscapes our teams were always extremely well presented in their team shirts and were the envy of all the other groups.  Thanks to Karen and James for organising this on behalf of the team members.  I believe that James wants to organise a team photo later, he will I am sure tell you what, where and when.

NATIONAL RIDER RESULTS

I cannot present this report without mentioning some of the brilliant results that some South East Group riders have had during the year.  Both Diane Barlow and Karen Whittington seemed to have a large assortment of prizes at the national AGM.  The Hornshill Team has had a great year and in particular Fi Hamilton made the Young Rider trophies her own at the national awards.  Although not an EGB event Fi’s success at the Arab Marathon was also a spectacular result and was combined with a very fast time.

SOCIAL EVENTS.

Pub nights continue to be generally well supported, naturally some better than others.  In total I hosted 12 nights in East & West Sussex, Su & Karen ran one a month in Surrey and there was one in Kent.  If you want one in your area then tell your nearest committee member and they will be pleased to set one up or alternatively tell me and I will help you to organise one.

COMMITTEE.

A year of change for various reasons, which Jane will detail later.  Many thanks to everyone involved in the committee for their hard work and please remember that our sole objective is to promote a fun and enjoyable sport for everyone involved.

NEW SOUTHERN GROUP.

Many of you will know that a new southern EGB group has been proposed, the idea apparently to promote the interests of EGB members in the west of the South East Group and the east of the Wessex Group.  The current proposal from Rosemary, Denise Passant and Andrea Baker is for the new group to have an area between the A24 and the west side of the New Forest and up to the M4, 2/3 of this area comes from the south east group and the remainder from Wessex.  The view of the SE committee is that all of the proposed ideas for rides, training and social events can be better organised within the existing group structure.

Approx 44% of EGB members in the SE Group live in the proposed new area, naturally they all have the choice of which group to join should it happen.  The concern of the committee is that to potentially lose such a high proportion of our existing membership would weaken the existing group for no real benefit.  This AGM for example would be smaller, a probable inability to raise teams from within the group without joining up with a neighbouring group and an associated problem with sponsorship etc., a reduced number of rides in each group with the associated problem of getting helpers to run the rides combined with a likely reduction in the group newsletter and reduction in the financial strength of the group

In summary the committee cannot at this time see a benefit in starting a new group.  However, should one be formally proposed then all the current SE Group members should be asked for their opinion as you will all be affected in some way and should therefore be able to have your input.

If you want to discuss this proposal further we can do it later in AOB.

NATIONAL AGM

Generally an upbeat and positive event and included an emotional farewell event for Wendy Dunham as the retiring Chairman.

The finances of EGB are now in very good order with an anticipated surplus for 2006 of £54k being very good news.  Currently over £100k on deposit and John Yeoman very encouraged for the future.  As a result the subscription fees and ride entry fees for 2007 are unchanged.

The one disappointing news is that membership dropped by 150 during 2006 to approx 2100, 15% of the total being new members.   As a consequence a membership drive will be pushed during 2007.  To help this the initial joining fee has been reduced to £10 for 2007 as an experiment.

Unfortunately neither James or Rosemary were successful in the elections for the committee however both of them got a respectable number of votes, better luck next time to both of you.

The revised rules package for 2007 was adopted by a huge majority.  We can come back to these later if you want to discuss them further.

Some important changes are:

·          The pre-ride farriers check will be brought back for 2007.

·          There will be no vet penalties, vets will either pass or fail on a fit to continue basis only.  It is expected that vets will always take a second opinion if a horse is failed for any reason.

·          The post ride vetting for competitive rides (the new name for Graded or set speed rides) will be at any time up to 30mins after the finish.  This has implications for organisers and the TS as how to handle the vetsheets and timecards.

·          Set speed rides have now disappeared.

·          Ride gradings are now based solely on finish heart rate.

·          Horses can be presented for pre-ride vetting in either a headcollar or a bridle.

There was a discussion on children from aged12 upwards being eligible, if qualified, for ERs, the current rule is from aged 13 upwards.  A straw poll was against this idea, the MC will consider the idea further.

All the other members proposals were either withdrawn or defeated.

And finally please remember that Karen has the merchandise stand here today and I hope you will all buy those elusive Christmas presents that I know you all still need.  Richard Dickins, our star ride photographer, is also here and can provide superb photos from many of our rides this year, a nice big framed print would be an ideal present for your favourite horse or rider.

 

5.   Secretary’s Report

The committee have met 6 times during 2006 in and various pubs in and around Bletchingly.

 

During the year, there have been 4 resignations from the committee:

 

Diane Barlow who got everyone enthused about teams using several methods including not taking no as an answer; James Chipperfield was co-opted on to the committee to take on the teams role and he and Diane worked closely together to ensure a smooth handover of the responsibilities. 

 

Liz Walton to whom grateful thanks for all her tireless work as Trophies Secretary over the past few years and Paul Titcomb who has resigned as Health and Safety Officer, to whom thanks must also go for making health and safety straightforward for all the South East Group ride organisers.  Georgie Calcutt has also decided to resign as Rides Equipment Organiser.  Georgie has always managed to get the right equipment to the right place at the right time, which is no mean feat.  They will all be extremely hard acts to follow. 

 

We have had a wide range of enquiries as a result of the South East Group Website – our thanks must go to Julia Harman for keeping the site up to date, which is a full time job in itself.

 

The South East Group will be running 2 training events early in 2007 - details of which are all around the room – so there will be no excuses for not knowing about them and getting the dates in your diary.

 

Finally, I’d like to let everyone know that at the National AGM two weeks ago Peter and Leo Davenport were the proud recipients of the Unsung Hero Trophy, which is presented by Rosettes Direct to those, who in the opinion of the EGB Management Committee do sterling works on behalf of EGB for little or no recognition and without whom EGB would not exist.

 

6.   Treasurer’s Report

As you may remember, EGB nationally altered their financial year last season to run for a calendar year from 1st January to 31st December.  Previously it ran from 1st September to 31st August in the following season.  Therefore, the accounts I presented here at last year’s meeting were for the year ending 31st August 2005.  To start this financial year on 1st January 2006, EGB declared the period 1st September 2005 until 31st December 2005 to be an extra financial “year”.  Therefore, it is the accounts for this financial “year” that I am presenting tonight.  Obviously the items shown there encompass the last few rides of the season in September 05, last year’s Annual Meeting income and expenses, and newsletter subscriptions for 2006 received before 31st December 2005.

As these accounts refer to a time nearly a year ago, I have also prepared a set of draft accounts up to 6th Dec for our current financial year, from 1st January 2006 to 31st December 2006.  Obviously there may well be a little additional income and expenditure incurred during the rest of this month before the year end, but this should give you a fairly accurate picture of our current financial standing.  As you can see we have maintained a stable position over the year with our income and expenses nearly equalling one another. 

Our income comes from newsletter subscriptions and adverts, entry fees from training rides (not competitive rides which go directly to national), seminars and other training events, ticket sales for our supper tonight, and the excellent group merchandise organised by Karen Carruthers.  We were also very grateful to receive £500 sponsorship from Clayson Landscapes, which was used to reimburse entry fees paid by our team members at Lindum Spirit Relay and the Inter-regionals at Ludlow. 

Our expenditure has been on training ride expenses and rosettes, newsletter and publicity printing, postage and stationery, committee travel expenses, seminar & training event expenses, food costs for tonight, rosettes and trophies for tonight, replacing items of our group ride equipment, purchasing the group merchandise, and web-site hosting (covering 2 years for a discounted price).  We also made donations of £1535.36 to various charities as agreed with our individual training ride organisers.  That is £100 to Headway from Hale Court Ride, £489.36 to Teenage Cancer Trust from Black Knight, £346 to Cobbes Hill RDA from Chartham, £500 to Great Ormond Street Hospital and £200 to TROT from Penshurst.  In addition, we have sent £475 to EGB nationally.

On that subject, I am pleased to report that John Yeomans announced at the recent national AGM that, for 2007 only as a trial period, he is waiving the necessity of Groups making a contribution.  Instead each Group is to spend the money on purchasing new ride bibs and other equipment to ensure that everything is marked EGB (rather than BERA or EHPS), and any surplus on promoting increased membership.  As we announced this time last year, we had already ring-fenced the money to purchase a new set of fluourescent orange reflective bibs that are here tonight hot off the press.  We have yet to be invoiced for them, but that will be approx. £1,100.  Therefore I would imagine that we will end the year at 31st December with a bank balance of approx. £1800.

On the membership front, there are approx. 240 EGB members living in our area, and we have 171 subscribers to Su’s excellent newsletter, increased from 148 in 2005, and already, before tonight, we have 81 renewed for 2007.  Primarily due to increasing postage costs, the committee have decided to increase the subscription by £1 in 2007 to £8.50 for the 4 issues.  We continue to give a free subscription to anyone helping at 3 or more rides in the previous season.  Therefore, I can confirm that the following will be receiving a free subscription in 2007 and thank them all most sincerely for all their hard work and support.

·          Kay & Alan Anstey

·          Karen Carruthers

·          James Chipperfield

·          Dorothy Chuter

·          Jane Cook

·          Peter & Leo Davenport

·          Bryony Dickins

·          Sallie Dudley

·          Moira Evans

·          Ann Gresham

·          Lesley Groves

·          Penny Hook

·          Alison Kemp

·          Clare King

·          Marie Lehtimaki

·          Carol McLean

·          Su Middleton

·          Margaret Montgomerie

·          Ellie Osborne

·          Caroline Thompson

      The accounts were proposed by Sally Clay and seconded by Karen Whittington.

 

7.   Election of Committee

      The Chairman advised the meeting that Leo Davenport, Jane Cook and Margaret Montgomerie were due to retire from the committee at the end of their term but had agreed to stand again for election.  James Chipperfield who had been co-opted in January was also willing to stand for election.  Nominations had been received from Bryony Dickins, Clare Sadler and Gemma Bishop. There being 7 places available on the committee, all 7 were duly elected to the committee for a period of three years.  The Chairman advised that there were 10 members of the committee in total – being the optimum committee size.

 

8.   Eligibility for Trophies Rules – Helping at Rides in 2007.  A discussion to guide the committee.

8.1    That every rider should help twice per year instead of once.

8.2    That a day spent setting-up the venue or marking/demarking should count as one help.

8.3    That organising and escorting members on a series of advertised “open to all” unmarked training rides, for which a ride entry fee is charged, should count as one help.

8.4    That organising/manning seminars, exhibition stands and other dismounted training activities should count as one help per event.

8.5    That Group business carried out throughout the year by non-committee members should count as one help, e.g. updating the website.

8.6    That, if two helps are required, one should be restricted to South East Group national competitive rides only.

 

The Chairman reminded members that currently, in order to be eligible for the SE Group trophy scheme, members had to help with at least one ride.

Rosemary Attfield asked if consideration be taken that crews could be allowed to help, has had been the case with the previous society.  She also asked that owners should be able to help instead of the rider of the horse. Sheelagh Reardon said that many riders are crewless and that there would be a very unfair advantage on those who do it all themselves.

The Chairman asked if members would consider help in other activities eg. seminars, trade stands, website.

Sheelagh Reardon considered help to mean giving up a ride day.

The Chairman commented that there was much more going in within the SE Group and that without the help of the membership, the activities would not go ahead.

Other members commented that it should be the rider that helps and that the help cannot be delegated.

Penny Hook commented that at the Beachy Head ride, they have a family of 5 that helps and should that count as 5 helps for the rider, as she considered this unfair on those who don’t have outside help to take their place.  Hilary Weaver echoed the comments above.

Penny Hook asked that consideration be taken into providing incentives for those who help and went on to suggest a PR voucher perhaps, to help with the cost of competing.

Diana Stewart suggested that perhaps the Group were not tapping into everyone as not all who ride are interested in the Trophy Scheme.

The Chairman commented that there was currently no mechanismt to get willing volunteers that that a ‘carrot’ was needed.

Pat Corrigon said that ride organisers desperately need help on ride days and went on to suggest that in order to qualify for the Trophy Scheme, that members should have to help with at least 2 rides.

The Chairman asked whether helping with the ride marking andt de-marking should count as a help, as currently it did not and after all it was a substantial contribution to the success of the ride.  This was a popular proposal with the membership in attendance.

Clair Bruce questioned whether helping at a 2 day ride would count as 2 helps.  It was confirmed that it would.

The Chairman asked for a show of hands whether in order to qualify for the 2007 Trophy Scheme, SE Group members should help with 2 rides per year (not a formal proposal, just feedback for the committee).  All who voted were in favour, none against and no abstentions.

Bryony Dickins considered that help days should be such that the rider gives up the opportunity to earn points at that ride.  In other words - that the rider isn't able to ride on the day of the ride & so doesn't get any points on their card.  So just helping to set up the day before would mean they could still ride and get trophy points as well.

The Chairman asked for a show of hands whether a minimum of one help should be at a national EGB ride in the SE Group.  The chairman noted that in the proposed schedule for 2007, the SEG had 13 national rides and that the majority of the trophies in the SEG Trophy Scheme only took into consideration the best 10 rides).  All who voted were in favour, none against andThere was only one abstention.

The Chairman asked for a show of hands with regard to whether the second help should be restricted to the rider (eg. not the crew or another family member).  This vote was not unanimous, but a significant majority were in favour of the second help being the rider only.  It was further agreed that the second help need not be a national EGB ride in the SEG, but could be helping at a trade stand, seminar, or the website.  The Chairman commented that fewer helpers were needed at a seminar than a ride.  A question was raised from the floor as to who would have the final decision as to what would qualify as a help.  The Chairman confirmed that this would be a committee decision and that clarification would be published in the forthcoming newsletter.  It was confirmed that pub nights would not count as a help.

The Chairman reminded members that this discussion was about the rules for the coming 2007 season.

Kate Curry commented that the wording will need to be considered very carefully so they were clear and concise and couldn’t be misconstrued.

Gail Jupp asked that consideration be given for young riders and the type of help that they are able to give.

Karen Whittington said that the committee were more than capable and asked that they go and put something together for publication at the earliest opportunity.

Julia Harman asked for assurance that the rules would be very clear and that they couldn’t be misinterpreted.

The Chairman responded that they would be crystal clear, but that there may be events in the future that have not yet been planned and that might need to be taken into consideration.  He further commented that he understood the concerns of the membership.

The Chairman assured the meeting that the committee would meet early in the new year and that a sub-committee would be asked to work on the 2007 trophy scheme rules, based on the wishes of the membership at this meeting.

     

9.   Any Other Business

·    It was confirmed that the Beachy Head ride would be a national EGB ride

·    Susan Hawes thanked the members for their support and confirmed that she had raised at least £7,000 in aid of The Teenage Cancer Trust.

·    Susan Hawes asked Rosemary Attfield for her thoughts about the proposed split of the SE Group.  Rosemary responded that Wendy Dunham hads been approached initially by members in the east of the Wessex Group.  Members in the New Forest / Winchester areas felt they were out on a limb and part of neither the SE or Wessex groups.  Rosemary added that the concerns were more about the social side than rides being provided by each group.  She added that the SE was a huge group and that it was a long way to travel to social events at the other end of the group.  The Chairman noted that at the recent meeting in the Alresford Area he had commented that members in the area needed to be prepared to put on social events or rides, rather than wait for the committee to do it for them.  The committee were more than happy to assist and ring round to find interested parties, but asked who would be prepared to put on social events if a new group were started?

·    Karen Whittington thanked the committee, on behalf of the membership, for their tireless work during the year.

 

The meeting closed at 8.25pm