HMS. COLLINGWOOD
2012 AGM
FRIDAY 20th APRIL at the
TILLINGTON HALL HOTEL
STAFFORD
1. Chairman’s Welcome
The Chairman welcomed all members to the AGM, he said that it had been a hectic year with a number of things happening and some that shouldn’t have! He advised the meeting that our President, Tom Stratton, had suffered a slight stroke and would not be attending. The meetings sympathy went to our President and his wife.
2. Apologies for Absence
Harry Cotteral; Henry Halford; Tom Stratton.
3. Member’s who have Crossed the Bar
Thomas Lamb Afflick; William Ian Dickinson; John E Leach; Harold Lingard; Eric Parsons; Norman Richards; Malcolm Swan; Ken Wardle; Thomas Bryan Coxford.
4. One Minute Silence
A minutes silence was held in honour of those who had crossed the bar.
5. Secretaries Report
The Secretary, who volunteered and was voted in at the last AGM, resigned as Secretary and from the Association. The Chairman said that he had wanted to make drastic changes the Constitution which would have affected the Associations agreement which HMRC and he also wanted to get rid of Isle of Wight Tours, he was told he could not do things like that without agreement of the Association at the AGM. He had also failed to produce minutes for the last AGM.
The Membership Secretary had agreed to act as Secretary for this meeting. Thanks were given to the Welfare Officer who had produced minutes from memory and the minutes were agreed.
Matters Arising from the Minutes – Data Protection Act: The Chairman said that we had had a reply from the Solicitor and the crux of the matter was that we must have written permission for the details to be displayed on the web site. Those who joined the Association more recently had the opportunity to confirm their agreement for this to be done on the Membership Application Form and we need to get agreement from those who joined earlier. We could put limited information on the Web where the member’s full address is not displayed, if anyone wanted to contact the member it could be done through the Membership Secretary who would obtain the members permission to pass on details.
6. Chairman/Treasures Report
Chairman - The Chairman stated that he has been told to wind down on some of his activities and as a result is standing down from this role in the Association; however he is willing to carry on as Treasurer.
Treasurer – The Association is spending more than our income. The ‘Subs holiday’ we had was very difficult to administer as many member pay by Standing Order/Direct Debit which meant cancelling the mandates and raising new mandates after the subs holiday was over. The Treasurer proposed an increase in the subs to £7 this was seconded by Derek Moore, all agreed. The increase will come into effect on 1st January 2013.
The Treasurer has purchased 1200 second class stamps before the price rise; this will enable three editions of The Shipmate to be sent out.
The Treasurer presented an audited balance sheet of the Associations finances and asked if there were any questions regarding it. Derek Moore proposed the balance sheet be accepted, this was seconded by Ted Williams and all agreed.
7. Membership Secretaries Report
Since the last AGM we have had two resignations and four new members, the overall membership has reduced due to those who have crossed the bar. Ted William’s asked what the total membership was, the Membership Secretary did not have the exact number but it was thought to be about 300.
Post Meeting Note: The Membership Secretary was able to confirm that there are 296 members.
8. Welfare
The Welfare Officer reported that we had had a better year than last year, with fewer members crossing the bar. A problem he is having is that he does not know members have crossed the bar until two to three months after they have died, when it is too late to send a condolence card. He asked members to advise him if they are aware that someone is ill, or if they had died and he will contact the family.
The Welfare Officer had also noted that there were no Committee Members telephone number in The Shipmate and suggested that they should be. The rest of the Committee agreed, the Membership Secretary will contact the Editor and ask him to add them.
9. Website
Brian Cox advised that all recent new members have come through the website, and most weeks he gets questions about people and the Association, he even had a call from the USA to confirm that s person had worked at HMS Collingwood! There is a new website is under construction and is about half complete.
Slops
Derek Moore resigned a Slops Manager due to health reasons. Ken Waugh proposed a vote of thanks for all his and Vivienne’s work on the Slops, Dennis Patterson seconded and the meeting endorsed this.
10. Election of Officers
The Chairman asked the meeting for volunteers to fill the positions of Chairman; Secretary and Slops Manager. None were forthcoming.
The Chairman said that the other positions on the Committee were not due for re-election hence the current members could stay in their positions.
The Chairman then read out an e-mail he had received from Mike Crowe in which he offered to return as Chairman /Secretary and would also cover any necessary Publicity. He went on to say that he believed Mike’s proposal is the only option there is for keeping the Association alive.
Brian Cox said he resigns from his official position as he believes in the Association. He went on to say that he also believes that the only way for the Association to move on is to have Mike Crowe back on board, he founded the Association got it off the ground, and make the most of his energy and organisational skills.
A member from the floor asked “Who is making assertions to Mike Crow”? The Chairman responded that he did not know who they all were but he knows people who have said the same to him.
The Chairman proposed we accept Mike Crowes offer, Derek Moore seconded the motion and a vote was held: 17 votes For; 2 votes Against; 10 Abstentions. The proposal was carried.
Derek Moore said he was prepared to hold the Slops until a new Manager was found and Peter Lacey said he was prepared to continue as interim Secretary until Mike Crowe took the reins.
Derek Moore proposed a vote of thanks to the Committee, Ted Williams seconded the proposal and the meeting showed their appreciation.
Any Other Business
- A member asked if we had any ties with HMS Collingwood. Currently we don’t, Brian Cox said tha there is a Civilian Public Relations Officer there and she has a web address if we wanted to make contact. There is an HMS Collingwood Open Day on 26th May, this would be a good day to have a presence there and wear our Collingwood Blazers. It is understood that Mike Crowe is having a stand there together with contacts and as our new Chairman and Secretary will almost certainly represent us.
- Stafford/Stone have adopted HMS Collingwood and gave it the ‘Freedom of the City’ in 1979 and Collingwood is regularly represented at events. This came about as Admiral John Jervis, Lord St Vincent came from nearby Beaford and Stafford/Stone adopted HMS St Vincent which closed in 1969 all the links were transferred to HMS Collinwood. It was asked if we should make Stafford our permanent home for the Association?
- The question of reinstating the mini reunion was raised, but it was stated we need more numbers attending for it to be viable. It was asked who would like an October/November mini reunion, Remembrance weekend was considered a good time to have it, there was about a 30% show of hands for it to be reinstated and none against it, therefore it should be reinstated. Derek Moore suggested we skip this year and see what happens under Mike Crowe and make it an agenda item for the next AGM.
- The Collingwood Association has two life memberships for the annual Memorial at Blandford in Dorset for the Collingwood Battalion which was wiped out at Galipoli. It is held on the first weekend in June and two members can attend, Brian Cox and Tom Stratton go each year through a separate association. The event is well attended by ‘Top Brass’ of Dorset, the Sherriff attends in Medieval Costume.
11. We normally give the Raffle money to a charity Derek Moore propose we keep it for AssociationCostume.
funds this year, Ivor Dando seconded and all agreed.
- A question was asked can we have The Shipmate in larger print for those with sight difficulties. It was thought that this might be difficult but we would explore it and having an audio version made although this would obviously be unable to show photographs.
12. Next AGM
Keith Rabbetts proposed we have the next AGM in Weymouth, this was seconded by Ted Williams there was a good show of hands in favour of this.
13. Close of Meeting
The Chairman thanked all those present for attending and closed the meeting.
14. Tot Time
Peter Lacey, Membership Secretary.
