AGM Minutes 2020

Time: 16:00, Saturday 25th April 2020
Location: Zoom Meeting

Present

James Baker (Manager)
Claire Mollart (Membership Coordinator)
Phil Jones (Treasurer)
Hayley Butterworth (Socials Coordinator)
Sarah Paget (Social Media Coordinator)
Chris McCandless-Stone (Deputy Volunteer Head of Active Support)
Louise Azavedo
Michael Barrett
Rebecca Bentley
David Bloomfield
Emily Brown
Graham Carrington
Mary Cascioli
Edward Cubitt
Fi Durrant
Hannah Dyer
Andrew Falconer
Matthew Fox
Kaylee Gault
Tiffany Golding
James Hage
Rachel Harrison
Michael Hart
Bethanie Headworth (and her chicken, Olive)
Helen Heenan
Michael Hobday
Adam Jasko
George Johnson
David Legge
Jenny Levene
Rhodri Lewis
Laurence Marchant
Ben Martin
Bev Martin
Ian Maynard
Caroline McCann
Tom Metcalfe
Aimee Mollart
Matthew Mollart
Rebecca Mollart
David Morton
Karen Newton
Andrew Norman
Shay Norman
Jake Orros
Emma Panton
Nicola Parkinson
Edward Phillips
Aaron Pinder
Ellissa Joy Roberts
Charles Rounce
Asher Smith
Steve Smith
Nina Sparks
James Stafford
Tracey Stevenson-Gay
Jemma Thompson
Cat Tyler
Matthew Wheeler
Martin Whelan
Daniel Wilcock
Tom Wilkinson
Robert Williams
Lee Woolsey
Michael Worthy
Colin Young

Apologies

Jessica Brown
Duncan Ford

Welcome

James Baker (Manager) welcomed everyone to the meeting, and thanked them for attending.

Approval of Minutes

The AGM Minutes 2019 were proposed by Matthew Fox and seconded by Jake Orros.

Committee Reports

Reports from the members of the committee were presented, and these are available at Annual Report 2020. James Baker read the report of Caroline Hicks (Membership Coordinator) in her absence.

Approval of Accounts

The accounts were proposed by Chris McCandless-Stone and seconded by Emma Panton.

A comment was made by Chris McCandless-Stone that the surplus needs to be reduced. Phil responded that we had significantly reduced the surplus since last year, and that we had recently purchased new flags to reduce it further.

Another question was asked regarding why the surplus needed to be reduced, and Phil explained that this was because we are a charitable organisation and that any money we collect should be being used (i.e. we shouldn't be making a "profit").

Elections

Two positions were up for election this year, the Events Coordinator role and the Social Media role.

Michael Barrett, Matthew Fox and Nina Sparks all stood for Events Coordinator, and each gave a short pitch as to why they should be elected. An online, anonymous vote was then held and Matthew Fox was elected into the position.

Sarah Paget stood unopposed as Social Media Coordinator, and was re-elected into the position.

Deputy Volunteer Head of Active Support

Chris McCandless-Stone (Deputy Volunteer Head of Active Support) spoke for a few minutes. He started by congratulating James Baker on his renewed tenure as QSWP Manager, and Matthew Fox for being newly appointed to the Events Coordinator role.

Chris said the QSWP has had another strong year, and that the 75th Anniversary was a good example of how strong the QSWP was. He said that 2020 had been got off to a challenging start with the COVID-19 pandemic, and that there were uncertain times ahead; but that he was sure that everyone in the QSWP would do their best to support local and national Scouting as it faces these challenges.

Chris encouraged everyone to take part in national initiatives such as the Hike to the Moon, and to also consider using some of the time to catch up on training.

Chris finished by thanking everyone on behalf of headquarters for everything they do, and offered a challenge to everyone to make 2020 the year that they tried something different. He suggested initially that might be within the QSWP (e.g. a new event), but that it also extended to friends and family who are important at the present time.

Weekend Away

2020 - Bispham Hall Scout Estate

James Baker outlined the plan for this year's Weekend Away, which is to take place at Bispham Hall Scout Estate near Wigan. He stated that we still hoped it would go ahead despite the ongoing COVID-19 situation, but that we would obviously only do so if it was safe and in keeping with national and Scouting guidelines at the time. He encouraged everyone to sign up via the Portal anyway, and promised further information nearer the time.

2021 - Change of Date

James Baker pointed out that next year's Weekend Away would clash with the Everest Base Camp trip that many members are taking part with, if it is held in October as usual. We will therefore look to move the Weekend Away to a different time of year. This will be discussed with the committee, and an announcement made in due course (although maybe not for a few months, whilst we wait to see how this year's Weekend Away is affected by COVID-19).

Poacher 2021

James Baker encouraged everyone to sign up to the Poacher 2021 Jamboree as QSWP (via the Portal), as we have been asked by organisers if we would run an activity, and the bigger the team we send the better the activity we'll be allocated.

Commitment to Events

James Baker took the opportunity to remind everyone that as Active members they commit to attending 2 QSWP events a year. There aren't enough spaces for everyone to attend our larger events, so people should consider attending the smaller events as well to meet this requirement. James stated that we'd had to turn down a number of events over the past year, due to lack of people signing up to them.

It was acknowledged that with no events over the next few months, this will prove challenging this year; but everyone was encouraged to do their best.

It was also acknowledged that we still have a limited number of events in the North, and James Baker said he would work with the new Events Coordinator (Matt Fox) to address this (although recent efforts to do so haven't been successful due to external factors).

Any Other Business

Group Photo

A group photo was taken of everyone using Zoom, and this will be shared via Facebook afterwards.

Everest Base Camp

Caroline McCann talked about the QSWP trip to Everest Base Camp that is being organised for October 2021, and told everyone that it is still possible to join. James Baker said he would resend out details to everyone, and Caroline said that anyone who was interested in coming along should get in touch directly with her.

ShireJam

Robert Williams thanked everyone who attended ShireJam last year and said that the support from the QSWP was brilliant. He said that the next ShireJam would be in 2022.

Geocaching

Bev Martin provided an update on the QSWP Geocache Trackables, although sadly 3 of the 4 are now missing in action. Bev stated that the Social Media coordinator will take over the QSWP Geocache profile.

Attending Events with other NSASUs

Geroge Johnson raised a question about attending events, for example at Gilwell Park, as a member of other groups or NSASUs. James Baker clarified that for it to count as attending as QSWP, you would be expected to support the QSWP in their role at the event and that some people have previously supported multiple NSASUs at events successfully.

James Baker also reminded people that for some events we are able to add people to the event after the deadline, and that they should contact the Events Coordinator if they find themselves able to help at short notice. Whether this is possible is largely dependent on the event we're supporting, as some events require details to be submitted early in order to sort out catering and accommodation.

Meeting Close

James Baker closed the meeting, which was followed by a virtual Pub Quiz social organised by Hayley Butterworth and James Baker.