Teignmouth Twinning Association
Minutes of the 2016 AGM held at TAAG on Wednesday 16th November
The Chairman Andy Benham read the minutes of the last AGM held in November 2015. There were no matters arising and the minutes were approved by the meeting.
Reports
Finance
Terry reported that we have 42 new members including 9 new members. The Association still has a substantial amount of money in the bank despite some additional costs reflected in the purchase of one off items ie. Display board, banner, table flags, posters etc.
Our programme for the visit of the French was ambitious. The cost of the weekend was restricted to £65 and we anticipated an overspend of £2,000. In the event the visit caused an overspend of £1,000, but with grants the overspend was around £600. The biggest expenses were the boat trip and lunch coming to over £2000, followed by the band at the formal dinner which cost £400. We were grateful to receive a grant of £500 from TTC towards our French exchange costs. We also received £192 from the Waitrose charity boxes. Terry reported that most of events throughout the year make a small loss because the drink donations hardly pay for the wine let alone the cost of the room. However, the plant and cake stall on the Den made £139.76. The meeting thanked Terry for his report.
Chairman’s Report
The highlight of the year was of course the visit of the French in May with over 50 people coming to us. Our ability to host was initially stretched, but more hosts volunteered and we coped well. The whole weekend being a great success. We had a full programme which included a trip on the River Dart with a meal and the first ever sit down dinner at the new Pavilions with a most enjoyable dance after the meal.
Andy reviewed the work carried out in promoting the association. We had made a presentation to the council which was well received and resulted in a good working relationship. We hope that the current Mayor Terry Falco will accompany us to Perros next year. We were most grateful to Waitrose, Morrisons and the Coop who had helped us with food and prizes.
Other developments had included setting up the Website and a properly managed mailing list. There had been 1176 visits to the site at a cost of £85. The Website has attracted new members and we have posted agendas, minutes and photos from this and previous years to the site. The mailing list had been moved to Mailchimp, a program which helped in the management of our mailing list. Only 64% opening rate on E Mails which has meant that it is not worth while having our own Emails. Andy’ Email address will continue to be used. Facebook has been rather less successful with only 10 of our members using the page.
Members were thanked for their support and in particular Terry Mitchell.
Andy was thanked for his report and the work carried out during the year.
Social Secretary’s Report
This year we have organised a social event every couple of months at both TAAG and the Museum. Both these venues have been very satisfactory.
Social events associated with the French visit proved to be the most popular with briefing and debriefing meetings being the best attended.
Wine featured heavily in our events programme, with both English wine tasting and a French wine and cheese evening put on for us by Waitrose. The skittles evening was well supported although the quiz evening proved to be much less popular. Kate also mentioned the progress made in building links with other organisations such the RNLI. Jill Dixon is helping sort out the presentation books in the library in a display. We participated in the voluntary organisation week at TAAG where it was possible to have a stand for free to advertise the organisation.
Appointment of Officers
The following Officers were elected to the committee. All were restanding and there were no other proposals.
Chairman Andy Benham
Vice Chairman No appointment
Secretary Ray Dickson
Treasurer and Membership Secretary Terry Mitchell
Press Officer No appointment though Robin Hooppell is prepared to help.
Social Secretary Kate no longer wished to have the full responsibility of this post but was prepared to share the role with Jill Dixon. Kate will set a sub committee to organise social events.
Committee Members
Committee Members – all existing members were re-elected as follows;-
Bob and Mary Kennedy, Sue and John Franklin, Robin Hooppell, Margaret Sheppard, and David Harrison
Jill Dixon was voted on to the committee
Plans for next years visit to Perros Guirec
The provisional dates for next year are departure Friday 28th April with a cabin overnight, returning Tuesday 2nd May. The Arts Exhibition starts of 28th April and continues beyond our return date. The exhibition will be in the new centre in PG.
Discussion on the provision of a coach for next year’s visit– we decided to do a telephone audit of what members would like to do, both in terms of transport, and for social events.
Any Other Business
There was no other business.
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