NORTHBROOK ATHLETIC ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

held by video conference at 7.30pm on 11 January 2024

  1. Present – Stuart Paul (West Midlands Athletics) plus 45 members in attendance.
  2. Apologies – Peter Kirkhope, Cath Fenn, Dave Halford, Fraser Barrett, Malc Copeland
  3. Welcome – Bob Adams chaired the meeting.
  4. Thank you – Many thanks to Stuart Paul from West Midlands Athletics for supporting use of video software which allows easy voting on proposals.
  5. Minutes of Last Year’s Meeting – Last year’s minutes accepted (Proposed: Sally Eason, Seconded: Terry Moynihan).
  6. Chairperson’s Report – Bob Adams stated:
    ‘It’s been another very eventful year for the club – our members have certainly provided me with plenty of material for the Weekly Speech emails that are sent out every Tuesday.

    Our membership numbers continue to grow (at the last count we had a total of 234 members) and great credit goes to Tim Hughes for the way that he continues to deal with all of the administration that is involved.

    The structured training sessions continue to be very well organised, and I would like to acknowledge the tremendous work that has been done in this connection by Rob Cox and his team of run leaders. I was particularly encouraged by the tremendous response that we received recently to an appeal that was sent out for some more volunteers. 6 more members will shortly be undertaking the mandatory online course, and they will soon be in a position to help out with all of the workload that is involved.

    We are currently in the middle of a very busy cross country season, and it’s been good to see (and report on) the number of our runners who are becoming involved, both on the female and male sides. Great credit goes to our inspirational captains Sally and Spencer. The women’s team are currently lying in 7th place out of 25 teams in division 2 of the Midland League, whilst our men are also lying in 7th place in Division 3 of the Birmingham League.

    Our teams have also competed with distinction in all of the championship races, as well as the University of Warwick and Midland relays. On an individual front, I want to congratulate Mark Baker, who has now completed 125 league races – that moves him into the top 10 of all time performances in the history of the Birmingham League.

    On the road, 5 of our members were ever-presents in the Warwickshire Road Race League, whilst Debbie Campbell finished in 2nd place in her age group.

    Northbrook fielded 5 teams in the ever-popular Cotswold Hilly 100 relay in May. We finished in 2nd place in the mixed ‘A’ Team category whilst our mixed ‘B’ team won their particular category.

    Even though some of our members do not particularly enjoy the tough finish up Staircase Lane and the Coundon Wedge Road, the Summer Handicap competition was generally well supported, and great credit goes to Richard French, who continues to do a great job with the handicapping. Our move into the 21st century with the use of the Park Run application certainly makes life a lot easier for the timekeepers.

    Our members also participated in fun events such as ‘Race the Train’ and the ‘Good, Bad and Ugly’ relay.

    In November, over 40 people enjoyed a trip to Benidorm in Spain, to take part in either the 10Km or half marathon races. After all of the socialising and partying, they somehow found the time to do some running as well, and they produced some very impressive performances.

    The Northbrook 10Km race was once again an enormous success, with over 500 entries being received. In this connection, I’d like to thank all of the sub-committee members, as well as the club members who volunteered to help out on the big day. The race continues to enhance the reputation of the club within the local area, and it also greatly helps our financial situation. We were recently able to make a donation of £1,500 to the University Hospital Coventry and Warwickshire charity.

    We are always looking for new blood on the sub-committee, so if any of you would like to become involved in the organisation of this fantastic race, please let me, or any of the committee members know.

    On the social front, we held a very successful Awards evening at the Jaguars Social Club in March, and over 70 members recently enjoyed a great night out at the Christmas party held at the Artisan restaurant. Sarah Duffy continues to do an excellent job with all of the organisation that is involved.

    I’d like to thank all of my fellow committee members for all of the time and effort that they have given to ensure that the club continues to operate in a positive and structured manner. I am also greatly indebted to our website administrator, Roger Ladbury, who has given me tremendous support and guidance over the past 12 months.

    The atmosphere at the club, and the enthusiasm of all our members is as good as I’ve ever known, and I am confident that will continue to be the case in the future.
    ‘

  7. Treasurers Report – Tony Mackness sent a detailed presentation of accounts to all members, and showed the presentation at the meeting. The accounts were audited by Matthew Hathrell. We have 234 members.
    The committee recommended that subscription fees increase slightly to reflect the increase in England Athletics affiliation fees.
    Proposed by: Tony Mackness, Seconded by: Kevin Coughlan.
    Vote accepted – 100% for
    Membership Renewal £34
    Non-competing membership £15
    Concessions £25
    Second Claim Renewal £20
    New Members/Rejoining Members:
    Full rate (including club vest): £49
    Full rate (including club T-shirt in lieu of vest): £57
    Concessionary rate (including club vest): £40
    Concessionary rate (including club T-shirt in lieu of vest): £48
    Second claim (including club vest): £30
    Second claim (including club T-shirt in lieu of vest): £38
    Concessions – State pension, Unemployed and Students.
    Fees are now due.
  8. Election of Officers
    Bob Adams thanked Rob Cox who was standing down from the Club Coaching Co-ordinator role. Bob also thanked Sara Phipps, Rich Cawley and Pete Marshall who were also standing down for all their work on the 10km race sub-committee. Thanks also went to Darren James who is standing down as one of the Welfare Officers – another volunteer is needed now.

    There was a requirement to propose a candidate for the role of Club Coaching Co-ordinator. Rob Richardson was proposed by Rob Cox and seconded by Bob Adams.
    The following officers and committee members were re-elected unopposed:

    • President – Terry Moynihan
    • Chairperson – Bob Adams
    • Secretary – Mark Baker
    • Treasurer – Tony Mackness
    • Men’s Captain – Spencer Davies
    • Women’s Captain – Sally Eason
    • Membership Secretary – Tim Hughes
    • Social Secretary – Sarah Duffy
    • Club Coaching Co-ordinator – Rob Richardson

    Non committee

    • Welfare Officer – Tracey Williams
    • Health & Safety Co-ordinator – Catherine Dear
    • COVID-19 Officer – Sean Duffy
    • Summer Handicap – Richard French
    • Website – Roger Ladbury
    • Kit Person – Damian Pharoah
    • Race Champs Administrator – Kevin Coughlan
    • Auditor – Matt Hathrell
  9. Proposals Received
    Proposal 1 – Member Proposal
    Proposed amendment to Club Rule 15.1 – Club Races and Awards
    From:
    15.1 All paid up club members are eligible to compete in club events, score points and to win awards.
    To:
    15.1 All paid up club members are eligible to compete in club events and score points.
    To win a club running award, paid up club members must have completed at least six (6) races from the designated club events, as detailed for the London Marathon draw, (15.5.4.6).
    Proposed by: Sally Eason, Seconded by: Rob Cox

    Proposed Amendment to Member Proposal 1
    Original proposed wording of Proposal 1
    15.1 All paid up club members are eligible to compete in club events and score points.
    To win a club running award, paid up club members must have completed at least six (6) races from the designated club events, as detailed for the London Marathon draw, (15.5.4.6).
    Amended proposed wording of Proposal 1
    15.1 All paid up club members are eligible to compete in club events and score points.
    To win a club running award, paid up club members must have completed at least six (6) races/events from the designated club events, as detailed for the London Marathon draw, (15.5.4.6).
    Each separate race/event counts as one (eg. If you run/volunteer at three Handicaps this counts as three events, if you run eight Warwickshire Road Race League (WRRL) races this counts as eight).
    The existing rules of the Race Championships, ie. your best five races from the season remain unchanged, but to be eligible to win an award you must comply with the requirements detailed above (to have completed six club events as detailed in 15.5.4.6).

    Proposed by: Sally Eason, Seconded by: Jill Pittard
    VOTE – Rejected – 14% for, 86% against.
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    Proposal 2 – Member Proposal
    Proposed amendment to Club Rule 15.7 – Club Races and Awards
    Rule 15.7 Most Improved Runner Shield
    Current wording: “To be awarded to the male and female members whose running performances the membership considers have improved most during the year, decided by a ballot of the membership taken not less than fourteen (14) days prior to the date of the Awards Presentation. The Secretary shall provide notice of the ballot by the most appropriate means and shall make available ballot slips. The Club Committee shall appoint two (2) adjudicators to count the votes cast and tabulate the results. The ballot shall be decided on a simple majority of the votes cast.”
    Proposed Change: “To be awarded to the male and female members whose running performances the Run Leader team considers have improved most during the year. One male and one female runner from each training group (Mondays and Wednesdays) to be nominated by the run leader team and then votes to be cast by all run leaders with the ballot decided on a simple majority of the votes cast.”
    Reason
    Run leaders see members in action at training sessions throughout the year and are best placed to observe which runners have improved the most.

    Proposed by: Rob Cox, Seconded by: Rob Richardson
    VOTE – Rejected – 33% for, 67% against.

    The new committee will consider award suggestions at the next committee meeting.

  10. Any other business
    • Consider format for future AGMs – online or face to face.
    • Follow up with communication on volunteer proposal from last years AGM.
    • Equilibrium Cup – voted to keep distance as 10km – For 71%, Against 29%.

Meeting closed at 9.57pm.

Minutes prepared by Mark Baker