Colchester Rovers Cycling Club
Minutes of the Annual General Meeting
Held at 7.30pm on Friday 17th November, 2023 at
Northern Gateway, Colchester
Attendance 47 people attended
1. Election of Chairman
Nick explained to the room that things were going to be a little different this year in that he would continue on as Chair until the end of the meeting when after the vote the new Chairman would be announced.
As no one is standing for Secretary, Nick said that he would cover this at the end of the meeting and explain how we would manage this going forward.
2. Apologies for Absence:
Stuart Anderson, Paul Thompson, Wayne Saville, Peter Phillips, Chris Fountain, Phillip Amos, Robert Wood, Jan Edwards, Jackie Mortlock, Merv Denny, Jon Sanderson, David Triggs, Greg Andrews and John Walls
3. Adoption of the 2022 AGM Minutes
Minutes circulated by email prior to the meeting (copies also available at the meeting)
Proposed by Nicky Swainston
Seconded by Malcolm Hargreaves
4. Matters arising from the 2022 AGM
None
5. Treasures Report 2023
Maggie gave a report to the meeting. (copies were also available at the meeting). Maggie also presented a balance sheet and this shows a very healthy balance of £40,548.60. The club made a slight loss of £155.08 year on year.
Nick gave a report and asked members what they wanted in respect of using some of the monies. We have a busy year coming up and lots of things planned so if you need assistance with funding you just have to put your proposal to the Committee.
Paul asked about other clubs and how our funds compare. Nick said that he had spoken to West Suffolk Wheelers and they do not even have funds to send members on courses.
6. 2022 General Secretary’s Report
Maggie read her Secretary’s Report. Once again a very busy year, and its thanks to all organisers, helpers and volunteers who continue to make Colchester Rovers a very successful club.
A Copy of the Secretary’s Report is attached to these minutes.
7. Youth Activities Report (Tom)
Tom read a report on how well the youth are doing and they continue to go from from strength to strength. Saturday morning training averages about 20 to 30 and they attend come rain or shine. The Youth facebook now has around 500 members. The Youth Bank account is looking good with around £6000. Thank you to Simon Wilson for setting up a Cyclo X course at Northern Gateway. Thank you to Colin White, Chris Douglas and David Triggs for getting the Grass Track up and running again.
Tom read out some of the results that the Youth had achieved. Winner 1st under 14 Boy, under 14 Girls, under 16 boys just a few to mention. We have had some amazing results and Youth cycling is flourishing. Tom went on to thank the main Committee for their support and although he is standing down as Youth Chair he will still have a involvement with the club as a Coach for both Youth and Adults.
8. Membership Engagement Survey (Nick)
Nick addressed the room with the results of the survey. Of 276 emails sent out we received only 100 responses. This shows that the active size of the club is about 120/130. Nick went through all of the categories and the main theme being that some members are just too busy to help and time pressure being a common denominator.
Some of the responses where very negative and they felt that communication was an issue.
There were some positives and we need build on this. We need to get better at communicating and looking forward we need to have a goal and make sure that all our membership is aware of what we stand for.
Nick suggested for the future we need to look for a provider for an app/place to go to for all members
9. Election of Club Committee Officials 2022/23
The Chairman went through the current positions and a vote was taken on block to agree all the positions.
Agreed unanimously
Role 2022 2023/24
President Geoff Keeble Geoff Keeble
Vice Presidents J Baker,
K Baker,
C Hall,
R Howard,
H Ramsey
D Snowling,
J Spalding,
C White,
(vote on Block)
Life Members J Baker, Ken Baker, G Keeble, Keith Clarke, D Triggs, Malcolm Hargreaves Margaret Hargreaves, Nick Swainston No vote is required
Chairman Vote will be taken at the end of the meeting
Vice Chairman Nick Swainston
Secretary Vacant
Vice Secretary (new post) Vacant
Treasurer Margaret Hargreaves Standing down 2024
Membership Secretary Justin Smith
Membership Liaison Officer Colin White
Road /Circuit Race Secretary – (Centurion and
Tony Asplin races) Greg Andrews
Jock Wadley organiser Nick Swainston
Time Trial Secretary Nick Rowley
Cyclo-Cross Secretary Peter Hall
Sportive Secretary Paul Meadows
Website Secretary Justin Smith
Club Runs Captain Ray Robins
Mountain Bike Secretary Perry Taylor
Clothing Secretary Nicky Swainston
Committee Member 1 Colin Foster
Committee Member 2 Helen Arnold
Committee Member 3 Matt Haigh
Committee Member 4 Malcolm Hargreaves
Committee Member 5 Dan Hall
Press Secretary Kelly Phillips
Media Secretary Nick Rowley
Welfare Officer Jacqui Mortlock
Welfare Officer Elaine Rowley
Youth Chairman Vacant
Youth Secretary Vacant
Youth Treasurer Jonathan Whall
Youth development Simon Wilson
Youth Marketing Chris Douglas
Coaching Lead Tom Starmer
10. Chairperson presentation and questions
Maggie gave her presentation to the members followed by Kelly.
11. A.O.B.
Nick addressed the room and asked Elsapeth to come up and accept a cheque for £1000 on behalf of the MND association. This was in memory of our fellow member Jim Reed the monies raised were from the reliability ride and it is thank you to Paul and Sandra Meadows for organising.
Kevin Robinson stood up and asked if he could speak on behalf of Chris O’Meara. Kevin said that he would like the opportunity to speak to the Committee on behalf of Chris. Nick said that he would be happy for this to happen and that Chris does have the right to appeal. Nick said that Chris had been asked for his record of events and that he had declined. It was agreed that Kevin can attend a Committee meeting and speak on behalf of Chris.
Jo said that she would like to support Ray in what he has been doing with the Saturday rides and how things had progressed. Jo said that she was sorry to hear of such negative responses to the survey. We can always improve but Ray has been very proactive in leading things (coaching, ride etiquette etc).
Len Benton raised the issue of Rovers members not acknowledging other Rovers members when out riding. There are some issues and we are continuing to educate riders with regard to this. Helen said that things have changed massively and asked Len to come and ride on a Saturday and he will see how things have changed.
Matt said that there had been a great improvement with communication especially with the changes with the facebook pages.
Ken asked Nick how are we going to cover the Secretary’s role. Nick said that we do have a volunteer who has come forward but we are not 100% at this time. If this does not work we will rotate the role on a monthly basis. Julie then proposed Helen Arnold as Secretary and Helen accepted.
Proposed by Julie Baker
Seconded by Elaine Rowley
Helen was duly elected.
Maggie then asked Ken and Nick to come forward for a presentation. Maggie presented Ken and Nick with vouchers to the Rubino restaurant as a thank you for all their years as Chairman and their commitment to the club. Thank you Ken and Nick.
The room then went out to vote.
12. Election Results
After a short break for Tea/Coffee The members made their votes and Nicky counted them. Nick announced the new chairman would be:- Maggie Hargreaves.
The meeting closed at 9.20pm
Signed ……………………………
Maggie Hargreaves
Secretary