2013 AGM minutes for ratification on May 20th

	Mid Kent Group of Advanced Motorists
	MINUTES of AGM - 21st May 2013
	The AGM was held at the Grove Green Community Centre Maidstone and was Chaired by Linda Davies
	The meeting formally opened at 8.05pm
	There were 46 people present
1	Welcome to Guests
	Linda welcomed Mark Trimmer (Regional Operations Manager) and also Superintendent Andrea Bishop
	Fire exits noted
	Apologies for Absence
	Daren Bubb, Helen Cranfield, Mick Cranfield, Colin Draper, Dee Goodwin, David Hill, Elsa Newman-Draper,
	Roger Philips, Margaret Robertson, Richard Thomas and Roger Vickery.
	Proxy Votes
	None
2	Minutes of previous AGM
	Treasurer's report line 4 the word profit was changed to surplus
	Minutes approved
3	Chairman's Report by Linda Davies
	There are no scheduled fire drills this evening so in the unlikely event of a fire please leave the
	building calmly and quickly by the exits previously indicated and assemble in the rear car park.
	During the last year we have been working closely with Chiswick in the planning of the new Modular
	Training.  Several meetings have taken place down in Horsham which has resulted in this training
	now being available.  So for example if anyone has a problem with say driving on the Motorways they
	can now just do that module for £45.00 without having to do the whole Skill for Life.  As yet there have
	not been many takers but it is early days
	Val, Max and I have attended 2 South East Forum meetings this year as well as the Annual Conference
	last October held at Warwick University.  Once again we were kindly invited by our friends at East Kent
	to attend their AGM which Val & Max accepted on behalf of the Group.
	At last Saturday's Forum meeting we learned that of the 92,000 IAM members only 20,000 belong to
	any Group.  So I am pleased to advise you that Mid Kent continues to maintain a healthy membership.
	At the moment we have 509 Members comprising 468 Full Members and 41 Associates.
	Our grateful thanks to Richard Thomas who does an outstanding job as Membership Secretary.
	If you are a tax payer and have not yet signed up for Gift Aid please do so - there are forms at the
	back of the Hall
	Our promise to update the antiquated Lecture Team equipment and DVD's continues.  A new Laptop
	has now been purchased and for your information three weeks ago a new Projector was bought too.
	This item does not form part of this years accounts.
	The work on DVD 1 was unfortunately delayed due to the appalling weather and a new driver needed
	to be recruited.  I am pleased to confirm that this is now underway again and should be in use later
	this year.
	For those who are not aware members of the Lecture Team also give up their free time to go out to
	other organisations as speakers helping to attract new associates.
	I would like also to formally welcome the latest Lecture Team member Pam Medlock and on behalf of
	the Group thank the entire Team for the Professional lectures that we now enjoy on Sunday mornings.
	In an effort to increase Associate numbers the Committee agreed to fund as an experiment a price
	reduction on the cost of a Skill for Life package.  22 new Associates took advantage of this offer which
	we may consider offering again later this year
	Test results since the last AGM including the Alternative Course:-
	63 Associates have started, 3 dropped out, 28 are still in training, and 4 are awaiting their test.  Of the
	28 that have taken the test 24 have passed and 4 have failed.  This gives us a pass rate of 86% which
	I'm pleased to say is a 4% improvement on last year and is now higher than the National average.
	We also now have 4 F1rst's in the group - congratulations to those members.  I am advised that this
	is the IAM equivalent of a ROSPA Gold
	On April 6th we again hosted an Observer Training Day which was attended by The Regional Training
	Team.  A special thanks as always to Christine for the all day refreshments she served and really
	excellent lunch which was enjoyed by all.
	I should like to thank the SO team, Training Officers and all Observer's for their outstanding efforts this
	past year.  Apart from the Sunday runs they have given up their free time to conduct OOH's runs which
	total in excess of 200 extra hours.  On behalf of all the Associates thank you
	I would also like to thank Terry Nunn our Associate Co-ordinator for all the hard work he puts in 7 days
	a week organising the Associates.  He is effectively the voice of the Group usually being the first point
	of contact. Thank you Terry
	Thanks also to Neil Regan at the signing in desk and Tony Willson for conducting the eye sight tests.
	Both these gentlemen help to ensure the safety of our Observers on the road.
	Our outside Events Team continue to promote Mid Kent at every opportunity and so far have attended:-
	Kaslers Highways to Hell Seminar
	Kent County Show despite the worst muddiest conditions ever
	Maidstone Hospital Fete
	Maidstone Mela Day
	Sittingbourne Dog Track
	Bearsted Green Classic Car Event
	Gravesend Fire & Rescue and Heritage Cars at the Detling Showground
	Recruitment stands were also manned at both the Winter Driving and Defensive Driving evenings.
	The letterboxes and Businesses of Maidstone continue to be targeted with copies of Advanced Driving
	and Mid Kent leaflets.  Doctors and Dentists surgeries, Hospitals and Physiotherapists also do not
	escape the attentions of our intrepid team.
	Grateful thanks go to Phil Mason, Alan Rowe and all the team who have struggled against the elements
	at many of those events - an excellent job well done - thank you all.
	Vauxhall's have been running a series of evening events for Ladies only so we now also have a team
	which attends these.  Thank you Val and Margaret.
	Mick Cranfield's boundless enthusiasm continues to keep a steady stream of applicants wanting to
	undertake skid pan training - so far 7 sessions have taken place with another 3 already booked.
	Thank you Mick
	Our website and social networking sites are constantly updated Facebook has not been as successful
	as we first hoped, only around 15 people are 'liking' our page.  We advertised the Winter Driving
	evening on there in an effort to attract young drivers and whilst it's unknown how successful this was
	it's still worth shouting about who we are, what we do and where people can meet us.
	The groups Tweets are a little more successful although there is no method to measure how many
	people see them.
	What we can say is the Group has posted nearly 300 Tweets which has increased
	our following to 160.  If it wasn't for Twitter Chiswick wouldn't have heard about our Blog.
	Regular posts have helped to increase hits on our Blog to around 30 a day.
	An increase in interest on our Blog has undoubtedly been due to a number of postings by Neil Lakeland
	who wrote about his experience whilst training to become a Group Observer.  Neil also used Tweets to
	Chiswick about his experience, resulting in them including a link to our Blog in their monthly email
	newsletter. This generated hundreds of hits in just one day.  In total Neil's first article has to date gained
	more than 800 hits.  Well done Neil
	February saw the biggest number of people taking a look at our Blog entries - just over 1800.  In total,
	since the last AGM we've had 11075 hits.  A cloud is now also in operation.
	My thanks go to our Webmaster David Hill and Graham Aylard for their amazing efforts in keeping the
	Mid Kent Group in the public eye.
	For your enjoyment Social Secretary Max Power has arranged some excellent speakers:-
	We have had 3 hilarious evenings with IAM examiner Lester Parsons
	An Driving Ergonomics evening with a presentation from Dr Diane Gyi a senior lecturer at
	Loughborough University.
	In August our own David Cooper held us all spellbound with tales of blood and gore from The Tower of
	London.
	In October we opened our doors to the public and held a Winter Driving Evening which proved
	extremely popular.
	We were honoured to welcome the Chief Constable of Kent Ian Learmonth in November along with
	tonight's speaker Supt Andrea Bishop.
	Our now famous Christmas quiz night was a great success and was attended by over 90 people.
	Thanks go to Max our Quizmaster and his assistant Val for organising all the fun -  an excellent way to
	end 2012  Thank you Christine for the superb refreshments.
	In January we were pleased that David Cooper was able to return and tell us all about the Crown
	Jewels.
	Sgt Miles Bishop from the Police Crash Investigation Unit gave us an insight into his career and what
	happens at the scene of a crash.
	Last month we again held a public open evening this time the topic was Defensive Driving.  Another
	is planned for later in the year.
	Max has also organised some excellent Outside Events.
	In September the Group went to the Dogs - Greyhound Racing in Sittingbourne.  We had our own room
	with a balcony overlooking the track with a 2 course meal included.  As Group Chairman I was asked
	to present a Trophy to one of the winning owners.  Some members even managed to beat the Tote.
	We were delighted to support a Charles Dickens Charity Event held at The Central Theatre in Chatham
	in aid of Great Ormond St Children's Hospital which raised in excess of £6000.  Some members
	joined in the fun by dressing in Dickensian costume.
	Our Annual Dinner by popular demand again took place at The Hilltop.  If you were not able to attend
	you missed a great evening.  Perhaps you'd like to join us this year?  Max will be pleased to give you
	details.
	On the 21st of March a coach party of us went to the Tower of London to see the Famous Ceremony
	of the Keys. We were also given a guided tour and invited into the Yeoman Warder's Club for a meal
	and large quantities of alcohol. Many thanks to David Cooper for his part in an excellent evening out
	despite the snow!
	Max is busy organising still more outings and will tell you about these before we break for coffee.
	To last year's Committee I would like to take this opportunity to thank you all for your support, it  has
	been a pleasure to work with you.
	To Vice-Chairman Max and Secretary Val you have been excellent Ambassadors for the Group thank
	you for all your help.
	Last but not least thanks to our dynamic Treasurer Daren for keeping a tight grip on our purse strings
	and ensuring that the Group maintained our Charitable aims.  Thank you Daren and alsoJohn Lover for
	reviewing the accounts.
	Acceptance of Chairman's Report:-
	Proposed David Ibbott and seconded by Trish Weston.
4	Treasurer's Report
	Daren Bubb sent a PowerPoint presentation with voice over as he was away on business.
	The accounts showed a small surplus of £197.00.
	Question raised:- what percentage of members have signed up for gift aid?
	Answer:-                66%
	Acceptance of accounts:-
	proposed by Trish Weston and seconded by John Bowman   - accepted.
5	Elections
	CHAIRMAN                            PROPOSED                   SECONDED                        RESULT
	Linda Davies                          Roch Moppett                   Bob Crossley                       Elected
	VICE-CHAIRMAN
	Max Power                            David Ibbott                       Andy Houghton                     Elected
	TREASURER
	Daren Bubb                           John Lover                       John Mills                               Elected
	SECRETARY
	Val Power                             Lesley Blunden                 Neil Lakeland                         Elected
	Election of other Committee members was en block
	PROPOSED                     SECONDED                        RESULT
	Mick Cranfield                      Peter Bott                        Andy Houghton                    Elected
	Mike Ingram                         SallyAnne Clark              John Mills                              Elected
	Bob Kiell                              Graham Aylard                Trish Weston                       Elected
	Phil Mason                          Trevor Bridges                 Roger Powell                       Elected
	Terry Nunn                         SallyAnne Clarke              Lesley Blunden                    Elected
	Neil Regan                          Pam Medlock                  John Bowman                      Elected
	Alan Rowe                          Charles Robert                Bob Crossley                       Elected
	Jill Taylor                             Linda Davies                   Val Power                             Elected
	All officers and committee members were elected with no objections.
6	Presentation of Awards :-
	a) Stan Hawkins
	Stan Hawkins Certificate of Merit presented to Max Power.
	b) Chairman's Award
	Chairman's Award presented to John Bowman & John Mills
	c) Certificates of Appreciation for 25 years of Observing
	Certificates of Appreciation for 25 years of Observing to David Hill, John Mills and Roger Vickery.
	Only John Mills was present and gave a short acceptance speech thanking the group for their
	appreciation of his long standing work.
7	A.O.B
	None
8	Refreshments
	Christine kindly served the refreshments with lovely home made cakes - thank you Christine.
9	Guest Speaker
	Superintendent Andrea Bishop spoke of her career in the Police Force and gave us an insight into
	her present role in the Tactical Operations Unit at Coldharbour
	Linda Davies thanked everyone for attending and declared the AGM closed at 9.50 p.m.