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15th
Stowmarket Striders AGM - 2001
The 15th Stowmarket Striders AGM was held at Mid-Suffolk Leisure Centre on the 28th January 2002. Contents
"This
last year saw the club celebrate its 15th Anniversary which
we marked with a Dinner Dance at the Cedars Hotel. Thanks to Katy Nash for organising this alongside
preparations for her wedding to Richard.
Katy has also organised a wide variety of social events
throughout the year from pasta parties to cycle rides, as well as a trip
to Bournemouth for the New Forest Half Marathon attended by 12 members
including their partners. The
out-break of Foot and Mouth disease effected the racing calendar with
many races cancelled including our own Joe Cox 10 and Friday Five.
We did manage to hold a 5km track meeting in place of the Friday
Five plus the 24 Seven Scenic 7 in November and only last week we
organised a Suffolk Cross Country league meeting at Haughley Park.
The response for marshals has been excellent and I thank everyone
who has helped. Heidi Bingham and Chris Chaplin have had to write up
Risk Assessments for all the events we hold on top of all the other
preparations that are needed to put a race on, for which they have
received praise from County Officials and our thanks go to them. We
have entered teams at the Mutford Relays; Ekiden Relays, Jaffa
Challenge and culminating at the County Cross-Country Championships with
the men’s team being crowned County Champions.
Thanks to everyone who represented the club and to Grayhame Fish
for his efforts in getting the teams together. Training
nights have seen record attendance’s of 39 on a Tuesday and only last
week 34 on a Thursday under the guidance of our club coach Richard
Fellingham. Thanks
to Chris Gladwell for the newsletter and Richard Nash for the Website,
which attracts many favourable comments as the best in the county,
receiving over 2000 hits in the year. I
would like to mention three people not on the committee for their help.
Phil Rampley for organizing the London Marathon coach which
he’s agreed to do again this year, Jim King for his help with the
Cross Country and Kirsty Denwood for looking after the club kit. The
Striders of the Year and club Championships were a clean sweep for Mr
& Mrs Nash, richly deserved for all their effort and enthusiasm
throughout the year. We
may need a new position on the committee as head of the crèche as no
fewer than three babies are expected this year, our best wishes go to
all three couples. I
would like to thank the Mid-Suffolk Leisure Centre for allowing us to
use their facilities, and all our sponsors for their help and
generosity. It
just leaves me to thank the outgoing committee for their help throughout
the year and wish the incoming committee all the best for the year
ahead. Finally
I would like to give Anne Fish and Stuart Green a small gift as they are
both standing down as secretary and treasurer respectively. Chris Starmer "Our
financial year for 2001 was rather unusual due to the foot and mouth
crisis. This resulted in the cancellation of both our Joe Cox 10 mile
and the Friday 5 mile Summer Race.
The impact of this being a reduction in our income and also the
fact that we incurred some costs in preparation for the Joe Cox race as
we had already purchased the race mementoes and numbers.
However, this will mean that we will have lower costs to take
into account for the year 2002 figures. We should make a healthy profit
from this year’s race. When
I took over as Treasurer three years ago our current balance stood at £1351,
we now show £3182 in our Lloyds TSB account at the end of 2001.
This has been achieved by a combination of factors: sensible and
prudent financial planning, sheer hard work by our Race Director and
those involved in organising our races, good communication and
co-operation throughout the committee and by the ongoing support of you
the members of the Club. I
advised the Chairman during last summer of my intention not to offer to
stand as Treasurer for the Year 2002 and my preference not to be
considered to continue on the committee.
I will be very pleased to hand over the Club’s finances to my
successor in a healthy state and would like to take this opportunity to
thank everyone who has served on the committee throughout the last three
years for their support and co-operation." A
three-page statement of the Club accounts was distributed for comment.
Stuart briefly went through the figures and explained that the
Club’s running events had not produced the same income as previously
due mainly to the restrictions imposed due to the spread of Foot and
Mouth. The accounts also
showed the clothing stock unlike previous years.
The report was proposed by Richard Fellingham and seconded by
Gordon Slack. Stuart
went on to explain that he felt it important to maintain the annual fees
at £12. He proposed: £12 up to end March then £15 however any new
member joining after 31st July should only pay £6.
Also the Club should pay the entry for relay events, typically
Mutford, Ekiden and Nowton Park. This was seconded by Katy Nash. A
counter proposal was forwarded by Richard Fellingham seconded by Chris
Chaplin to leave the annual fees at £12 up to end March then £15
however any new member joining after 31st July should only
pay £6. But members still
to pay the present £2 per head towards the costs of the Relays. Stuart’s proposal was accepted by 20 votes to 3. See the committee list for a list of elected committee members for 2002. Having taken the Chair, Chris Starmer wished to thank the outgoing committee for the work put into the Club during the year 2001. He passed on a present to Stuart Green and Anne Fish as a thank you for the years of service to the Committee. Maria Reynolds
questioned why the Club still holds the annual Christmas Disco and
presentation at the Rugby Club since see felt it lacked
‘atmosphere’. This
comment was endorsed by a number of members present.
Chris Starmer advised the meeting that he was aware of the
membership’s feelings with regard to the Rugby Club and that other
venues were being considered. He
wasn’t prepared to comment on where until he had received confirmation
from Jim King. Richard Fellingham wished to thank the membership for their continuing support with the Training that he and Chris Starmer were organising. Richard explained that Peter Tricker was going on the initial training course at the end of February and that on completion of that he would be one level down from Richard and Chris. The next AGM will take place on Monday 27th January 2003, at the Mid Suffolk Leisure Centre.
Thank you to Grayhame for taking the minutes of the meeting. |