AGM 2015
Our Annual General Meeting was held on Sunday 5th July at the Clubhouse. A big thank you to all who came and participated and supported - we were 67 members in attendance including good representation from all sections of the Club. Well done everyone.
The AGM is a chance to get the Club together and set direction for the coming season. The GHC constitution states that the AGM needs to vote to accept the 1) previous season accounts, 2) proposed budget for the coming season, 3) Board ('committee') members, 4) subscription and match fees for the coming season.
Accounts for the 2014/15 season were presented and a Budget for 2015/16 was approved by the AGM. Short reports from Men's, Ladies and Juniors were also presented to summarise the 2014/15 season.
As for the Board, after many, many years of service Hamish Ferguson stepped down for a well-deserved rest from the excellent and tireless efforts he has put in over so many years to help make GHC the successful Club it has been and continues to be. In her appreciation speech to his legacy, Maggs Kyte rightly said that his are big boots to fill and that we would not have been gathered in our clubhouse that day had it not been for Hamish. Thank you, Hamish, and we look forward to seeing you relaxing and enjoying time at Guildford.
David Toplas has worked very hard over the past several seasons to help direct GHC for a solid future; he has also made the decision to step back from the daily and weekly pressures at this point as has Andrew Fergusson who has spent two seasons on the Board helping in various capacities to make the hockey and social life happen at Guildford.
With these departures, a few members have joined the Board and the AGM approved the new Board, the list of names of which can be found on our contacts page on the website (in the interest of space here). The roles listed are nominal and describe generally the capacity in which each is helping, but usually emcompass more than the one or two words can convey (there is too much else that needs to be covered to wrap everything into a title).
Michelle Fussell is confirmed as continuing as our Club Welfare Officer, a role she in the Club is probably uniquely experienced to do given her background, education and career. Please have a look at the important information about Safeguarding the environment in which our members coach and train by reading our Safeguarding pages on the GHC website. All members should familiarise themselves with these guidelines and procedures. Thank you, Michelle, for continuing in this role which gets more important and more complex as the Club grows.
Our Subscription and Match Fees were agreed by the AGM and can be found on the Subs, Match Fees and How to Pay page on our website.
There was helpful and positive dicussion around our Marketing and Sponsorship efforts currently being led by Martin Sampson. And there was a recognition that not all members are informed of Club matters or feel informed/involved. The Board and Club will work to strengthen lines of communication, notably, Tom Pollard will take on a leadership role across the Men's Section. We would love for one of our Ladies members to take this on working across the Ladies Section - please get in touch with any Board member if you would like to help.
And it was proposed and accepted that Captains and other interested parties will be welcome to attend Board meetings (one per quarter or as makes sense) in order to create more links and communication. We are always looking for more helpers - please feel free to get in touch with any committee member (all contact details on the website).
Once again, thank you to all who came on the day - all who played some hockey, everyone who listened/voted/fedback, and of course everyone who helped support the bar!
Here's to a terrific 2015/16 season... |
