Members Attending: Glen Martin, Sue Ford, Phil Deacon, Mary Hansford, Dennis Smyth, Mike Cavender, John Little, Frank Mace, David Howard, Dick Baugh, Peter Camis, Chris Rose
Apologies: Ray Dean, Tim and Chris Colbert
- Minutes of Previous AGM: These were accepted and approved.
- Chairman’s Report: Glen opened our second AGM saying that the membership is stable and ticking over. Several members no longer attend for various reasons but we have gained five new members.
- Treasurer’s Report: Phil produced a printed breakdown of our finances for the last year and said that we are about £1000 down on last year’s balance. Although the income from Hamlet Wood meetings was more than last year, there is still a shortcoming in meeting the cost of hiring the hall.
- Election of Officers: The four officers attending agreed to stand for a further year. Glen informed the members that Paul Reed had joined the officers as Show Co-ordinator.
- Membership/meeting costs: The membership fees cover the cost of the insurance. The cost of the monthly Wormshill and weekly Hamlet Wood hall hire is paid for out of meeting fees. With an average of 9 members per week at Hamlet Wood a massive increase in the annual membership fee would be required to cover the shortfall and would not be acceptable. Sue said that she had asked Amanda if it would be possible to have a reduction in the weekly cost of hiring Hamlet Wood hall. Amanda had said we already hire the hall at a rate lower than any other organisation so she would be unable to discount further. The cost per carving session hasn’t increased in three decades. Phil suggested an increase in fees for both venues. Glen read out an email from Ray Dean expressing his desire to keep Hamlet Wood open and suggesting raising the cost per session to £10.
Mike suggested the deficit could be paid from funds and asked why £90 had been used to subsidise the blacksmith visit. Phil explained the need to maintain a balance sufficient to cover one year’s expenditure. If nothing changes we will reach this point in six months and will need to consider closing Hamlet Wood. Glen explained that 17 members had expressed an interest in attending the knife making demonstration so cost had been split between 10 members. The uptake was less than expected and it was felt unreasonable to ask those who attended to pay more so the decision was taken to cover the shortfall from funds.
An increase to £8 per session was thought to be sufficient to cover the hall hire costs. Members were invited contribute their thoughts. Dick drew attention to the suggestion made at last year’s AGM of offering a discounted rate for members paying up front for a block of 10 sessions. There was a brief discussion on the idea of increasing the cost of an individual session at both venues to £8 with a reduced rate for booking 10 consecutive sessions in advance at Hamlet Wood at £6 per session totalling £60 and Wormhill’s 11 sessions per year at £6 totalling £66 per year. The Hamlet Wood block of 10 sessions would have a set start date with members wishing to start on a different Thursday having to pay the individual £8 per session until the start of the next set block. This was put to the vote and was carried unanimously with the start date being the beginning of July.
Shows: We have decided not to demonstrate at the Kent Show because it focusses on trade rather than crafts and we haven’t recently gained any new members from it. So far this year we have demonstrated at the Weald of Kent Craft Show at Penshurst and the West Kent Show in Tonbridge at which some interest was shown from the public. We have been invited to the Bredgar Woodfair on 19th and 20th August and will be doing the Woodfest at Belmont in September. Our insurance covers us for up to six shows a year. Mary suggested that the British Country Show that took place at Wrotham on 28th and 29th May this year might be worth considering next year.
Phil said our marquee is too big for some of the plots we get at shows and it’s difficult to put up. We have been using his smaller gazebo which is suffering wear and tear. It is proposed to buy a smaller gazebo for the group which should cost between £120-£150. David suggested Gala might be worth looking at for a gazebo.
- AOB: Recently we have lost two long time members with the passing of Pat Sproule and Roy Keeler.
There was no further business, so Glen closed the meeting
