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Minutes of AMRO AGM

 
 
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Joined: 19 Jun 2002
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Location: Northern Ireland's Gold Coast


2009 Land Rover 110 CSW

PostPosted: Fri May 15, 2015 8:15 am    Post subject: Minutes of AMRO AGM Reply with quote

Minutes of the Association of Motorsport Recovery Operators (AMRO) 2015 AGM
Held at 1300 on Sunday 3rd May 2015 at Corley Village Hall,
Church Lane, Corley CV7 8AZ

CHAIRMAN’S WELCOME
Richard Shorey welcomed everyone to the meeting and thanked them for making the effort to attend, especially those who had travelled great distances.

APOLOGIES
The Acting Secretary had received apologies form Mark Wilson, Barry Dalzell, Ian Nelson, John Macfarlane, Russell Duncan, Bill Williams, John Chambers, Kevin Mann, Chris & Malcolm Watson, Ian Joustra, Graham Wright, John Upstone, Andrew Akers, Richard Hyslop, Allan Esmann, Paul McEldowney, Jonathan & Helen Armishaw, Neil Cahill and Chris Watson. Apologies were received from the floor for Paul Fife, Chris Harden, Alan Thompson and Richard Lewis.

ATTENDEES
Richard Shorey, John Ellis, Ian Culbert, Russ Howitt, John Fry, Andy Taylor, Shirley Blackwell and John Blackwell.

PREVIOUS MINUTES
Richard pointed out that reference to Paul Hill should have read Paul Hull
PROPOSED: Russ Howitt SECONDED: Andy Taylor. All agreed (7 + 8 postal)

MATTERS ARISING
Website and @amro.org.uk e-mail addresses:
The webmaster, Ian Nelson, had confirmed that generic e-mail addresses could be created and directed to the Office holders. It was agreed that this should proceed as a matter of urgency once the new Committee members were known.

Several updates were suggested and these would be relayed to the webmaster for actioning.

It was felt that the website and forum were a good resource but needed to be used more by the Members and needed to be regularly updated to keep it fresh. There was discussion as to the best way to do this and it was agreed that the Secretary would e-mail reminders to the Membership. Also Russ would speak to Ian Nelson to discuss the possibility of automatic registration for existing and new Members.


Update on AMRO representation at Rescue/Recovery panel:
Andy Taylor reported that Rescue/Recovery Panel had not met since the last AMRO AGM and no documents or proposals had been circulated. Ian said that he had sent a proposal to Joe Hickerton requesting the panel consider reducing the age limit for trainees but had heard nothing back.

John Symes had agreed, in writing, to AMRO’s request for a permanent place on the panel. Shirley proposed that John Macfarlane be approached to see if he would consider taking on this role as a co-opted member of the Committee.

High intensity light funding application:
Richard reported that by the time we had agreed to pursue this that it was too late to apply for funding and many Members had already purchased these themselves. The Committee would endeavor to act quicker if a similar situation were to arise in future.

John MacFarlane/John Symes/RR Panel:
Richard and Ian gave a summary of events relating to allegations made against John Macfarlane and reported to the Rescue/Recovery panel and dealt with by John Symes. Richard also reported on his displeasure at the way John Symes had dealt with this and, in particular, his attitude when dealing with Richard as Chairman of AMRO.

It was felt that the only satisfactory conclusion would be a written apology and vindication of John. Andy Taylor agreed to contact the Chairman and the rest of the Rescue/Recovery panel Members to see if this could be actioned as a matter of priority. If the situation did not reach a swift and satisfactory conclusion then AMRO would progress the issue further up the chain on John’s behalf at the MSA.

OFFICERS REPORTS
Chairman
Richard thanked the outgoing Committee for all their efforts throughout the year. Lots of work goes on in the background that Members are not aware of and the Committee, who are all volunteers, work very hard on behalf of the Members. He made particular reference to Ian who had stepped in at short notice as Acting Secretary due to Paul Fife having to step back due to a change in his personal circumstances and also thanked John Macfarlane and John Chambers for their work on behalf of the Association.

He recognized that it had been a very busy year for AMRO Members who continue to carry out their work in a professional manner.

He re-iterated that the website and forum were a vital tool and was glad to see that this was starting to be used more by the Members and hoped it would continue to be used more.

Treasurer
Shirley present the accounts, attached. She pointed out that the deficit was due to money having been paid out that had not yet be reimbursed by the MSA so the overall picture was good.

There was concern that the website hosting fees appeared to be on the high side but it was agreed that it probably wasn’t worth the hassle to change hosts for a relatively small saving.

PROPOSED: Ian Culbert SECONDED: Russ Howitt. All in favour to adopt

Membership
Russ reported that we had added 14 new Members during the year and sadly had two members passing away bringing the current total to 99. This did not include applications for four new Trainees from Northern Ireland received at the meeting.

Russ had received 47 replies from members conforming receipt of their 2015 Membership.

Training
Richard reported that, since the last AGM, there had been six training days out of the nine that funding had been applied for. Two in Wales, and one each in Cumbria, Isle of Man, Northern Ireland and Scotland.

Richard requested that anyone who would like to arrange a training day to let him know the date and location as soon as possible to allow him to arrange permits and Trainers/Assessors.

Andy Taylor requested that AMRO approach the Rescue/Recovery panel to propose two additional trainers – Steve Bennett and Kevin Mann

It was suggested that Clive Johnston should be removed from the Trainers list on the website.

Club Development
Richard reported that there were four claims in 2014 and one so far in 2015 with two more pending.

It was noted that there may be less money available this year due to a large portion of the budget being allocated to programming and updating the MSA81 radios.

Website
Ian Nelson had sent his apologies and forwarded his report by e-mail:

Activity on the AMRO website whilst improved still remains fairly quiet. In the past 10 months or so since my last report to the committee we’ve had a promising 240 or so topic replies but these are from only the same handful of the members and there is a deafening silence from some of the more well known members in AMRO. More incentive is needed – for example the forum being a hub for group purchasing of kit or special offers negotiated with suppliers.

The main contact form, whilst working, has not stimulated any submissions however the google map member database & contact form is being used to directly contact the membership on a legitimate basis which is a great result. It does highlight the importance of making sure membership details are kept current and up to date and I really hope these messages have reached their recipients.

I have made improvements to the gallery section of the website as in its initial state, the feature was “a bit wooden” and difficult to use. The improved system allows images to be cycled through and shows comments at the bottom of each picture (if I have been given information on the photo). It’s a vast improvement but I’m still struggling to get any content from the members – so text, news and photos are changed little for months.
In summary the site works for AMRO but the members still fail to release its potential. In an effort to remind people that the site is live, I would propose that we release the AGM minutes online rather than directly emailing them to each member.


ELECTION OF OFFICERS
Following the Officers reports, Richard declared all positions vacant and asked Ian, as Acting Secretary, to conduct the election. Ian reported that he had received eight postal votes which would be added to the votes of those present. All nominees were existing Committee Members with the exception of Mark Wilson from Northern Ireland and Ian gave a brief resume of his experience.

The votes were recorded as follows and all were duly elected:

POSITION CANDIDATE
CHAIRMAN SHIRLEY BLACKWELL 15
VICE CHAIRMAN IAN CULBERT 16
SECRETARY IAN CULBERT 16
TREASURER SHIRLEY BLACKWELL 16
MEMBERSHIP SECRETARY RUSS HOWITT 16
TRAINING &CLUB DEV FUND OFFICER RICHARD SHOREY 16
WEBMASTER IAN NELSON 16
ASSISTANT TRAINING & CDF OFFICER IAN NELSON 16
ORDINARY MEMBER ANDY TAYLOR 16
ORDINARY MEMBER PAUL FIFE 16
ORDINARY MEMBER MARK WILSON 16

Shirley Blackwell accepted the Chair and asked Richard Shorey to conduct the remainder of the meeting.

PROPOSALS
Revised rules and regulations
John Blackwell presented the proposed changes to the rules and the reasons behind these.

Ian Culbert proposed that those standing for election to the Committee, but not for Officer position, could self nominate so long as they were seconded. This was agreed.

Following discussion it was agreed to remove the paragraph relating to members acknowledging their annual renewal.

Based on these changes being made the proposal was

PROPOSED: John Fry SECONDED: John Ellis ALL IN FAVOUR

Approved Suppliers scheme
Ian Culbert, on behalf of Ian Nelson, suggested that AMRO could provide benefits for the Members by drawing up a list of “Approved Suppliers” who could provide discounted goods and services to Members. He presented details of the scheme used successfully by NI Land Rover Club.

After discussion it was agreed that the Committee would, initially, look at providers of “on event” insurance cover. John Ellis proposed that we should also investigate discounts from accredited training providers.

PROPOSED: Ian Nelson SECONDED: Ian Culbert ALL IN FAVOUR

Regional Representatives
Mark Wilson had proposed that AMRO appoint regional representatives to improve the interaction between the Committee and Members. These representatives would carry regional (proxy) votes to the AGM.

John and Shirley Blackwell were concerned about proxy voting. Ian suggested that these would have to be in writing. Whilst it was agreed that units/Members in Northern Ireland and Scotland operated very well on a regional basis, this was not the case in the rest of the country and it could prove difficult to implement.

It was noted that membership of the AMRO Committee now covered all areas of the country and all Members had several ways of voting.

The Proposal was REJECTED.

Ian Culbert proposed that the Committee contact details should include the Committee Members location and Members should be advised to contact their nearest Committee Member if they require assistance.

This was AGREED.

Travel expenses
Shirley Blackwell proposed that AMRO should provide assistance with travel expenses for those attending to the AGM.

The idea was that it would, hopefully, result in a greater attendance at the AGM. Several Members suggested that it could end up being a victim of its own success and could very quickly put the Association in financial difficulties. Ian Culbert queried what would happen if all fourteen Northern Ireland members decided to attend and referred back to the previous proposal.

This provoked a lot of discussion as to how such a scheme could be implemented. Shirley suggested that any member incurring costs of more than £50 could receive a contribution towards their costs and it would be expected that Members would “car share”.

After much debate Ian Culbert suggested that the proposal be amended to:
The AMRO Committee may, at their discretion, provide assistance with excessive travel expenses for those attending the AGM on a case per case basis.

The revised proposal was
PROPOSED: Shirley Blackwell SECONDED: Richard Shorey ALL IN FAVOUR
John Blackwell to add to Rules and Regulations

AOB
As there was no other business from the floor Shirley Blackwell thanked everyone for attending and for their input and closed the meeting at 1600

__________________________________
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