January - Highfields Amateur Radio Club

GW4LFOGW8NPWebsite: highfields-arc.co.ukg{x axãáÄxààxÜ Éy à{x [|z{y|xÄwá TÅtàxâÜ etw|É VÄâu? VtÜw|yyAApologies for the December Newsletter beingso late but various reasons, including awaitingthe conclusion of the AGM, have meant that I hadto delay publication.Due to positive feedback I will endeavour tocontinue with the Newsletter for the foreseeablefuture but could I ask PLEASE could memberscontribute some articles?Thanks.Editorial Notes30th AGM ReportREMINDER!Membership fees are now due for the year.BrianThere was a fair showing of members presentat the AGM this year, well the first part of it on 13December did anyway, the conclusion, on 10January, managed to field just 9 members!Minutes of the last AGM & the February EGMwere available for the members present to read(for which time was allowed). These minuteswere passed as correct with minor alterations asnoted.Brian, MW0GKX, reported on the position ofChairman, which he had held for the first quarterof the year. He said that some members hadpointed out that the yearly accounts were notbeing checked over and that, no matter how goodPublished quarterlyJanuary 2012Single: £14.00 Family: £19.00 Associate Single: £7.00 Associate Family: £9.50See http://highfields-arc.co.uk/club/joinus.htm for full detailsOr contact the editor: Brian MW0GKX, 43 Glyn Collen, Cardiff, CF23 7ER.the Treasurer is, an error could creep inundetected. An EGM was scheduled for Februaryto amend the Constitution so that a yearly auditwas a requirement. The current Treasurer haddecided to resign before the EGM so a newTreasurer was also required!Brian’s time as Chairman ceased at theFebruary EGM when he took a sideways step totake over as Treasurer.Andrew, 2W0MGB, continued the Chairman’sreport for the remainder of the year, as he hadtaken over the Chair at the EGM, noting thatsince the problems at the beginning of the yearhad been resolved there had been no other majorissues.He noted that the Anniversary Celebrationhad gone well and that, apart from dwindlingnumbers, the Club was doing fairly well.Club Secretary, Paul, 2W0CDZ, reported thatthe Club records were as up to date as could beexpected and he now had an asset register ofClub equipment, an element that had beenlacking for some years, which he producedcopies of for members information. He also notedthat the membership numbers were graduallydropping off, following on the trend from recentyears.Brian, now reporting as Treasurer, said thatthe accounting for the first quarter was notcomplete as there were entries in the ledger that

had no corresponding receipt and also receiptsthat had no entries. He had done the best hecould with what was available and had set inplace an accounting system that made sense tohim for the remainder of the year, he was alsopreparing a booklet of notes for the informationof successive Treasurers.He offered an apology for not getting thefigures to the second Auditor to be doublechecked due to time constraints, but noted thatAuditor Daniel White, MW0UZO, had checkedover the end of year report and had full accessto all the statements, receipts etc. that wereavailable and he had written an explanatory letterfor his findings, which Brian had copied andattached to the balance sheets that he hadhanded out.Reporting as Webmaster Brian, MW0GKX,stated that all was well with the site since thechange of hosting provider. The new host wasslightly more expensive than the previous onebut access times were a lot quicker and theservice provided was, so far, excellent. The costsof Domain & Hosting fees would be covered bya few adverts that were already on the site forthe foreseeable future, thereby not costing theClub any money.He added that, before year end, he had beenapproached by a web-based stationary & officecompany who wished to advertise on the site.After consulting with the Committee a deal wasstruck with the company and their advertappeared on the siteafter payment wasreceived into theClub’s bank account.As the payment wasreceived after yearend it didn’t appearon the currentbalance sheet. He remarked that advertisingspace had been offered to Amateur Radioretailers previously, but none had followed up onthe offer. He did state that some more advertsmay appear on the site but that it would not betoo many.Lead Instructor Rob, GW6ZHM, reported thatenquiries for Foundation courses were beingreceived but that the enquirers were not followingthrough after he had supplied the relevantinformation to them.Discussion then took place regarding thefuture of the Club, there being insufficientmembership to continue with the currentCommittee structure. It was noted that a fewmembers of the Committee had several “hats”that they were wearing and were finding it a strainto hold down all the posts as well as have a homelife.The final decision was that the Committeewould become a more open structure with 4Committee “Officers”: Chair, Secretary,Treasurer and Webmaster. The remainder of theCommittee will comprise of the remainingmembers of the Club and those members wouldbe invited to support the Club by taking on smalltasks to assist in the running of the Club. It wasnoted that the Club’s Constitution would requirealteration to reflect this new Committee formatand that the changes would need to take placebefore voting could proceed.Nominations for the Committee posts weretaken with opportunity offered for furthernominations to be put forward.The meeting was then adjourned untilJanuary 10 th 2012 to allow time for for theChristmas buffet.The attendance on January 10 th was a littledisappointing with just 9 members being present.A set of proposals for the amendment of theConstitution were tabled and discussed, beingpassed with only minor alteration. A copy of theupdated constitution is included with thisnewsletter and is also available to view online athighfields-arc.co.uk/pdf/constitution.pdfCommittee officers were elected as:Chair: Andrew, 2W0MGB.Secretary: Paul, 2W0CDZ.Treasurer: Roger, (call unknown).Webmaster: Brian, MW0GKX.Discussion was held on having more talksand activities for the members to participate in.Founder Member Dave Thomas, GW3RWX,mentioned that he could give a talk and possiblyarrange another as well. Brian, MW0GKX,agreed that he would publicise any such activitiesvia the website and by email to local Radio Clubsand Associations.