Old Girls' Association - Malvern St James

4
Present:
MINUTES OF THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING OF
MALVERN ST JAMES OLD GIRLS’ ASSOCIATION
Mrs Ros Hayes (Headmistress of Malvern St James and Hon.
President), Mrs Patricia Birchley (Chairman), Mrs Helen
Sommerville (Secretary), 2 Patrons, 3 Hon. Vice Presidents,
10 Hon Members and 42 Members.
Patricia Birchley welcomed everyone to the meeting and
thanked Mrs Ros Hayes for her hospitality and Mrs Stanier
for the excellent lunch.
1. Minutes of previous meeting
The Chairman signed the Minutes having read an extract
from the MGC OGA Minutes held in 1938.
2. Chairman’s Report
Held at Malvern St James
on Saturday 17th May, 2008 at 2.30pm in the Abbey Room
Mrs Birchley congratulated the Headmistress and her staff
for the excellent start at Malvern St James. The girls were
happy and achieving good results. She explained that whilst
the OGA was in touch by email the Annual Newsletter
would continue to keep members informed about OGA
activities and the school. As Mrs Anne Borrowdale was
now Chairman of Council she hoped there would be more
interaction between the Council and the Old Girls.
Mrs Birchley announced that the Autumn Reunion 2009
would be held in Oxford. She read out the Trustees’ Report
and thanked Mrs Clare John who was retiring as a Trustee for
all her hard work on behalf of the OGA. It was hoped another
Chartered Accountant would be found to replace her.
Mrs Birchley invited Mrs Ros Hayes to speak and the
Headmistress gave an outstanding account of life at
Malvern St James. In her presentation Mrs Hayes talked
about the new Sports Centre which would open in
September 2008 and it was hoped that the OGA would be
represented on that occasion. Life at the new school had
never been busier and the girls were fully absorbed in a
huge variety of sports, musical and drama productions in
addition to their studies. The school was well received in
the Press and had signifi cantly increased its intake in the
local area. The OGA thanked Mrs Hayes for what was the
highlight of the day and wished her continued success in
taking the school forward to new achievements.
3. Secretary’s Report
Mrs Sommerville welcomed everyone present and had
displayed the Good Wishes List on the board in Reception.
Mrs Prophet had also produced a display board on the visit
to The Gambia and invited Old Girls to contribute towards
the next MSJ visit at Easter 2009.
Mrs Sommerville thanked Mrs Birchley for suggesting the
OGA News be mailed out by Packpost which had saved her
a huge amount of time. The Secretary had tickets on sale
today for the Autumn Reunion in November which would
be held in Cambridge. She also asked the Old Girls for more
email addresses.
4. Hon. Treasurer’s Report
The OGA Secretary read out the Treasurer’s Report.
Margaret Wood, Hon. Treasurer apologised for not being
there again in person to present her report.
“As you can see from the accounts, we had a successful year.
I should, however, like to draw to your attention the fact
that our expenses, particularly the costs of the newsletter,
are no longer covered by our subscription income.
Nonetheless we shall continue to support the school
as best we can.
At the moment we are holding more cash than usual, as
three of our investments have matured, and have not as
yet been reinvested by our advisors. I am sure everyone
is aware of the volatility of the stock market, and can rest
assured that funds will only be reinvested by the trustees,
when it is right and practical to do so.
I hope you all have an enjoyable meeting, and I shall look
forward to seeing everyone in the Autumn”.
5. Any other Business
Mrs Penny Smith proposed adoption of the 2007 accounts
seconded by Fiona Jenkinson.
There being no other business the meeting closed at 3.41pm.