Charity No 1163121 Crusader Community Boating
Annual General Meeting
Held on Saturday 28[th] January 2023 at 10.30am
The Walnut Tree, Station Road, Blisworth, NN7 3DS
Those Present
Trustees –
Steve Boyce (Vice Chair), Peter Corns (Treasurer), Frances Prater (Secretary), John Collier, Gary Coles, Julie Colman, Jill Baker
Crew –
John Page, Wendy Rawlings, Chris Baker, Bill May, David Bennie, Geoff Fellows, Janet Wootton, John Page, John Shaw, Sue Hickerson, Liz Parker, Mick Watts David & Janice Garratt were invited so we could give them our best wishes on their retirement.
Apologies
Anne Page, Colin & Paula Neal, Michael Lyndsay, Rod Bower
Welcome
The Vice Chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting. We have 2 new members here today Stephen & Elizabeth Parker. The Vice Chair gave formal thanks to David Laing for attending and for all the years of support he and his Foundation have given to Crusader Community Boating.
Many thanks to Colin Neal for all his hard work since 2016 and Paula who made the cards to sell and other contributions.
Trustees Annual Report
SB asked if everyone had read the Annual Report, which had been circulated early January 2023 and were there are any questions. There being no questions the report was accepted.
Approved
Treasurer ! s Report/Acceptance of Accounts
Copies of the financial statement had been circulated early January 2023 in advance of the AGM.
PC commented that without the support and donations from David Laing and J Mackaness we would not have an operating profit.
The Treasurer noted that the accounts had been approved by an Independent Examiner (G Smith) and requested that they be approved by the Members.
Proposer Peter Corns, Seconder Steve Boyce.
Approved by Members
Trustees / Officers
| Trustees / Officers | Trustees / Officers | |
|---|---|---|
| Colin Neal (chair / trustee) - | End of tenure did not stand for re-election | |
| Mike Dean |
– | resigned |
| Frances Prater | - | re-elected |
| John Collier |
- | re-elected |
| Julie Colman | - | elected |
| Jill Baker |
- | elected |
Going forward a new Chair needed to be appointed.
There being no nominations Peter Corns has offered to take on the role of chair in order to keep the charity operational. S Boyce proposed P Corns and David Laing seconded, the members vote was unanimous and Peter Corns was duly elected.
Approved By Members
Geoff Fellows (GF) had volunteered for the role of Deputy Treasurer. Since PC was now elected as chair GF agreed to take on the role of Treasurer and Trustee. PC proposed this election and SB seconded. All those present voted and agreed unanimously.
JB asked when would these changes become active. The Chairman replied once there has been a satisfactory handover of the Treasurers duties.
Approved By Members
Bank Mandate
The above changes and elections would necessitate a change to the bank mandate.
Geoff Fellows (GF) would need to be added to the bank mandate as an authorised signatory.
It would also be beneficial for Jill Baker (JB) the Client Services Manager to have read only access to the bank in order to check on payments from clients.
Colin Neal (CN) no longer being an officer of the charity will be removed from the bank mandate. All those present agreed to the mandate changes.
Approved By Members
2023 Season
Crew
CB explained that there is no crew rota yet as no trips booked in April. JB – so far we have 30 trips booked but hopefully this will increase.
GC enquired if we had sufficient steerers. A number of crew are interested in training to do this. PC and SB will do some training sessions in March. We do need more crew as a matter of some urgency. If anyone has any ideas for advertising recruiting etc. please come forward.
DG suggested we do an article for the Inland Waterways magazine which might produce some volunteers.
JB/JC are already compiling an article for Towpath Talk and hopefully the Chronicle & Echo.
Training
JC will start training early February DG has offered to come along on the 7[th] February to assist. Bridge works on the river are now finished (we had been told end of March) so Community Spirit can get through.
MCA Inspection for both boats will be on 21[st] March 2023. We will need to check everything one week prior to the inspection.
We have 3 volunteers who wish to train as Boat Masters, so by the year end we hope they have completed this. Going forward into 2024 we should have 6 Boat Masters.
The new Chairman stated that he hopes to have some consolidation during the coming year as we adjust to new management.
SB asked if anyone has any ideas or suggestions please do raise. Remember we are all volunteers and all part of the same group.
SB then introduced David Laing who then introduced himself for the benefit of those members who do not know him. He and J Mackaness have been very pleased to assist CCB and congratulated everyone on the handling of the charities operations during a difficult few years with the ongoing effects of the pandemic.
CCB is not currently self financing therefore David Laing on behalf of himself and James Mackaness have agreed to continue offering support to the charity for the next 3 years.
DL then presented DG with a gift and asked if another could be passed on to CN as a thank you.
SB made it clear after speaking with DL prior to this meeting that DL is available to help and ad[-] vise in any way he can.
PC announced that this year may be a difficult one with all the changes and several new crew, but hopes that by the season end we should be running efficiently together. PC felt we should make more opportunity to socialize to get to know one another.
Charges
These will remain the same for this season.
PC reminded everyone that they are welcome to book a trip for themselves, family & friends free of charge although a donation would be appreciated.
Northampton Boat Club
PC/SB have been to visit the Northampton Boat Club and they are very keen to have some liaison with CCB.
They do hold various social events / fundraising during the year from which CCB may benefit.
Any Other Business
JC enquired who will be managing the website? PC replied, at the moment the decision has not been made. It was commented that some of the wording on the website could do with updating.
DG still had contact with the person who originally set up the website and currently pays the domain licence fee. DG offered to make contact to establish the current and ongoing arrangement.
GF would like to thank everyone that has offered to help clean the boats prior to MCA inspection, he now has enough volunteers.
As the vegetation officer he would like crew to report any potential obstacle problems noted during cruising to him. Please would all use the app "What3words to make finding the area easier, he will email the instructions how to set this up and use.
Heritage days – JC has volunteered to do the talks (DG has passed on previous info), GF has volunteered to be back up.
CB asked if we have any way we can encourage more bookings? Could we revisit previous clients to ask if they are interested. PC thought perhaps not this year whilst we are short on Boat Masters etc. but good idea for 2024 season.
GC inquired if we can take out Mountbatten without a B/M. With 12 passengers or less we do not have to operate under MCA rules and therefore a BM is not mandatory, however PC was of the opinion that we should not go down this route or encourage it as it would be unfair to place unqualified crew with the responsibility. Also we must ensure we are still covered by the insurance.
SP is qualified to operate boats with 12 or less passengers under the RYA Inland Waterways JB thought this would be useful if Boat Masters are unavailable and numbers for trip are low she could offer them M/Batten. PC said again we need to check we would still be covered by our insurance by operating without a boat master.
DG would like to mention that this was looked into several years ago. It is possible to run M/Bat[-] ten without a qualified Boat Master with 12 or less passengers but you MUST inform the Insurance company that you wish to do this and ensure still insured.
.
Meeting closed at 11.45am Signed Vice-chair