Minutes of the Annual General Meeting held at : 77 Golf Links Road, Ferndown BH22 8BU. Sunday 10th September 2023
Present: Simon Miller Steve Butterworth Patsy Hallmey (by 'Zoom') Jamie Burr
Apologies: Rob Scott Louise Northbrooke
Welcome and Apologies:
The meeting commenced at 10.07. Everyone was welcomed and thanked for attending. Simon announced that Rob and Louise could not attend due to personal commitments.
Minutes of the Last Meeting:
Taken as a true record of events at the meeting, proposed by Steve and seconded by Jamie.
Chairman's Report:
We have spend good deal of time since the last meeting considering how the website should look and how we can enhance the user experience. This has resulted in a complete redesign which is currently being worked on by our website developer, Luis, who is in Costa Rica. This work has cost USD3000 and is a major cost for us; however our fundraising over the past year has been successful. Simon and Jamie continue to increase our awareness through travel industry contacts, social media and the press media.
Treasurer's Report:
All trustees present declared no pecuniary advantage or conflict of interest in their work with the charity. Steve presented the year end accounts which showed total income for the year ended 11th July 2023 at £4,882.05 and expenditure of £2672.18. Balance in the Lloyd's current account at year end was £7,249.52. We need at least £2700 per year to cover our fixed costs. Acceptance of the accounts was proposed by Patsy and seconded by Jamie.
Website Status:
Following the last meeting, views were sought via an online survey and face to face discussions with current and potential website users. Consequently we have come up with a proposed redesign of the website, and a plan on how to enhance the user experience. Simon has appointed 'Luis' from 2R LLC Software in Costa Rica to make these changes which include the ability to search for suppliers by map.
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The main page will appear more like a travel website.
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More content will be available on the home page to direct users in a logical way.
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Articles and blogs will have more prominence.
Other improvements such as SEO rankings will follow in the next few months.
Social Media:
It was noticeable how our website traffic increased following regular Facebook posts. Jamie said that some articles fell flat, and others were well received resulting in people visiting our website. Jamie has just completed his Google training for Google Analytics, and reported that we had about 1.2k visitors last month, which considering our recent lack of social media engagement was not too bad. Jamie did mention that he needs to be fed articles to manage and post as his personal knowledge was limited. Simon confirmed that he would do this.Patsy suggested that we video a Q & A session with Rosie at the Marsham Court Hotel to use on social media. Jamie will ensure that those who 'like' our FB posts will be invited to join of follow our FB page and group.
Volunteers:
To date our experiences in the recruit of volunteers has been unsuccessful. We have been invited by BU to attend their intake week on 19th September to make a presentation to around 150
students. Jamie and Simon will work on this to make it an interactive event. We will explore the making some kind of 'experiential' video which could form part of this, plus an interactive quiz. We aim to recruit 5-10 volunteers at this presentation. Additionally SUBU has asked that we put together a list of volunteering opportunities ready for 14th September. Jamie suggested that we offer them , as an example, an opportunity to develop relationships with the media, and someone to oversee social media opportunities and posts. Updates on the developments:
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The future 'official' partnership arrangement with BU Travel & Tourism involving volunteers is too onerous for us to take on at present due to the amount of supervision and admin required.
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We need to put together a very well structured 'menu' to give to potential volunteers so that they can choose what type of volunteering job or function would interest them the most.
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Simon is aware that tuition videos need to be in place prior to any take up of volunteering opportunities.
Jamie mentioned that many of the Travel & Tourism students at BU attend World Travel Market (WTM) en masse by coach. It would be a good opportunity for EMT to give them a purpose and objective to their visit to WTM when they attend.
Fundraising and Financial
The big event on the horizon is the 'Charity Ball' on Friday 3rd November jointly with Dorset Children's Foundation. We desperately need more customers for this at £55.95 a head. Simon sent out over 50 letters (by Royal Mail - along with a card with hand painting by DCF children) and has only received 7 replies, four of them negative. We also need some really good auction and/or raffle prizes. All trustees were asked to help on this. Over the year we have had some successful events such as the 'tombola' type stalls, and the quiz nights. Next quiz night probably late November/early December. Patsy suggested that we place the donated Manchester City shirts with one of her contacts 'Jack Pine' who deals in sports memorabilia; a) to get an accurate valuation and b) to auction the shirts on his website IF we do not reach the reserve figure at the Charity Ball. The balance in our account as of today is £4647.91
Marketing and Exposure:
We had a good half page article about EMT in 'Travel Weekly' in August. Off of the back of this Jacob's Media Group invited Simon to 'Global Travel Market Place' in London 12-14 September to meet suppliers. Jamie and Simon are registered as 'Buyers' at World Travel Market 6-9 November. Simon continues to network with new global travel suppliers . Naidex at Birmingham is not an exhibition we will be exhibiting at in the future. Facebook to be used more with FB ads once we are happy with the new look website. Jamie is now more au fait with Google Ads and hopes that he may be able to increase our visibility.
Any Other Business:
Following personal experience of trying to book accessible travel in Australia, Louise has volunteered to join an ;accessible travel working group' at her employer Audley Travel to guide and assist the project. It is hoped that EMT can be involved in some way.
Date of Next Meeting: Sunday 18th February 2024 at 10.00
| Enable My Trip | Enable My Trip | Enable My Trip | Enable My Trip | Enable My Trip |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Accounts - Year End 11th July 2023 | ||||
| Income | Expenditure | |||
| Donations - InvestMyCommunity | 231.97 | Website Development & Maintenance Fees | 996.09 | |
| Donations - Other | 2,333.08 | Domain Fees | 187.24 | |
| Fundraising | 2,067.00 | Google Fees | 114.28 | |
| Paypal deposit refund | 250.00 | Postage, Printing and Stationery | 134.90 | |
| Village Hall Hire | 45.00 | |||
| Ebay, SumUp& PayPal Fees | 20.50 | |||
| Third PartyLiabilityInsurance | 138.82 | |||
| Travel Costs | 23.61 | |||
| Travel Show Accomodation | 400.79 | |||
| CurrencyTransaction Fees | 10.95 | |||
| Marketing | 600.00 | |||
| Total Income | £4,882.05 | Total Expenditure | £2,672.18 | |
| Less Expenditure | 2,672.18 | |||
| Surplus for the year | £2,209.87 | Balance in Lloyds Current Account | 7,249.52 | |
| Balance B/Forward | £5,039.65 | |||
| Balance Carried Forward | £7,249.52 | Balance Carried Forward | £7,249.52 | |
| Signed - S Butterworth (Treasurer & Trustee) | ||||
| Date signed:4th September 2023 | ||||
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