Minutes of the Annual **General Meeting** on 22nd August 2025 at 7pm held at : _Piazzo Lounge, The Square, Wimborne_
Present: Simon Miller Patsy Hallmey (video link) Jamie Burr Steve Butterworth Apologies: Rob Scott Louise Northbrooke
## **Welcome and Apologies:**
The meeting commenced at 19.10. Everyone was welcomed and thanked for attending. Simon announced that Rob and Louise could not attend due to personal commitments. Patsy joined the meeting by What'sApp call.
## **Minutes of the Last AGM Meeting:**
Taken as a true record of events at the meeting, proposed by Steve seconded by Jamie.
## **Chairman's Report:**
The past year has seen some changes to our website and the way our listings are presented. Simon attended World Travel Market in London in November, BTTS and Naidex Birmingham in March, Kidz to Adultz in May, and LATA Expo in June, to spread the word about accessible travel., increase contacts and promote networking opportunities. We have had several fundraising events , two quiz nights, three 'stall' events including Bryanston School, Canford School, Fete on the Field in Ferndown and Parallel Windsor.
Our Tombola type stall and latterly 'Spin to Win' has been partly supported by Tesco Tower Park, who have been happy to donate excess stock. Tesco also donated £300 to EMT. . These stalls could not have been possible without the unwavering help and commitment of the Chairman's wife , Avril, Trustees, and our volunteers. A Garage Sale in November took place, selling some Tesco stock and bought items from Bailey Gate Warehouse. As a member of LATA (Latin American Travel Association) Simon attended as a delegate this year and spent three days engaged with suppliers.
Simon was asked once more by Travel Weekly to judge a short list of three companies offering the most accessible holidays, Simon was unable to attend the prestigious Globe Awards in London in January.
In January, we invested £750 in 'Run For Charity' (RFC) , giving EMT access to a number of events such as full and half marathons, 'tough mudders', bungee jumps etc. So far t has been a disaster, and we have withdrawn the facility from the website. Fortunately, RFC will initially extend our membership to July 2026. Simon will contact them about this.
Our Google Ads Grant is still being under utilised (but see 'Individual trustee reports below). The skills gaps in developing this resource are recognised and we yet again will need to make good use of our Google Ads Grant.
With help from a friend, and the AI App 'Suno' we produced 18 versions of an 'Enable My Trip Song' in various styles using the same lyrics. One of the versions has been used as backing to a video which was posted on social media.
We have no other volunteers at present, although Simon did make contact with a young woman called 'Luca' who is a wheelchair user, at Naidex. She initially volunteered her services to help promote EMT using her favourite, Tik-Tok. She needs some income as she is studying, and I agreed that I would pay her as a 'Freelancer' once I am happy with what she is doing, I agreed a rate of £10 an hour and she would be willing to take on the role of a social media coordinator, in
which she would recruit and organise volunteers to keep the content flow, as well as her own content creation.
The ultimate aim is to get suppliers to sign up as a 'Prime Listing' member at a nominal fee per month, anything from £5-20 a month and they would get higher ranking in the results and a guaranteed amount of promotion via social media.
## **Treasurer's Report:**
Steve presented the meeting with the annual accounts which showed a credit balance of £12,475 at year end. He commended the efforts that EMT has made in raising funds, and stated that the Charity was in a good position financially, with reserves to cover fixed costs for at least two years. The accounts are sown at the end of the minutes.
## **Individual Trustee Reports** :
Jamie presented the meeting with some impressive Google Ads Results which demonstrated a noticeable rise in website visits towards the third quarter of 2025. It is noticeable that the majority of people reacting to our adverts are female and aged 35 and above. The number of male responders in the age group 55-64 is similar tenth number of females aged 25-34. It should be noted that these figures are based on 62% of impressions. The report is shown at the end of the minutes.
## **Website Status:**
We committed to a one-off cost of $1695 for SEO improvement. Additionally we also committed to a monthly fee of $295 which has included ongoing SEO optimisation and website improvements . Currently our website developers are working on a major change so that searches and navigation will be more intuitive. We will be including location searches by regions such as 'The Cotswolds' 'Mediterranean Islands' or 'USA East Coast'. Amenities filtering will be improved immensely.
Visitors over the past 28 days to our website have been 3k up from 1.7k at the same period last year. Other statistics for the past 28 days : 8.4k views 2.9k new users 1m 29s average time on website . Users by country: UK 66% USA 12.5% Australia 4% Canada 2.5% Ireland 2%.
There are probably over 500 items waiting to be entered onto the website.
## **Social Media:**
Followers on Facebook are now in excess of 900. Postings have been patchy with not enough hours in the day to do everything.
## **Volunteers:**
Mentioned previously, Luca was a potential volunteer, but now wishes to be a part-time ad hoc contributor. No other volunteers except our own Trustees and those who have helped at events.
## **Fundraising and Financial**
We bought a job lot from the Bailey Gate Warehouse which was closing down, and have used this to increase our funds, shifting everything from wardrobes to plastic cat ornaments. A lot of Tesco new stock increased our capabilities. In conjunction with Koloko Direct a not for profit organisation specialising in holidays for neuro-diverse people, we ran an online holiday competition which brought in around £170 for each organisation. In total we have increased our funds over the past year substantially. A friend of Simon's 'Keryn' has raised over £900 selling Tesco clothing, mainly underwear , using the Vinted App.
Future events include a couple of quiz nights. These are booked for Thursday 9th October, and either Thursday 11th or 18th December. Both will be held at St Anthony's Church Hall in West Moors.
## **Marketing and Exposure:**
As mentioned, social media posts have been patchy, yet we still have increased visits to our website substantially. A lot of this increase is thanks to the efforts of Jamie who has spent time
examining the way we go about promoting ourselves, with attention to the detail of keywords, phrases and how frequently these are used. Apart from our Google ranking, and social media, exposure over the past year has been mainly via events, and networking with suppliers at events and through LinkedIn.
## **Any Other Business:**
Simon mentioned that despite efforts liaising and networking with suppliers (such as accommodation providers, destination management companies etc) it was a frustrating situation. many made ' all the right noises' but failed to deliver the information required. This is despite diligently following up on conversations. Jamie experience the same situation, particularly with regard to World tRavel market where he estimated that less than 5% had made any meaningful contact. Simon said that this situation is not limited to EMT. Even the massive organisation, 'Wheel the World' complete with backing from Expedia is facing similar issues.
Jamie raised the issue of contracting a 'Social Media Co-ordinator', by using a 'Virtual Assistant'. Samatha Smits from The Netherlands (one of Jamie's and EMT contacts) uses this function via a facility based in South Africa. This is priced at about EUR10 per hour. We will look at this and other options also determine a budget for future expenditure like this.
Jamie suggested that as we know had a healthy balance to consider regular podcasts utilising the facilities at 'The Foundry' in Poole.
The meeting closed at 20.00.
## **Date of Next Meeting:**
TBA
##
##
##
|Donations- GoodHub&Crowdfunder|290.70|Website Development & MaintenanceFees|4,443.62|
|---|---|---|---|
|Donations -Other|1,800.00|Software|53.90|
|Fundraising andraffle|6,836.51|Fundraiser RegulatorSubscription|60.00|
|Village HallHire Refund|206.00|Postage,Printing andStationery|182.60|
|GiftAid|124.83|Third Party Liability lnsurance|157.9A|
|||Ebay,SumUp & PayPalFees|23.20|
|||Travel Costsand Subsistance|160.63|
|||TravelshowCosts&Accomodation(lnclrefund)|3.17|
|||CurrencyTransactionFees|108.70|
|||Sign-upfees forsportsevent(unsuccessful)|750.00|
|Totallncome|89,258.04|TotalExPenditure|t5,943.72|
|Less Expenditure|5,943.72|||
|.Surplusfortheyear|€3,314.32|BalanceinLloydsCurrentAccount|12,475.25|
|BalanceB/Fonarard|f9,160.93|||
|BalanceCarried Forward|t12,475.25|BalanceCarried Forward|912,475.25|
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## **Enable My Trip Accounts - Year End 11th July 2025**
|**Income**||**Expenditure**||
|---|---|---|---|
|Donations - GoodHub & Crowdfunder|290.70|Website Development & Maintenance Fees|4,443.62|
|Donations - Other|1,800.00|Software|53.90|
|Fundraising and raffle|6,836.51|Fundraiser Regulator Subscription|60.00|
|Village Hall Hire Refund|206.00|Postage, Printing and Stationery|182.60|
|Gift Aid|124.83|Third Party Liability Insurance|157.90|
|||Ebay, SumUp & PayPal Fees|23.20|
|||Travel Costs and Subsistance|160.63|
|||Travel Show Costs & Accomodation (Incl refund)|3.17|
|||Currency Transaction Fees|108.70|
|||Sign-up fees for sports event (unsuccessful)|750.00|
|**Total Income**|**£9,258.04**|**Total Expenditure**|**£5,943.72**|
|Less Expenditure|5,943.72|||
|**Surplus for the year**|**£3,314.32**|Balance in Lloyds Current Account|12,475.25|
|**Balance B/Forward**|**£9,160.93**|||
|**Balance Carried Forward**|**£12,475.25**|**Balance Carried Forward**|**£12,475.25**|
|Signed - S Butterworth (Treasurer & Trustee)||||
|**Date signed: 15th July 2025**||||