## **SOUTHAMPTON SEA CADET UNIT** # **MINUTES OF THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING HELD ON WEDNESDAY 17[th] NOVEMBER 2021** The meeting opened at 1900 ## **Present** ## UMC Captain Andrew Moll (Chairman) Mr Stuart King (Vice Chairman) Lieutenant Lindsay Bassett (Commanding Officer) Mr John Simonds Mr John Onslow (Secretary) Mrs Catherine Tipper (Fund-Raising) WO2 J Zobel (1st Lieutenant) ## Staf CPO Ed Forsdyke (Chief Instructor) PO Simon Tipper (Boats Officer) PO Charlie Lloyd (Training Officer) PO Alex Blake (Courses Officer) ## Parents/Guardians and members of the public - 5 ## 1. **Apologies for absence** Captain Martin Phipps (Unit President) Mr Martin Kelly (Treasurer) ## 2. **Opening comments by Chair of UMC** The Chairman opened the meeting and welcomed all those in attendance and noted that the Unit was financially sound and cadet numbers were good and improving. The fabric of the site is generally good with the next major work to be undertaken is the refurbishment of the slipway and side walls in the vicinity of the slipway. ## 3. **Minutes of the last AGM for adoption** The minutes of the last AGM on 20[th] October 2020 were accepted as a true record of that meeting, having been proposed by John Onslow and seconded by Stuart King. The minutes were signed by the Chairman. ## 4. **Matters arising from the minutes of the last meeting** There were no Matters Arising. ## **5. Unit Chairman’s Report** The first observation I would like to make is that the Unit has come through the last year, indeed the last two years, amazingly well. We are structurally and financially sound, our trustees, staf and cadets are all still with us, and while it might not be quite business as usual, it is pretty close. So well done, everyone. As usual, I will quickly touch on our infrastructure, equipment and people, say a little about finances, and also do some horizon scanning. ## **Infrastructure:** My unprofessional assessment is that materially the Unit is in a generally satisfactory state: - Main Unit – main deck needs refurbishing, but otherwise general maintenance. - Canute Building – Recently installed and in good shape. - Union Castle – Satisfactory. Some minor exterior works required to soffits, facias and downpipes. - Slipway – side walls are deteriorating and the base needs re-surfacing. - Pontoons – Satisfactory. Three refurbished and one to be refurbished. Overall: regular maintenance will be required, some of which will cost money, and this needs to be factored into our future budgeting. The big-ticket item will be refurbishing the slipway, but more of that later. ## **Fundraising** At the last AGM I was able to report that while fund-raising activities had ground to a halt, the Unit had benefitted from a significant grant from the City Council. We have received a smaller grant this year, but on the plus-side the Southampton Boat Show ran as normal and we were able to raise just over £3000 through our raffle. At year’s-end in April we were about £3600 up on the previous year, and since then the increase in cadet numbers has begun to feed through, so financially we are keeping our head above water. ## **Equipment** Afloat, we have acquired: - Three Pontoon & Dock rafts for the RS Quests and Trinitys - A MoD 5.mm RIB - Three pontoons have been re-planked - One second-hand pontoon Ex-Fawley has been delivered as part of pontoon extension project. 2 Ashore: - A ‘new’ minibus has been obtained to replace the aging one. - The ramps & steps to Canute building have been completed. - Concrete has been laid alongside the exterior fencing beside the road to prevent weed growth. ## **PERSONNEL** UMC - Trustee numbers are down from 10 at the last AGM to seven. Peter Duncan has retired after many years of good service as the Secretary to the Management Committee. Also, unfortunately, we have lost Ted Hill and Jeremy Lambert, both fairly recent joiners. Trustee numbers are not of immediate concern, but most have been on the committee for quite a few years. The current cohort has seen the Unit expansion project through to a successful completion, and it would be useful to have some new blood on the committee to help guide the Unit through the next stage of its life. Staf - I will leave the Commanding Officer to tell you more about staffing the Unit, but from the Committee’s perspective we have sufficient strongly motivated and experienced staf to run the Unit efectively. They work extremely hard, and a few more staf to help spread the load would be a bonus. Cadets - Cadet numbers have held up amazingly well during COVID, and we have almost exactly the same number now as when lockdown started. We do have room for a few more, and hopefully will take more on in the Spring in time for the good weather next year. What is particularly pleasing is that the Unit now has three Leading Cadets and one cadet Petty Officer. When I joined 13 years ago, it was unusual to have even one leading cadet, so to have so many senior cadets is amazing, and well done to them. PS&A **–** The Unit still does not have a Parents and Supporters Association (PS&A), and this is something we would like to rectify. The stronger Units have a PS&A, working alongside the staf and committee to spread the load, and when we are allowed face-to-face gatherings again I hope we will be able to have the parents around for an evening to float the idea. With over 60 cadets we ought to have a broad skill base of parents to tap into, and just a little expertise applied in the right place can go a long way. ## **Looking Ahead** At the last AGM I mentioned that our leases were due to be renewed in 6 years, and that is now 5 years. The good news is that both our landlords have indicated that they are willing to renew, so we are about to start detailed negotiations to establish ‘how long?’ and ‘at what cost?’ Assuming we are able to extend the leases, we need to think about the future in both the short and long term. 3 Short term, we want to extend the pontoons to provide more space for parking boats, hopefully with some more Pontoon& Dock units, and we really need to do something about the state of the slipway. Longer term, and the length of the leases will tell us what that is, we need to think about the rest of the buildings, how long they will last, and what our options are for improving or enhancing them. It is too early to guess where that might go, but if the Unit can secure the site for the long term all options are on the table. ## **Closing remarks** In closing, I would like to record my thanks to the Unit’s President, Martin Phipps, and its trustees, the UMC, for all the hard work they do behind the scenes to provide the facilities. You do not see much of them, and even less than normal due to COVID, but without them the Unit could not function. I would also like to thank the Commanding Officer, First Lieutenant, and the rest of the staf for all the work they do front of house. Theirs is the tougher job because, as trustees, we can often fit our contribution around our other activities and commitments. However, the staf have to be available when there is training going on and, as any teacher will tell you, that requires preparation time as well. COVID has made their job harder, because of the need to spread the training out, and they have given tirelessly and selflessly of their time. If we were meeting in person, I would ask you to join me in a round of applause **.** Finally, I would like to thank everyone who has supported the Unit, in whatever way, over the last year. From parents who have kept paying the cadets subs, to businesses that have helped with discounted or pro bono work, to the charities who have generously given us grant money, and to the City Council and the staf at MSSC, thank you. Approval of the Chairpersons report proposed by John Onslow and seconded by Stuart King. ## 6. **Commanding Officer’s or Officer-in-Charge Report** What a year we have had! The unit year starts in October and looking back to October 2020, we were in the fortunate position to be able to ofer face to face training. This was only possible thanks to the adult volunteers and UMT who were able to get the unit Covid secure. The training for most of the year has been diferent to what we are used to, with bubbles, one night a week and social distancing. This made for an overly complex training programme to ensure all the cadets received the training they needed to progress. At the end of October 2020, we achieved ‘Lime’ status to return to boating activities, something we had all missed over the previous year. 4 Even though we were face to face, restrictions changed, and Remembrance Sunday in 2020 was very diferent from previous years. However, all the cadets gave up their time and saluted with pride on their doorsteps. Thankfully, the lifting of restrictions this year meant that we were able to meet on Remembrance Sunday and have 48 cadets on parade at the Civic service in Southampton. Everyone there expressed how proud they were and how smart all the cadets were. Just as we were getting into the new routines we were back to virtual training in January; however, we were fully prepared and did not allow this to afect the training on ofer to the cadets. As much as we all loved being back face to face everyone adapted efortlessly back to virtual zoom sessions. The phrases “you’re on mute” and “cameras on” became part of every session, kahoot became our greatest friend. Don’t worry there will not be a kahoot at the end of this. During this we were cooking up a storm with the national roadshows, I am sure all appreciated the outcome. Cadets were constantly taking up the opportunities of online training and webinars to further their cadet progress. For our younger shipmates we started a new junior challenge, one of the first units in the country to do so. The Earth shot challenge based on the Earth shot prize launched by Prince William gave the juniors the opportunity to explore the world around us and how we can protect it and restore it for the future and wow do they have some amazing ideas. April saw the last zoom session run by the Inshore boating team giving us a much-needed refresher of boating safety ready to return to face to face training. The Training Officer and I were so pleased to be able to deliver lockdown t-shirts and return to unit training plans to all the cadets. We didn’t waste any time and threw ourselves back to face-to-face training including parade nights, weekend first aid training courses. We carried out 57 water safety tests so that all our cadets and some from around the district could take part in boating activities, which started in May on parade evenings and continued with weekend training, resulting in an average of 20hrs boating per cadet being completed. In July we were able to re-start band training and with a few willing cadets training is continuing Friday evenings. These sessions are open to all cadets and Juniors, no prior knowledge or musical ability required just a willingness to learn. DofE expeditions were able to restart in the summer and after cadets had put in the hard work during the lockdowns it was great for them to be out in the forest and complete their awards. The year has gradually and slowly started to return to a more normal less restrictive training and has seen us on parade in community, cheering on the runners at the Southampton Marathon including our own PO Tait who ran to 5 raise money for the Unit. The return of the Southampton Boat Show and fundraising with the cadets collectively ‘rowing’ from Southampton to Jersey unit over the two weekends. A whopping 160 miles. We were so proud to showcase our amazing unit to the Area Officer at our Area Review visit. The cadets rose to the occasion and showed of their skills sailing, paddling, first aid, seamanship, and STEM for the juniors. The AO and invited guests including the Mayor of Southampton were very impressed. At the end of the visit the AO was able to present many badges and qualifications to the cadets including for the first time Drill whistles to LC Viney and POC Barnes who gained their drill instructors, master coxswain, paddle instructors for LC Hillyer and LC Tipper and several bronze DofE certificates. The Mayor of Southampton was also able to present his mayor’s cadet badge to this year's Mayor cadet LC Tipper. As a result of the review visit and all the hard work of the cadets and Adults I am pleased to say that we have been awarded a Burgee for the year 2021, the highest national award a unit can receive. Our year has finished with a new petty officer cadet the highest rank a cadet can achieve and 2 new Leading Cadets. Two of our Cadets left us this year to Join the Royal Navy and I am pleased to say that they have both passed out of basic training at HMS Raleigh and moved on to their phase 2 training. In summary this year although turbulent with the pandemic has been amazing, not always the way we planned but over the year the cadets have gained over 400 qualifications and have all gained at least 1 promotion. We have grown our unit to the present number of 64 cadets and we have a new group of potential cadets waiting to join us in January. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the UMT who support the unit to allow us to ofer the amazing opportunities to the young people of Southampton in ever growing numbers. The wonderful adult volunteers whose selfless dedication means a varied training programme on a nightly basis and additional weekends. Without their support, time, and dedication we would not be able to do anything at the unit and help so many young people. You are all fantastic! Lastly my thanks to the cadets and their families. I am always so proud of you all and the team spirit we have at Southampton unit. You are always smart, reliable, and respectful. We as adults do what we do and are here for you, your enthusiasm and drive keep us coming back for more. Thank you to all who support Southampton Sea cadets and I as Commanding officer look forward to the coming year and all the opportunities that are on ofer as we continue to return to pre covid training, including ofshore and residential courses. 6 Approval of the CO’s report was proposed by John Simonds and seconded by Catherine Tipper. ## 8. **Treasurer’s Report and adoption of accounts** In the Treasurer’s absence, the Chairman read out the following amplifying comments: ## **Covid** The Unit has remained financially robust throughout the Covid crisis largely as a result of funds received from Southampton City Council that were paid to small business and charities. Thus, although losing our annual income from the Boat Show in 2020, which was cancelled, we have remained in a satisfactory position. As a result of Covid and the cancellation of face-to-face training there was an attendant drop in training costs, however there was no real fall of in subscriptions. The UMC are very grateful to parents for their support as subscription income forms a significant part of our day-to-day running costs, such as the premises, which could not be defrayed during covid. ## **Capital Project Expenditure** Some residual capital funding was still required for the Canute Building Project, and indeed the last expenditure has occurred during FY 21/22. This gives a total cost to the Unit of over £50,000 for this significant improvement to our facilities. This has only been achieved by considerable efort to obtain grants and donations, and also the eforts to obtain pro-bono or significantly discounted ofers of facilities and services because of our charitable status. The other main capital project during this FY was the replacement of the Unit minibus, which has been long overdue. This was achievable largely by specific funds for this purpose from both the MSSC and the Connaught Trust to cover about 75% of the cost. Capital Expenditure has also been made to increase the security of the site as a result of increased attempts, usually fruitless, to enter the site or get onto the pontoons. ## **Future Financial Plans:** The UMC has commenced a programme of refurbishment and expansion of the pontoons to increase our facilities for boat usage; we hope to have significant grant income from various sources for this programme. We are also in discussion with our landlords to look at a further extension of the leases on both parcels of land. Both landlords are sounding very supportive and if this is successful it will ensure the long term future of the unit on this site. 7 ## **[See: Appendix I; Financial Report to AGM - accounts for 1[st] April 2020 to 31[st] March 2021.]** Approval of the accounts was proposed by Lindsay Bassett( CO) and seconded by PO Simon Tipper. ## 9. **Election/Re-election of Unit Management Team (UMT) Trustees** All the current elected members of the UMC were content to be re-elected; and all were duly re-elected as follows: The elected members of the Unit Management Committee for the next year are, therefore: Andrew Moll Stuart King John Simonds John Onslow Catherine Tipper Martin Kelly Simon Charkham The motion to re-elect the above was proposed by John Onslow and seconded by CPO Ed Forsdyke. ## 10. **Any Other Business** The UMC wishes to record its collective congratulations to the Commanding Officer Lindsay Bassett on gaining a Lord Lieutenant’s Meritorious Service Award, which was bought to our attention by PO Lloyd. 8 Appendix I: 2020 Cadet Lk)nations 9,054.(K) FutKIrdisin￿I￿er 27.501t Traini om Travel Unrform5 Sale of Assets Cxher InsurèT*e recovwy (OIB) Totsl Incorne: 9,505.(X) 29.762.60 237.30 402.94 711.18 295.5) 22.OD 2.080.00 42.721.02 38.80L56 38￿lL56 42.721.02 Administration and Ban￿r* TraiTh 402.43 2.471.88 279.12 2.047.01 7,233.38 &io Vehtdes Premhse5 lirK Irtsurance) Mtsc 7.332J17 .5n.69 ￿￿32 12.433.82 Canute builthng Gall Mlnibus 3A76. 35.472.98 9.313.94 30.40 2.776.10 2,203.34 24985.84 35,124.16 -3.677.410 44,786.92 57.220.74 -14,499.72 Total ExpendI￿re SurpluslDeficit 0￿rn8 BalabKes atssin8 Balar 20.228.74 23.gA14 3.671.40 34.728.46 20.228.74 -14.499.72 I r4Jnfirrn the Rnandal Rewt to AGM. a(tounts for l Aprm lo￿ 31 Mw 2021 2021 2u20 In(thn• Cadet DonatFons 9,054. Fundrai51n8/Other Donakns 27.502.06 Tralning Travel Unlforms Sale of Assets Other Insurnnce rttov•ry (OIBI Totsl Incomo: 211 742.6,J 402.th 711.18 295.50 L95￿(￿1 22.OQ .Q8fJ.OL. J2,-"1.lJ£ 38.801.56 38AOI.56 Expend1￿1• Ire4enu•) Adrnlnistratlon and B•nkl Tralnln8 282.37 $30.47 136.10 430.00 7,332.07 -572.69 8,138.32 402 4" ?.47 1.83 21a.1.2 £,&1.7 L.1 V•hlcles Premlses Ilnc In$ur•nc•) Mls EXp•￿￿Te (upltll) Canute bulldln8 G•lley Mlnlbus Securlty Outboard Motor Totsl Expendlture Surplus/Defidt 82 3,476.(J) 35.4 12.98 9.J13.94 o.oo 0.00 UI.530.40 2.776.10 2.203.34 26,985.84 35,124.16 -3.677.410 Openlng Balances cltss1ry4 Balances Net Movement 20.228.74 23.906.14 3,677.40 ,1214 IJA '!0 ?.?2. [4 I confiTm the Yates A l November 2(r21 a*Q o fruL te[￿ yewJ fiCL£ UnibCTh