AGM MINUTES

The Annual General Meeting of the ASSOCIATION OF BOLTON ALLOTMENT SOCIETIES was held on 17^th November 2014. It was attended by 20 individuals representing 12 different sites. All votes were taken by show of hands.

 The meeting was opened by the retiring Chair, Richard Heyes, who then agreed to take the Chair for the rest of the meeting

 The Assistant Secretary (D Jackson) then gave a brief account of the current position of Abas. As follows:-

We now have 16 site societies in membership – covering 671 of the (approx) 980 plots in Bolton.

·        We have 502 signed up members.

·        We have held monthly meetings through the year

·        We have been accepted by Bolton Council as their prime means of contact with the Allotment Community

·        In this capacity we’ve raised a number of issues with the Council with varying degrees of success

·        We attend meetings of the NWCAA (as and when they are held).

·        We are trying to improve communications with the NAS / NSALG

·        We operated the Borough-wide Allotments Competitions in 2014

The Treasurer (T Farrell) then presented his Statement of Abas’ Annual Accounts

 

ASSOCIATION OF BOLTON ALLOTMENTS SOCIETIES
STATEMENT OF ACCOUNTS 2013/2014
OPENING BALANCE (BANK ACCOUNTS)				£1,236.75
INCOME
CVS  (initial payment)		£1,000.00
Members' Subscriptions		£426.00
Bank Interest		£0.27
Cash Transfer		£100.00
			£1,526.27
EXPENSES
Subs to NSALG		£175.50
Secretary's Honararium and Expenses (2013)		£114.00
National Vegetable Society		£19.00
Prize Money Allotments Competitions		£90.00
Engraving Trophies		£45.00
Postage		£7.96
Asst Secretary's Expenses		£25.00
CVS Grant expedniture (to date)		£956.19
			£1,432.65
NETT FLOW				£93.62
Expected Balance				£1,330.37
CURRENT ACCOUNT		£269.75
RESERVE ACCOUNT		£1,035.37
CASH IN HAND		£23.95
			£1,329.07
Actual Balance				£1,329.07
BALANCING ITEM				-£1.30

The Accounts were accepted.

 Proposed Amendments to the Abas Constitution

 The Assistant Secretary explained that the amendments previously posted on this blogsite were intended to clarify the position of individual members of Abas and to clarify the voting regulations.

The amendments were unanimously accepted.

 

ELECTIONS OF OFFICERS AND MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE

Hon. President Richard Heyes (Tonge Moor)

Hon. Vice-President George Wild (Tonge Moor)

Chair Jeff Gibson (Tonge Fold)

Secretary Dave Jackson (Harpers Lane)

Treasurer Terry Farrell (Tonge Fold)

 

Management Committee – Anne Craven (Settle Street), Theresa Morris (Tonge Fold)

 Subscriptions 2016

 The Treasurer confirmed that subscriptions for 2016 may be paid during the period June 2015 to the AGM in November 2015.

 The 2014 Committee had proposed that the fee per individual member be raised from £0.50p to £1.00. The Committee felt that this would provide the funds necessary to run the Annual Competitions and fund the series of talks / lectures planned for 2015, Members were invited to consult with their members both about the proposed increase and about alternative ways of funding the Competitions and the Talks.

 BOLTON ALLOTMENTS COMPETITIONS 2015

The Association will again be running the Fairhurst, Greenhalgh, New Entrant and Rose Bowl Competitions. Details will be sent to Society Secretaries in the New Year

 The Onion and Leek Show 2015

The Association will be re-introducing the Bolton Onion and Leek Show in September 2015

We are still looking for sponsorship for individual classes and for the show as a whole.

 Programme of Events 2015

The Association intends (barring any emergency events e.g. any new announcements by Bolton Council in response to new budgetary cuts) to restart the monthly meetings in March 2015.

The Association aims to present a series of talks and lectures on topics of interest to plot-holders in the New Year. Suggestions for topics and your views on whether there should be a charge for these talks are invited.