HARLESTON CHORAL SOCIETY
MINUTES of the Extraordinary General Meeting held on Monday 25 February 2019 during choir practice
Printable pdf file of EGM Minutes available here
1. Welcome
Caroline Rodbourne (Vice Chair) welcomed everyone to the meeting. She stressed the importance of the EGM, reminding choir members that it had been called because no-one to date has come forward to replace Jo Curry as Chair at the AGM on 23 September 2019; and that under the Charity Commission’s regulations, if a charity does not have a Chair, the Charity Commissioners will dissolve the organisation.
2. Apologies for absence were received (prior to the meeting) from Nathaniel Gee, Jo Curry and Carol Hammond.
3. Committee resignations
It was noted that in addition to the resignation of Jo at the AGM, Jenny Hyams (Minutes & Publicity Secretary) and Carol Hammond (Friends Co-ordinator) will also be resigning. The roles and terms of office of Joanna Barfield (Membership Secretary), John Awty (Staging Manager), Julia Awty (Music Librarian), Malcolm Butcher (Treasurer) and Caroline Rodbourne (Vice Chair) were also noted.
4.Nominations for the four current vacancies on the Committee
Caroline explained that it is hoped to fill these vacancies with immediate effect, with a possible view to replacing the Chair from within the Committee, and the Minutes & Publicity Secretary from the Committee or from the choir, at the AGM. This would give any possible candidates six months to see how the Committee functions, although it was pointed out that this may change after the AGM, with new Committee members and new ideas.
Two nominations have already been received:
John Layton, proposed by Jo Curry, seconded by Jenny Hyams
Stella Brownsea, proposed by Jenny Hyams, seconded by Jo Curry
A third nomination was received at the meeting:
Kate Peacher, proposed by Lynda Austin, seconded by Joanna Barfield
Caroline thanked the three new Committee members for agreeing to be nominated. The fourth Committee place is still vacant and Caroline urged choir members to consider putting themselves forward over the next few months.
5. Job descriptions for main Committee posts
Stella Brownsea and John Formston both felt that the Chair’s job description is much too onerous and that many of the Chair’s tasks should be delegated. They were reassured that the job descriptions, and the Chair’s in particular, will be on the agenda for the next Committee meeting on 7 March. The role of the Minutes & Publicity Secretary could be split into three jobs, ie Minutes, Publicity, and Programme. Malcolm Butcher indicated that he and Heather will be away for the best part of a year after the June concert. The day-to-day financial matters will be dealt with in his absence by Caroline, but Malcolm will maintain his role of Treasurer. However, how future programmes, tickets and posters are designed and printed will have to be discussed before the end of June.
6. Other points raised
(i) Setting up and dismantling before/after choir practices: Caroline asked the choir to help on a regular basis with setting up and dismantling before/after choir practices, and this was reinforced by Janette. Sue Foster, and some others, said that they would help if they could, but other commitments prevent this.
(ii) Arrangement of chairs: on a suggestion from James Warren, it was agreed that next Monday 4 March, the chairs will be left with a gap down the middle, to see how this works, and to help reduce the amount of pre-practice setting up.
The EGM closed at 9.00 pm and choir practice resumed.