2021 AGM Report
Published 08:06 on 16 Nov 2021
It was great to see over 80 members fill the Memorial Hall at our first face-to-face AGM since 2019. This is an important event for the Club both in terms of ensuring clear 2-way communication between members and the Committee, and as a social event that brings the Club together at the end of each season. This news article summarises the event for those who were unable to come.
The full AGM slides can be viewed at the bottom of this page or by clicking here. They provide a good summary of the presentations from:
- Will Becker, our Vice-Commodore, delivered the Commodore's report on behalf of Ivan who at the last moment had been unable to attend due to contracting Covid. Ivan's report reviewed what the Club had achieved over the 3 years he had been Commodore, in particular in offering more and more opportunities for our members to get out on the water. Thanks were due to all those whose work had made this possible. Will remarked that WWSC, unlike most other sailing clubs, continued to attract applications at a record level. Managing this was an ongoing challenge but it was good to see from our recent survey that the overwhelming majority of our members supported what we were doing.
- Jeremy Western, Rear-Commodore Sailing, summarised a sailing season that had seen excellent levels of participation and volunteering but had suffered more cancellations due to weather than he could ever remember. Jeremy went on to explain how we plan our sailing programmes so that we now offer more sailing days than ever before to both adults and juniors. He also reviewed volunteering levels, the growth in dinghy rentals over recent years, and the impact of our measures to meet the demand for boat spaces at the Club.
- Jen Watkins, Rear-Commodore Juniors, described another really successful season where we had provided over 120 different juniors with opportunities to enjoy dinghy sailing from the Creek. This included weekend clubs to enable more regular sailing, 2 RYA training events, and resuming after school sessions for children from the village school. Our 2-part Junior Week had accommodated 80 youngsters and, even though 3 days of sailing had been lost at the start of Part 1, had been a huge success. Jen proposed a vote of thanks to Chris Gorton, the Club's Chief Instructor and all the instructors who had done such a great job.
- Alice McMillan, Treasurer, presented the Annual Accounts. The Club's finances were in good shape and no changes were proposed to annual subscriptions or other charges. We had benefitted from increased activity after the dip last year due to the pandemic and this combined with income from new memberships had combined to create a surplus of around £9,000. This had enabled the Club to purchase a replacement RIB for 2022.
- The proposals to correct an error in the rules set out in the Club's Constitution and to enable meetings to be held virtually where necessary were both approved
- By universal acclaim Gill and Andrew Pitt were confirmed as Honorary Life Members of WWSC with John Watts reflecting on their unique contribution and example over their many years as members. Accepting, Gill told the meeting how fortunate we all are to be able to sail from the Creek and felt that the Club had given both her and Andrew far more than they had given it - in friendship, fun and some great times sailing
- All those nominated to serve as Flag Officers and Committee members were approved by vote. Ivan, Will Becker, and Dominic Firmstone are standing down and we welcome Roger Mavity as our new Commodore, with Kevan Watkins joining as Sailing Secretary 2, and Nicki Cooper and Adrian Edwards joining the Committee. Jeremy Haynes moves to Vice-Commodore with Mark Lynch taking over as Rear-Commodore Boats & Equipment.
- In his new role as Commodore, Roger Mavity paid warm tribute to Ivan as his predecessor and said that his planned presentation to Ivan who was standing down after 18 years as a Committee member and Flag Officer would now be rearranged for the beginning of the 2022 season.
You can view the Prizegiving slides here.
Below are the slides used in the AGM.
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Last updated 11:01 on 28 March 2024