2018 AGM Minutes

Annual General Meeting 
Spring Grove Morris Men and Kingston Morris
12 November 2019 in St John’s Church, Grove Road, Kingston

Present: 
Sue Benson, Alan Bull, Caroline Edgington, Ian Kirkpatrick, Jane Lowe, Gerry McCann, Robert Muller, Phil Mundy, Steve Nash, Lesley Ralph, David Seager, Ania Sanders, Laurie South, Glenis Ward, Kate Wood. 

The meeting was chaired by David Seager.

1. Apologies for Absence
Apologies were received from Frances Stearman, Helena Cooper, Janet Rees, Kathy Turner, Colin Messer, Theresa Ellmers. Theresa is moving out of the area so will be leaving the group.
 
2. Items for consideration for AOB
The following were put forward:
Kempton Steam museum invitation for March 2019
Amalgamation of the two sides (Spring Grove Morris Men and Kingston Morris).
We should record thanks to all officers and everyone who has helped over the year.

3.    Approval of Minutes of the 40th SGMM / KM AGM
The minutes of last year’s AGM (held on Mon 25 Sept 2017) were approved. A copy was signed by Sue Benson and David Seager. (Sue holds this.)

4.    Matters arising from the minutes
Where is the pig? Last seen in the church but said to be no longer there, and not in anyone’s house/garage.
 However [post-meeting note] he was hiding in the church organ loft all the time, came to practice on Mon 19 Nov and has now gone home with Laurie.

Our donation of £1,080 (this includes anonymous donations totalling £80.00) to All About Alie has been acknowledged with thanks.

Bidford tradition: Sue made contact and attended a practice of Shakespeare Morris (men and women, dancing separately). She reported that they were very welcoming and she enjoyed joining in with the women - they dance Bidford in quite a different way, a more relaxed style that she felt works equally well.

Criteria for awarding baldrics and rosettes: the officers received no feedback during the year, so this is still up for discussion.

5.    Reports and Accounts
a)  SG Squire’s report – verbal
A quiet year. 
We held workshops on Seven Saxons (a dance devised by SGMM in the Ducklington style) – would like to continue with this and dance it out.  
Majority of events were joint outings with KM; danced as SGMM 3-4 times
Abinger Hatch (with all local sides) is popular and will be an annual event. 
Need to plan for the future. 

Action: Written report to follow – David

b.    KM Squire’s Report
Approved

c.   KM Bagman’s Report  (SGMM Bagman’s Report not available this year)
Approved

d.  Treasurer’s Report 

Clarification of accounts:
From January 1st Rent of St. John’s increases from £15.00 to £20.00 per hour.
SGMM subs to MR for 2017-2018 were paid by a donation from a Ring Officer hence the £0.00 entry.
The side’s contribution (half of members’ payments) for Ewell DoD needs to be included in the accounts
Post-meeting note – £62.50 was paid to Ewell SMMM in July 2018.

Annual minimum cost for the sides is £1500.  Need a carry forward of £3000 to cover costs for 2 years should there be no income.

Charity donation
It has been more difficult to attract donations (legally we collect for our club, not for charity); we have insufficient numbers to collect and dance so not an easy environment.  Paid events are crucial for our income and there were only two this year. This impacts on the amount we are able to give to our chosen charity.

Motion: to approve the accounts, WITH THE CAVEAT that the Ewell DoD figures are entered into the accounts – proposed by Kate, seconded by Phil, agreed unanimously
 
Kate proposed that the side record thanks to David for the work in producing the accounts, and this was supported unanimously.

6.  Survey results
Survey not analysed
Last year’s events were reported as good to average, with Dancing for Dave, Swanage, and TVMM Ale specifically noted
Feedback was 60%

Action: David to report on results

Post Meeting note:  Document “Summary of the 2018 Survey” was e-mailed to all 9 Dec 2018 22:38:17

7.  Matters arising from reports and survey
Going forward – the future
Steve briefly outlined the history of SGMM from conception to today – initially an all men group, to dancing with women (as Off-Spring) when struggling for numbers, then admitting women musicians three years ago.  He noted that this year mixed sides are now permitted to be members of the Morris Ring.
He suggested that as current SGMM members are happy to dance as a mixed side, and as the SGMM side is struggling and some members are now not active, the two sides should combine.

Steve suggested that we look at a new form of membership with one legal entity – Kingston Spring Grove Morris, also known as Kingston Morris, and one liability insurance – Morris Federation membership, plus associate Morris Ring membership.  
It was noted that care is needed on how to take this forward as SGMM will at times wish to perform a dance in their “historic” kit as a “Heritage side” while being KSGM members.

Consideration needs to be given to the Google account, files, spreadsheet, group email, etc 
Consideration needs to be given to the websites and Facebook.

Action: David and Sue to talk to Colin and Helena about how to manage this.

Motion:  Spring Grove Morris Men agree to merge with Kingston Morris to become one side with both Morris Ring and Morris Federation membership.  
Proposed by Steve, Seconded by Gerry.  Motion passed 9 for, 1 against

Motion:  Kingston Morris agree to merge with Spring Grove Morris Men to become one side with both Morris Ring and Morris Federation membership. Proposed by Glenis, seconded by Kate.  Motion passed 13 for, 0 against, 2 abstentions

Motion:  The name of the new side is Kingston Spring Grove Morris, abbreviated to Kingston Morris.
Proposed by Steve, Seconded by Kate, agreed unanimously.
Post-meeting clarification of this wording: The name of the new side is Kingston Spring Grove Morris, which can be abbreviated to Kingston Morris.

8.    2017/18 Charity donation - £500
Motion: to donate £500 to Princess Alice Hospice - proposed by Robert, seconded by Kate, agreed unanimously. 

9.    Election of Officers 
Agenda items amended to KSGM

Squire: David - Proposed by Robert, seconded by Gerry, agreed unanimously.  NB: 1 year only
Bagman: Sue – proposed by Steve, seconded by Glenis, agreed unanimously. NB: 1 year only
Deputy Bagman: Lesley - proposed by Sue, seconded by Robert, agreed unanimously
Practice Coordinator: Robert – proposed by Glenis, seconded by Kate, agreed unanimously
Treasurer: David – proposed by Sue, seconded by Phil, agreed unanimously

10.  Practice plan for next season  
No requests for new traditions, but maybe introduce new dances in a known tradition.
Dance out those we do well.
Consider introducing more jigs (could be double/triple) to give dancers a break.
Look at including the Seven Saxons dance
Look at continuing to include Whiteboys' sword dance

Action:  investigate obtaining a set of longswords – Kate and Phil 

11.  Events for next season
Xmas dinner – Mon 10 Dec 2018, The Albion 
Xmas Wassail -  Mon 17 Dec 2018, The Spring Grove
Steam Museum – Sun 17 March 2019, numbers permitting
Abinger Hatch Dancing for Dave - 1 July 2019, Steve to organise
St Georges Day – 23 April
Box Hill – 1 May
Richmond  2nd Sat in May
Twickenham Festival in June (traders assoc)
Midsummer Morris in June
There was support for dancing again for the Seekers Club, Surbiton Brownies,  The Royal Star and Garter Home and similar local events

12.  Charity for next season
The Fircroft Trust

Action: Sue to contact them, also to offer to dance at one of their events this year.

The meeting thanked all officers and all others who have helped run the side and events during the year.

We formally thanked Steve for all his work over the years, and Robert our retiring Squire.

Caroline thanked everyone who has given her lifts during the year.

The meeting closed at 10pm.
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