Minutes of the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the South Wales Region of the Goldwing Owner’s Club of Great Britain held on Sunday, 13 November, 2022 at the premises of Taffs’ Well RFC, Maes Gwyn, Glan y Llyn Square, Taffs’ Well, Cardiff, CF15 7JD, commencing at 1830.

Present:  Mr M Green (Regional Representative)

               Mr R Woods (Assistant Representative)

    Mr B J Hawkins (Honorary Treasurer/Quartermaster)

    Mr L Kenting (Road Master)

    18 South Wales Wings members.

Apologies: Mr & Mrs L Bailey, Mr & Mrs H Beese, Mr & Mrs N Jones, Mr & Mrs J Howells (Webmaster) Mrs A. Robinson, Mr J Buckley, Mr K Rogers, Mr D Webster and Mr K Turner.   

Welcome and Notice of Meeting

Mr B J Hawkins opened the meeting by welcoming everyone and thanking them for their attendance.   He confirmed that the Notice of the Annual General Meeting had been given in accordance with the GWOCGB constitution, all members having received at least fourteen days’ notice of the meeting.  He reminded attendees that only registered GWOCGB members could vote on the Region’s annual general meeting business.   

Minutes of the 2021 AGM

The minutes of the 2021 Annual General Meeting of South Wales Wings, a region of the Goldwing Owner’s Club of Great Britain, held on Sunday, 14 November, 2021 were considered and unanimously approved (Mr B Simpson proposed, Mr L Roach seconded).

Annual Report

Mr. M Green verbally outlined the progress that the Region had achieved during 2022 to date, as set out in his report below:

Well another year has come and almost gone, with the Covid restrictions being lifted life began to get back to some normality.

We noticed the notifications of Wing Dings increased on the web site and many of them were attended by our members. Good news was that the British Treffen was on at Uttoxeter, which meant that our Wing Ding would also go ahead.

Our membership remain steady with the new members taking an active part in the Region. Sadly, we lost a staunched member, Andrew Bennett to illness, R.I.P. Andrew, and more recently a past member Graham Evans known as the General sadly also passed away.

From early in the year the Region’s attention turned to our Wing Ding that had previously been cancelled due to Covid. Finally, we had the go ahead and all hands on deck, I have to thank all involved for their help and support which led to a very successful and eventful event and the sum of £2,000.00 being raised for our chosen charity.

Throughout the year the Region attended many Static Displays to support local charities, with many of the members giving up their spare time to do so, again a big thank you for your support. Hopefully, there may be a few more events before the end of the year one being our Christmas Away Weekend at Weston and the other, the River of Lights Lantern Parade at Caerphilly, we wait to see the outcome.

The Region’s website is up and running thanks to Jeff for taking the time to solve the problem with the site. The site can only operate with the help of you the members by sending in notifications of events, run outs or any subject that would be interesting for the Region this also applies to the Region’s WingSpan monthly blog, so please send in your reports.

All in all we have had a fairly good year, I only hope that we can continue in the same vein and to wish Roy well for his operation and speedy recovery. We also wish June a speedy recovery following her leg operation.

Finally, may I thank Roger as Assistant Rep for being my right hand man and also being our point of contact with Unilever without whose help we would not have been able to continue donating the vast quantities of Pot Noodles to the deserving charities, and maybe have a few Bacardi’s later!! Last, but not least, a big thank you to our Treasurer Barry for keeping our books in order and the dedicated work he carries out for our Region. 

Treasurer’s Report

Mr B J Hawkins presented to the meeting his Report dated 1November, 2022 which consisted of a Receipts and Payments Statement for the twelve months ended 31 October, 2022 together with cash/bank reconciliation, a List of Donations made during the period and a Stock Reconciliation as at 31 October, 2022 (copies attached). 

It was noted that during the period Receipts had exceeded Payments by an amount of £1,857.10, this being a Wing Ding year (31 October, 2021 Payments had exceeded Receipts by £688.48).  Balances at the Region’s Bank Accounts and Cash in Hand amounted at 31 October, 2022 to £6,660.28 (31 October, 2021 – £4,802.18). There were no notable payment transactions made although our level of activity had started to increase particularly with regard to our Wing Ding which had been very successful both socially and financially. We had also made some donations and purchased some equipment. With the exception of the Wing Ding, which include the massive raffle and head shave no notable income transactions took place.  The Treasurer remarked that it had been a very good financial year with a substantial profit being made. The Statement was unanimously approved by the meeting following a proposal by Mr R Simpson, duly seconded by Mr M Green.

The Donations Made and Equipment Purchased Statement dated 1 November, 2022 was considered and approved by the meeting following a proposal by Mr R Simpson and seconded by Mr M Green.  It was noted that our charity had been very well supported by a substantial amount. A donation had been paid to Blood Bikes Wales of £500, and also £50.00 to the charity in memory of Mr Stuart Feeney. £95.94 had been donated to the GWOCGB Treffen Real Ale Bar.  The Equipment Purchased section of the Statement showed an amount of £72.94.

The Region’s stock value had again reduced during the period and totalled £1,803.01 as at 31 October, 2022 (£1,948.82 – 31 October, 2021). The meeting unanimously approved the Stock Reconciliation Statement following a proposal by Mr R Simpson, seconded by Mr M Green.

The Treasurer thanked all the members for supporting him throughout the year.

Allocation of Donations for 2021/2022

Following the proposal of the Treasurer, seconded by Mrs M Bailey, it was unanimously agreed that a Charity Commission registered local charity be supported and that a donation of £2,500 be made to Blood Bikes Wales (Charity Number 1143352), an NHS blood/plasma transportation support service that provided its service on evenings and bank holidays when the NHS service did not operate, the service being staffed by volunteer motor cycle riders including some members of the Region. This amount being drawn from the Region’s reserves, including the £2,000 for the charity raised at our Wing Ding. 

 

Unilever plc had continued offering pot noodles to selected charities and we were fortunate to be included in their distribution. We had therefore supported the Vale Foodbank and Salem Baptist Chapel with regular and large donations. 

Selection of Charities for 2021/2022

It was unanimously agreed by the meeting that Blood Bikes Wales (proposed by the Treasurer, seconded by Mr R Jones) be the Region’s nominated charity for the twelve-month period commencing 1 November, 2022. The Treasurer reminded members that if, during the period to 31 October, 2023, they identified a local registered charity who needed our support they should contact him. In this regard, Mrs M Bailey, mentioned the National Institute for the Blind and agreed to find out more details, particularly, if the local branch could receive donations without them being transferred to head office.

Vote of Thanks

On behalf of the other members, Mr B J Hawkins gave a Vote of Thanks to Mr M Green, Mr R Woods, Mr L Kenting and Mr J Howells for the work they had undertaken for the Region during the preceding twelve months, the membership was very grateful.  All were congratulated by the membership in the usual way.

Appointment of Officers

There being no other nominations, and as Mr Green, Mr Woods, Mr Hawkins, Mr Kenting, and Mr Howells had offered themselves for re-election, they were duly appointed following a proposal by Mr E Hawkins and seconded by Mr V Williams.  The meeting unanimously therefore appointed Mr Malcolm Green as Regional Representative, Mr Roger Woods as the Assistant Regional Representative, Mr Barry Hawkins as the Region’s Honorary Treasurer (and Quartermaster), Mr Lester Kenting as Road Captain and Mr Jeff Howells as Webmaster.

Other AGM Business

At the request of Mr R Simpson, the Treasurer agreed to investigate the investment returns that were being provided on our Savings/Deposit bank account by our bankers Nat West to ensure we were receiving the highest return possible for an account of our size. The Treasurer also agreed to investigate alternative banks for details of their investment returns for comparative purposes.

Mr L Kenting asked the Treasurer to confirm that we still had in our bank balances the £2,000 we had previously “ring fenced” for our future Wing Dings in case a loss was incurred. Mr Hawkins confirmed that this was the case.

Closure of AGM

There being no further relevant business, Mr BJ Hawkins closed the meeting at 1855.