Business meeting

We held our monthly business meeting today. Helpfully the reports from the Treasurer and the various Committees were displayed on a screen.

The Club accounts for the year to 30 June 2022 were unanimously approved. At the end of June the accounts included £407.20 set aside for Public Relations, of which we have now spent £180.00 to produce our new Club brochure.

The Administration Committee reported that attendance during September was 52.21%. The meeting programme is now complete up to the end of the year. The Ivy Hill Hotel has been booked for most meetings up to the end of the year, except for the first meeting of each month, for which we have booked the Chelmsford Rugby Club, and the meeting on 17 November. (The members later agreed that that meeting should also be held at the Rugby Club.)

Janice Goodman, the Chair of our Membership and Public Image Committee, said the new Club brochures had been received from the printers and she would distribute a supply to members at the next meeting. She hoped that the recent questionnaire on what members want from the Club would be discussed at the next business meeting. The District Membership Officer, David Willis, would attend the meeting on 17 November.

The Foundation & International Committee told us that the support for Ukrainian refugees in the Chelmsford area had gone so well that there could now be little point in continuing the English classes for them; most of those who had been attending had obtained jobs. All requests for essential equipment have been met.

The Community and Vocational Committee confirmed the details of their plans for the rest of the Rotary year which had already been circulated to members.

On behalf of the Youth Service Committee, Jenny Black reported that the date of the Rotary Young Musician competition had been booked and the arrangements for it were well in hand. Unfortunately there was insufficient interest to run a Youth Speaks competition again this year but it was hoped that it would be possible to hold a Special Young Chef competition, which had been planned for 2020 but had to be abandoned because of Covid. The Rotakids and Interact Clubs we sponsored had ceased to function during the lockdowns but efforts would be made to restart them.

Anne Moriaty, the Chair of the Environment Committee, said that the Sunflower Competition at the Beaulieu Park School Primary School had gone well. There were plans to plant some crocus corms at Beaulieu Park School as part of Rotary’s anti-polio campaign. She also gave a report on her recent visit to Iceland for a Rotary Action Summit, which was largely concerned with environmental issues.