Notes of Club AGM 19 May 2020

These notes comprises the reports already emailed to all club members from committee conveners plus the additional comments and or updates from conveners on the night.

Rotary Club of West Fife

Notes of Annual General Meeting held over Zoom on Tuesday 19^th May 2020

Present: President Brian and 27 members

Apologies: Stuart Nicol

Introduction: President Brian opening the meeting, welcoming to all to this most unusual 2020 AGM and saying, hopefully there will not have to be another one like it. He then thanked the convenors for their efforts in getting their reports out prior to the meeting and asked if everyone had managed to read them. This was answered by “thumbs-up”.

Part 1 - President Brian (in the chair)

Reports –

Treasurer’s interim report & proposed budget (2020-21).

Treasurer’s Report Charitable Trust Account

Income £14,200

Expenditure £12,670

Surplus £1,530

Projected Year End Balance £16,500

Convenors’ Budgets

Broadly in line with this year £10,500

Monies Ring Fenced

Foundation £1,750

St Serfs £2,600

Defibrillator Projects £1,500

Foodbank Support £1,000

Martin added, what he wanted to show in his report was what the accounts would be at the end of this year and also what the conveners budgets would be for the coming year. In addition what monies were currently ring fenced. The subscriptions would be held at £80 which about covers what is paid to RIBI and District.

Setting Subscription for 2020-21

Proposed to be held at £80 – Agreed. MK to send out details for payment of subscriptions in a few weeks.

RIBI Membership Dues have increased by £2 to £67

District 1010 have reduced their Membership Dues to £11

In answer to a question from Douglas, Martin advised the ring fenced monies did not form part of the Conveners budgets for next year.

Reports of Committee Conveners for (2019-20).

Club Service & Administration – Roger Hall

A brief conversation with the manager this morning has confirmed that the Hotel is still closed. He’s hoping that restrictions may be sufficiently lifted by July for room bookings, but doesn’t expect any events, such as our meetings, taking place there in the foreseeable future.

Community & Vocational Service– Neil Spriddle

Like all avenues of Rotary service and organisations worldwide, the current and ongoing Covid 19 crisis has had a major and just a few short weeks ago a scarcely believable effect on Community and Vocational service during the latter part of this Rotary Year.

During the first half of the Rotary Year, we worked hard on continuing the excellent work of the previous Committee in trying to make the Club as visible as possible within our local Community.

Assistance was provided to the 62nd Fife Scout Group, a local school pupil Erin Hodgson for her year with Project Trust India and the Fife Festival of Music.

In addition, we repeated the laying of Poppy Wreaths at 4 Remembrance Day ceremonies along with assistance with the Poppy Scotland appeal and once again supported the Salvation Army Christmas Toy appeal.

Support was given to the Culross Community Garden project, following a very enjoyable and informative visit to the Garden, and we have recently received very good feedback from the volunteers involved in the project.

A Dementia Friends session was held in Crossford Village Hall in March, following a talk on the subject at one of our weekly meetings.

The Covid 19 crisis has put paid to any involvement this year in local Galas, Fetes and Kids Out, but we are currently providing assistance to the Valleyfield Pantry Club and the Salvation Army while actively pursuing other local causes that we may be able to support.

Many thanks to everyone who has helped with the Community and Vocational work this year, which is basically the whole Club, but with particular thanks to fellow Committee Members Ewan, Ken Cowe, Barry, Helen and Alan.

Neil in providing an additional update informed the receipt of a £250:00 grant from District 1010 with the possible additional funds being available. Neil advised he has made contact with a number of other groups and organisations namely, the West Fife Support for the Vulnerable (S.H.I.E.L.D), the New Blairhall Community Council and the Crombie Recreation Association.

Roger asked if there was any information regarding an organisation called Sutlery which operated out of Limekilns/Charlestown. Robin informed that he was looking to find out more information about this group and what has been going on (in the village). Robin went to suggest that perhaps small cash awards could be made to community groups and thereby help boost our clubs profile in the wider community.

Youth Service – Aileen North

YOUNG MUSICIAN: Held on Friday 8th November in DHS jointly by Carnegie Dunfermline, Dunfermline, & West Fife. Pupils entered from QAHS,DHS & StC. Best 3 Instrumentalists and best 3 Vocalists would represent the Dunfermline Rotary Clubs.

Instrumentalists- 1. Rory Stewart, Piano, QAHS ; 2. Harry Johnson, Rock Drummer QAHS

Vocalists- 1.Madeline Gilroy, QAHS; 2. Keira Porter, QAHS; 3. Olivia Beattie DHS

District Final – Madeline Gilroy, Runner up. She competed in National Final on 1st February

YOUNG WRITER

Theme- ‘CONNECTIONS’ Not as many schools entered this year.

Grace Campbell (Carnock)-Intermediate winner and Intermediate Runner up in District. (Grace was RCWF winner Junior, District winner and National Highly Commended in 2017)

Jenna Heath (Milesmark) – Junior winner, a very personal story.

YOUNG PHOTOGRAPHER – ‘THROUGH MY EYES’

Intermediate winner – Eva Briggs (Carnock)

Junior winner – Megan Woods (Carnock) – commended in District

HIGHLIGHT OF THE YEAR must go to the very successful PSQ. Thanks to all the members who supported the event. A special thank you to Martin as Quiz Master. The school hall was packed with parents; family and school staff supporting the teams.

PRIMARY SCHOOL QUIZ – was held on 27th February in Cairneyhill PS. Ten school entries which was 2/3 more teams than the 7/8 in last few years.

Cairneyhill, Camdean, Carnock, Crossford, Culross, Inzievar, Limekilns, Milesmark, Saline and Torryburn. Crossford were the winners with Carnock runner up after tiebreak round. Area event cancelled.

RYLA – Fraser Mathieson (QAHS), Deposit £250 paid in January. Unfortunately cancelled.

Council decided to carry deposit forward in District funds for entry in 2021.

KINGSGATE DISPLAY OF WRITING AND PHOTOGRAPHY – Cancelled, may be rescheduled

TECHNOLOGY CHALLENGE – cancelled

Thank you for the support of the Youth Team.

Aileen added the highlight of the year was the PSQ with 10 teams taking part and many compliments received, even from a taxi driver taking one of our members home one evening.

Fundraising – Robert North

As with all Rotary activities Fund Raising has been severely curtailed in the last three months due to the Covid-19 Lockdown. Planned events have been cancelled and projects ‘in running’ have been scaled down.

ULTIMATE QUIZ: The Quiz was held at East End Park on the 15th November with 16 teams taking part. A total of around £3000 was raised, £1500 going to Children In Need and the remainder to RCWoF charity funds. Thanks to all those who were involved in organising the event and helping on the night, particularly Tom Pettigrew who has worked hard over a number of years to make this the regular successful event that we enjoy.

CROSSFORD MUSIC GROUP CONCERT: Just over £500 was raised for RCoWF funds at this event held at Crossford Village Hall on 23rd November. We were much indebted to the Crossford Music Group for their efforts in arranging and staging this fundraising concert. The evening was very entertaining and enjoyed by all who attended. We look forward to continued working alongside the Music Group going forward.

Thanks to Ewan Archibald for his liaison with Music Group.

Thanks to Brian Mitchell for providing the wine!

RACE NIGHT: With the spectre of Coronavirus looming over us there was some doubt as to whether this event would go ahead. In the end the event was held at Dunfermline Golf Club on Saturday March 14th but on a reduced scale from that originally envisaged. That said it was an excellent evening enjoyed by those who attended and perhaps one last hurrah before we were forced by necessity to abide by the lockdown restrictions.

The event raised around £550. This was well down on original target but very pleasing given the circumstances and thanks are due to all those who contributed towards the event. Particular thanks are due to President Brian who was landed with MC duties at short notice and did a fine job. Thank you also to the Tote Sellers who formed an informal rota on the desks which worked very well.

Your Truly? Just give me some horse racing and that keeps me happy!

MONTHLY DRAW: Thanks are due to Stephanie Blackden for her continuing organisation of the Monthly Draw. It has been agreed that in the short term the draw should be suspended and the funds held for distribution to causes where the need arises.

ROTARY SUPPERS: The supper calendar was started but few had taken place when we were forced to suspend activities. I suspect we will carry over the supper schedule into the next Rotary year, but at the moment we await developments on the practicality of social events going forward. Thanks to Sandy Paton and Brian Mitchell for sorting out the schedule.

OTHER PLANNED EVENT: Ceilidh with Crossford Music Group – The event was planned for May at Dunfermline Golf Club but postponed due to ‘lockdown’ with new date to be arranged as the situation allows.

Curry Lunch/Evening – A date was not arranged for this event and it has but put on a back burner until restrictions are lifted.

Am-Am Golf – George Primrose sent out requests to his contacts to see what interest there was in holding the golf event. However, this came to a grinding halt due to lockdown. Thanks are due to George for his continued efforts on this front.

The fund raising target for the year was £12,000 but we fell to a shade less than half of this figure due to circumstances well beyond our control. That said, there was less money spent from the pot in the second half of the year so we have some money in reserve going into the next Rotary year.

Thank you to the members of the Fund Raising Committee who have all been involved in driving particular events forward over the year. Much of the work done is in the background and unheralded but a vital function with our club.

Robert, in commenting on the above concluded by saying fundraising has ground to a halt due to the lockdown but we look forward to resurrecting it again once things restart.

Foundation & International – Donald McKay

This report is, as expected, short due to the current unpleasantness.

The International and Foundation Committee have spent its time this year consolidating its previous work.

The investment made in the previous years, to both Malawi and Cambodia, using the Club’s funds supported by a District Grant, have now been completed with no residual commitments.

It was however decided that the Club would invest around £1200 to support some aspects of the work in Cambodia. As a result the cost of courses aimed at getting young people, who have used the English language teaching facilities at the school, into paid work, have been sponsored by the Club. This has been done in conjunction with a Norwegian tour company who have matched our funding. Initial results have proved to be promising.

Additionally the Club has agreed to use a sum of money to either purchase a Shelter Box, Aqua Box or make a donation to MSF or a similar organisation. This donation is to support families facing extreme difficulties whilst enduring life as a refugee during the Covid 19 emergency.

Entertainment, Fellowship & Sport – Robin Grant

The year has been truncated by the Covid 19 virus so some activities planned and being considered will not take place during this Rotary year. As they inevitably involve groups of people meeting they are dependent on the restrictions in place.

At the time of writing these don't allow for groups meeting up but this will change in the future and decisions will need to be made accordingly.

This applies to the Musselburgh Races outing , Robin Sharp's Historic Walk, Ken Forbes Quaich ,visit to the R&A , Fun Golf and Scatter Week, all postponed indefinitely.

Events that did take place during the past Rotary year were;

The Presidential BBQ

Lawn Bowls

Japanese Garden Visits

Gavel Challenge

Ten Pin Bowling

Night at Alhambra for Nutcracker Suite Ballet

Xmas Festive Night

Burns Lite Night

Ice Hockey at Murrayfield

All the events were extremely successful. The Japanese garden requiring two visits to accommodate the number interested and may be one of several outdoor activities we could participate in as a Club when the time is right.

My thanks to the Committee members for their help in organising and to the Club members for participating.

Congratulations to President Brian for a successful year despite everything and good luck to Incoming President Roger.

Robin commented looking forward there may an opportunity for some outdoor activities albeit with restricted numbers and social distancing. Such as fun golf, historic walk, also mentioned Musselburgh Races when or if that would be held. Also looking for anyone to suggest ideas around online fellowship.

Membership Recruitment & Education –Mark Todd

Membership has been steady throughout the year, with a net increase of 1. The addition of Janice Sinclair to the team, has meant that we have made some progress.

Over and above Janice we had 2 other guests who attended on more than one occasion, but despite repeated attempts to contact them, to try and ascertain why they decided that Rotary wasn’t for them, these attempts were unsuccessful.

An end of year survey was circulated and at the time of writing has had a healthy response. From 38 members we have had the following numbers of responses.

Membership Engagement - General – 27: Membership Engagement - Club Formality – 28

Membership Engagement 1 – 24 (Strangely the one asking about how we are actually doing has had the least engagement!!)

So far the responses have been useful, and also giving a clear indication on where as a club, we are doing things well, and also on areas where consideration has to be given.

Oddly there are a couple of questions where we unanimous in our thoughts.

I will leave this open for another week or so, and send out a further reminder at the end of this week, with a closing date of Friday 29th May. I will then collate the responses for presentation to Council for the first meeting in June.

Things to consider for next year, (some from survey responses other not), are ensuring we get a wider engagement of members across a wider range of Rotary activities. We all have our favourites but sometimes there is still too much reliance on the same group to do the same things.

Next year, let’s all make an effort to do that wee bit more, come to an extra meeting, help in one of the areas that you may not have helped in the past, go to an extra social event.

For interest Membership Stats:

Total	Female	Male	Honorary	Associate	Corporate	Paul Harris Fellowships	Members who have been President
38	6	32	1	0	0	17	20

This tells me that if you want to, take part and get recognised for the work that you do in Rotary tha the Rotary Club of West Fife is a good place to be, nearly 50% of the members get that recognition of the PHF.

It also tells me that there a hard core of members who have been here a long time more than 50% have been President and more than a few of them have done it more than once.

More significantly however the next table illustrates why we need more members,

Membership Age Profile: Active members only

under 20	20-30	30-40	40-50	50-60	60-70	70-80	80+	blank
0	0	0	0	6	6	22	1	2

'blank' entries - members have not entered their Date of Birth in their details

As a group we have to work hard to identify and encourage the next generation of Rotarians. As you can see from the table above, more than 60% of our members are over 70.

Compliance – Stuart Nicol

Stuart will shortly send out a note on to all incoming conveners to ensure compliance to all RIBI policies for the next Rotary year.

Communications (PR & Website) – Roger Hall

Thanks to yesterday’s comprehensive report by Neil on our financial efforts to support the community during these difficult times, a press notice will be issued today.

Douglas and Martin kindly continue to maintain our Facebook and website.

Roger confirmed press reports have been sent out to various papers on the activities of Neil’s committee. Also thank Douglas for the news paper clippings recently received from the Dundee Courier.

Part 2 - President Elect Roger (in the chair)

Roger thanked every one of the conveners who agreed to carry on into next year thereby providing good continuity and in talking through the list of conveners for next year spoke briefly about his views and hopes for the year ahead.

Roger urged members to take part in the club survey; hoped that we could continue to build on the good contacts with schools; considered that fundraising would be a challenge next year with people having less money available but hoped Brian could assist with local contacts; on speakers for next year’s meetings, more assistance will be needed and we should consider inviting speaker to give talks over Zoom. Anyone with experience of this should contact Roger

On the makeup of committees Roger informed he is looking to hear from any member who believes they can make a contribution in any particular area.

Confirmed selection of Conveners of Committees for 2020-21

Club Service & Administration – Roger Hall
Community & Vocational Service– Neil Spriddle
Youth Service – Aileen North
Fundraising – Robert North
Foundation & International – Donald McKay
Entertainment, Fellowship & Sport – Greig Hill
Membership Recruitment & Education –Mark Todd
Communications (PR & Website) – Douglas Scott
Speaker Programme – Morag Carmichael

Election of two club representatives on the District Council for next Rotary year (2020-21).

Roger Hall & Douglas Scott

Appointment of Auditor for next Rotary year (2020-21).

George Primrose

President Brian, in closing the meeting thanked all the conveners for their work over the year, saying things were going very well with a full programme until the virus hit. Well done to Neil and his committee for all the work done in recent weeks, in particular with the Pantry Club of Valleyfield.

The date for the Club Assembly is Tuesday 16th June at which the Assistant Governor - Area 8 (Robert Main) from the Rotary Club of Kirkcaldy will be in attendance.

That brings us to the end of this meeting thank you all for your attendance, I now close this Meeting.

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