Page 18 - Out Birding Issue 109 Winter 2022

version of Out Birding (approx.£660) against the income we were receiving from members (approx.£300) who had been paying £8 a year, and found there was a sig- nificant shor􏰀all due to increased prin􏰁ng and postage costs. The issue was then discussed by commi􏰂ee and a decision was made to increase the fee to £15 a year from 22/23 in order to cover the costs.
In June 2022 Liz prepared a 5-year forecast which looked at our likely costs against income fees between now and 2027, taking into considera􏰁on increased infla􏰁on. The commi􏰂ee discussed all the issues raised and concluded that we can con􏰁nue with the current membership fee rates whilst also having enough funds to move forward with inves􏰁ng in aspects that will benefit all members, such as our digital pla􏰀orm.
Liz has also started the process of looking for someone external to the club to do an annual Independent Examina􏰁on of the club’s accounts on a pro-bono (voluntary) basis. An Independent Examina􏰁on is what happens in non-regulated organisa􏰁ons such as ours where there is no legal requirement to have a formal audit. Liz asked any members present to get in touch with her if they thought they might know some -one who is not a club member who would be willing to support the club in this way.
6 Membership Secretary’s Report
Caroline Grey reported that membership on 15th September was 315 – 179 female, 135 male and 1 non-binary: in the last subscrip􏰁on year 37 new members joined, and 17 have le􏰃, a net gain of 20 members. She advised that around 95% of the membership is fairly sta􏰁c, with a small number joining or leaving each year. Most members pay by standing order in early August – Caroline will be asking everyone to do this and also to make sure their payment is for the correct amount.
Emails are now being sent out from the new email system to tell members about future extra events and these are being well received by people in all areas. Mike thanked Caroline for all her efforts monitoring the emails, a big task!
7 Events Co-ordinator's Report
Eva March and Sue Crane reported on their work on the club’s Calendar. With Covid restric􏰁ons gradually being dropped it was very pleasing to be able to publish a full calendar this year. The offering of live events was enhanced by the con􏰁nua􏰁on of Zoom lectures and mee􏰁ngs which had also taken place during the Pandemic. 78 events were listed in the 2022 calendar including Zoom talks. It was good to see new event leaders offering different loca􏰁ons as well as the usual favourites. The stand- ard of photography appears to improve every year and 15 people contributed pho- tos. Thirty-three were selected. Selec􏰁on has to depend on the space available which varies between landscape and portrait view depending upon the amount of informa􏰁on required on the page.
At the GGT various members wondered whether it would be possible to have a sys- tem for adver􏰁sing spontaneous extra events/changes to events to the full member-
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