Page 8 - QARANC Vol 14 No 7 2013

6 QARANC THE GAZETTE
Minutes of the 65th Annual General Meeting
of the QARANC Association
held on Saturday 18 May 2013 at the Victory Services Club, London
Present:
Col P Childerley L/QARANC Col S Bush
Lt Col L Wright
Lt Col P Novak
Lt Col L Murray
Mr M Adler
Miss SA Cranwell-Child
Mrs H Duncombe
And 71 members
President
Colonel Commandant Chairman
Vice-President
Vice-Patron
Independent Services Agency Independent Services Agency General Secretary
Item 3 - Matters arising from the Minutes
6. Item 42 – AOB; A comment received from the floor regarding the Constitution, feeling that it was ‘out of date’ and may need revision. As you may recall the Chairman informed members that there was an ongoing review of the work of the Association focusing on aspects such as funding and communication. The Chairman will cover the outcome of the review in her report
Item 4 - Chairman’s Annual Report
Introduction
7. The Association has enjoyed another busy year.
Meetings
8. Four meetings of the Central Committee were held at the Union Jack Club during the past 12 months. The meetings are busy as the Association continues to be asked to provide financial assistance to those in need (retired and serving) and to support the serving members of the Corps for adventurous training expeditions and all requests are closely scrutinised. The guidelines, for both benevolent grant giving and adventurous training exercises, have been rewritten. The committee are also sometimes asked to fund other projects - for example - the AMS Museum is conducting a feasibility study for their relocation and we have provided £50,000 towards this. The Director will provide an update on the museum later.
9. In addition to the Central Committee meetings, the Branch Secretaries met in London in October with the branches being well represented. It was a worthwhile meeting and very interesting to hear the news from the branches. Their efforts on behalf of their branches and in attending the meeting are greatly appreciated.
Review
10. As I advised last year a review was conducted into the work of the Association which reported to the Director last summer.
11. Communication problems were raised in every aspect of the review – the need for information to be both timely and accurate and the accessibility of said information in today’s electronic society being the two main areas emphasised.
12. It was felt that events needed to be more widely circulated and available and where possible include family orientated activities. All inclusive events, such as the AMS Sports Competition and the Inter-services Tennis, need wider promotion.
13. In terms of electronic communication – we desperately need to update our official website – making it more attractive and easy to access. We investigated the employment of a Webmaster and were hoping to employ the one used by the RAVC but unfortunately he was too busy. We are therefore going to employ Mr Jones - a retired Major from the RCT who is willing to write the site in a style and format agreed by the Association. Once completed he will then spend a day at Sandhurst training the Gen Sec to maintain the site. He will provide arms length support until she is wholly confident. In addition he is willing to consult on any major revisions or amendments to the site. Any minor updates will be managed by the Gen Sec.
14. Mr Jones is currently involved with two other projects that
1. The President welcomed members, Lt Col Murray, one of our Vice-Patrons, Mr Adler and Miss Cranwell-Child to the 65th Annual General Meeting. Maj Joan Battersby and Maj Jill Machray send their apologies that they are unable to attend and flowers have been sent to them with the Association’s best wishes.
2. Apologies for absence had been received from;
Brig (Retd) J Arigho Col R Kennedy
Col (Retd) SB Davies Col (Retd) M Smith
Lt Col J Phillips-Harvey Maj D Fletcher
Maj R Mallin
Maj Neilson
Maj R Truscott Maj Wincup
Maj Crane (POTL) Maj Good (POTL) Mrs T Hawkins Maj Whittle (Ops)
Maj (Retd) J Battersby Maj (Retd) J Evans Maj (Retd) Machray Maj (Retd) M Dixson Maj (Retd) OF Read Capt Collins
Capt Devlin
Capt McGarry Capt Jacques Capt Sloss (POTL) Capt Thompson Capt Yarker (POTL) Ms J Todman
3. Members observed a moment’s silence for members who had died during the past year.
Mrs Mary Ames, Mrs Anne Burrell, Miss Mary Chynoweth, Lt Elizabeth Clouder, Lt Dorothea Davies, Maj Molly Finch, Lt Col Kay Fisher, Maj Betty Goodey, Miss Vera Harrison, Maj Teresa Houghton, Lt Col Nancy McQueen, Mrs Denise Quinn, Lt Col Margaret Stephenson, Miss Marie Sullivan, Miss Elvira Thomas, Mrs Elizabeth Topple, Capt Doris Tuffield, Mrs Mary White.
Item 1 - Notice convening the meeting
4. The General Secretary formally read the notice convening the meeting:
‘The 65th Annual General Meeting of the QARANC Association and Annual Reunion will be held at the Victory Services Club, 63-79 Seymour Street, London W2 2HF on Saturday 18 May 2013 at 1145hrs’.
Item 2 - Confirmation of the 64th Meeting held on 29 May 2012
5. The Minutes of the 64th meeting were published in to autumn 2012 edition of The Gazette and no amendments had been notified. Their adoption was proposed by Lt Col Bandy and seconded by Mrs Eifflaender.
The President then signed them as a true record.