AGM REPORT 2017

The 2017 AGM was held at the pavilion on March 1st, and was a night that - as always - offered a glimpse into the huge amount of work going on at the club both in public view and behind the scenes. Here's a brief recap of proceedings.

Chairman's opening remarks

Scott welcomed everyone and once again paid tribute to the hard work that has gone on behind the scenes in the past year. He hinted at some exciting developments that would be revealed by the club development officer and cricket committee chairman later in the meeting. He also issued a rallying cry to all members to ensure they give up as much time as possible to help out - don't assume that someone else will do it if you don't!

(Acting / Honorary) Secretary's Report

Among his many other hats, KC had stood in as acting secretary during 2016 and was able to report on committee activity and the establishment of the cricket committee under Ian Hayes. The main theme of Kieran's update was around sustainability and how the club is expanding in a measured, sensible and sustainable way; all events and developments are carefully planned to create long-term results, both from an infrastructure and organisational viewpoint. He also echoed Scott's comments that the establishment of a separate cricket committee not only helps ease some of the burden on the main committee but also allows that group to directly target growth on the field, something we've fallen behind with in recent years (in the context of how much we've grown off the field). KC also highlighted the great work being done around the club, particularly in areas such as sponsorship, social media, website and publicity, where we punch hugely above our relative size.

Treasurer's Report including the presentation of club accounts

As ever, Clive had done a magnificent job with the club accounts, detailing income and expenditure to the last penny. The bottom line was that the clubs finances are in a healthy state, and that the main club events such as TBDO, Boxing Day and the golf day continue to bring in fantastic revenue. Clive also noted that we're in the latter stages of a massive grant application that will allow us to level the ground and create an expanded, professional playing surface with surrounding wall and access, and we should know the outcome in the next couple of months. KC noted that Clive had secured several smaller grants and sundry funding to help with club development and thanked him for this work.

Match fees and annual memberships will remain unchanged for 2017 and remain amongst the cheapest in the region - this was passed unanimously.

Club Welfare Officer's Report

Scott was pleased to report that no issues had been raised to him in the past 12 months.

Club Development Officer's Report

Kieran came back to the floor to discuss just a few of the dozens of schemes, developments and plans going on around the club. A key development will be the new playing surface, and he hinted that this will be achieved in the short, not medium, term. He also highlighted our good standing within the GMCL, talked about club events and what is needed to ensure that everything runs smoothly from week to week, but also added a cautionary note to say that as we continue to grow, so the burden of maintenance continues to rise; again, it's vital that everyone pitches in and understands that developments around the club come with a maintenance overhead, but he again reiterated that nothing is done without planning for the future. He also indicated new purchases of sightscreens, an improved water hog, and breathable covers, which will ensure a much better protection for the ground in our climate, and should lead to far fewer games being called off. Kieran also briefly mentioned the exciting developments for the women's division; the girls will play in a new Lancashire-based league in 2017, and have a full-time manager in place to drive this forward. The junior development also proceeds well, with a talented and enthusiastic set of players progressing through the winter training - some of the juniors and girls should feature for the senior sides in 2017, such has been the progression.

Cricket Chairman's Report

Perhaps the most enthusiastic presentation of the evening came from new chairman of the cricket committee Ian Hayes, who spoke passionately about the establishment of this new group and about some of the many things that are already in place; the committee has been tasked in part with taking the standard of cricket forward, by player recruitment, training and improved facilities. Hayesy spoke about the new players we've brought in, a raised standard already seen at training, and related matters including the levelling of the ground, which should help hugely with player recruitment going forward. He then commented on the hard work that's gone on to secure funding and sponsorship for this year ahead and about exciting new events, including the first inter-club game and race night, to be held at the Meadows on April 8th.

Election of Officers

Kieran was voted in as Honorary Secretary, and Paul M rejoined the committee. All other positions and committee spots remain unchanged.

100 Club update

The 100 club continues to be an excellent and reliable source of income, but we could still do with more members! Please speak to friends and family - for £5 a month, the club can benefit greatly, and your chances of winning are still about a million times better than the lottery!

Pre-season groundwork (NatWest Cricketforce / other)

NatWest CricketForce is Saturday April 1st - please come down whatever the weather. Also there will be working parties at the ground from 11am every Saturday from now through September, so please spare time wherever you can.

Events

As a final plea, Scott again spoke about the importance of our major events in 2017, particularly Tottington's Big Day Out. He urged all members to put the date in their diaries - Sunday July 2nd - and to spare as much time as possible on that weekend.

AOB

A few smaller matters were tidied up and a couple of questions from the floor were answered before the meeting closed around 9.15pm.

I Will if You Will Biffaward

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