Newport Pagnell Archers Newsletter August 2016 - Notice of AGM

We are coming to the end of the club’s year, which officially finishes on 30th September - coincidentally the date of our AGM. Since the weather finally improved lots of members have enjoyed our field, which looks resplendent with tidy bosses, clean faces and, most importantly, short neat grass. A few people have been shooting in new territory, for example nobody previously had bothered to shoot a WA720 with a longbow or traditional bow, so Robert Schoenberger and Ken each grabbed a sneaky club record! Club records and other restricted information are stored in the Members’ Area of the web site. If you want access to this please follow the instructions to create an account.

Sadly, the planned Juniors tournament collapsed because of a lack of support. We hope to have internal competitions in due course but clearly the time is not yet ripe. Jacky is still hoovering up tournament results and silverware. We have a few new and existing members who may add to this. The club supports the Bucks County Indoor Shoot, which will take place in Milton Keynes on Sunday 6th November - details to follow.

Our next Beginners’ Course will be on Saturday 10th September. This will be the last outdoor course for 2016. After that we plan to alternate have a goes and beginners courses on alternate months. Many congratulations to Gren, who has gained his Level 2 qualification - a major achievement involving months of hard work. We are likely to have two more coaches soon, so the improver training will get off the ground in autumn.

We plan to trial a fourth session to our indoor season - Millmead on Saturdays at 1400 to 1600. With the growth in members this year we consider this prudent.

Our AGM will be held at the Royal British Legion, 1 Ousebank Street, Town Centre, Newport Pagnell, MK16 8AN at 1930 on Friday 30th September. Currently Carl, Gren, Jason and Ken are standing for re-election. Anyone (including other current committee members) wishing to stand for election to the committee must give notice to the Secretary by 30th August. Nominations need a proposer and seconder and may be submitted on paper or by email (with email nominations the proposer and seconder should send separate emails to confirm their support). Candidates may include a “manifesto” if they so wish.

Candidates may stand for one or more specific posts, or simply to serve as committee members. Elections will be held at the AGM for any contested posts. According to the Club’s Constitution the officers at a minimum shall be: Chairperson, Vice Chairperson, Secretary, Treasurer, Coaching Officer, Records Officer, Tournament / shooting organiser, Equipment Officer.

In practice we currently have only four active committee members addressing a much wider range of activities than those above, and we could do with more people willing to help out with organisational tasks (e.g. internal tournaments, social events). If you don’t wish to join the committee but would be willing to help out occasionally please let me know and I’ll add your name to my volunteers’ list.

The Club’s constitution makes no mention of voting procedures. At this year’s AGM the Business Plan is being presented for the first time. Members not planning to attend the AGM but wishing to vote for the Business Plan should record their vote as an email to me please. Similarly, my manifesto “Vision for the future” sets out fairly radical proposals to take the club forward. Regardless of whether anyone stands against me for election or not I will ask for a vote to give me authority to implement these. Members not planning to attend the AGM but wishing to give me this authority should also record their vote as an email to me please.

During the last year we have done a lot of work to turn the club into a viable business. All the documentation to support this has been brought together into a single Operating Manual. The web site has also been simplified to reflect the Operating Manual. Please have a look and feel free to send me any comments.

Thank you all and enjoy the coming year’s shooting!

Ken Secretary