ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

 Saturday 6^thApril  2019

 MINUTES

 Present:  Peter Aveyard (Morecambe), Kenneth Clarke-Roberts (Lytham St. Anne’s), Eddie Dunn (Bolton), Barry Evans (Burnley & District), Adrian Jones (Lostock/ Bolton), Peter Kirk (Macclesfield), Kenneth Knight (Rochdale), Stephen Parkin (Stockport), David Sigee (Trafford), Jamie Smith (Marple/Poynton), Dave Rothery (Kendal),

1. The Chairman welcomed all those attending the meeting.

• Apologies were received from Clive Griffiths
• The minutes of the previous Annual General Meeting, which had been previously circulated and posted on the Federation website,  were noted.
• There were no matters arising.

2. Reports

2.1 The Chairman (David Sigee)  thanked all Officers and Committee members for their work during the past year. Looking back over this period  he noted that there had been problems with organizing competitions and the packet circulation. Apart from these difficulties the Federation  had maintained its sound financial position and had been active in promoting philately in the North West. The second Paul Gaywood Lecture had been well attended and taken place at Bolton PS,  the exchange packet has a new lease of life under Peter Kirk, there are plans to resurrect competitions in a simplified form and Clive Griffiths has done an excellent job in developing a very effective communication network via email contacts and the Federation Website.

The main problem facing the Federation in the future is the need to recruit new active members on to the Committee with a view to developing new ideas and taking an enthusiastic  part in its activities.

On behalf of those present at the meeting, the Treasurer Peter Kirk thanked the out-going Chairman for his contribution to the activities of the Federation over the past few years.

2.2  The Secretary (Adrian Jones) echoed the Chairman’s positive comments about the activities of the Federation and said that he hoped to take a more active future role once his health had improved.

2.3  The Treasurer (Peter Kirk) presented the accounts (appended), which showed a balance of £7417.13. These were approved.

2.4  The Packet Secretary (Peter Kirk) thanked Dave and Karen for organizing a very efficient circulation and noted that he had now taken over as packet secretary since January 2019. The current system is working well and continues to be an important aspect of the Federation’s activities.

2.5  The Webmaster (Clive Griffiths) reported that the email circulation list appeared to be working well,  with positive feedback. Constituent Societies are welcome to use the list to promote all philatelic activities. The website contains a lot of useful information about philatelic activities and contacts in the North West. It is important that individual societies check their submitted information on the website at least once a year to make sure that this is accurate and stays up to date. The webmaster thanked Dave Rothery for his work on the Speakers List.

2.6  The organizer of the Speakers List (Dave Rothery) reported that the list was active and updated annually . This continues to provide a useful tool for societies looking for speakers and is also accessed by societies from outside the North west.

Election of Officers

3.1  The retirement of the current Chairman and the end of term for the current President (John Baron) resulted in two new nominations: David Sigee (President) and Clive Griffiths (Chairman). These were proposed and seconded beforehand, and approved at the meeting.

In the absence of any alternative  nominations, all other Officers and Executive Committee Members were approved in accordance with Constitution Rule 4(d). A full list of Officers and Executive Committee Members for 2019/2020 is appended with the Minutes.

4. Competitions

4.1  The future of competitions was discussed at some length, with the agreement that competitions should  continue to play an important part in The Federation’s activities.

Stephen Parkin agreed to look into the possibility of organizing reciprocal judging with philatelists outside the NW Federation, and to liaise with Dave Rothery – who agreed to co-ordinate competition activities.

It is hoped that the new system will be up and running for the October Convention,   and that winning entries will be scanned and posted on the Federation Website

5. Convention

5.1 Bolton PS were thanked for having hosted last year’s Convention.

5.2  The 2019 Convention will be held as usual on the last Saturday of October (29.10.19) and will be hosted again by Bolton PS. Further particulars to be announced in due course.

6.  AOB

6.1  David Sigee announced that the 2019 Paul Gaywood lecture, to be given by Peter Pugh, will  present details of  the growth of the British mails from Hong Kong and the Treaty Ports via the Trans-Siberian Railway and will be held at Trafford Philatelic Society.

Full details of venue and date (Tuesday 17^thSeptember) will be posted on the Federation website.

6.2  Kenneth Knight announced that his Society (Rochdale PS) would have a major anniversary in 2021. He requested that the Paul Gaywood lecture be held in Rochdale that year and that the NWFed Committee liaise with Rochdale PS over this.

6.3  Jamie Smith reported that the Stockport Collectors Club was temporarily in abeyance, pending  confirmation of a regular meeting place in the near future.

Arrangements for this would be posted on the NWFed website.

6.4  Barry Evans reported that Burnley PS had celebrated its 75^thAnniversary in March 2019. It was resolved that a NWFed certificate by sent to Burnley PS to commemorate this.

David Sigee thanked all attendees for coming to the meeting and closed proceedings at 12.40.