Many thanks to everyone who attended our AGM on Weds 10th April 2024. We had 29 members in attendance, which equates to approx 50% of our first claim members. The minutes are detailed below for everyone to read. Many thanks to Harriet for taking the minutes.
One of the main news items on the evening was Bill's confirmation that he intends to retire as our secretary. It was great to see the recognition he received on the night and it is worth repeating here. Bill has been the lifeblood of this club for many a year now and we are all grateful for his contribution over that time. Bill (and Ian) will continue to be our Summer League representatives.
As we mentioned on the night, we will shortly circulate role descriptions as there are several vacancies on the committee, most notably that of Chair and Secretary. We will publish that list asap but please get in touch with us if you are interested in joining the committee. EIther let one of the committee members know or drop me an email to simonmidd73@sky.com
York Postal Harriers
Annual General Meeting 2024
Apologies
Jess Harvie, Ian Dalton, Chris Thompson, Carl Schumacher
Interim Chair report including committee member election/proposals – SM
Welcome to AGM, hosted on the 2nd Wednesday in April as it will be hosted going forward.
Many thanks to ID for chairing YPH for many years (more than 30 years according to BS).
Thanks also to the club committee. Further discussion on committee positions later on in the meeting.
Treasurer report – KA
Net assets £~3000
We have healthy funds and will be using these to support development, socials and events.
Assets went up by £289 from August 2023 to March 2024 and this is the 4th consecutive year where assets have risen.
The income is exclusively subscriptions and the main expenditure is England Athletics (EA) fees. At the moment we are making a marginal surplus on renewing members and a marginal loss on new members. Currently no pressure to increase membership fees but this will depend on decisions made by EA later in the year.
Struggled to return to normal social activities post-pandemic and we should strive to return to these.
Work going on behind the scenes to get the club compliant with EA requirements. Once this admin is taken care of we can focus more on running and socialising.
Secretary report – BS
Yorkshire marathon – all runners were heroic, especially SM finishing the marathon in 3:07 and EC completing the 10 mile in 59 mins.
Marathon du Malton and Tadcaster 10 mile were well attended by the club.
PECO XC season began with teams determined to make up for last years relegation.
EC organised a fantastic social pub crawl at Christmas.
Brass Monkey HM – 10 club places as usual and the club was well represented with DC leading the club home.
PECO XC season finished – Men’s Team 2nd and Women’s Team 1st with both teams promoted. Well done all!
Now preparing for the summer league, we are ready to ‘scare the lives out of our opponents’.
London marathon – Amy, Sophie, Elliot, Hannah, Simon will be running. BS will be there to support (amongst others).
Club also being represented at the Boston (Lincs) and Manchester marathons.
Club continues to grow in size and stature with 63 first claim, 5 second claim, and 8 social members.
Under the committee we will continue to grow.
BS announces he has made the very difficult decision to resign as secretary. We thank him for all his hard work. BS intends to hand over at the end of May and thanks the club for supporting him. BS receives rapturous applause from all.
SM thanks BS for all his hard work and celebrates a 2:54 marathon PB from BS.
EA Club Standards – All
SM: EA are making their club standards mandatory and YPH must meet these standards to be affiliated. Out of 7 EA club standards, YPH have currently met 5, and have met all the mandatory standards so the club is currently in a good position.
SC must go and do a difficult test as the safeguarding and welfare representative. This will ensure the club meets the welfare standards. Thank you SC for your work in this role.
SM: In summary, foundations of the club behind the scenes are in place, but there is still some work to do.
Socials – EC
We are a very social club who do a lot together anyway but we could do more.
So much going on which people probably don’t even realise.
EC is looking for some support to do more with socials. This doesn’t have to be weekly drinks but a few social events during the year.
It would also be good if someone could support communication.
DC receives many thanks from the room for putting together a comprehensive list of local races.
National 12 stage road relays would be a good event to target in the future to take the club forward.
There is so much more across the year which would enhance the club. The club has a wonderful atmosphere already but it can be enhanced.
Action point Let’s open up social communication.
AGM and presentation nights will be held as separate events on different nights of the year. Timing of presentation night TBC.
Lots still to come! It’s been a fantastic year but EC thinks and hopes we can do even better.
Summer League - BS / ID
Summer league is already upon us and BS intends to remain as summer league representative for the club. BS attempts a rousing round of applause for the summer league but enthusiasm around the room is lacking. BS reminds people there is not long left to enter. BS: ‘Let’s rock the league again!’
AOB
Communications around training HS
JC suggests WhatsApp community to better organise club communications.
General consensus that Facebook, WhatsApp and Email is best.
HS will create WhatsApp communities.
Clubhouse – JC
JC Minster inn was a good base. Now the club is nomadic and has been for a long time. This is difficult for many members e.g. especially for those who cycle to training.
SM has been discussing using BrewYork.
SP suggests Premier inn on Blossom Street – we are not sure if this is joke. SP also suggests Holgate working mens club.
MW suggests that having a central base will make the sessions longer. MW suggests meeting at the base or the session location start. The base needs to be within the city centre.
SC suggests using a classroom at Milthorpe school to store baggage/bikes and parking. This would offer a space but not a social location.
SC discusses whether it would be worthwhile for venues if we have limited turnout.
JC clarifies there is no need to replicate the Minster Inn, but more about having an appropriate place.
SM canvasses preferences. Consensus is marginally in favour of Millthorpe school.
SP makes the point that this will be more inclusive for members who are not able to attend training due to injuries or work and family commitments.
GC raises that if we meet in the same place then we can reduce communications and therefore GC will not need to be emailed.
London marathon club place – SM.
Evaluating the criteria the club use to decide who will receive the club place. Some clubs have a ballot. Opinions on if we would like to trial a different system.
MP suggests it would be nice to know who receives the club place, after it has been awarded through an announcement e.g. on WhatsApp group. SP agrees.
SP suggests that members who have done it before should not apply for the club place.
SM suggests that this might be harsh on newer members, and the club has many newer members.
EC says we must have clarity on when members joined, if we are to use longevity of membership in the criteria. It is agreed we have this through the EA online portal.
SM would like to put the process on the website for clarity. The agreed criteria are: First claim, Applied for place in general ballot, Have not done the London Marathon before, Longevity of membership. SM will put these criteria on the website.
Committee positions.
SM Now that BS has stepped down to enjoy his retirement there are some large gaps in the committee. Committee positions are as follows:
Chair – Available - SM is acting interim
Assistant chair – Available
Treasurer – KA
Coaches – MW and PB
Captain - HS
Socials – EC
Assistant social secretary - Available
Secretary (club and membership) – Available
Safeguarding and welfare – SC
Wellbeing and mental health champion – Available (JC nominates SP but EC stresses the role is still available)
SM explains not all positions are mandatory at the moment but we believe the club will be in a stronger position with all positions filled.
Time commitment for roles – committee meeting once every quarter, plus role activities.
SM explains we would like these positions to be active.
EC stresses we want this to still represent the club.
JC questions if the number of committee members is dependent on the size of the club. EC explains that many of the EA roles are not applicable to YPH at the moment e.g. roles supporting junior athletes.
SM explains assistant positions are not mandatory but we would like to create some progression and support.
SM would like to support all members of the club.
SM hopes that the club will never have an issue or a grievance to resolve but we would like the club to be prepared.
MF agrees that this is important to protect the club.
SM agrees for us to move forward as a club we need insurance by having these policies in place. SM wants everyone to know that we are here for more than just running. ‘We are a community not a club’ – Coach Whitby 2022.
EC reminds everyone that we have had incidents in recent years where support has been required. We must learn going forward e.g. having emergency contact details in place.
Role descriptions will be put on the website to give all members a chance to express interest. Declarations of interest for available roles to be sent in.
Club runs
MW queries how we nominate club runs. EC responds to say we would like to enhance what already exists around social runs. MW questions targeting a specific race. EC responds that it doesn’t have to be one specific race but there are several potential races throughout the year.
Track Time
MW says himself and BP would like to get some track time. EC raises that it will be a challenge to get track time. MW suggests even on an ad-hoc basis such as 4 times per year would be good.
SM canvasses opinions in principle on club track time - General consensus is positive.
BS suggests using a school’s grass track.
SM closes meeting.
EC thanks SM and everyone gives rapturous applause.
Action points from meeting:
HS look into WhatsApp communities and continue to send out training details via WhatsApp, Facebook and Email.
SM Enquire with Brew York regarding a training base.
SC Enquire with Millthorpe school regarding a training base.
SM Upload criteria for club London Marathon place to YPH Website.
SM Send out role descriptions for committee positions.
ALL Read role descriptions for committee positions and send expressions of interest to SM.
MW and BP and Committee Investigate possibility of ad-hoc track sessions.
Provisional date for the next AGM is Weds 9th April 2025 at 7.30pm.