AGM 2023

Good morning,

I am writing to you to invite you to our AGM for 2023, and to update you on what is happening regarding the AGM for voting and renewal payments.

This year, we’re going to stick with the set up we had last year. A bit of a hybrid AGM between online, and in person.

We’d love to see you all on the 12th December at the Perdiswell Young People’s Leisure Club for a 19:30 start. We have booked a room to hold the meeting within, for members only.

The voting for the 2024 Committee will all be online, and during this email I’ll explain how it’ll work, the timeline for what is happening and how you can access the ‘AGM Hub’ on the website. We’ve found this to be far more democratic, due to the entirety of the membership being able to vote as opposed to only those who can make it to a meeting. Online voting is far more fair and inclusive of everyone.

You will be able to nominate yourself to be on the election for Committee 2024 and vote for your 2023 Committee. You will also be able to read the AGM 2022 minutes, the Treasurer’s report, the Chairman’s report and the results of the votes will also be made available online in the hub in due course.

AGM Location

We will be meeting on Tuesday 12th December at 19:30, at the following address:

Perdiswell Young People’s Leisure Club

Perdiswell Park

Worcester

WR3 7SN

You will be able to buy merchandise and renew your membership via our new card reader at the AGM, using any debit or credit card or mobile payments.

The committee will be handing our their own reward for ‘Clubman of 2023’ at the AGM meeting. This is for someone who we feel has gone above and beyond for their club, with Martin Round winning the award for 2021 and Keith Sedgwick in 2022.

I will also be adding an “AGM” location to the booking system a few days before the AGM meeting (around the time the voting ends), so you can confirm your RSVP there should you wish to do so. This is by no means a requirement though, only for if you wish to express your attendance!

The AGM 2023 Hub

Here you’ll find everything you need. Nomination forms, reports from the chairman and treasurer, the link to place your vote, results – everything you need for the AGM.

It won’t all be visible straight away, and in the next section below you’ll read more into this.

You’ll find the hub here when it launches (14/11/2023): https://www.wmac.uk/agm/

The key dates for your diary are as follows:

November 14th – The AGM hub will already be open online (14th November), making available the 2022 minutes and the nominations to put yourselves forward to be on the election for 2024 committee. It’ll appear as a menu all of it’s own once you are logged in at the top of the website (or, on a mobile device if you press the blue menu button, at the bottom of the list).

November 17th -24th – Nominations open to put yourself onto the Committee 2024 vote. This must be done by November 24th, otherwise you will not be able to add yourself onto the election. The nominations will close at 9pm on the 24th.

November 24th – Chairman and Treasurer / Membership Secretary 2023 reports go live

December 3rd – 10th – VOTING OPENS – You may vote for your 2024 Committee, and any other business held in the voting form. Voting will open at around midnight on December 3rd, and close at 6pm on the 10th.

December 10th at around 9pm – Results will be sent out to members via email, WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram and the website on both the news page and the hub.

December 10th – After the fees are confirmed from the online AGM vote and the website is updated, renewals will open for your 2024 membership at around midnight.

December 12th – The AGM meeting will be held at 7:30pm. Renew and purchase merchandise via card payment at the meeting, or online like last year.

How will the voting work?

It’ll work exactly the same as last year. You’ll click a link, select your answers, and submit. You must complete all sections with a red asterisk (*) next to them or you will not able to proceed to the next page.

Note: you will not be able to change your vote once you submit, or place a second vote so please carefully select your answers prior to submission!

As the entire membership will be voting for any nominations for the 2024 committee, for this year we do not need to worry about being proposed or seconded. The entire membership voting will cover this part of the vote by default.

Putting forward your questions

If you have any burning questions or points of discussion you’d like us to air at the meeting, there will be a space for you to write this down during the voting. We won’t be operating the forum this year as we have an actual meeting.

What do we vote for?

The items in the voting form are as follows:

  • 2024 Committee Election
    Asking if you have read the reports, if you agree with them and for any comments you may have
  • Club matters (such as fees, AOB etc)
    • For this section we have implemented a new vote. We are asking you to type in the name of a club member, committee or non-committee, who you feel has gone above and beyond for their club for 2023. You will then need to type your reason for this selection. This will then be acknowledged, amongst everyone else who was also suggested, in an email to the club with the winner being especially noted.
      • The committee will be handing our their own reward for ‘Clubman of 2023’ at the AGM meeting

Renewals are online and in person (no cash!)

Renewing is online like always now, and will be available by chip and pin at the meeting both for your convenience and also for the future going forward to make the secretary and webmaster role a little easier.

We will not be accepting cash or cheque at the meeting! We are a cashless club as of 2021. We will also be selling merchandise at the meeting.

Online payments will be via the member’s online shop, found in the Member’s Menu, or from the link below: https://wmac.uk/shop/

Please note, the renewals are not available until December 13th.

You can pay by all electronic methods, cash or cheque is not accepted any more at the club. If you are paying online by:

Credit/Debit Card –  No card fees. Once you have paid, you do not need to do anything else.

Bank Transfer – No card fees. Process the order online, selecting bank transfer as your payment method and confirm. Once you have confirmed, you will need to email the Membership Secretary (membership@wmac.uk) that you have processed your order online. Please confirm in your email your reference number from your email invoice from us. When you transfer the money, in the reference box in your online banking transfer page, enter your invoice number and your name.

The reason we are doing this is to make use of the new website functions – after you process your order online, and payment is authorised, your online account will auto-renew and update your payment date. This saves either myself and the membership secretary going through manually doing it for all our members and deactivating members who have left. You also get to pay online with credit/debit card, and have a receipt from all of your payment methods.

If anyone struggles, please contact myself on webmaster@wmac.uk and I will process it for you online (not card payments though due to GDPR).

The stock of the online store will replenish on the 13th December, allowing you to add your renewal to your cart and purchase online.

If anyone does not have internet access, we can arrange an alternative way to renew.

That’s it…

That’s just about everything! If anyone has any issues with any of this, please email me at webmaster@wmac.uk

I can help with both the website or IT issue you may face, but also as a committee member I can help with other questions you may have regarding this. If it is more appropriate, feel free to also email or speak to the other 2023 committee members. They are:

  • Dave Evans (Chairman)
  • Sam Booton (Treasurer & Membership Secretary & Webmaster)
  • Clive Maulden (Club Secretary)
  • Mike Strain (Club Officer)
  • Tom Leonard (Club Officer)
  • Jeremy Flatt (Club Officer)

Many thanks,

Sam Booton

Membership Secretary, Treasurer and Webmaster