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Minutes of the General Committee Meeting of the Westonbirt Association held at Westonbirt School,on Saturday 4 October 2003, at 2:30pm

Present: President, in the Chair, School Head, Hon. Secretary, News Editor, News Finance, Governor, 14 other Section Reps (1, 2, 3, 8, 10, 12, 15, 20, 21, 22, 23, 25, 30, 36, 38, 46, 47, 48, 49, 52, 56, 59, 60, Staff, Current Staff).

1. Apologies for Absence were received from representatives of sections 4, 7, 11, 14, 17, 18, 24, 34, 53, 54, and Treasurer.

2. Minutes of the previous meeting held on Saturday 5 October 2002 were approved by those present and signed by the President.

3. Matters arising from previous meeting None

4. Section Representatives' Business and Reports Section representative changes were announced informally, in advance of being reported to the AGM.

   • One reunion was occurring at the 2003 AGM - the year-group that had taken A-levels 25 years earlier including a large number of non-members. The section 48 representative said she had organised the reunion by working from a list from their previous reunion, friendsreunited, and cascading through friends of contacts. 20 had come, bringing photographs (house and team). Some had not been back since they left, and some had come to "lay ghosts" having been unhappy at school.

   • Appreciation was expressed of the production of mailing-labels. Some felt that labels for non-active members (an (n) on the label) were unnecessary and wasteful, and that the decision to produce them (GCM 2002) should be reversed. (The production of labels for members that had asked not to have mailings ((r) on the label) had been an error in the summer of 2003.) Agreed that labels for non-actives should be continued, but that the situation would be reviewed in 2004. (It would not be easy to produce non-actives for some sections and not others.)

   • The difficulty of finding new representatives for some younger sections was discussed. A representative remembered that she herself had volunteered when another section member had pointed out that it was time for someone to take over, and suggested that, should a section need a new representative, the representative from the section above or below could be asked to cold-call someone she knew.

   • Email contact was often more effective at eliciting replies. The secretary could produce, on request, email versions of notices (but not the Amaryllian). Emails could be used as "follow-ups".

   • Section Representatives' claims should in future be for the year July to June.

5. Networking Facilitator position The Executive Committee recommended xxxx xxxx (section 27) as Network Facilitator. Her c.v. showed the requisite experience. The meeting agreed to the recommendation.

6. Possible position of Vice-Chair A job description (with 3-year tenure) had been agreed by the Executive Committee and sent out to the General Committee. xxxx xxxx was recommended for the position. She did not wish to become president. This would increase continuity when a new President took office in 2005. Agreed that xxxx xxxx would be Vice-Chair. (Name of office avoids confusion with existing Vice-Presidents.)

7. North American and Australian sections The Australasian and North American representatives had been advised of the survey. Members living in the continents had been asked their views (with AGM notices). 7 replies included 5 that preferred own (UK) section, and 2 without preference. The North American representative had not responded. Concerns were expressed that contact with foreign members would be lost. Agreed that the Australasian section would end, and further attempts be made to contact the North American representative before closure.

   It was agreed that Amaryllians could be sent to overseas members.

   The President urged section representatives to claim for postage, so that they were not out of pocket, and so that accurate knowledge could be had of the cost of running the Association.

8. Any Other Business

   1. The News Editor had done 7 years, and would like to stop after 2004. A successor was sought, living in the Oxford area, to work with her in 2004 and then take over.

   2. The format of the AGM should be re-considered. Suggestions should be sent to xxxx xxxx (or other Executive Committee member) for consideration by the Executive Committee.

   3. The 2003 issue of the Association News had a print run of 400, at £5 a copy. If the print run were 2000, the item cost would be £2. xxxx xxxx said that some of her contemporaries had failed to discover on the School website how to order the magazine after free issues ceased. This point would be considered. The President would encourage subscription in her message in the January Amaryllian. The News Finance Officer explained that she sent a notification that free issues were ceasing, in the third year of membership, and statements to all subscribers, including urging those that had only recently ceased to subscribe to start again.

The President thanked the Committee for all their work.

The meeting ended at 3:20pm

page last updated 17 March 2004