FinalAnnReport 2004 _artwork - Hugha.co.uk

THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING,
EXPEDITION PRESENTATIONS
AND ANNUAL BUFFET DINNER,
SATURDAY 29TH JANUARY 2005
This took place at Lowther Lodge by kind permission of the President and Council
of the Royal Geographical Society with the Institute of British Geographers
(RGS/IBG) on Saturday 29th January 2005.
AGM
Forty-one were present, including the President, Vice President, two patrons,
eight other members of Council and five staff from the Office.
The Chairman of Council, Major General Roy Wood, took the chair and spoke
from his report which had been circulated with the agenda. He reminded the
meeting of the deaths of Sandy Glen (Patron), John Payne (Patron) and Les
Morgan (Council) and offered condolences from the whole Society to their
families. A memorial service for Les Morgan would be held on Saturday 16 April
2005 in Bradford: all those wishing to attend should contact the Office.
The Chairman was pleased to announce that the financial situation had
improved. YE numbers had also increased 30% since last year. He thanked the
Council and committees for all their hard work throughout the year.
He thanked the Chief Leaders and leader teams of 2004 expeditions for all their
hard work. A Young Leader Fire had been introduced on the Iceland 04 and
it would be repeated on Peru 05. Planning for the 2006 expeditions was
progressing.
A strategy meeting had taken place in January 2004 to determine the way
forward for the Society. A series of business plans had been produced and
Council had agreed to strive for the target option while budgeting on the
realistic option. The fundraising campaign had begun and was yielding funds.
Three members of Council were standing down at the end of their term of
service: Pat Cannings, Tony Whiting and Richard Wood. Brian Needham had also
decided to stand down. The Chairman thanked them all for their hard work over
many years.
William Taunton-Burnet would replace Alexander Matheson as Executive
Director when he left in March 2005. The Chairman thanked Alexander for his
support and hard work during his time at BSES. There will be a leaving lunch for
him at the beginning of March and details would be available in due course.
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING | JAN 2005
In summary, the Chairman appealed for active support from all members to
maintain the increase in YE numbers, to raise funds and renew contact with older
members.
The Executive Director, Alexander Matheson, enlarged upon his report which
had been circulated with the agenda. He gave an update on the latest YE
statistics for 2005 expeditions, and pointed out the likelihood of a noticeable
increase over recent years. He thought it likely that the lower number of
applications for Arctic Norway was probably due to that expedition being
marketed much later than the others.
He described the reasons behind the Governor of Svalbard granting BSES an
increased capacity from 60 to 90 members for summer 2005. He commented
that Gap Year expeditions were normally small but took the same staff effort to
run as a summer expedition. He highlighted the importance of choosing popular
destinations for the expeditions, explained the method by which YE planning
figures were decided, and outlined the main challenges for recruiting YEs.
The position regarding future Chief Leaders was now much more encouraging,
almost certainly a direct result of the honorarium offered since October 2004. All
new marketing initiatives were described, namely Regional Introduction Days,
the Star Schools Reward Scheme, increased advertising at key times of year,
attendance at the Head Masters Conference and the Outdoor Show, and the
Bursary Scheme. The importance of the fundraising effort was emphasised. All
members of the Society could help here by providing useful contacts for the
Fundraiser to follow up.
The 75th Anniversary was now only 2 years away. Volunteers were needed (one
for every past BSES expedition) to track down the remainder of their expedition
with a view to persuading them to rejoin the Society.
More interviewers were needed, particularly in Norfolk, Suffolk, Merseyside,
West Sussex, Devon, Portsmouth and Southern Ireland. Volunteers are needed
everywhere to give school talks. An E-bay expert was needed to help sell
unwanted kit and items currently held at BSES’ stores.
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