The 101st Annual General Meeting took place on Wednesday 28th October from 8:30 pm at Chester Road Sports and Social Club, hosted by President Richard Woolley.
President Richard Woolley opened the meeting on a mild end-of-October evening at Chester Road (although it did get a bit chilly later on). Our resident and inveterate reporter, Peter 'Porky' Vaughan, had failed to appear, but had sent apologies. What to do? A quick look around the room led Norman Broadfield to believe that he had better take the minutes himself.
There were a number of apologies this year, making the turnout a little less than usual, although a good many of the old faithfuls put in an appearance. It was half-term week, and so maybe some regulars were on Grandma and Grandad duty at the seaside.
In any event, the meeting went swimmingly. After the President's welcome, the minutes from the year before were accepted after due consideration. Richard gave a report on his year in office, focusing on present and future aspects of the Association after saying how much he appreciated the great honour of being President and how much he had enjoyed his year. He was particularly pleased that his autumn musical event had been both enjoyable and successful.
He felt as if the Association had come to a crossroads. There was a need to re-engage with younger Old Carolians and also to re-double our efforts to bring our Association closer to those of former pupils of Queen Elizabeth, Hartlebury, and Kidderminster High School for Girls. He believed that this closer co-operation is in the best interests of all three Associations and was equally important for the school as it now exists. He suggested that, perhaps, it could be in the best interests of the school if the 'Old Carolians', in due time, became an Association for the former pupils of King Charles I School incorporating Old Elizabethans and Kidderminster Old Girls Associations, although he accepted that much goodwill would be required by all parties. It has to be recorded that this suggestion was not universally well-received by the meeting, with the thought of name-loss being unwelcome in some quarters.
He thanked Stephen Brownlow and his staff for the support that they give to the Association, and finished by again thanking the Committee and members for all their support over the last year, which he called 'the experience of a lifetime'. He was happy to commit all the help he could to Ken Ryder and his successors in their years as President, and to the school that brought us all together.
Ken Ryder thanked and congratulated Richard on his thought-provoking report, which would be given good consideration in future, and this was unanimously accepted.
The Treasurer's Report for the year ending 31st August 2015 followed, and Peter Picken declared the position to be very satisfactory with the finances in good shape, with the Autumn Event, the Annual Dinner, the Summer Event and the sale of DVDs all getting an honourable mention. The accounts were accepted and the Treasurer was thanked. The Trust accounts were then presented by Martin Easton, again accepted as satisfactory and incorporated by the Treasurer.
There followed a short debate on the suggestion that the position of Chairman of the Association be re-established after perhaps five or six decades. Norman Broadfield suggested that it was becoming more difficult to select a President local to Kidderminster and the Committee meetings owing to increased social mobility and the increasing age of the Committee members. The President could return to an honorary, rather than executive, status, which would widen the field for Presidential nominations – there were many excellent candidates from the wider geography. Peter Picken recommended that 'the rule should be that the Chair of the Committee shall be offered to the President for the forthcoming year. If he/she does not want this, the Chair will be chosen by the Committee from the Committee'. Norman Broadfield proposed this amendment to the rules, seconded by Colin Lloyd. It was carried unanimously and it agreed that the position of Chairman would be put formally into the Rules.
There was applause as Ken Ryder was elected unanimously as the new President, and he agreed to take on the additional role of Chair for the forthcoming year. He thanked colleagues, felt honoured and wished to follow in the worthy footsteps of those before.
The elections of other Officers, all carried unanimously, were as follows:
Senior Vice-President: Ian Sandall
Junior Vice-President: Dave Laverty
Association Secretary: Tim Gulliver
Treasurer: Peter Picken
Membership Secretary: Peter Guy
Magazine Editor: Norman Broadfield
Website Administrator: David Slater
Auditor: Tony Kidd
As well as the Officers of the Association, the following were elected en bloc as Committee Members:
Keith Bowkett, Stephen Brownlow (ex officio), Charlie Combes, Martin Easton, Ken Garbett, Martin Hobson, Colin Lloyd, Ann Mullard, Roger Perrin, Peter Vaughan, Richard Woolley and Pat Yarnold.
The President closed the meeting at 8.55 pm, and everyone left in very good humour.