ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING 2002.

The 22nd Annual General Meeting of the B.B.C.A. was held at The Officers Club, Swinfen Hall Young Offenders Institute, Lichfield on Wednesday December 4th, 2002  having been postponed from November 6th, 2002.

Present were B-Bailey,,D.Benbow,A.Brown,V.Cox, P.Duffen, Steve Edwards, H.Godwin, J.Heesom, H.Livesey, T.Oxley, E.Ruston, N.Smith, D.Snape and A.Wilkins.

The Chairman Derek Benbow opened the meeting at 8.15pm. Apologies were received from Muriel Higgs, who was on holiday in Germany,,and also Dave Thomas. It was proposed by Derek that we take the minutes of the 2001 AGM as read, these already having appeared in the Badge Mag, the motion was seconded by Steve.

Edwards and approved unanimously.

There being no matters arising from these minutes, the Chairman went on to present his report, which was very brief, stating that he was concerned about the member­ numbers remaining static, despite publicity, but he was cheered by a suggestion which he thought could only do good - that we should go on to a Website, and that we bad members who were willing to undertake this task on our behalf. Other than this he thought that the year had been fairly successful.

He thanked all who had helped him during his term of office, and welcomed Muriel Higgs (although she was not present) who was stepping up from her position as Vice Chairman to that of Chairman, a position she would hold for two years.

The Treasurer, Peter Duffen, presented his report, which again was very brief, stating that the assets of the club this year were up slightly compared to the previous financial year, and in view of this be proposed that the membership subscription should remain at £5.00 per member and £6.00 for family membership. Arthur Wilkins proposed that we accept this report and was seconded by Barry Bailey.

Wearing his other hat as Membership Secretary, Peter stated that the total member­ship was eleven down upon the previous year.

The Secretary, Joe Heesom, stated that once again he had successfully dealt with the small amount of correspondence received.

The meeting then confirmed the appointment of Muriel Higgs as Chairman (In the absence of Muriel, who should have taken the chair at this point, it had been previously agreed that Derek, the retiring Chairman should continue the chair the rest of the meeting, it being felt that it would be unfair to the new Vice-Chairman. who had not yet been elected, to be "thrown in at the deep end".

Harry Livesey proposed Steve Edwards for the position of Vice Chairman (a post that he would hold for two years, before stepping up to Chairman), the proposition was seconded by Peter Duffen, and there being no other nominations, the motion was passed unanimously.

There being no other nominations for the position of Treasurer, Joe Heesom proposed that we ask Peter to continue in the post, which he agreed to do, seconded. by Tom Oxley, accepted unanimously.

As with the above position, there were no nominations for the position of Secretary, Tom Oxley proposed that we ask Joe to carry on, which he agreed to do. The proposal was seconded by Norman Smith and unanimously accepted.

The election of comittee members was the next item on the agenda, with half the existing members having to stand down, these being Muriel Higgs, Horace Godwin and Tom Oxley, the Chairman asked for nominations for new committee members, Andrew Brown proposed Dave Snape, who agreed to be nominated, this proposal was seconded by Barry Bailey, there being no dissenters, Dave was duly elected.

No one else was nominated, Vic Cox proposed that we re-elect both Tom and Horace to the committee, Muriel already being on the committee as Chairman, Derek Benbow seconded this proposal and both were duly re-elected.

The meeting then went on to consider the suggestion that the association set up a website,the proposal was made by Andrew Brown and new member Edward Ruston, who said that they had the facilities to do this, and were willing to do it for the for the association.  They said that they would set up a initial page with a description of the association and the benefits of membership, and then we could take it from there.

The suggestion having already been proposed by Andrew Brown, was seconded by Harry Livesey and accepted by the members present.

Vic Cox proposed that in view of the fact that Edward would be working closely with the committee in this venture, that he be co-opted to the committee, this was seconded by Harry Livesey and passed by all present.

The meeting then considered possible activities for the coming year, 2003.

Vic Cox stated that he had written to Wolverhampton City Council requesting the use of the foyer of the Civic Centre for Monday and Tuesday 28th and 29th of April 2003 for us to stage our annual exhibition at this venue, and that he had an initial contact from the organising officer of the "Firerail" event asking if we were interested in taking part in the 2003 exhibition, and acknowledging that a mistake had been made in siting some of the exhibtors in out of the way classrooms

   Vic Cox said that very little was sent in by others and that about 99% of the Mag was compiled by himself.  He was always on the look out for suitable items, he would welcome contributions for inclusion in the Mag.  He said that he was often promised bits and pieces for inclusion, but they never materialised, and just remained promises.

          If anyone wished to send him anything for the Mag, they could write to him direct at his home Address which could be obtained from the Membership List, as some­times a point may need to be clarified, and this would be quicker than using the P.O.Box No.

          There being no other business, the Chairman thanked everyone for their attendance, and closed the meeting at 9.25pm.