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NANDA AGM Minutes

Minutes of the Annual General Meeting held on 31st January 2010 at the West Bridgford Dramatic Society's Studio, Stamford Road, West Bridgford, Nottingham.

PRESENT:-- Joan Wildgust (Chairman), Christine Davison (Secretary), Neil Mackintosh (Treasurer), Tony Vokes(WBDS), Mike Stewart, Madeline Lord(ELAPS), Mel Reynolds(Burton Joyce Players), Jack Barrett(Lace Market Theatre), Robert Wildgust(Nottingham Arts Theatre), Jean Allton (Keyworth Dramatic Society), Alison Murray (WBDS), Tony Wykes( All Hallows Drama Society).

APOLOGIES were received from Christine Harbidge and Jon Jones(Radcliffe-on-Trent Drama Group), Sonya Oates and Hayley Masom(ELAPS), Linda Whitehurst((Bonington Players), Angela Harris and Alan Spooner(Keyworth Dramatic Society).

MINUTES The minutes of the AGM held on 18 January 2009 were signed as a true record. MATTERS ARISING Two workshops had been organised during the year. The first, a voice workshop, had been well attended and judged a success. The second, on costume and make-up, had been cancelled due to lack of numbers. West Bridgford Dramatic Society had organised a workshop which was open to other groups, although none had been able to attend.

A very successful luncheon had been held in March. Roy Marsden had had to cancel due to ill health and had been replaced by Simon Shepherd who proved to be a very entertaining speaker.

The Gurd Award had been presented to Elaine deVilliers at the Burton Joyce Players' Christmas party. She had been surprised and delighted to receive the award.

CHAIRMAN'S REPORT 2008/9 had been circulated with the AGM notices.

CHAIRMAN'S REMARKS - expanded upon salient points from the Annual Report.
1) It had been a successful year for NANDA. There had been more interaction between groups, with groups borrowing scenery and props and even actors.
2) The Play of the Year competition was a success, with good attendances and thirteen plays entered. This year looks set to continue this success with ten plays entered so far. After an absence from the NANDA calendar, the One Act Play Festival has been regenerated and we are hopeful of a successful competition.
3) Workshops - As previously mentioned in matters arising, the failure of two of the planned workshops was a disappointment. However, there is an interest and NANDA will not give up on arranging future workshops.
4) The Chairman expressed her thanks to the NANDA president, Roy Ainscough for his continued support and to the Council for their hard work. The Council will continue to take on board what members want. There is a problem finding volunteers for specific tasks, for example there is no-one at present to organise the Youth Festival.
5) Adjudications - Concerns had been raised at the Open Forum about the poor quality of the adjudications for the Play of the Year. The Chairman wrote a letter to GODA detailing these concerns. GODA upheld these complaints. Satisfaction was expressed with the adjudicator for this year's competition. The Chairman put out a plea for more local people with expertise who might be willing to adjudicate. The fees for professional adjudications is increasing - £75 per adjudication plus £35 for a written adjudication as well as travelling expenses. These costs would make the Competition unviable.

HON TREASURER'S REPORT Accounts were sent out with the AGM notices. These showed a balance of £3779.80 as at the end of August 2009, a loss from 2008/09 of £364.73. The most significant loss was £628.88 sustained by the Play of the Year Competition.(higher cost of adjudication, partly subsidised by NANDA). In developing new initiatives, a loss may occur, for example in the Open Forum meeting where refreshments are supplied but not charged for. We must keep an eye on the reserves and attempt to build them up, but also try new initiatives to support the membership.
The Chairman thanked Neil for his clear and lucid presentation of the accounts.

APPOINTMENT OF HONORARY OFFICERS

There being no resignations and no new names submitted, the existing officers were re-elected:-
Hon Secretary - Christine Davison, proposed Tony Vokes; seconded Mel Reynolds
Hon Treasurer - Neil Mackintosh, proposed Madeline Lord; seconded Jean Allton
Hon Auditor - Jean Anthony, proposed Mike Stewart; seconded Tony Vokes
Executive Council - Donna Atherton (Prospect Players) - proposed (by post) by Eileen Crosbie, seconded by Neil Mackintosh was elected as a member of the Executive Council.
The following tendered their resignation:- Clive Allen, Christine Chapman, Sarah Kerry.

NEWSLETTER

The Chairman announced that Hayley Masom would no longer be able to edit the Newsletter due to other commitments. There had been discussions at recent Council meetings about using the NANDA website as a 'notice board 'for groups' events.

However, Howard Whitehurst (Bonington Players) had recently offered to produce the Newsletter as a Word document, which could be emailed to groups, put on the website or printed off and sent to those members without computers. He envisaged the document would contain news and articles from groups, similar to the old Newsletter. He hoped it would appear twice this season and monthly in the 2010/11 season.
This proposal was welcomed and it was agreed to ask Howard to go ahead. The Chairman suggested that Howard be invited to Council meetings.

ANY OTHER BUSINESS

Madeline Lord said that Hayley Masom had been presented with a bouquet of flowers as a thank you for her work on the Newsletter. She had been delighted and expressed her thanks. Alison Murray (WBDS) raised the subject of CRB approval and how this affects volunteers working with children. This has been of some concern to drama groups. She agreed to find out more and pass this information on to the Council. In the meantime, she said that advice could be found on the relevant section of the government's website, www.direct.gov.uk.

There being no other business, the meeting ended at 7.00pm.