Sunday 21st July 2024, 1pm at Putney Town Rowing Club
Download a PDF copy of the minutes here:
Minutes prepared by Kirsten Clayton, Secretary, Putney Town Rowing Club
Attendance
83 eligible members attended to vote (quorum met).
1 non-eligible member attended.
Attended from 2023-24 Committee:
President: Geoff Adams
Chair: N/A (meeting chaired by Geoff Adams in absence of elected chair)
Treasurer: Bill Desmond
Secretary: Kirsten Clayton
Membership Secretary: Joy Bartoli
Captain: Jim Allan
Vice-captain (men): James Freeman
Vice-captain (women): Emma Fadlon
Vice-captain (development): Brian Day
Social Secretary: Rebekah Griffiths
Bar Steward: John Hickling
General Member: Mary Mortimer
General Member: Katie Moore
Trustees: James Davey and Ninian Eadie
Notable apologies from the 2023-24 Committee:
Communications Officer: Olivia Moore
Agenda
Introduction and welcome
Record of agreement of minutes from 2023 AGM
Update on decision making on amendments to constitution
Election to General Committee for 2024/25
Chairman's report
Captain's report
Treasurer's report
AoB
Subs
Amendment to constitution
Code of conduct
Introduction and welcome
Record of agreement of minutes from 2023 AGM
Geoff Adams noted that the minutes from the 2023 AGM were missing reports when issued but that all action points were correct. The absence of the reports had no material impact on the actions. The revised minutes will be reissued with reports included.
The minutes were accepted and approved.
Update on decision making on amendments to constitution
Geoff Adams provided the update that the amendments to the constitution will not be voted on at the AGM because further work is required. Instead there would be a brief discussion of the subject during the AOB of the AGM with the floor being opened for questions and input which would be noted and taken back to the new General Committee so that further work could be done on this.
Election to Committee 2023/24
The Chair asked if any other members, not already nominated, wished to stand for election. No members chose to do so and so the ballot was finalised.
The Chair confirmed that registration for voting had now closed.
The results of the election were confirmed later in the meeting:
President: Geoff Adams
Chair: Aba Carboo
Captain: Ele Culley
Treasurer: Bill Desmond
Secretary: Lou Pollock
Membership Secretary: Joy Bartoli
Vice-Captain (men): Daniel Gillway
Vice-Captain (women): Emma Fadlon
Vice-Captain (development): Clare Lyons-Collins
Bar Steward: Amber In der Rieden
Social Secretary: Tahira Taylor
Communications Officer: Jess Foxford
General Member: Mary Mortimer
General Member: Andy Carroll
James Davey and Ninian Eadie both confirmed that they were prepared to stand as trustees again for 24/25. Paul Debois will also continue as Safety Officer and Chiara Pieretti as Welfare Officer.
Chair’s Report
In the absence of an elected Chair Geoff Adams, as the President of the club, presented the Chair’s report.
He highlighted that the club had faced challenges over the last year; income had been reduced but the finances had been controlled and the membership was happy. He also noted the extent to which the club relies on the support and volunteering of the membership and expressed both gratitude for this and the observation that this is very important for the club to thrive. He also pointed out the importance of voting with the needs of the club foremost on all matters raised at the AGM.
He mentioned the three documents which had been circulated ahead of the meeting:
The proposal regarding the increase in the membership subscription rates
The proposed revisions to the constitution - take input from floor, go back to the GC, either get approval via EGM or leave to 2025 AGM
The updated Code of Conduct; this was being introduced because the current one is out of date so needs to be revised. He noted that this will be supplemented by a grievance policy which is still being worked on. Once the Code of Conduct is approved, the grievance policy will be finalised and shared with the membership.
Captain’s Report
The Captain’s report was presented by the outgoing Club Captain, Jim Allen:
No questions or comments were raised. The President thanked the Club Captain for a full and detailed report.
Treasurer’s Report
The Treasurer’s report was presented by Bill Desmond:
The Treasurer's report was presented to the meeting with copies of the financial report made available to members.
No questions or comments were raised. The President thanked the Treasurer for both the extensive reporting and also for all the hard work he had done over the previous year.
AoB
Subs:
Proposal on increase to subscriptions
This proposal was voted on and approved by the members. Club subscriptions will be raised in line with the Treasurer’s proposal.
Changes to constitution:
Proposed amendments to club constitution
GA explained this began as a tidying up of the constitution. The key points were as follows:
To state more clearly the six forms of membership available within the club and to be clear as to which carried voting rights.
To give greater flexibility to the General Committee and the club in general to adjust timing of AGM. The revisions would enable the General Committee to have the ability to choose a date for the AGM which is helpful with regards to providing the annual financial report which needs to be presented at that meeting.
To broaden access to and inclusivity at the AGM which was why the question of electronic voting had been introduced. However, this amendment was one of the reasons why Geoff Adams was now proposing that a review of the constitution should go back to the committee. He made the point that the requirement of 25% of the membership being present to reach quorum needs to be thought about in the context of electronic voting (ie what would the implication of electronic
voting be for this?) plus having electronic voting would make it difficult to allow people to stand at the last minute because electronic voting might need to be done in advance of the AGM. His view was that there are good reasons for not allowing electronic voting.
The floor was then opened to questions and input from the members and the following questions and points were noted:
Kat Howarth questioned the rationale for not allowing coxes to vote or to stand for the General Committee. She felt that the language of the document shared with the members suggested that water members are the most integral, or important, members of the club. Geoff Adams responded by saying he was happy to have a further discussion about this issue. His view was that, of the 12 - 15 coxes in the club, many never come down to cox and it is difficult to know to what extent the coxes are involved with the club. Kat raised the question as to whether there could be a middle ground e.g. a membership or a set of criteria which would allow a cox to vote or to hold a Committee position.
Tilly Oswell-Wheeler suggested that there could be an opt-in system.
Jim Allen made a point about the unwaged membership who also would not be able to vote. Geoff Adams replied with the point that if people are paying the maximum that their category requires, they would still have the right to vote i.e. an unwaged coached member paying the proposed new sub of £30 would have the same voting right as a coached water member paying the new proposed sub of £55. The intention of the constitutional changes is that all adult members paying full water membership, including those unwaged, under 25 and life members would have voting rights. This will be clarified in the version of the constitution which will go back to the membership for approval.
Amy Binnion suggested that the electronic voting process could be set up in such a way so as not to disenfranchise people who can’t be present and in such a way as still to encourage people to stand for the General Committee.
James Davey raised a point on the flexibility on the timing of the AGM which was that it is important to have a new committee in place well in advance of September to allow for preparation for the new season.
Gavin Suen made the point that it is important to allow the enfranchisement of coxes and coaches and questioned whether not allowing them to vote or to stand for the General Committee was consistent with club values. He stated that coxes have very strong interest in the club so should be allowed to be involved with it. Geoff Adams counters this with the question that, if coaches are members of other clubs, does this ensure loyalty to the club and therefore are the best decisions being in the interest of the club.
There was a general request for clarity on any proposed changes and timings for these changes. Geoff Adam’s proposal that these changes go back to the new General Committee for further review and input from the membership was accepted and that any changes would either be approved via an EGM or at the 2025 AGM.
Code of conduct
Emma Fadlon, the Vice-Captain (women), explained the background and context to the code of conduct. She also explained that, on the back of this, the grievance policy will be updated.
Brian Day raised a question about a sentence regarding targeting bullying. Emma Fadlon confirmed that the one amendment requested by Brian Day was included in the document presented to members but also explained that there is no legal definition of bullying so the club code of conduct references the British Rowing policy and definition of bullying. Brian Day stated he had refuted this argument in an email on the Wednesday before the AGM but no reply had been received. In his view, therefore, the code of conduct was not explicit enough with regards to defining bullying and he wanted it to go on record that he felt there should be a specific reference to ‘repetitive and persistent pressure being put on individuals or groups by individuals or groups within the club’ Emma Fadlon responded by saying that there was no need for a reply to Brian Day’s email because the club code of conduct document referenced British Rowing’s policy on bullying. Geoff Adams then stated that the club should accede to the experience of the three members who had worked on the code of conduct (Emma Fadlon and Katie Moore from the General Committee and Chiara Pieretti, the Welfare Officer) and that the code of conduct as supplied to the membership (and which is attached here) should stand and be voted upon.
There were no further questions and the updated code of conduct was voted on and approved by the members.
L2R
A question was raised by Adam Koullas about L2R in terms of pathways into more squads: he questioned whether there needs to be a strategy for this. Simon Maxwell observed that the assumption that everyone on L2R course stays with the club was not necessarily accurate, because sometimes those form the L2R course move on to other clubs. These comments were noted and will be taken to the new General Committee.
The club website
Paul Debois provided an update on the new website including the fact that there will be changes which will allow for all necessary documentation to go on the website and to be more readily accessible than it had been. He also mentioned that the new Water Safety document was uploaded and accessible on the website.
Club culture:
Brian Day raised the issue of club culture and the importance that there is no perception of hierarchy amongst the membership. He made the point that it is very easy to focus on one’s own group and not think about the club or community as a whole. He then noted that, when there is opposition, this can drive focus from the group to block-vote group members on to the committee in order to drive through agendas with no focus on compromise and consensus. He stated that this can also drive behaviours for groups to target specific individuals who are seen as not being onboard, with pressure that gets very close to being targeted bullying which, on any basis, is unacceptable. He then stated that his comments were not imaginative speculation on his part and that such behaviour had a direct impact on the club culture and member retention in groups such as seniors and development.
He highlighted the need to look for compromise and consensus which should aim at building the club, rather than individuals driving personal agendas forward as the only priority. He articulated that challenging such behaviour should be a specific issue for the incoming General Committee and stated that this was the most important topic to focus on because, if an organisation gets its culture right, everything else will follow. He went on to say that the metric for evaluating the progress over the next year should be that, at the next AGM, no-one has to stand up to talk about club culture for the third year in a row.
No further items of business were raised, and the Chair closed the meeting.
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