Union of UK Unicyclists

Minutes of the Annual General Meeting of the UUU (Union of UK Unicyclists) held at the British Unicycling Convention on Saturday 26 April 2003


1.  Review of minutes of AGM 2002.
     
    The minutes were summarised.
     
2.  Progress reports:
     
         Number of members and bank balance:
         
         Up to the AGM there were 144 members,
         approximately 25% were postal members.
         
         The bank balance stood at approximately £456,
         although a large bill for the printing of
         stickers had yet to be paid.
         
         UUU levels testing:
         
         Skill level testing has started.  Three tester
         assessors have been appointed (Sarah Miller,
         Jon Marshall, Roger Davies).  They have the
         ability to train skill level testers.
         Currently 7 or 8 testers have been approved.
         
         Certificates have been produced by Sarah
         Miller.  She asked if the UUU should pay for
         printing of certificates or if we should make a
         charge for the test?  The feeling was that the
         UUU should subsidise them.
         
         Steve Grainger offered to pay for printing the
         certificates if the UUU pay for the postage.
         
         It was suggested that we record the UUU skill
         level awarded to members on the web database.
         
         Membership database:
         
         Richard Loxley explained the membership web
         database he has written.  This is a private web
         page for committee members who can log on and
         view, add, and edit member data.  It also
         tracks the amount of money in the society bank
         account and any petty cash held by committee
         members.
         
3.  Any additional items to report from committee
    members:
     
         Chairperson (Sarah Miller):
          
         Sarah has been unable to obtain information
         about Sports England accreditation.  They were
         initially evasive, being unable to find an
         appropriate person to deal with the enquiry and
         Sarah subsequently had too little time to chase
         them up.
         
         Sarah looked into grants under the Awards for
         All scheme.  We are not eligible as grants are
         only awarded to local groups.
         
         Claire Gibbs asked about individuals/local
         groups obtaining funding and could we get any
         information about applying from people who had
         succeeded in obtaining funding?  If so we could
         put it on the website.
         
         Secretary (Richard Loxley):
          
         Richard explained that with the new web
         membership database the role of Secretary (and
         to some extents Treasurer) is much easier.
         However there is still much more that can be
         done with the web database, including better
         distribution of information to members, and
         automatic emailing facilities.
         
         He proposed a new role on the committee of
         ‘Communications Officer’ or ‘Webmaster’ to take
         on this development.  Alternatively this role
         could be combined with the existing roles of
         Secretary or Newsletter Editor.
         
         Treasurer (Paul Gibbs):
         
         Paul commented about our use of club funds,
         particularly with respect to giving bursaries
         to people to attend events (e.g. Unicon).
         
         It was pointed out that we have to be careful
         what we do, as legally we hold the money on
         behalf of all members, and giving benefits to a
         subset of members who have to be with the
         approval of all members.
         
         Newsletter editor (Claire Gibbs):
         
         Newsletters have been running a little late,
         but there is an issue almost ready to be
         published.
         
         IUF representative (Jon Marshall):
         
         Jon contacted the IUF regarding his position as
         UK country representative.  But at this meeting
         he stood for and was elected a board member of
         the IUF.  As a Director of the IUF he cannot
         hold another IUF position, so he must resign as
         UK country rep.
         
         As a Director of the IUF he is helping to
         create the country representative positions.
         
4.  Election of new committee members
     
    The idea of the new Webmaster role was brought up.
    It was decided to hold other elections first to see
    if it would be necessary for the new Secretary or
    Newsletter Editor to take on the extra
    responsibility.  If not, then there would be an
    election for the new role.
    
    All voting was by single transferable vote by a show
    of hands.
    
          IUF representative:
          
          Mark Wiggins, nominated Alan Chambers, seconded Stuart Albrighton
          Joe Rowing, nominated Sarah Miller, seconded Jon Marshall
          Steve Grainger, nominated Paul Gibbs, seconded Richard Loxley
          
          Joe Rowing won by a straight majority.
          
          Treasurer:
          
          Steve Grainger, nominated Paul Selwood, seconded Stuart Albrighton
          Paul Gibbs, nominated Sarah Miller, seconded Claire Gibbs
          
          Paul Gibbs won by a majority.
          
          Chairperson:
          
          Mark Wiggins, nominated Paul Selwood, seconded Richard Loxley
          Steve Grainger, nominated Mark Wiggins, seconded Paul Gibbs
          Alan Chambers, nominated Sarah Miller, seconded Joe Rowing
          
          Mark and Steve made it to the second round of
          voting where Mark Wiggins won by a majority.
          
          Secretary:
          
          Steve Grainger, nominated Sarah Miller, seconded Claire Gibbs
          
          No opposition, Steve Grainger was elected unanimously.
          
          Webmaster:
          
          Richard Loxley, nominated Paul Gibbs, seconded Joe Rowing
          
          No opposition, Richard Loxley was elected unanimously.
          
          Newsletter editor:
          
          Alan Chambers, nominated Mark Wiggins, seconded Joe Rowing
          Sarah Miller, nominated Jon Marshall, seconded Steve Grainger
          
          Sarah Miller won by a majority.
          
5.  Any other business
     
          Alan Chambers - BUC profit:
          
          Alan proposed that the UUU administer the
          profit from this year’s British Unicycling
          Convention (BUC) to be passed on to the
          organisers of the next BUC.
          
          This was passed with no opposition and one
          abstention.
          
          Joe Rowing - Muni:
          
          Joe has been looking into insurance for
          Mountain Unicycling.  He has contacted the
          International Mountain Biking Association
          (IMBA) which provides insurance for mountain
          bikers.  They are looking into whether they can
          change the wording of their insurance policy to
          cover unicyclists.  There might also be a
          possibility of third party insurance for any
          UUU events.
          
          Joe offered to help with any off-road queries
          members might have.
          
          Simon Rolph has been looking at setting up a
          rating system for recording the difficulty of
          various off-road routes.
          
          Claire Gibbs - Bursaries:
          
          Claire asked the committee to look into whether
          the UUU can/should provide bursaries to
          members.
          
6.  Arrange date of next meeting
     
    As last year:
    
    The next AGM will be held at the British Unicycling
    Convention in 2004.  If there is no BUC in 2004 then
    another unicycling or juggling event will be picked
    to host the AGM.  This will be announced at the time
    of the British Juggling Convention in 2004.

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