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Woodturning clubs and Minutes of Committee meetings

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Roger Groom:
Hi CS
Sorry, Ive just re-read the string and its committee meetings you are talking about, not AGM's. Apologies.
Roger G

Andy Coates:
I'll put the question to the AWGB committee and get back to you a.s.a.p.

In the meantime my personal opinion is that the committee members of your club are presumably elected by you, and are meant to be working for you. If you don't like what they are doing your members have the right, and power, to change it.

csbrown7:
Thank you Andy. Much appreciated. Making changes is difficult, the shutters come down, drawbridges get pulled up and the old boys rally round. There are I'm sorry to say hidden agendas, if you try to get inside and involved then there is no chance.

thebowlerhattedturner:
Hi Cs,
        I am the chairman of the Kennet and Avon woodturning club based in Trowbridge and I am also the AWGB rep for the SW.
Reading the AWGB constitution in the members handbook, which is available on this website, there is nothing written about minutes.
I have to say that my own club do not publish committee minutes we do however tell our members about forthcoming committee meetings and the invitation is there for our members to attend any committee meeting they wish with the understanding that they are not allowed to vote. We do this because if everyone turned up and wanted a say and a vote we might as well do away with the committee. Our club secretary is very good at producing minutes after a meeting and he always has an up to date copy with him on club night which is available for any member to look at.
       Our club has now been running for a little over 3 years, to date we have never had any ordinary member (as opposed to committee member)  turn up at a committee meeting. Our members are regularly advised and updated about the machinations of the committee.
 My personal view is clubs should be run as openly as possible but there must be a time when some things should be kept confidential.
My club has members of all abilities from professional to real beginners but they are all treated the same, we are lucky I suppose in that we do not have any "cliques" or those that think they are better than others.We all pull together and if there are any suggestions raised they are fully discussed and voted on. The sure fire way to get things changed is to stand for a position on the committee and make sure your views are heard.

As I have said these are my personal views and are not meant to reflect the views of the AWGB.
Regards
John BHT

Andy Coates:
Hello again all,

I asked the question as I said I would and after reading what were unanimous replies I’m able to state the following:

1)   There is no requirement under AWGB guidelines to publish the minutes of general committee meetings.
2)   It is usual practice for any group to publish the minutes of AGMs and EGMs
3)   It is not considered inappropriate for a club member to request to see general meeting minutes, but is as likely that minutes are not taken as it is for them to be taken, so they may or may not even be available to be viewed.


So, having said that here’s my own view as an ex chairman of a club:

Most clubs, and not only woodturning clubs, have great difficulties in getting people to sit on the committee; last year saw a number of clubs almost close due to lack of member support in this area.  It therefore comes as no surprise to me that general committee meetings are informal and largely un-recorded/reported, as this would entail yet another series of tasks for a grudging committee to undertake.

As most of the “committee meetings” at club level are usually to agree bookings of demonstrators, sort out venue issues, or agree organisational issues then there is really little to report anyway.

I am certain there is nothing being actively kept away from the members of your mystery club, just that there’s nothing worth repeating other than the usual mundane issues a committee covers.

As a for instance...the AWGB Executive committee do not publish the minutes of our general meetings (which, of course, are recorded in minutes, otherwise we’d all forget what it was we agreed, disagreed on anyway!), and I suspect any call to do so would meet a stern refusal. Our AGM minutes are available as per the constitution.

I’m certain you have your reasons for your concerns, but I’d lay odds against there being any grounds for them. Woodturning clubs are only groups of people with similar interests, and the willing souls who agree to give their own free time in order to run them are to be applauded, not vilified or accused of having hidden agendas. What they could actually be is beyond me! Ginger nuts instead of hobnobs?

Committees are NOT clubs; they are simply the elected management group of a club, so any dissatisfied club member(s) have the right to challenge, or propose changes to procedure or management. That this rarely happens is most likely due to the unwillingness of most club members to do much more than keep a seat warm for a couple of hours a month rather than anything else, but might also be because most are happy just to have others arrange and plan for them and not have to worry about getting involved in any real sense. And it’s always worth remembering that with such a lack of support, any committee which feels it is unjustly attacked may well decide it isn’t worth it and resign. And without a committee a club cannot operate. So unless the dissatisfied are willing to step up it can be a risky line of attack. Simply from a financial standpoint, any club with a “club” bank account is required to have a committee with authorised signatories.

Also, any club member, AWGB or otherwise, can put them self forward for committee posts and committees are, in my experience, usually thrilled to have some offer of support. So maybe your concerns could be met by becoming more active in running the club?

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