Minutes of Tudor Squares AGM held via Zoom
on Tuesday 8th February 2022 at 7pm
1. The Meeting commenced at 7pm with Jenny Thirlwell welcoming everybody.
There were 20 members present including 2 callers.
Apologies were received from Grant Thorne, Ann Reardon , Linda and Chris Gill, Elena Hadaway, Dora Bargent, Cath Walwyn, Paul MacNess, Nigel Miles and Andrew Agathangelou.
Committee Present :
Jenny ThirlwellChair
Terry ThirlwellPublic Relations Officer
Tracy and Colin HawkinsTreasurers
Nick Bedford Advanced Representative
Daphne SmithMainstream Representative
2. Minutes of the previous AGM held on 28th September 2020
As there were no matters arising from these minutes they were accepted as a true record
3. Matters Arising – None.
4. Chairperson’s Report
Tudor Squares now has 80 members (on paper) but regrettably many dancers have not returned yet.
Ann Reardon and Grant Thorne kindly led a walk from Chipperfield Common in June last year which was followed by a bring your own picnic on the Common. This was greatly enjoyed by those attending it was lovely to see people face to ace again after being isolated for so long.
Once again Nick Bedford organised a picnic in Gadebridge Park for the A group dancers, again we were very lucky with weather and had a sunny day once again.
We have no dances planned for 2022 at present as the number of dancers attending both Plus and Mainstream are so low.
Regrettably, after many years Susie Kelly has very recently stepped down as one of our callers at Plus.
Susie has over the years been a key player in organising the Tudor Squares Socials and the Summer picnic/ barbecue and dance at Woodhall Farm. She will be greatly missed.
Becca Peel has agreed to call at Plus alternating with Andrew and dancers are enjoying her calling.
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Due to mobility problems Michael Ross has given up being the Mainstream Rep, as he is now unable to dance. His presence at Mainstream is greatly missed.
Daphne Smith has kindly agreed to become the Mainstream Rep – many thanks Daphne.
I’d like to thank all the Committee, dancers and callers for their support this year.
Our callers are key so many thanks go to Phil, Debbie and Becca Peel – Mainstream and Plus callers. Susie Kelly our Plus caller, Simon and Trudie Fielding callers at A group and not forgetting Andrew Agathangelou for calling at both Plus and A groups – very many thanks to all of you.
This year due to Covid there are no voting forms for Committee members. As
no-one else has put themselves forward to serve on Committee, I’m pleased that all other members of the current Committee have agreed to remain on the Committee.
As to the future – as we move further into 2022, I do hope more dancers will soon return. Although the number of cases of Covid remain high, it is reassuring to know that symptoms of the current variant of Covid manifest as a nasty cold – nothing worse.
In 2022 I look forward to seeing more dancers attending the club at all levels.
Stay safe
Jenny
5. Treasurer’s Report
The Club started the year with a bank balance of £7603.26 and ended with £6942.26 (reduction of £660.62).
Much of this reduction was due to the Club funding all hall and caller fees for the month of September as no dancer fees were charged.
Total income for Club £1861
Total expenditure £2523 with hall hire (£1423) and caller fees (£895) being most of this figure.
The 3 sections ended the year as follows:-
Mainstream -£192
Plus +£86
A +£144
The number of dancers has not returned to pre Covid levels. If this trend continues the Club is likely to see a greater reduction in funds in 2022.
Tracy and Colin have also worked out the number of dancers needed to cover costs for each group. This information was included in a Financial Report sent out earlier.
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Year From 01/01/2021 to 31/12/2021
INCOME
| Total | |||||||
| M/S | Plus | A | This year | Last year | |||
| £0.00 | £0.00 | £448.00 | £560.00 | £763.00 | £1,771.00 | £6,093.00 | -£4,322.00 |
| £0.00 | £0.00 | £0.00 | £0.00 | £0.00 | £0.00 | £500.00 | -£500.00 |
| £0.00 | £0.00 | £0.00 | £0.00 | £0.00 | £0.00 | £121.00 | -£121.00 |
| £0.00 | £0.00 | £0.00 | £0.00 | £0.00 | £0.00 | £0.00 | £0.00 |
| £90.00 | £0.00 | £0.00 | £0.00 | £0.00 | £90.00 | £525.50 | -£435.50 |
| £90.00 | £0.00 | £448.00 | £560.00 | £763.00 | £1,861.00 | £7,239.50 | -£5,378.50 |
EXPENDITURE
| Club * | M/S | Plus | A | This year | Last year | ||
| £350.00 | £0.00 | £360.00 | £339.00 | £374.00 | £1,423.00 | £2,687.00 | -£1,264.00 |
| £235.00 | £0.00 | £280.00 | £135.00 | £245.00 | £895.00 | £2,820.00 | -£1,925.00 |
| £23.25 | £0.00 | £0.00 | £0.00 | £0.00 | £23.25 | £73.50 | -£50.25 |
| £40.00 | £0.00 | £0.00 | £0.00 | £0.00 | £40.00 | £112.76 | -£72.76 |
| £10.00 | £0.00 | £0.00 | £0.00 | £0.00 | £10.00 | £0.00 | £10.00 |
| £0.00 | £0.00 | £0.00 | £0.00 | £0.00 | £0.00 | £891.50 | -£891.50 |
| £0.00 | £0.00 | £0.00 | £0.00 | £0.00 | £0.00 | £222.00 | -£222.00 |
| £0.00 | £0.00 | £0.00 | £0.00 | £0.00 | £0.00 | £0.00 | £0.00 |
| £130.37 | £0.00 | £0.00 | £0.00 | £0.00 | £130.37 | £637.54 | -£507.17 |
| £788.62 | £0.00 | £640.00 | £474.00 | £619.00 | £2,521.62 | £7,444.30 | -£4,922.68 |
* Club is hall costs , caller costs, refreshments, marketing, insurance, miscellaneous
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6. Report for Mainstream and Plus
Both Mainstream and Plus returned to dancing in September though with fewer dancers than before (usually just one square) and have continued to dance weekly. All the returning dancers are enjoying dancing again and meeting up with their dancing friends.
The Plus dancers are missing Susie Kelly but are coping well with Becca Peel’s slightly faster calling. Recently two ladies have watched the Mainstream dancing and Phil Peel has included them in one tip which they have enjoyed.
Report for A
Generally there are more dancers at A, though numbers are depleted when some dancers go off to dance in the sun in Gran Canaria – who can blame them!
Occasionally there are enough for two squares but more often numbers fall short -there being only 13 or 14 dancers.
Nick unfortunately has not been dancing for some time as Lynn has issues with damaged bones in her foot but he has kindly liaised with the callers to provide the caller rota and he provides the spreadsheet for attendance at A so that we know how many dancers are expected to attend each evening. Though some of us are less confident in dancing some moves in the A2 programme both our callers are very patient, many thanks Andrew, Simon and Trudy.
As an aside, I don’t know of any dancers who have caught Covid because they have attended a Tudor Squares club night. There is always plenty hand gel available and we ensure that the halls are well ventilated.
I hear of other clubs who are not currently open so I think that Tudor Squares are doing very well in the current circumstances.
7. Future Plans
At present due to low number of dancers there are no plans to hold any dances.
I have contacted Ann and Grant to ask if they are willing to organise a walk for Tudor Squares in the summer but I haven’t hear back form them yet.
9. Election of Officers
The following have agreed to remain on the Tudor Squares Committee
ChairpersonJenny Thirlwell
TreasurerTracy & Colin Hawkins
Secretary Andrew Agathangelou
PROTerry Thirlwell
A group RepNick Bedford
Mainstream Rep Daphne Smith (newly appointed)
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The following positions remain vacant :
Plus Rep
Callers Rep
10. Annual Subscription and Weekly fees
No change to the annual Subscription £5 or weekly fee £4
11. A.O.B
All the Committee were thanked by the members present.
Paul Godley drew attention to Terry’s input to the website where attendance sheets for each section can be viewed. It is the intention to allow reps to amend these sheets as members let them know if they will be attending or not each week.
Dave Greenwood remarked that Susie Kelly had called at Tudor Squares for over 30 years and that her input to the club over that time has been extremely valuable.
Dave Greenwood also asked if Mainstream and Plus were likely to merge as this had been discussed as a possibility.
Jenny said the current arrangement will remain with both sections running separately at present. In consultation with the Treasurer this will be reviewed from time to time.
Jenny asked if there would support for having a Tea dance which would be held on either a Saturday or Sunday afternoon. Everyone present supported this idea.
Paul Godley asked what the cancellation period is for Bennett’s End Community Centre. Tracy told him that it is 2 weeks which is very unreasonable in the current climate with Covid.
Jenny will contact Gadebridge to ask if there is any possibility of Tudor Squares being able to have access to the hall at 7.45pm on Monday evenings (as we used to have) so that dancing can start at 8pm. Action Jenny
POST Meeting information:
1. Daphne Smith has volunteered to become PLUS Rep
2. Ann Reardon has emailed me with the following message –
“Grant and I would enjoy leading aTudor Squares walk again – followed be a picnic”
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