June 2008
Next club meeting Monday 7th July 2008.
Meetings are held at the Abbey Baptist Church. Entrance off Abbey Square.
Meeting commences at 7.00pm.
June Meeting.
Twenty one members attended the Annual General Meeting and Annual Display Competition which followed the usual format. The minutes of the 2007 AGM were approved with no matters arising. Next came the Treasurer’s report given by Peter, revealing a deficit of £150, compared with a profit of £150 for last year. Peter explained that this was due to a number of reasons, speaker’s fees have gone up, less money was raised by the Annual auction and more was spent on social occasions (we had two skittles evenings in the one year due to timetabling and the Xmas dinner social cost the club £105). Despite this Peter reported that the club is still in a strong position and there was no reason to raise subscriptions again this year, which will stay at £14 with an optional £2 per year for tea and coffee at the meetings. The view of the meeting was that we should continue to subsidise social events, though the member’s contribution to the Xmas dinner will either be increased to £25 this year or a cheaper venue of comparable quality will be sought.
The programme secretary Gavin produced an excellent programme for speakers for the coming year, a copy of which is enclosed with this newsletter.
Next came the Chairman’s report. Frank reported another good year for the club though there was a small drop in membership (from 44 to 41) and very good attendance at meetings averaging . Frank concluded by asking for volunteers to serve on the committee. This coming year sees two members coming off the committee and members will hear more requests as the year progresses.
The election of the new committee came next and we are very fortunate that Alistair has agreed to join in place of the retiring Henry. Peter continues as treasurer, John as secretary, Gavin as programme secretary, and Frank as Chairman. Neil was re-elected as honorary auditor, Mick remains as President with Henry and Graham as Vice Presidents. Finally, under any other Business, a discussion of Reading hosting the 2011 BANS congress took place and the committee will look further into this. The formal AGM was then closed and there followed a short description of the Reading Coin Club website by John (using the new projector!) and finally the Display competition.
Reading Coin Club Website
A website was originally proposed for the club back in 1999 on the basis that it was a bad thing not to have one, rather than a good thing TO have one, since at that time almost none of the club’s members would have known how to look at it! At that time the number of clubs that had any presence on the Internet was tiny, today that situation has reversed. However very few of the sites approach the sophistication of the Reading site, mainly just being a programme. A poll of the members present indicated that almost all had looked at the site, which includes (alongside a programme) some history of the club and an archive of newsletters going back to 1999.
The annual display competition attracted three entries. Once again the standard of entries was very commendable.
This year Graham was the deserved winner.
Subscriptions
Be reminded that subscriptions are now due. It would be most appreciated if members yet to renew their subscription would please do so at the next meeting. Please see Peter. Membership cards will be sent shortly to paid-up members.
Summer Social
The Summer social will be a garden party for members and partners including a pub-style quiz and light refreshments to be held on August 10th at the Prospect School near Tilehurst. Please sign up at the next meeting or contact a committee member if you are interested in attending.
Future Events.
Past Events.
The month of June is traditionally the time of the AGM.