Minutes
of the RNPA AGM held at the Ridgewood Manor Hotel Rochester at
1030 on Sunday 11th October 2015.
Those
present.
Committee
Tony
Darbyshire
- Chairman
Peter
Bunting
- Vice Chairman
Maurice
Larcombe
- Acting Secretary - Historian
Valerie
Darbyshire
- Treasurer
Raymond
Whitehouse
- Social Secretary
Stephen
King
- Membership Secretary
Hilary
King
- Newsletter Editor
Members
George
& Rita Mewton, Ray Pogson, Paul Yockney, Mike and Janet McKnight, John Flack
& Andrea Dowling, Keith & Jo Tuttle, Caroline Kelly, Mike & Jean
Keeling, Mike Gilbert, Bridget Bunting, Roy & Elizabeth Penny, Bill Porter,
Angela Pogson, Doreen Larcombe and Pam Whitehouse.
Apologies
Daniel
Du Feu , Rob Harding, Dave Morris,
David Price, Bill Simpson,
Ian Wrightson, Less Warr and Roger Smart, Nigel Craft, Joan Roberts,
Russ
Whalley
Item 1. Approval of the minutes of the last AGM was proposed by Roy
Penny and seconded by Mike Gilbert. Carried unanimously and Tony signed
Item 2 . Roll of Honour.
Peter
read out the names of those who had crossed the Barr namely
-
John
Edwards, Cecilia Philbrick (Nee Marsh), Clem Oliver, Ron Graham and Steve
Collinson
Tony then asked for a period of silence and reflection to remember them.
Matters arising - covered below
Item 4. Election of Officials.
Tony
asked if anyone would like to volunteer to serve on the committee. There being
no volunteers Tony explained that Jan had offered to serve as the permanent
secretary. The appointment was proposed by George Mewton and seconded by Rita
Mewton. Carried unanimously.
Item 5. Chairman's report.
Tony
thanked all those who had contributed to the running of the association.He asked
for a round of applause for Ray who had worked particularly hard on the weekend
activities. He said, in his role as webmaster, that he had not a great deal of
time in recent months to continue the development of the ‘site.He went on to
say that the structure was now in place and, over time, it would continue to be
developed further. (See Item 12, Website Progress). However, the website has
already been picked up by several ex-RN phots., and three of those have now
joined the Association as a result.
He said that he had visited new
member, Denis Toff, who lived close to him. He also mentioned the other new
members, Alan Harvey and Reginald Davis MBE. Ian Johnson had been in touch but
had not yet rejoined the association.
Item 6. Secretary's report.
Jan reported that the centenary celebrations at DSOP and the dinner in
the RAF Museum was very well presented and a great success. He said the
committee had suggested that some of the items held by the association could
be offered to DSOP with the proviso that we could have some of the Naval
equipment on loan should we wish to put on an exhibition of our own.
Jan said that he had been in contact with the other Naval Airman branch association mainly with a
view to obtaining concessions from museums etc. In
the process he had discovered that the Portsmouth museums did have a
veterans concessions which amounted to a £10 day ticket for any or all
of the attractions. Full details and the normal prices will be published in the
next newsletter and on the website.
Jan continued that Catherine Kelly had raised the question of
photographers input to the 100th anniversary celebrations of the formation of
the WRNS in 2017. As Historian he agreed to
collect all the information he held on the WRNS and offer it to the WRNS
association keeping Catherine in the loop.
Item 7. Treasurers report
Val produced a comprehensive report on the finances of the association
with income and expenditure for the year to 30th June 2015. It was explained
that although more complicated all cheques for social events should be made out
to the RNPA and Ray undertook to
make this clear in future mailings. She explained Hilary had audited the
accounts and that there were some debtors and that we had outlays for the
current weekend and a replacement printer for Steve
& Hilary but that we were basically in a healthy financial position.
She also produced a list of equipment held by the association which as
agreed by the committee is held at zero value.
Steve asked if members were content with the subscription amount and it
was decided that they should remain the same for next year.
Bridget Bunting proposed and Roy Penny seconded that the treasurers
report be approved and it was
carried unanimously.
Item 8. Membership Secretary's report
Steve reported that there had been an increase of 5 members over the last
year and that the membership now stood at 149 of which 32 were joint members.
Because of the concession at museums he would be issuing additional cards to
joint members in January.
Item 10. Newsletter editors report
Hilary thanks all those who had submitted articles for the newsletter and
said she had several in the pipeline. She asked that anyone who had taken
pictures over the weekend transfer them to
her computer. Tony asked that anything sent to him for the website should be at
web publishing size but that files for the both the newsletter and the
historical records should continue to be sent at high resolution.
Steve said that he had had a good deal on the printer and if anyone was
thinking of buying one they should contact him for details.
Item 11. Social Secretary's report.
Ray talked through the arrangements for the visit to Leeds Castle and
went on to express the committees concern about the falling numbers attending.
reunions and asked if anyone had thoughts about the reasons.
He went on to explain what the committe would recommend for the following
years.
2016 Portsmouth or Bristol
2017 Cosford
2018 Plymouth or Bristol
2019 HMS Excellent and IWM
Emphasizing
that the 2019 event would be the 100th anniversary of the formation of the
photographic branch and that we should make this a major event.
Tony
said that the committee had decided to do a survey of all our photographer
contacts as to why they did not attend reunions and went on to ask if anyone
would object to combining our reunion with that of other Naval Airman branches.
Jan said that he had undertaken to do the survey in consultation with the other
committee members and ask if anyone had relevant questions to send them to him.
It
was suggested from the floor that an earlier notification of the next years
venue and date might produce a better attendance and it was agreed that the 2016
event should be in Portsmouth area and that Ray should publish a date in October
in the very near future.
Catherine
Kelly said she thought we should also survey the members who had attended to
find out what they thought of the various aspects of the weekend. Jan said that
he would arrange a survey after consulting the committee.
Ray
reported on the 2015 Peregrine Trophy presentations which were attended by eight
members of the association on HMS Ocean at Greenwich. Catherine asked if it were
possible to include a prize for photographs entered by ex photographers and Jan
undertook to investigate the possibilities.
Jan
explained that Catherine had also asked about the RNPA input to the 100th
anniversary of the formation on the WRNS and said that he had agreed to collect
all the WRNS photographic material he had and send it to the WRNS Association
Item 12. Website progress
Tony
explained the original aims and content of the website in a special session
prior the AGM. As mentioned earlier in the minutes he said that he had not had
very much time recently to progress the website because of other commitments.
He explained that the website was to there for members of the Association to
access and contribute to, particularly with their own personal profiles. They
can make comments on any part of the 'website where there is the opportunity to
do so. All comments have to be vetted by the webmaster who will assess their
legitimacy for inclusion. No comment is automatically put up for others to read
without approval from him, or a moderator.
Some members did raise concerns about the privacy of their personal information.
He explained that only paid-up members of the Association can gain access to all
elements of the ‘site. This is safeguarded to ensure that only legitimate
members can see the whole website.
He went on the explain that in order to get full access to the personal profiles
of other members he/she has to register. Each person who requests full access is
thoroughly vetted. Such individuals have to provide evidence that they did serve
as a navy phot. Once they’ve been vetted the consultant webmaster then issues
them with a personal invite-code. Without an invite-code, a visitor can never
gain full access to the personal profiles of our members, thus ensuring that it
is secure.
He did stress that each member who registers should ensure that they have a
strong password for their login.
He explained that instructions on how to do this are on the website, under the
HELP tab. The help tab has written documentation on: the RNPA website, member
profiles, how to register, how to gain full access to the ’site and finally, a
Site Guide on how to make best use of the website.
In order to help with the development of the ‘site, Tony asked for input from
members to help fill out the various sections. He would now have time to
progress the ‘site but, with help from others, it would make the progress much
quicker, particularly with the historical elements, i.e., ships/squadrons/phot.
schools/shore establishments/history etc.
Tony said that Paul Cowpe, the Association’s original webmaster, had offered
to help with the future development of the website. He will be writing to him to
give him full ‘administrator’ access in due course. He added that Mike
McKnight had also offered to help with the website
Item 13. Clothing Sales
Steve reminded the members that although he did not keep a stock of clothing items they could be ordered and took very little time to be produced
Item 14. AOB
Catherine asked if it would be useful to have a Royal sponsor of the
association and/or make a short documentary with a view to publicising the
2019 anniversary
Andrea Dowling asked if it would be a good idea to ask for a
non-refundable deposit from people expressing an interest in attending events
but Ray said that it would complicate
matters
and not help in increasing numbers.
Tony
then thanked all members for attending and closed the meeting at 1219