MINUTES - HMS ANTRIM ASSOCIATION

8th October 2006

Opening: 

The 12th annual general meeting of the HMS ANTRIM Association was called to order at 10:00 October 8th 2006 in the Bourne Hall Hotel Bournemouth by the Chairman, Mr Kevin Swift.

 Present:

38 Full Members

Agenda

1. 1. Apologies
2. 2. Minutes of last AGM. Matters arising
3. 3. President's Address
4. 4. Chairman's speech
5. 5. Election of Officers
6. 6. Membership Secretary's Report
7. 7. Slops Report 8. Treasurer's Report
8. 9. Reunion 2007 and 2008
9. 10. Newsletter
10. 11. Website
11. 12. A.O.B

1. Apologies were received from:- Tom Smith, Roy Turp, Willie Dick, Bryn Masterman, Ray Hudson, Kevin Rowe

2. Approval of Minutes

The minutes of the previous meeting were unanimously approved as distributed. During which the Chairman thanked the wives and partners for their continuing support for the Association membership.

3. Presidents Address

Captain Young talked about this years Pangbourne service. He expressed his view that we should parade the Standard at the forthcoming Falklands 25th Anniversary Commemorations in June 2007. HMS Glamorgan had paraded their standard on its first outing and he saw no reason why we should not do the same. Agreement came from the committee and the membership. He discussed the need to get names and details to Angela Parry as soon as possible as numbers and security would be very tight. He initially thought we may be allowed up to 20 tickets. The Secretary agreed to act as organiser for this event. Capt Young also mentioned the National ceremony that would be taking place in Whitehall on Sunday June 17th. This being organized by SAMA82. He also informed the meeting that the Antrim, now Almirante Cochrane had finally paid off from the Chilean Navy. She had been in service with the Chileans for longer than with the RN. Finally he thanked the hotel staff for a good weekend and for looking after us well. A plaque would be donated as a gesture of thanks.

4. Chairman’s Speech

The Chairman opened by thanking Mel and his wife Anne for stepping into the breach and organizing the weekend in Bournemouth. He explained that Liverpool 2007 would clash with the regulators weekend but that it was unavoidable. The Adelphi was discussed, with the Chairman saying he would be paying a visit to check the place out. Bryn Masterman was organizing and had left a supply of booking forms for the meeting. The membership was urged to book sooner rather than later. The Chairman then called for a vote from the floor to make Mel Camp, Terry Bullingham and the late Dave Osborne, Honorary Vice Presidents as recognition of there service to the Association, being founder members. They received a huge vote of thanks. VOTE: Unanimous.

Kevin then went on to inform the membership that the roles of Newsletter editor and Membership Secretary had been swapped, with Dave Rowdy Yates now taking on the newsletter and Mel Camp becoming Membership Secretary.

Kevin then called for a round of applause as thanks for the hotel staff as they had provided us with an excellent weekend.

5. Election of Officers

The Secretary informed the membership that the Chairman’s position was up for re election. With no other members expressing an interest and Kevin’s agreement to stay on he was duly re elected. VOTE: Unanimous. Committee positions 1 & 3 were up for re-election also. Both parties were not present so it was agreed to leave them in situ in their absence. Mike Morgan later turned up at the meeting and so was able to confirm his willingness to continue in his post.

The Secretary then thanked Billy Budd formally for continuing in the position of Secretary for the first six months of the current term, with the secretary’s personal life making it impossible for him to do the job during that period.

6. Membership Secretary’s Report

Rowdy reported numbers were holding there own but many memberships remained lapsed. A discussion of related websites such as forces reunited and colleagues and comrades took place. Rowdy reporting that there many ex Antrim members listed who were not members of the association. He asked all to use these sites and other means to contact old shipmates and try and recruit them for the association. Hopefully the forthcoming Falklands 25 events would also act as a catalyst for more members to come forward. He also asked for help in completing his ships company list for the 1982 deployment. He made a mention of his book and reported that sales were going very well (700) so far and that this would hopefully also mean extra members joining.

7. Slops Report.

Coxy reported slops of £2162 in stock, with £994 in the bank. He thanked all for again supporting sales at the reunion, where he said the majority of the sales continues to take place. For the future he is investigating the possibility of cummer bands for the Association.

8. Treasurers Report

Billy Budd presented his report, as attached. He thanked Dave Barraclough for the printing that he does for the association which was reflected in lower costs. He explained losses at Stirling, due to expensive bottles of grog for the tot, an oversight that wouldn’t happen again. A loss was made for the coach to the RNA. A loss was also made on entertainment. This was largely beyond control of the committee. None of the losses were deemed to be of great significance. There was a donation to a charity on behalf of the late wife of the Secretary. In general terms there was a neutral,postion on funds compared to last year. £570 was taken at the raffle the previous night. Frankie Howard received thanks for this.

9. Reunion 2007 and 2008

The reunion in Liverpool in 2007 was discussed. The Chairman mentioning that a trip to the RNA could be organized, that there was a maritime museum and possibly HMS Plymouth still in dock. He also undertook to investigate and arrange something as a mark of respect for the Falklands 25th Anniversary. A church parade being one possibility.

Andy Coad discussed the plans for 2008 in Coventry. This was in a hotel from the same group as the Adelphi in Liverpool and one that had been used before by SAMA 82. He had a good priced deal on the table, with guaranteed low bar prices, a free coach trip to Stratford OR a free nights extra entertainment. Free parking also available. He had visited the hotel and was happy to seek the approval of the membership. The Chairman therefore proposed the Britannia Hotel Coventry for 10th to 13th October 2008 as the reunion venue. VOTE: Unanimous.

As we have to book 2 years in advance 2009 was discussed. After some expert sewing, Soapy Hudson was duly stitched up to investigate a reunion in Newcastle for 2009. Northern Ireland was also mentioned, with Dave Barraclough agreeing to make preliminary enquiries for further discussion next year. The Secretary undertook to contact the Head Office of the group of hotels we would be using going forward with a view to securing even better deals than the ones we had already. It was agreed that this would be carried over until next years AGM when we had all sampled one of the hotels.

10. Newsletter.

Mel Camp reported that after doing the newsletter for 11 years he felt it was time to hand it over to someone else. He has agreed to swap it with Rowdy who would relinquish his Membership role to Mel. Mel thanked Dave Barraclough for his help over the years with the printing of the newsletter and membership cards. A vote of thanks was then given from the membership for Mel’s stirling efforts over the years.

11. Website.

The Chairman thanked Tiny for continuing with the website in the absence of Stewart Cooper being able to take it over as agreed at the last AGM. He proposed that Tiny stayed on as website manager. This was unanimously accepted. Tiny then asked for inputs from the membership with anything they wanted to see on the site. It was agreed that a membership form be put on the site. Billy Budd agreed to seek out the help of Hernan with a translation of a letter in Spanish that Tiny had received regarding the de-commissioning of the old Antrim from the Chilean Navy. He also asked for email addresses from people to build up a database.

12. A.O.B

The secretary mentioned that the ships model was in need of some TLC. It was agreed that Billy Budd would seek help from a friend who was expert in this area. A cost would be involved. VOTE: Unanimous. It was also agreed that a carrying case for the model be purchased as well. It was agreed after some discussion that the model would remain as built by Reg Edwards with the twin 4.5’s as opposed to fitting an Exocet launcher to reflect the look of the ship for most of its life.

The secretary reported that member Kevin Rowe had asked for permission to parade the standard at a military tattoo in July next year at the Manchester Evening News Arena. This would be good P.R for the association. VOTE: Unanimous. Stu also mentioned that we should look at having an official standard bearer also. He was happy to carry the Standard annually at Eden Camp but believed that other member(S) should be trained as drill was involved. It was agreed that Ian Cox would become the official standard bearer after some more sewing! He would investigate, along with the Secretary, joining the Standard Bearers Association. From this we should get insurance and the required knowledge to properly parade the Standard. The President mentioned that we should also ensure that we always bear in mind the appropriateness of taking the standard to events. It was further agreed that Coxy would purchase a beret and cap badge as this was the only item missing from the kit.

Taff Dale reported that as welfare rep he hadn’t been too busy, but that his phone number in the newsletter was incorrect. This would be amended accordingly. I member was having difficulty getting to the reunions, the Chairman reporting that he was also aware of this and would be assisting with the matter. He went on to re iterate that we are there as a first contact for our members as agreed and would help in any way we could depending on the circumstances. He asked all to check on oppos and make them aware of this assistance should they need it.

Bungy Williams asked why there had been no tot issued at this reunion. It had been deemed too expensive as the hotel wanted £20 bottle corkage. The ceremony would continue in the future especially at next year’s reunion with the Falklands 25 in mind. The Chairman undertook to ensure this happened. In the past we had charged for the tot to cover costs but this was against the background of hoping to ‘give something back’ at reunions.

Rowdy Yates asked if it would be ok to have the Standard present at some of the numerous book signings he would be carrying out. Insurance already being discussed, the appropriateness was revisited. It was generally accepted that at all the official occasions, the standard would be paraded where possible. Rowdy then mentioned obtaining sponsorship for fund raising. This would alleviate problems like we had just encountered with the tot and would raise funds for the association. Rowdy was duly elected Sponsorship co-coordinator. He asked for people to come forward with ideas and raffle prizes by using any contacts in the business world they had.

There being no other business the Chairmen presented a collection to the hotel staff and said he would send a plaque on.

He thanked the membership, committee and Capt Young, closing the meeting at 11:14.

Minutes submitted by: Stuart Pennock. SECRETARY