THE LEEDS ASSOCIATION OF ENGINEERS
Minutes of the Council Meeting held at 7.15pm on Thursday 4th April 2024 at The Corner House Club Leeds.
1. Attendance. J. Aldersley in the chair with A. Rogers, M. Murray, G. Roper, A. Kibler, I. Scholes, J. Bentley, S. Stacey, G. Toulson and I. Blakeley.
2. Apologies for absence. B. Yates, J. Burton, R. Town and H. Soutar.
3. Minutes of the Previous Meeting, dated 7th March 2024 were approved & signed.
4. Matters Arising. None.
5. Treasurers Report. Mr. Kibler briefly summarised his report that had been sent prior to the meeting by email. The full list of transactions is listed below.
| Date | Transaction | Debit | Credit |
| 3/Feb/24 | Subs – R. Tilley (paid by cheque) | – | 20.00 |
| 3/Feb/24 | Subs – A. Hunt (paid by cheque) | – | 20.00 |
| 26/Feb/24 | Subs – Mike Stoker | – | 20.00 |
| 29/Feb/24 | Dinner – Ian Blakeley | – | 60.00 |
| 01/Mar/24 | Website – G. Toulson | 87.48 | – |
| 18/Mar/24 | Dinner – T. Mathers | – | 60.00 |
| 18/Mar/24 | Dinner – B. Clough | – | 60.00 |
| 18/Mar/24 | Dinner – J. Aldersley | – | 60.00 |
| 21/Mar/24 | Dinner – B. MacDougall | – | 60.00 |
| 22/Mar/24 | Dinner – H. Kingswell | – | 60.00 |
| 22/Mar/24 | Subs – H. Kingswell | – | 20.00 |
| 23/Mar/24 | Dinner – I. Auty (for 3 apprentices) | – | 60.00 |
| 26/Mar/24 | Dinner – J. Bentley | – | 60.00 |
| 26/Mar/24 | Dinner – A. Kibler | – | 60.00 |
| 26/Mar/24 | Dinner – A. Kibler (raffle prizes) | 18.35 | – |
| 29/Mar/24 | Dinner – Eddie Battye | – | 60.00 |
| 29/Mar/24 | Subs – Eddie Battye | – | 20.00 |
| 29/Mar/24 | Dinner – Harry Soutar | – | 20.00 |
| 29/Mar/24 | Dinner – N. Burchell | – | 60.00 |
| 29/Mar/24 | Room Hire – Methodist Church Hall | 50.00 | – |
| 02/Apr/24 | Dinner – Mandate Systems | – | 390.00 |
| 02/Apr/24 | Dinner – G. Roper | – | 30.00 |
| 02/Apr/24 | Dinner – N. Cobbold | – | 60.00 |
| 02/Apr/24 | Dinner – B. Yates | – | 60.00 |
| 02/Apr/24 | Dinner – Ross Town | – | 90.00 |
| 03/Apr/24 | Dinner – G. Kibler | – | 60.00 |
Balance of Accounts was reported but not published here.
Mr Kibler expressed his concern that we have only received £820 for membership subscriptions this year which matches exactly what we received last year. However, our subscription charge was increased from £15 to £20. Mr. Murray will investigate and report back at the next council meeting.
6. Correspondence. Mr. Aldersley has tried to make contact with a company who make medical equipment but got no response. He has been in contact with Leeds Welding who are happy to allow us a visit, they mentioned that they know Kevin Hegarty (a long standing member of the LAE and trustee) he has let Kevin know and says he will invite him to join us when the visit is finalised.
7. Membership. Mr. Murray said Andrew Harris has resigned. He has not attended any events for a while. We have no applications for membership this month.
8. Current Programme. Everything is running well, our last event was a talk by Neil Cobbold, one of our members. This was very well received. A great deal of time and effort goes into preparing such a presentation and it is a shame that these events are not well attended. Mr. Murray is trying to organise a visit to the Anderton Boat Lift and a lecture / talk by them later in the year. He suggested the visit might be in July followed by the lecture in the next session (after September 2024). He did mention however that the boat lift is currently under repair. He said he will ask the members if they are interested in attending the visit on his next flyer before he approaches the people at Anderton Boat Lift. He said the other event we need to organise is the Solstice walk, he suggested an alternative to this might be a Boules competition. There is a Boules Club in Heckmondwike who might host us for an evening. He will approach them and see if this is feasible. It would make a nice alternative to the walk and would be more accessible to some of our older members who have mobility issues. This event could still be followed by a meal at a local Public House.
9. Next Session. Neil Cobbold (LAE member) said he feels sure he could get us a visit to the Caterpillar factory. Mr. Yates has offered to give us a talk titled “Engines for Engineers” which we plan to be our first lecture of the new session in September 2024. We have the offer of the visit to Leeds Welding Company which we will try organise as our October event. We have been offered further visits to Siddall & Hilton (limited to eight people per visit) we will try get this one in November. Mr. Blakeley will speak to his former work colleague Andrew Ross of Hunslet Engine Company and try to persuade him to give us a talk about the scratch built model of the Hunslet Factory he is currently making. This includes models of the locomotives in manufacture and has working cranes. The factory was on Jack Lane, Hunslet.
10. Website. Mr. Toulson said he received a discounted offer from our current website host giving us a further 12 months use for the price of 9 months and a 10% reduction in the cost of the Domain name. This offer was accepted so we are now covered until the 10th April 2025. Mr. Kibler said he has a friend who has spent is working life in engineering in America. He will give us a summary of his working experiences which we can post on our website.
11. Golf. Mr. Stacey has been in contact with our usual sponsors and playing members (+ their regular guests) and sent them a copy of the “official golf notice”. The good news is that M.A. Ford will give their normal sponsorship and will have a total of 18 players (including employees and guests). Alan Braime will give his normal sponsorship, but is unable to play on the date of the event. Jas Shergill wants to have space for his usual 6 players. Mr. Stacey is waiting for replies from our other 2 normal sponsors, both of which may wish to enter 3 players, and hopefully will give sponsorship money. Regular playing members (plus guests) have all replied. Therefore we have 36 players for the afternoon main event and possibly 3 or 6 others, depending on 2 replies he is waiting for, 39 players is ideal, but 42 would be okay, so basically the event is already fully booked. The price for the full day is £65 and £50 for those having lunch and playing in the main afternoon event. In June he will finalise the menu for the evening meal, which is reduced to 2 courses, this saves money and about 20 minutes on the time for the meal and presentation. He will inform non players about the menu and will only charge the cost price for anyone wishing to attend. Mr. Toulson has a copy of the “official golf notice” which is now on the website. Gerry Allen has confirmed that he will be the “meet and greet” person for the day.
12. Annual Dinner. Mr. Kibler has 58 names for the dinner but it has taken lots of phone calls to drum up the numbers. He said that Steve Gledhill is bringing 15 people so he has given them a free place on each of his tables. Mr. Roper said that Mr. Yates was unable to attend tonight’s council meeting but asked him to question whether it would be possible to have a speaker. Mr. Kibler said the dinner is quite informal and this is what our members seem to prefer. He would however ask Mr. Town to say a few words.
13. Church Service. We have decided not to contact the church until after the AGM where we will ask the membership whether they want to continue the tradition of an annual church service. Only 4 members attended last year. Mr. Aldersley will try email the church after the AGM.
14. Forthcoming AGM. Mr. Roper agreed to stand for Vice President at the AGM.
Any other Business. Mr. Bentley will contact Mr. Hegarty to confirm that he wishes to resign as a trustee, and advise him that Mr. Yates offered at the 2023 AGM to take over the role of trustee when Mr. Murray mentioned that Mr. Hegarty was considering giving up the role. Having no other business Mr. Aldersley closed the meeting.
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……………………………………………President. ……………….. Date