THE LEEDS ASSOCIATION OF ENGINEERS
Minutes of the Council Meeting held at 7.15pm on Thursday 4th December 2014 at the Cornerhouse Club Leeds.
1. Attendance: A. Kibler (President) in the chair with J. Aldersley, I. Scholes, M. Murray, A. Rogers, K. Hegarty, J. Bentley and I. Blakeley.
2. Apologies for absence: G. Toulson, B. Yates, J. McClarty and J. Shergill.
3. Minutes of the Previous Meeting, dated 6th November 2014 were approved & signed.
4. Matters Arising: None.
5. Treasurers Report: Mr. Bentley made the following report.
Bank Statement
Current Account
Credit confirmed G. Jones Golf £448.00
Debits
I. Scholes Journals Printing £24.00
Corner House Council Room 2014/15 £120.00
Speaker Meal and Chaplain’s Tankard £70.90
Balance as 26th Nov not reported in minutes disclosed to Council
(minutes appear on Website)
Also not on bank statement Chaplain’s Farewell Dinner £330.00
It was decided to keep to a “professional” Audit this year and to donate £100 to Embsay Railway (as a thank-you for lecture by Stephen Walker of Embsay). Mr.Bentley said we should ask at the next A.G.M. whether the membership would approve the use of an Independent Examiner to look over our accounts instead of
carrying out a full blown professional audit. He felt this was more appropriate to the amount of funds we are dealing with. If this proposal is accepted we should ask for a volunteer at the A.G.M.
6. Church Commemorative Plaque: Nothing to report.
7. Retirement Celebration Meal: We all agreed the evening went well and the tankard (retirement gift) was well received by Tony Bundock (Rector – Leeds Parish Church).
8. Correspondence: Mr. Murray had been contacted by Ivan Crowe (member and former President of L.A.E.). Ivan asked Mr. Murray to visit him in order to collect a certificate that he had in his keeping. The certificate had been presented by the Association of Production Engineers in recognition of the 100th Anniversary of the formation of Leeds Association of Engineers. Mr. Murray circulated the certificate around the council meeting. It was decided that the certificate should remain in Mr. Murray’s keeping as we do not have premises where it can be put on display. Mr. Kibler said he received a letter from Colin Mathers (former President L.A.E.) this contained the names of many companies where he tried recruiting members for our association in the past. He said many of the companies have now closed and his success was limited but it might be useful to try the survivors again. We have been advised that one of our members, Mr. Malcolm Craven has died recently.
9. Membership: Mr. Murray said that he has been trying to contact Brian Kelly (former council member) with regard to his membership of the association. He said he has sent three letters without response. He wondered whether Brian had moved house or whether he had been ill, he was advised to make enquiries at the Scarcroft Golf Club where Brian was captain until quite recently. Mr. Aldersley is still trying to recruit his new employer as a corporate member of our association.
10. Current Programme: Mr. Rogers enquired whether we need the meeting hall at Cleckheaton for the ladies evening, because if so we need to reserve it. Mr. Murray said currently we have not booked anything but he is pursuing the possibility of a cooking demonstration followed by a meal at Thomas Dalby College in Leeds. However this was by no means certain so he would let Mr. Rogers know the situation after he has visited the college in the next few days. Mr. Aldersley suggested that a clairvoyance evening might be an alternative if the cooking demonstration proved to be unavailable. But it was thought that this might not be felt to be appropriate by some of our members. Last month we visited Leeds University for our lecture on Braking Systems, Mr. Kibler said he was surprised that a porter was not provided by the university as this was the basis for charging such a large fee in the past. Mr. Kibler has since spoken to the university, who advised him this was an oversight on their part we should have been given a porter. Therefore we will not be charged on this occasion.
11. Next Session: Mr. Yates has a number of possibilities already for lectures and visits, but we need to assist him in any way possible to help get a programme together.
12. Website: Mr. Toulson expressed the view via Mr. Rogers (Mr. Toulson not present at the meeting) that he felt the offer of a free ticket for the 2016 Annual Dinner to any member attending and paying for a ticket to the 2015 Annual Dinner, was not clear in the letter on the circular (the letter also appears on the website). We looked through the letter carefully and decided we were all happy with the wording.
13. Journal: Nothing to report.
14. Golf: The 2015 golf tournament will take place on Monday 29th June at Garforth Golf Club.
15. Embsay Railway: We agreed to make a donation to the railway of £100 because Stephen Walker, who gave the lecture, refused to take expenses or any hospitality.
16. Annual Dinner: Mr Rogers said it was too early to do anything further in preparation for the event. He enquired whether Leeds Parish Church will have a temporary vicar at the time of our annual dinner and whether he is likely to accept our invitation. Mr. Kibler said he will make enquiries through Tony Bundock. Currently the date pencilled in for the dinner is the 18th April 2015. Mr. Rogers and Mr. Hegarty will attend the golf club (dinner venue) early in the New Year to discuss the menu and our other requirements. We all need to help in searching out an entertaining speaker, the opinion of our members is that it should be something light-hearted, moving away from the lectures we have had at the last two dinners.
17. Move of Council Meeting Venue: Not discussed at this meeting.
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Any other Business: Having no other business Mr. Kibler closed the meeting.
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