THE LEEDS ASSOCIATION OF ENGINEERS
Minutes of the Council Meeting held at 7.15pm on Thursday 7th December 2023 at The Corner House Club Leeds.
1. Attendance. R. Town in the chair with A. Rogers, M. Murray, G. Roper, A. Kibler, G. Toulson, J. Bentley and I. Blakeley.
2. Apologies for absence. J. Burton, I. Scholes, S. Stacey, J. Aldersley and H. Soutar.
3. Minutes of the Previous Meeting, dated 2nd November 2023 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 |
| 1/Nov/23 | Subs – Chris Stocks | – | 15.00 |
| 2/Nov/23 | Subs – A. Kibler | – | 15.00 |
| 3/Nov/23 | Flowers to Mrs Norris via G. Roper | 25.00 | – |
| 7/Nov/23 | Transfer & Laptop payment | 379.99 | 380.00 |
| 13/Nov/23 | Subs – J. Kelsall | – | 15.00 |
| 14/Nov/23 | Subs – J. Pease | – | 20.00 |
| 14/Nov/23 | Subs – Chris Harding | – | 20.00 |
| 14/Nov/23 | Subs – Mike Bate | – | 20.00 |
| 14/Nov/23 | Subs – Ian. McKay | – | 35.00 |
| 14/Nov/23 | Subs – Jas. Shergill | – | 35.00 |
| 15/Nov/23 | Subs – P. Garland | – | 15.00 |
| 15/Nov/23 | Subs – Ross Town | – | 20.00 |
| 16/Nov/23 | Subs – C. Whitley | – | 20.00 |
| 16/Nov/23 | Subs – N. Cobbold | – | 20.00 |
| 17/Nov/23 | Subs – J. F. Scollen | – | 20.00 |
| 17/Nov/23 | Subs – D. Bond | – | 20.00 |
| 20/Nov/23 | Subs – R. Letch | – | 20.00 |
| 20/Nov/23 | Subs – C. Jagger | – | 20.00 |
| 22/Nov/23 | Subs – T. Mathers | – | 20.00 |
| 22/Nov/23 | The Manor – Dinner deposit 2024 | – | 200.00 |
| 24/Nov/23 | Subs – G. Roper | – | 20.00 |
| 27/Nov/23 | Subs – J. Aldersley | – | 20.00 |
| 28/Nov/23 | Subs – S. Stacey | – | 20.00 |
| 1/Dec/23 | Subs – M. Pollard | – | 20.00 |
| 5/Dec/23 | Subs – I. Blakeley | – | 20.00 |
Balance of Accounts was reported but not published here.
He concluded by telling us that his sister has verified / audited last year’s accounts as agreed at the last council meeting. The conclusion was that we lost £135.74 this is a significant improvement on the previous year.
6. Correspondence. Nothing to report.
7. Membership. Mr. Murray said we have had one resignation in response to our request for members to renew their subscription. This was from Andrew Harris who said he is closing his business.
8. Current Programme. The visit to Siddall & Hilton programmed for the end of October was cancelled at the last minute due to their managing director, who was the guide for the visit, having a long awaited hospital appointment at short notice. Mr. Murray managed to contact the eight members who were due to attend. The visit will be re-arranged for early in the New Year if possible. We are to attend IFG Drake Limited (Golcar) in February on a factory visit and Neil Cobbold will give us a talk in March, we need to confirm with Neil what topic he is going to cover. At the moment we are unable to confirm the lecture with Doctor Ian Greaves of Cavendish Nuclear because he has a new role and his time is limited. Mr. Roper will remain in contact and perhaps try getting a commitment for the 2024/2025 season.
9. Next Session. Mr. Murray has been in contact with the people running the Anderton Boat Lift (Canals & River Trust) he has requested both a talk from them and that we might visit them. He said the response he got was positive and he needs to go back to them with proposed dates. He did say that the Anderton Boat Lift is in need of some restoration and there is currently an appeal out for charitable donations. He has circulated details of the appeal to our membership although he feels their request for £25 donations might be counter- productive. We have an offer of a lecture from our member in Australia (VAS) but we need to establish how this can be done due to time difference, it might be that he records the lecture so that we can post it on our website. Mr. Toulson will contact Mr. Aldersley to discuss this (Mr. Aldersley is in contact with VAS on a regular basis).
10. Website. Mr. Toulson said the website is all running smoothly but he would like more information about the lectures and visits.
11. Golf. Nothing to report.
12. Annual Dinner. Mr. Kibler said he had made further contact with Leeds City College requesting a proposed menu for our annual dinner. They had given him a price of £32.95 per head but failed to supply the menu. When he considered the minimal parking available he decided not to pursue this any further. He has secured a booking on the 20th April for the Annual Dinner at Drighlington Manor for which he paid a £200 deposit, on receiving the receipt through the post he noticed the deposit receipt said for room hire. He went back to them saying that at no point in the discussion they had, did they mention that we had to hire the room, they responded by sending out a voucher for £200 to be spent at their venue He has since received a proposed menu offering a choice of three starters, three main courses and three sweets. The cost per person is £30, this is the price we will charge the members (same price to members as last year). This will result in us making a small loss on the dinner because all members / guests will receive a welcome drink charged to Leeds Association of Engineers.
13. Church Service. Nothing to report.
14. Leeds City College. Mr. Murray questioned how we maintain our link with the college when Mr. Aldersley retires early next year (2024). We have discussed in the past encouraging one or more of the students to join our council. Mr Toulson said he will contact Mr. Aldersley to gather his thoughts on this.
Any other Business. Having no other business Mr. Town closed the meeting.
.
……………………………………………President. ……………….. Date