THE LEEDS ASSOCIATION OF ENGINEERS
Minutes of the Council Meeting held at 7.30pm on Thursday 3rd June 2021 online.
The meeting was hosted by Mr. Kibler using the ‘Zoom’ video conferencing application. This was necessary due to the national Covid -19 requirements for social distancing.
1. Attendance. R. Town, President in the chair with I. Scholes, A. Kibler, J. Bentley, M. Murray, G. Toulson, B. Yates, G. Roper and. J. Aldersley.
2. Apologies for absence. I. Blakeley, S. Stacey, A. Rogers, J. Burton & H. Kingswell.
3. Minutes of the Previous Meeting dated 13th May 2021 were approved.
4. Matters Arising. Mr. Toulson noticed that his name was quoted in the May minutes under the Golf Tournament item as him having been a contact. It was determined that it was Mr. Roper who said he had been in touch with a gentleman called Julian at Eco Fluids to see if he would be interested in joining the association’s golfing fraternity. Mr. Roper said he would pass on details to Mr. Stacey (Golf Secretary). Mr. Toulson said he would correct the May minutes on the website to reflect the correct name in the item. Mr. Yates had been in touch with John Pease to determine Mrs. Pease’s first name in order to send some flowers as she was suffering from Parkinson’s Disease. Mr. Pease had asked for no fuss but Mr. Murray thought we should still send some flowers. Mr. Yates said he would arrange this.
5. Treasurers Report. Mr. Kibler reported that there had been no transactions in the previous month. He advised council members of the current balances of the association’s accounts.
6. Correspondence. Nothing to report.
7. Membership. Mr. Murray said that he had nothing to report. He asked, as was requested earlier, if details of membership had been made more prominent on the front page of the website. Mr.Toulson advised that this had been done and Mr. Town confirmed that he had noted this when he was looking to download membership forms from the website. Mr. Town said that he hoped to recruit some new members from his colleagues at Thorite Ltd.
8. Current Programme. Mr. Murray reported that after being in touch with The Greyhound pub they can accommodate us for a meal between 8.00pm – 8.30 pm following the Solstice Walk. Mr. Murray suggested that the start time for the walk be brought forward to 7.00 pm from 7.30 pm so as not to miss the meal slot. Mr. Toulson said he would update the website event page to show the change. Mr. Murray proposed that we need to book numbers for the meals and suggested a reduction in the number of choices from the extensive menu. Mr. Toulson read out the menu along with costs. Mr. Yates said it might be advisable to book the meals in advance. Mr. Kibler thought there was no need to include starters and we should only order main meals. He suggested limiting the menu choices and the cost to around £15.00 as the association would be paying. It was decided to indicate on the website event page that members would be paid for. As to whether guests would be paid for Mr. Murray said that could be decided and announced later.
9. Next Session. Mr. Yates suggested a visit to Ellenroad Mill which is open on Sundays and is in steam on the first Sunday of the month. He said he would investigate the possibility of a visit during the summer. Mr. Yates also proposed a possible visit to the Anderton Boat Lift in Cheshire. Mr. Murray noted that ‘Yorkshire Day’ is on Sunday 1st August and proposed that this might be an appropriate day for a visit to Ellenroad Mill. Mr. Kibler said he would contact Neil at Kirklees Light Railway to see what their plans are and if a visit can be arranged for September.
10. Website. Mr. Toulson advised that there was nothing to report. He said he would be posting an article soon about ‘Avro Aircraft’. Mr. Yates suggested that a trip to the Avro Museum in Cheshire would be a good day out for the members and we could discuss this under the topic of ‘Next Session’ during a future council meeting.
11. Journal. Mr. Bentley advised that the journal had been completed and printed. He asked Mr. Kibler if he had received an email from the printer asking how payment would be made. Mr. Scholes said that he had discussed payment and the printer would send the bill directly to Mr. Kibler. Mr. Bentley was asked how much the printing had cost. He advised that it had cost £120.00 for 100 copies, so £1.20 per copy. Mr. Yates said this was very cheap and that the printer ought to be invited to be a guest at our dinner. Mr. Murray commented that the cost of postage may exceed the cost of the journal being printed. Mr. Yates asked Mr. Town if it might be possible to arrange postage through Thorite Ltd. Mr. Bentley said copies could be handed out at the Solstice Walk to save on postage. Mr. Murray said this is possible if a list of recipients could be recorded. Mr. Town said he would investigate the possibility of Thorite Ltd. arranging postage and would report back with costs.
12. Annual Golf Tournament. In Mr. Stacey’s absence Mr. Toulson read out an email from him. To summarise, Mr. Stacey was still concerned about holding the tournament in September, following postponement from the original date in June. He advised that he would be in touch with the golf club in the next couple of weeks. He thought it best to miss this year altogether and consider June 2022 for the next tournament. This would preclude problems of raising revenue from sponsors and then having to refund monies due to further cancellation.
13. Annual Dinner. Mr. Kibler said he considered it not worth trying to arrange a dinner this year due to changing circumstances. He advised that everything has been planned for when we are able to hold the next dinner. Mr. Kibler said he had been quoted a cost of either £21.00 or £22.00 but next year it will probably go up to £23.00 per head. Mr. Yates commented that it may be as much as £25.00 per head. Mr. Yates asked if we are to have a speaker at the next dinner as we have had some good ones in the past. Mr. Kibler said that having canvassed guests the majority preferred socialising and conversation rather than an after dinner speaker.
14. Solstice Walk. This event was covered in the Current Programme.
15. Church Service. No arrangements can be made at the moment.
16. Meeting Rooms. Mr Scholes and Mr. Murray are going to visit the church hall that we are considering using in future for lecture meetings. Mr. Aldersley still aims to approach Leeds City College to see if they could accommodate us if we put on any prestigious lectures.
Any other Business. Mr. Yates asked if we might continue with council meetings throughout the summer when we normally would have a recess. He commented that it was useful to arrange association business and good that we could meet each other, even if it was only online. He also asked if it would be possible to send the email link to the Zoom meeting in advance. Mr. Kibler pointed out the difficulties of having to contact each member individually. Mr. Toulson offered to include a Zoom link in the meeting notification email to council members to accompany links to the previous minutes. It was agreed that it was a good idea to keep the momentum and continue with regular council meetings.
Mr. Roper advised that he had been working at Rolls Royce in Sheffield and noticed a considerable number of companies based at the Sheffield University Advanced Research Centre that might be suitable for a visit. These included such as Rolls Royce, McLaren and Boeing. Mr. Yates said that previously he had been in touch with Professor Keith Ridgway at the centre and was advised by him that any possible visit would have to be during the day.
Mr. Yates also advised that the Welding Institute was based on the same Science Park. He said he would liaise with Mr. Roper to discuss the matter further with a view to arranging a visit.
The next virtual meeting will be on Thursday 8th July 2021. Having no other business Mr. Town closed the meeting.
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