THE LEEDS ASSOCIATION OF ENGINEERS
Minutes of the Council Meeting held at 7.30pm on Thursday 9th May 2013 at the Cornerhouse Club Leeds.
1. Attendance. A. Kibler (President) in the chair with B. Yates, A. Rogers, M. Murray, J. Aldersley, J. Shergill, J. Bentley, and I. Blakeley.
2. Apologies for absence. G. Toulson, J. McClarty, K. Hegarty & I. Scholes.
3. Minutes of the Previous Meeting, dated 4th April 2013 were, approved & signed.
4. Matters Arising. None.
5. Treasurers Report. Mr. Bentley reported the following transactions.
Credits :-
Dividends on 3 ½% stock – £4.81
Dividends on 2 ½% stock – £3.75
Subscriptions – £50.00
Dinner (ticket sales) – £1241.00
Debits :-
A. Kibler (Hull Dinner Expenses) – £82.50
Website – £39.50
6. Annual Church Service. The service will be on the 12th May at Saint Peter’s Parish Church; Mr. Shergill will be taking a reading as part of the service. He has received a copy of the lesson he is to read. We need to speak to Tony Bundock after the service to discuss whether the Church would accept a plaque from the Leeds Association of Engineers to commemorate our 150th anniversary. This would be on display in the church and would be a symbol of our long relationship.
7. Correspondence. Mr. Yates received an email from Constar confirming our visit on the 23rd May, a map with directions is available on our website. Mr. Scholes has asked whether we would like him to produce the programme sheet for the next session. After some discussion it was decided that we would prefer to go back to a pocket size card like we have used in the past.
8. Journal. Mr. Bentley questioned whether we should produce a new journal, this developed into a discussion about the Associations 150th Anniversary which is in 2016. The journal is quite expensive to print and we would like to do something special for the Anniversary we need to discuss further whether we do something in the interim. We discussed briefly the possibility of getting sponsors for the 150th Anniversary edition with companies getting an advert in the journal.
9. Current Programme. Mr. Murray told us he had visited Yeadon Tarn the venue for the ‘ Summer Solstice Walk’ the walk takes approximately 30 minutes. He has visited Murgatroyds and booked a separate room where we can congregate after the walk. The food is reasonably priced and anyone wishing to eat should give one weeks notice of their attendance. We will be holding a Frisbee throwing competition during the walk, Mr. Kibler will provide three identical; Frisbees for use in the competition.
10. Membership. Numbers remain static although Mr. Shergill says he has one good prospect for membership. Mr. Bentley asked whether subscriptions are up to date. Mr. Murray said a few members were still in arrears.
11. Next Session. Mr. Bentley will give a lecture on what is involved in making scale models of locomotives / trains. We discussed the possibility of moving the ladies evening and making it a summer event. We are having problems arranging factory visits because few factories are open in the evening and health and safety issues make it doubly difficult. Mr. Yates said he is prepared to do some research of where we might visit but someone else should make the contact and follow things up. He suggested contacting NU Swift (fire extinguishers) with a view to a visit. Mr. Bentley to contact the Pipe works at Elland.
12. Website. Mr. Toulson is in Malaysia for an extended period and will not be contactable for a while because he is visiting the jungle. Therefore if anyone wants anything on the website urgently they should contact him by tomorrow. Mr. Blakeley read out notes prepared by Mr. Toulson relating to the website. He asked whether the members would like the website to send them an automatic email when the content of the Leeds Association website is updated. Mr. Murray said he would ask the membership in his next circular. Mr. Shergill proposed that we should offer Honorary Membership of our association to his brother Kally who has been instrumental in setting up Leeds Associations new website. Council said this would be a nice gesture because Kally will not accept any payment for all the work he has done. This proposal was seconded by Mr. Kibler and accepted with a show of hands.
13. Golf. 2013 tournament is arranged for the 4th July at Wetherby Golf Club; Mr. Bentley said he has spoken to Mr. Hegarty who says he is not well enough to run the golf day due to his recent illness. Kevin Stacey will run this year’s tournament with the assistance of Mr. Toulson, Mr. Bentley & Mr. Rogers. Mr. Hegarty will be available to give any advice needed.
14. Annual Dinner. Mr. Rogers said that next year’s Annual Dinner is pencilled in for the second week in May. He is hoping for an improvement in the standard of catering and the organisation should improve. The South African gentleman who was in charge at Leeds Seventeen last year has left and the new person is much more amenable to our ideas. We briefly discussed the possibility of the 150th Annual Dinner being the last formal dinner. It was suggested that to celebrate the occasion we might offer long serving members of our association a free dinner. This is to be discussed in the next session. Mr. Yates will investigate the cost of enamel lapel badges for council members.
Any other Business. Having no other business Mr. Kibler closed the meeting.