Council of Management Minutes – June 2018

Minutes of the meeting of the Council of Management of the Paddle Steamer Preservation Society at Renfield St Stephen’s Centre, Bath Street, Glasgow on Saturday 23 June 2018 at 14:00.

 
Present: Paul Semple (Chairman), Myra Allen, John Beveridge, David Green, David Haddleton, Angela Johnson, Noel Kemp, Martin Longhurst, John Megoran, Andrew Munn, Lawrie Sinclair and Gordon Wilson.
In Attendance: Greg Beecroft, who took the minutes, and Christopher Larkin.

Apologies for Absence

John Anderson, Richard Clammer, Jon Joliffe and Peter Morley.

Welcome

The Chairman welcomed Christopher Larkin to the meeting, who as a member of the London Branch is considering standing for Council as their Branch representative.

Conflicts of interest

None declared, other than those relating to directorships of WEL, WSN, PSKCT and LLSC.

Minutes of the previous meeting

4.1 The minutes of the meeting held on 10 March 2018 were approved as a true record.
4.2 Matters arising from November minutes, not dealt with later in the meeting:
7.3 Revised membership leaflets have been produced.
8.5 A job description for the Company Secretary has been prepared but one for the National Secretary is still required.
8.6 Some Trustees have yet to provide profiles for the website.
13.4 Redacted minutes of Council meetings are to be published on the PSPS website.
Matters arising from the March meeting were dealt with later in the meeting.

Decisions since the previous meeting

None to record.

Chairman’s Report

6.1 The Chairman’s Report was noted. The Chairman reported that he and the National Secretary had been invited to represent PSPS at the fourth annual Scott Supper on board Waverley on Thursday 21 June. Both had attended and a raffle was held to cover costs.

Treasurer’s Report

7.1 The Treasurer’s Report was noted.
7.2 The last members’ draw had been carried out. A number of participants had said they would keep up their payments as donations.
7.3 The revised Byelaws relating to the Executive Sub-Committee were approved, subject to the quorum of the Executive Committee being three and that all decisions taken in cases of urgency are reported electronically to the Council of Management immediately.

Charity Matters

8.1 The Company Secretary’s report on Safeguarding was noted. It was agreed that in the Society’s circumstances a relatively brief and simple policy and procedure was appropriate and that this should include a definition of safeguarding.

Annual General Meeting, 2018

9.1 Practical arrangements are in hand and contributions from Council members are required in due course. It was agreed that the Chairman’s Report will be used to update members on developments subsequent to compilation of the Annual Report.
9.2 It was noted that Peter Morley, currently co-opted, will be standing as an elected Council Member. Chris Larkin said he was fairly confident he would be willing to be appointed to Council by the London Branch. It was agreed that, in that event, it would be sensible to co-opt David Green to the Council as Archivist.
9.3 It was noted that David Haddleton is standing down from the Council after serving for seventeen years and this was his last meeting as a Council member. Martin Longhurst paid tribute to David’s contribution to the Society and the work of the Council, and the Chairman made a presentation to him.

Development of the Society

10.1 The Chairman reported that he had discussed the PSPS Development Plan with WEL/WSN. There was support for the content.
10.2 The Development Plan was approved subject to:
[a] references to Great Britain should be to the United Kingdom;
[b] it being specified that the plan is for the period 2018-2021;
[c] any minor amendments Council members may agree by email within the next two weeks.
10.3 It was agreed that the Development Plan, but not the Progress Log, should be published and circulated to members with the September issue of Paddle Wheels. It would be added as an agenda item at the Annual General Meeting.
10.4 It was noted that although the Development Plan is to cover the period to 2021, it will be an evolving document and some actions will take longer to achieve.
10.5 The National Secretary will keep the Progress Log up to date.
10.6 It was agreed that the following Council members would be responsible for overseeing progress with the following key priorities in the Development Plan:

• KP1 Communication with members and the wider public: Paul Semple
• KP2 Membership stabilisation and growth: Paul Semple
• KP3 Supporting paddle steamers Waverley and Kingswear Castle: Noel Kemp
• KP4 The PSPS Collection: David Green
• KP5 The structure and management of the Society: Chris Larkin

10.7 The Chairman said he would take the lead in ensuring that the Society’s sixtieth anniversary was appropriately marked. He was already in discussion concerning an anniversary publication. It was agreed that this needs to have wide public appeal and should be used to publicise the Society. It was expected that it would be published and distributed by a publishing company.
10.8 It was agreed that a branch structure is important for maintaining contact with members. Branches are an important means of communication, both ways, between members and Council. They also have an educational role, which is part of the Society’s charitable objectives. It was noted that meetings addressed by speakers involved in current operation of Waverley and Kingswear Castle attract good numbers. It was also noted that the quality of accommodation may affect attendance, so going to cheaper locations may be counter-productive. The Chairman said he would like to see increased communication between branches, so they could learn from each other.

Ship Reports

Kingswear Castle
11.1 John Megoran’s report was noted.

Waverley
11.2 The report from Lawrie Sinclair was noted, particularly the considerable work to Waverley’s rudder and rudder stock.
11.3 An extract of the accounts for operation of Waverley in 2017 has been provided for circulation to members.

Maid of the Loch
11.4 John Beveridge reported that the formal application for a HLF grant, comprising a huge number of documents, had been submitted. He paid tribute to all who had worked on this, particularly Ken Blacklock.
11.5 Assuming that HLF approve the grant and make a prompt decision that work can start, Maid of the Loch could be in service in 2019, but this also depends on there being no unexpected problems with the ship or MCA requirements.
11.6 The Chairman proposed and it was agreed that the Council appoints Gary Stevenson, who has extensive relevant experience, as its nominated Director of Loch Lomond Steamship Company, in event of the grant conditions being met.

Society Membership

12.1 The large number of new recruits as a result of the £10 offer for the first year was noted.
12.2 Jon Joliffe had indicated that he wished to stand down as Membership Secretary and was unable to deal with new applications promptly, because of other commitments. It was thought that it would be convenient for membership matters to be linked to distribution of Paddle Wheels. Gordon Wilson was willing to take this on and agreed to take responsibility for acknowledging membership applications with immediate effect.
12.3 It was agreed that a record should be kept of the retention rate of members who join at a discounted rate, with this to be reported to Council.
12.4 It was agreed to accept the individuals listed in the Membership Report as society members.
12.5 It was agreed that the complaints panel should not include members of the Executive Committee and the new panel shall be Myra Allen, Noel Kemp and Andrew Munn.

Branch Reports

13.1 Branch Reports were noted.
13.2 Bookings for the Scottish Branch charter of Waverley are up on previous years and there is a large party booking from Blairmore.
13.3 The Bristol Channel and Wessex branches are both reviewing the location for branch meetings. It may not be practicable to use Balmoral for Bristol meetings.

PSPS Archive Collection

14.1 The Archive Report was noted.
14.2 In view of progress with filing the postcard and negative collection, David Green envisaged taking up the Scottish Branch’s offer of a grant for additional storage materials in the near future.
14.3 David Green confirmed he will arrange a tour of the archive collection for any interested Council members the morning after the next Council meeting.

Communication Channels

15.1 It was reported that the new format Paddle Wheels is selling well on Waverley.
15.2 The Social Media Guidelines which had been circulated were approved.
15.3 The Society Facebook page is updated most days.

Any Other Business

16.1 The sale of PS Ryde was noted. It was reported that PS Monarch is for sale, because the owner is retiring from the business.
16.2 Myra Allen reported that the Hollycombe Steam Collection are proposing to put the PS Caledonia’s engine back on display.

Future meetings

17.1 Council 24 November 2018 and 9 March 2019 in London. Annual General Meeting 17 November in York.