Cheshire Wildlife Trust s1

CHESHIRE WILDLIFE TRUST 49 th Annual General Meeting held at Bickley Hall Farm on Sunday 30th September, at 10.20pm

Present: Felicity Goodey CBE (President) Professor David Norman (Chairman) 8 Trustees 25 Trust Members (names recorded) Paul Booth (Mitchell Charlesworth Auditors)

Apologies for absence: Apologies for absence were received from Philip Cheek; Frank Kerkham; Ian Mills; Stephen Ross; Andy Russell and Damien Waters (Trustees) plus 31 members (names recorded).

1. WELCOME BY DR JANEL FONE, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OF CHESHIRE WILDLIFE TRUST

Janel welcomed all the members present then handed over to the Chair of Trustees David Norman.

2. INTRODUCTION BY THE CHAIRMAN, PROFESSOR DAVID NORMAN

David Norman thanked Janel and welcomed those present to Bickley Hall Farm, remarking that many of the members do not get the chance to come down and visit the farm and expressed his sincere hope that they all enjoy the members day which follows this AGM.

3. MEMBERS PRESENT AND APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

The Chair asked that Members ensured they had signed the attendance sheet. Apologies for absence which had been received prior to the meeting were already recorded but any apologies from today would be added to the sheet.

4. MINUTES OF THE 48 th AGM (10 September 2011)

The Chair asked those members present if there were any factual corrections to the minutes of the 48th AGM; none were raised. He then proposed that the minutes made available on the day and in advance on the CWT website were a correct record of the proceedings.

Proposed: Rob Marrs Seconded: Paul Oldfield

The proposal was carried unanimously by the vote and the minutes were signed by the Chair on behalf of the members.

5. REPORT AND ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2012

The Chair handed over to Peter Young, who is Chair of the Finance Committee, to go through the accounts for the 12 month period ended 31 March 2012.

Report by Peter Young, CWT Finance Committee Peter explained that the statement of the Trust’s financial activities for the year is given in the Annual Review, which all members received this year as part of the recent edition of The Grebe. A full copy of the accounts is on the CWT website and hard copies are available on request from Trust headquarters. He noted that full copies were available at the AGM for anyone who would like to see them. In light of this, Peter expressed his intention to keep his remarks brief, but indicated that he was very happy to answer any questions on the accounts, along with Janel Fone or Lorna Harrison (CWT Finance Manager), who are both present.

Peter reported that the Trust made a small surplus for the year of £3,004, although this was due to a surplus on the restricted funds of £35,221. These funds tend to balance out over time so the deficit on unrestricted funds is of concern.

He went on to report that the Trust has continued to be very successful in obtaining grants for about £510K to deliver particular projects which are part of our objectives, and membership income, which is our most important source of unrestricted income, continued at a similar level to last year of £411K.

Peter was happy to report that the Trust’s ecological consultancy company, CES, returned to profit in the year after some restructuring and donated almost £25K to the Trust.

He explained that as all the members will be well aware, these are difficult economic times and the Trust has not been able to build its financial reserves during the year and continues to operate with a low level of reserves. It remains a key objective of trustees to build these reserves for the future.

He then indicated that he was happy to answer any questions on these accounts. The attendees raised no questions and the Chair thanked Peter for his eight years of sterling work on Finance Committee.

The Chair asked for those Members present to approve the accounts.

Proposed: Stuart Harvey Seconded: Rob Marrs

The proposal was carried unanimously by the vote.

The proxy votes received were in favour of approval of the accounts as presented to the 2012 AGM (21 v otes for and 0 votes against).

6. ELECTION OF COUNCIL MEMBERS

Profiles of each Trustee standing for re-election were available on members’ seats (Appendix 1).

The Chair asked if members were happy to consider the Council members retiring under Article 35 as a batch and there were no objections to this. The Chair then asked for a proposer and seconder that:

I. Mr Philip Cheek, Council member retiring under Article 35, be elected as a Council Member.

II. Dr Neil Friswell, Council member retiring under Article 35, be elected as a Council Member.

III. Mr Frank Kerkham, Council member retiring under Article 35, be elected as a Council Member.

IV. Mr Chris Koral, Council member retiring under Article 35, be elected as a Council Member.

V. Mr Ian Mills, Council member retiring under Article 35, be elected as a Council Member.

Proposed: Sally Bowden Seconded: David George The proposal was carried unanimously by the vote.

The Chair asked if members were happy to consider the Council members retiring under Article 33 as a batch and there were no objections to this. The Chair then asked for a proposer and seconder that:

i. Mr Gerald Coates, Council member retiring under Article 33, be elected as a Council Member.

ii. Prof. Rob Marrs, Council member retiring under Article 33, be elected as a Council Member. Proposed: Peter Young Seconded: Lorna Harrison The proposal was carried unanimously by the vote.

The results of the proxy vote, for the record were as follows:

In favour Against Philip Cheek 21 1 Neil Friswell 21 1 Frank Kerkham 21 1 Chris Koral 21 1 Ian Mills 21 1 Gerald Coates 21 1 Rob Marrs 21 1

The Chair expressed his pleasure at welcoming back his fellow Trustees to continue their service. It was requested that the new Trustees stand and introduce themselves, which they duly did.

7. ELECTION AND REMUNERATION OF AUDITORS

The Trustees asked that the members officially re-appoint Mitchell Charlesworth as the Trust’s Auditors, with their remuneration to be decided upon by Council.

Proposed: David Norman Seconded: Stephanie Fitzgibbon

The proposal was carried unanimously by the vote.

The Chair confirmed that the proxy votes received were in favour of the appointment of Mitchell Charles worth as the Trust Auditors, with their remuneration to be decided upon by Council. (21 votes for and 0 votes against).

8. ANY OTHER BUSINESS One of the members, Mr Alan Goodkin remarked on the gender bias of the current Council which is predominately male. He felt that Trustees should better reflect the diversity of the members they represent, many of whom are women.

Janel Fone responded to this comment by agreeing that a better mix of male and female Trustees would be desirable but that the most important criteria for selecting Trustees should be the skills and expertise they can bring to the Trust. Several adverts have been posted over the past few years asking for new Trustees and this was how Sally Bowden joined Council, but so far Sally is the only woman with suitable skills and expertise who has responded. Janel also noted that in contrast to Council, the majority of staff employed by the Trust are female, including all of the senior management team.

This completed the formal business of the meeting and the Chair formally closed the meeting at 10.50am.

PRESENTATION OF ERIC THURSTON AWARDS

Eric Thurston was one of the stalwart volunteers for CWT, and the Trust’s annual awards are given in his name. There are two award winners this year Virginia Hunt and Professor David Norman, who is stepping down from Council at this AGM.

Virginia Hunt Virginia Hunt has been a volunteer Watch Leader for over 20 years giving hours of volunteer time to the Wildlife Watch cause. She has been a leading light in the Vale Royal Watch Group until her recent retirement from the role. Virginia always had huge success inspiring people, especially youngsters with her boundless energy and passion for her subject. She had a special talent at making connections between nature and art. She was the driving force behind 'The Arts in the Park' event at the Grosvenor Park in Chester, which later teamed up with the CWT event 'Only One Earth' and engaging her Watch Group and other local young people in the annual, popular Big Draw events basing their entries on a wildlife subject. She was just as much at home pond dipping, bat walking and minibeast hunting. Most importantly now are all those young adults who, through their Watch experiences, have gone on to study biology or environmental subjects or just have great memories of taking part in Watch activities at Owley Wood, Marbury and Marshalls Arm.

Virginia graciously accepted her award, a framed print of the ‘Peregrines over Beeston’ saying that she was honoured and moved to have been nominated, particularly as she had know Eric Thurston personally and he had been a great support to her when she first started working with the Trust.

David Norman David has contributed enormously to Cheshire wildlife, the Trust, and to the Trust’s vision to make Cheshire “an environment rich in wildlife for everyone”.

He has Chaired the Trust for the past eight years, having previously Chaired the Conservation Committee. During this period he led the Trust wisely through some challenging times to become the confident organisation that it now is, able to lead and undertake major projects and to act in many ways to promote its work and to influence others, both organisations and individuals.

Much of this work has been behind closed doors, and not seen by most members of the Trust. What many will have seen is David’s passion for birds. Whether it was ringing peregrines at Beeston, marsh harriers at Frodsham, swallows in numerous barns, showing Watch group youngsters the thrill of wild birds close-up, or just leading a birdsong walk through Delamere Forest on a spring evening, his knowledge and enthusiasm always shone out. He also organised and wrote the Breeding and Wintering Atlas of the Birds of Cheshire and the Wirral, and commissioned and edited the recent publication of “Cheshire’s Favourite Wildlife” for the 50th anniversary of the Trust. Another CWT book is on its way: watch this space!

David’s involvement in wildlife organisations reaches well beyond Cheshire. He is a member of the UK’s Rare Breeding Birds Panel, and has served on the Councils of both the RSPB and English Nature.

David remarked that he is honoured to have served as a Trustee of Cheshire Wildlife Trust for the past 10 years, with eight years as Chair of Trustees. He joined the Trust at a time of great uncertainty, but after a decade helping to steer the Trust onto a more stable track, things are now moving in the right direction and although there is still work to be done he was pleased to be leaving the Trust in safe hands with some excellent staff and Trustees. He also commented that he will still be involved with the work of the Trust both as a member and as honorary vice president.

Janel went on to present David with a copy of the Wildlife Trusts’ centenary book ‘Wildlife in Trust’ signed by the author Tim Sands, Simon King and Stephanie Hillbourne as a thank you present from Trustees and Staff for his many years of stalwart work as Chair of Trustees.

Those present were thrilled to welcome Trust founding member from 1962, Peter Walton, to the AGM to cut a very special gold birthday cake for us. Peter is the only surviving member from the original group of naturalists who set up what was to become Cheshire Wildlife Trust. Back then, Peter was the youngest in the group in his 20’s and remains active in conservation today, 50 years on.