The first Annual General Meeting of Bowls Devon was held on Saturday 4 December and was well attended. Your existing Executive Offices were all re-elected for the ensuing year. Sue Trott of Hemyock and Don Coyne of Feniton were elected as Bowls Devon Presidents for 2011. Carol Rockey of Bideford and Barry Corps of Torbay Country Club were elected a Senior Vice Presidents and Edgar Melluish of City of Plymouth was elected a Junior Vice President. No nomination was received for a Lady Junior Vice President so we still have a vacancy – any lady interested?
The Minutes of the A.G.M. have been circulated to all Clubs.
Intended Resignation - In accordance with the Rules and Constitution, our male Assistant Administrator, Harry (Riley), has regrettably confirmed his intention NOT to seek re-election as the male Assistant Administrator at the 2011 AGM. This position will therefore become vacant and we would be pleased to hear from anyone who might be interested in taking over from Harry. If you know of any member who would be interested in taking up this position, but might first like to know what his responsibilities would be, then please ask him to contact Harry who would be very pleased to explain and help with what is required.
Award of County Badges The following ladies are the first to be offered their County Badges under Bowls Devon and the new system. We congratulate and welcome the following: Section 1 Bideford Hayley James and Minnie Day, Bideford Victoria Park Jenny Fishwick, Combe Martin Sylvia Mason, Ilfracombe Liz Purdon, United Services Eileen Norman and Lyn Parker. Section 2 Hemyock Sue Cridland and Penny Gale, South Molton Barbara Goss and Nan Peters, Tiverton Borough Margaret Gratton, Tiverton West End Pauline Burton, Section 3 Chardstock Barbara Sluman, Feniton Lyn Eveleigh, Honiton Shirley Hiscocks, Madeira Annette Flockhart, Jacky Howle, Catherine King, Christine Macauley, Seaton Angie Mayhew, Sidmouth Pat Ashton-Pritchard. Section 4 – Crediton Mary Abbott, Myra Grant, Jill Heal, Morchard Bishop – Marcia Mills, Janet Sherwood. Section 5 - Abbrook Park Carol Lloyd, Margaret Priscott, Jean Stevens. Section 6 – Brixham St. Mary’s Christine Bowles, Torbay Country Club Yvonne Blackler, Elizabeth Lock, Totnes – Linda Joseph. Section 7 – Tavistock Anne Brown, Yvonne Meneer. Section 8 – Oreston Vicky Hingston, Plymstock Shirley Bartrop, Maureen Hibbitt
Late Affiliations –
At the Annual General Meeting discussion took place about the payment of late affiliation fees and it was agreed that Bowls Devon would continue its policy which is - The registration date for each Club's membership is 1st October each year for the ensuing year. This date is set by Bowls England. A list of all members to be registered must be sent to the County Administrator who will keep a register for each Club. The Clubs affiliation fee payment to both Bowls England and Bowls Devon should be calculated using the number of members registered at 1st October. Affiliation Fees are paid in advance and not retrospectively.
During the closed season Clubs may delete members no longer with them and substitute new ones without having to pay an additional affiliation fee. Similarly bowlers transferring Club's within Devon will have their affiliation transferred provided that the County Administrator is informed of the transfer.
When a Club’s registered number of members is exceeded then an additional payment (late affiliation fee - currently £8 per member) is required for each new member. Registration forms are available from the County Administrator.
In the first year of operation the system worked well. An important advantage and safeguard for everyone is that the register of members held by the County Administrator will be recognised by Insurance Companies as part of their audit trail in the event of a claim being made. Without late affiliations this safeguard would not be there.
Development Seminar Bowls England Development Officer, Alistair Hollis, along with our Bowls Devon Development Officer, Bernard Blatchford, will be holding a Seminar in Devon on Sunday 10 April 2011 at the Isca Centre, 10.00 a.m. to 1 p.m. This will cover such topics as Bowls England Services (Funding – (development loans and greens loans etc) Recruitment and Retention ( promoting and marketing your Club, recruiting and retaining members) and there will be more information about the Bowls Development Alliance. The Seminar is open to all Clubs, and should last around two/three hours. There will be a presentation by Bowls England and Bowls Devon representatives and then a question and answer session giving everyone a good opportunity to raise queries. Please arrange for someone from your Club to attend if possible,
Affiliation numbers for Clubs I will be issuing all affiliated Clubs with a unique affiliation number. Clubs will be asked for this number particularly when applying for any type of funding. This will be a five digit number.
Life Membership Committee At the Executive Meeting held on the 6 January, the Administrator, both immediate Past Presidents plus Honorary Members Alan Mann and David Tucker were appointed to this Committee.
Bowls Devon Child Protection Officer and Development Officer Bernard Blatchford was appointed the B. D. Child Protection Officer and the B.D. Development Officer for 2011.
New County Shirt for Bowls Devon Johns Trophy/Middleton Cup/ Walker Cup/Balcombe Trophy, Amy Rose and White Rose After generous sponsorship from an anonymous sponsor and from the Patrons Association your Executive have agreed on a newly designed shirt for these representative teams. The new shirt has been registered with Bowls England and your Executive Committee will be discussing the merits of adopting this shirt for all county games at some stage in the future.
Questionnaire With the last Newsletter a questionnaire was sent to you all to complete with ‘estimated’ figures on the age range of your affiliated members. Our Development Officer, Bernard, needs your return a.s.a.p. so please spend a few minutes filling out and returning the form to Bernard.