AGM 14th July 2000

The AGM this year was very poorly attended with only seven members present.
Apologies for absence were received from a further four members
1. Previous Minutes
The previous year's minutes were accepted as fairly accurate apart from numerous miss spellings of the Chairmans name and the fact that the club has only a 12
year history, not 22 years. (The Treasurer felt that this was not acceptable and that the previous years minute taker should be sacked. Unfortunately no one else agreed and the Treasurer is going to have to write this years minutes as well.)

2. Chairman's Report
Graham Hodgson summarised the last year for the club.Firstly that this is the first time for a number of years that this was not a crisis meeting. The club is not in imminent danger of collapse, we are financially secure, with a steady if low membership. The club is starting to return to high profile races with three members racing in last years world championships in Canada.
The organised training sessions are a mixed bag. The swimming remains supported at a low level, adequate to support only two of our previously agreed three
lanes. The running session on Tuesday evenings has now died out due to low or no attendance. The bright spot on the training session front is the Sunday morning
bike rides. These have been highly praised and many thanks should go to Danny for organising these throughout the year.
Finally Graham told the AGM that he would be stepping down as Chairman as work and personnel commitments were such that he could not give sufficient time to
the role. Further he felt that the post should be filled by someone who is more in touch with the racing scene which he himself is not.
Many thanks should go to Graham for his role in taking the club through the past 15 months to its present position.

3. Treasures Report
Chris Sims reported that the clubs current funds as at June 2000 (approx. £1200) were roughly £800 down on last year, however approx £450 are presently tied up
in club clothing and this should be borne in mind when considering the total clubs assets. The accounts have not yet been audited but were accepted pending a
satisfactory audit. A summary of the pre audit accounts is attached to these minutes.
Leaving aside exceptional items the clubs core costs of the newsletter and various affiliations came to just over £160 for the year. Future costs for the coming year are likely to be the same amount. Further expenditure on exceptional
items should be restrained until some of the money invested in the club cycling tops has been realised by selling them to the members.

4. Election of Officers
The election of the following officers was conducted with all appointments being unanimous.
Chairman- Vacant
Secretary- Peter Handforth
Treasurer/Memberships- Chris Sims
Newsletter Editor- Sue Jackson
Run Co-ordinator- Vacant
Cycle Co-ordinator - Danny Swarbrick
Swim Co-ordinator- Chris Sims
Publicity & Race EntriesGary Davis (pending his agreement !)

Post Meeting Note : Ian Garrod has kindly agreed to take on the role of Chairman after being asked by the committee.

5. Membership Fees for 1999/2000
Due to the stable financial position of the club it was first suggested by the treasurer to set the membership fees for the coming year to £6 for adult membership. This was based on an estimate of £150 to run the club for a year
across an estimated 25 members. There was some discussion on this subject and it was generally thought that the membership fee of £6 was too low for the following reasons. It was felt that the current and proposed fees are generally well below other amaturer sporting clubs. Also pricing the fees so close to the club costs gives little room to accommodate changes in costs. For instance we
currently pay nothing to have the newsletter copied. There would be a problem if we suddenly had to start paying for newsletters to be copied. A number of
different fees were considered but eventually figures of £8 or £10 were arrived at. A final consideration is the psychological impact of doubling the fees, even
though the additional cost per week would only be 10p. Eventually it was agreed that the new fees would be set at £8 for adults and £3 for juniors.

6. Matters for Discussion
6.1. Bike Training Sessions
Much thanks must go to Danny Swarbrick for continuing to organise the Sunday morning cycle rides. The rides have become a victim of there own success in one way. As the distance and intensity have increased weaker riders or those who have not been training consistently are unable to keep up with those who have been using the training rides all year. The only real solution to this problem
is to have two different groups, but this would require a larger attendance.


6.2. Club Clothing
After some interest from the members a number of Fylde Coast Tri Club cycling tops have been bought by the club. The tops are available to members at a cost
price of £32.50. It is envisaged that the club would buy some FCTC racing singlets next year if there was enough demand. However as mentioned in the Treasurers report it is essential to sell the cycling tops first as a large
amount of capital is tied up in this stock. Anyone interested should contact Peter Handforth on 01253 893 359.

6.3. Club Sponsorship
Sue Jackson asked about club sponsorship in the coming year for members competing in the World Championships. The Chairman felt that this should be left
until the new year when a decision could be made by the committee. He also reminded the meeting that members competing in last years World Championships
had gained a considerable level of publicity for the club.

7. Other Business

7.1. Tri 2000
Peter Knott in his capacity as the BTAs NW Region Co-ordinator briefly outlined the BTA initiative to capitalise on the high profile given to the triathlon
event at the Olympic Games. The BTA is designed to encourage new people into the sport using progressive involvement through club sessions through to small
novice events. As part of this there are 2 events in the North West; one at Fleetwood on the 1 Oct 2000 and one a Ribby Hall on 15 Oct 2000.

Peter is personally involved in the organisation of the Ribby Hall event and asked the club to provide 10 experienced marshals to help on the bike course.
Danny Swarbrick volunteered to co-ordinate the marshals from the club.