T.R.P.S. Annual General Meeting 2008 - Summary

The Annual General Meeting took place in Neuadd Pendre (formerly the Drill Hall), Tywyn on Saturday afternoon, 27th. September, 2008. The chair was taken by the President, Richard Hope.

At the start of the meeting Richard Hope read a letter from Mrs. June Jones expressing her and her family's thanks for the many letters and other communications paying tribute to, and relating fond memories of, Dai Jones.

The meeting stood in silence in memory of Dai Jones, Phil Guest and John Cox.

The major items of business were:

Election of President

Richard Hope was re-elected as President.

Appointment of Independent Examiners

Silver and Company were reappointed as the Society’s Independent Examiners.

Election of Honorary Secretary

John S. Robinson was re-elected.

Election of Council Members

244 ballot papers were submitted and the votes were as follows, the successful candidates being shown in bold:

NAME	Votes
Peter Austin	119
Matt Dawson	100
Martin Fuller	149
Bill Heynes	165
Gareth Jones	201
Ian Lloyd-Owen	132
Lis Mann	149
Ray Reid	85
David Room	97
Phil Sayers	158
John Smallwood	170
Keith Theobald	171
Matthew Wear	101
Sue Whitehouse	140

Statement regarding employee redundancies

The Chairman of the Board of the Talyllyn Railway Company briefed the meeting on the press release issued on Tuesday, 23rd. September, 2008.

Traffic and Operating Committee

The Chairman of T. & O.C. made a statement explaining that various incidental problems had arisen with the election and that for the sake of fairness the officers of the Committee and its Returning Officer had decided that it should be rerun.

Young Members’ Committee

Only five nominations were received for five places and the following were declared elected: Hannah Green, Andrew Simner, Andrew Thomas, Sarah Ventry and Alex Wright.

Financial Position

Garry Mumford gave a Powerpoint presentation explaining the financial difficulties facing the organization. The essential facts were as explained in his article in the September Talyllyn News but many members found the graphical illustrations assisted comprehension.

Collection

A collection was held during the meeting towards the costs, which had greatly exceeded those estimated, incurred for repairs to the boiler of locomotive 7. Anyone who wishes to make a donation will find a suitable form at http://www.talyllyn.co.uk/downloads/PhilGuestMemorialform.pdf

This is just a summary of the elections and other major items. The meeting was quite intense at times as befitted the situation but remained amicable and finished at 1749.

The full minutes of the Annual General Meeting in draft form will be published here in due course. If any member of the Society has specific queries or corrections please email me and I will do my best to deal with them.

The evening social included an auction, in aid of locomotive 7’s boiler repairs, of items bequeathed by Phil Guest.

The main item of the evening entertainment was a collection of sketches performed by young and not-so-young members.

A member kindly organized the discotheque free of charge.

For the first time the bar was provided by the Membership & Activities Committee rather than a local licensee, and made a small profit for Society funds.

The weather was fine.