2026 AGM Minutes And Accounts
Minutes of the 79th Annual General Meeting of the YPA.
Held at York Racecourse, Saturday 18th July 2026
Present: Richard Hindle (President), Daphne McMillan (Vice-President and Secretary), Keith Burton (Webmaster), Robert McMillan, (Competition Secretary) and 9 members representing a total of 10 societies.
1. Apologies: Philip Reynolds (Treasurer), Colin Lea (York)
The Secretary welcomed the members and sought the meeting’s approval to continue despite having fewer than 20 members present. The members chose to proceed with the meeting, which was then declared quorate.
2. Minutes of the 2025 AGM. These had been circulated in advance and their acceptance was proposed by Graham Winters, seconded by Robert McMillan. Passed nem. con.
3. Matters Arising: None.
4. President’s Report.
Richard reported that he had had an interesting year and had made visits to York, Huddersfield, Wakefield, Barnsley, Hull and Sheffield. In his second year he is looking forward to visits booked for Barnsley, Leeds, Harrogate, Sheffield, Hull and Scarborough. He has written an article for the Sheffield Star to promote the hobby in the local area.
5. Treasurer’s Report.
The treasurer had sent a draft of the accounts, which, for logistical reasons had not yet been sent to the examiner. A request was made that this be undertaken as soon as practicable so that the examined accounts can be presented to the Autumn management meeting. In the Treasurer’s absence, Keith Burton offered to talk through the report, a brief summary of which appears below.
It was pointed out that several societies have not yet paid their subscription for the 2026/27 season, technically rendering them ineligible to vote at this AGM (over 3 months into the new season). There has been a difficulty getting some club treasurers to pay affiliation fees at the correct time and it was felt that more needs to be done to prevent societies going into arrears.
YPA Current Situation:
16/06/2026 – Community Account: ”Current Account” 1060.00
09/06/2026 – Community Instant Access “Reserve” 2084.52
13/04/2026 – Cash-in-hand 75.84 16/06/2026 – Total 3220.36
Before August 2026 we need to pay Magnet Insurance Services Ltd £209.51 (ie, £138.53 + £70.98)
YPA Summary Statement of Income & Expenditure:
(6th April 2024 – 5th April 2025
Receipts 475.09 minus Payments 557.85 = Deficit £82.76)
6th April 2025 – 5th April 2026
Receipts 426.35 minus Payments 297.44 = Profit £128.91
6. Competition Secretary’s Report.
This year there were 19 entries in 8 different classes, with entries received from six societies. Two entries were transferred to other classes considered by the judge that they would score more highly. The competitions were judged this year by Stephen Harrison of the Midlands Federation, who made particular mention of the overall quality of the Postal History entries. Levels awarded range from silver to large gold. Some societies, and indeed some exhibitors will be celebrating multiple successes this year. It was good to see some exhibitors taking advantage of the recently introduced an 8 sheet category.
We would like to encourage more societies to send entries next year. Please remind your members that they can enter YPA competitions even if their society does not currently run its own. If your society falls into that category, why not introduce a one-sheet competition to your next programme? These can be serious or light-hearted as you like and could be the first step to someone deciding on something larger.
Congratulations to all those who have entered on the quality of their exhibits and especially to those who are leaving with trophies. Come back and defend them next year!
Robert F. McMillan FRPSL
Competition Secretary
7. Webmaster’s Report
Slowly but surely I have become more used to the system and now find it easier to add things to and remove them from the website. Unfortunately I still do not receive much material to do so and keep up my “skills”.
As the Yorkshire Postal History Society has joined YPA we now have 15 societies listed on the website, Links are provided that take any prospective visitor to the appropriate society website (where it exists), or to the ABPS website details for those affiliated to ABPS. Please remember to keep your website details up-to-date, or messages of interest might be lost.
We are short of speakers on our list. There have been some withdrawals for various reasons. It would be good to be able to add another dozen prospective speakers or Zoom speakers. If you are already listed, please check that the information in your own case is current. Please note that there is a gap in each email address to make the list less prone to being ‘gathered’ by external agencies.
I still hope for interesting material to add under “Cover of the Month”. The flow seems to have dried up completely. The same is true for information about special events, Zoom meetings, latest news etc. Please make a point of sending me anything which you wish to be advertised free on the website as soon as you have any details. Also keep checking that I have done something with it and to spot any errors – I don’t mind being informed that all is not well.
Any suggestions for additional features will be gratefully received.
I am grateful for the support of the secretary/vice president and competition secretary in providing information and checking the resulting mess that I have made of it until I get it right.
Keith Burton FRPSL
Webmaster
8. Election of Officers
President, Richard Hindle (continuing)
Vice President: Daphne McMillan (continuing)
Junior Vice President: vacant.
No nominations having been received for any other post and the present officers having agreed to continue, the following were confirmed in post, proposed N. Ritchie, seconded G. Fearons:
The Secretary, Daphne McMillan
Treasurer, Philip Reynolds
Webmaster, Keith Burton
Competition Secretary, Robert McMillan
Graham Winters has agreed to act as ABPS Representative.
9. Appointment of Examiner.
Rodney Knight, having agreed to continue, was proposed by the President. Passed.
10. AOB. None notified.