Management Meetings

Minutes of YPA Management meeting held at Batley 28th October 2023

Present: Robert McMillan (President & Competition Secretary), Richard Hindle (Vice President), Philip Reynolds (Treasurer & Manchukuo), Keith Burton (Webmaster), Daphne McMillan (Secretary), Richard Smith (Leeds), Chris Phillips (Scarborough), Colin Lea (York).

The President welcomed the delegates to the meeting.

There being only one member short of a quorum, the delegates present agreed to declare the meeting quorate.

Apologies: Glenn Fearons (Barnsley & Wakefield), Martin Snowdon (Redcar), Bill Shand (Stockton), Ted Lunn (Bridlington)
Minutes of last meeting: The minutes of the meeting on 27th May had been circulated and were accepted as a true record of proceedings. Proposed K Burton, seconded R Hindle.
Matters Arising: None.
Finance: The treasurer gave an overview of the finances Current Account £767.56 Reserve Account £2031.97 Cash in hand £22.12 Total £2821.65 The treasurer reported that the 16 societies have paid for the 2023-24 season. There has been no contact from Grimsby.
1. Chris Phillips asked why there were two bank accounts. This was done as for convenience when interest rates made it beneficial not to have all the money in a current account. It was suggested that a higher interest rate could be obtained from Lloyds.
2. It was thought that it would be more practical to have three signatories to the accounts, of which two would be needed for transactions.
Exhibition frames: There has been no contact from any society regarding the frames after more than adequate opportunity had been given. The President therefore proposed that the frames be disposed of at the earliest opportunity. Harrogate have expressed an interest in having some of the card inners.
2024 Convention and beyond: The Vice President was of the opinion that we should continue to hold the event in conjunction with the York Fair and said that there should have been more publicity for the AGM in July, which was poorly attended. On the day, the event in general lacked signage.
1. Discussions indicated that there was little enthusiasm from the member societies for running a convention and fair in the summer. Many societies now have fewer active members who could run such an event. It is a constitutional requirement* that a convention be run, with the AGM and competitions each year. *Upon checking the constitution, this is an ‘objective’ rather than a ‘requirement’
2. There was discussion about modifying the form of at least some of the competitions. Richard Smith suggested competitions with fewer than 16 sheets, to reflect what some societies already do, and he also recommended more use of digital formats. Some classes would remain at 16 sheets to act as an intermediate step for collectors who aimed to progress to national competitions. These suggestion will be investigated over the coming months.
Website matters. The Webmaster reported that after a small technical glitch, the missing tabs had been restored on the home page.
1. A report of the York Society’s 75th Anniversary celebrations will be added to the site.
2. Not very much information is coming in from societies. News of forthcoming events or reports of completed ones would be very welcome. He also asked for suggestions as to what new pages members would like to see.
A.O.B. It had been noted at the previous meeting that there was still a need to find a Junior Vice President. After having given this much thought, the Secretary offered to take the position. After some discussion, this offer was accepted and will be put to the next AGM. It was noted that there is no actual job description for this post.

There being no other business, the meeting closed. The date of the next meeting is to be advised.