Hampshire Whites AGM June 4th 2023

On June 4th 2023 Jeff hosted the Hampshire Whites AGM . The weather was glorious and he was able to 'show off' his new man cave.

An excellent afternoon was enjoyed by all.

Lots of eating and drinking and ' what I would do at ER' chat. Then on to the serious business of preparing for the AGM .

And delivering the very important information...

AGM 2022/2023 Season - June 4th 2023

Present: Shirley, Jacqui, Mick S, Ian, Paul E, Chris R, Ben, Kelvin, John B, Debbie B, Josh D, John D, David D, Simon, Steve Mc, Sue , Alan, Daniel B, Alex, Dean, Mick G, Roy, Jeff, Leroy, Don

Apologies: Steve B, Declan, Stu, Glen, Geoff, Elliot C, Scott C, Dan W, Steve M, Martin B, David V, Pete S, Eddy, Trevor

Minutes of last AGM

Approved by Kelvin and Mick S

CHAIR’S REPORT – Mick Gibbs

To begin: a big thank you to Paula for turning over her garden to us and allowing us to be here (and Jeff, of course).

What a year and absolute proof that nobody, no club, no institution can sit back and rest upon its laurels in a world that is as fluid and fraught with change as this one of ours.

From the heady heights of sitting mid-table with a strong platform built and what seemed like finances and resources to catapult us back to challenging for a top 6, to the debacle of a crumbling structure that had all the ingredients of the collapse of Enron!!!! I think I speak for the whole group as to our collective disappointment on a season that just really has been filled with failures on and off the field of our beloved club.

Thankfully the resolve, commitment and adaptability of our Group ensured that we had no single point of failure despite the fact key people within our group enjoyed a long-deserved break or had personal upheaval precluding their time to be as available to the Membership as is customary. We maintained our efforts to secure tickets and transport for our members throughout this season…although some of our performances on the pitch did not result in the reciprocal points our faith and dedication deserved off the pitch.

With the evidence of just what can happen when a board loses the togetherness and vision, and how the effect of personnel changes can completely change the direction and success, we as our collective need to be mindful and address the ongoing challenges as we have people who have served us so well, wishing to take a well-deserved break from duties.

We have many members within our Group who have benefitted over the years from the tireless dedication of a few behind the scenes whose efforts are sometimes taken for granted and my call as Chair for this incredible Group is for others now to come forward and fill the gaps and assist us if we are to be as successful into our next 20 years. Don who has done a fantastic job in his role as Transport Secretary and has expressed the desire to step down which leaves a large gap in our team. 

Shirley, who despite her challenges with her personal move back North, has continued to maintain her duties as Membership Secretary, but from next season will step down. I would like to thank her for everything she has done and wish her all the best in her next chapter. 

I extend my thanks to Chris and to Jacqui whose efforts are unmatched in keeping this group together. Both focused and professionally administered, your efforts are truly appreciated. I note through our working capital and balance sheet, we as a group have also been affected by the world’s economy. However, with tight fiscal overview and prudent action of our accounts we are recommending we will not need to increase any fees for the foreseeable future.

I cannot thank enough the dedication and efforts of the committee not just in the unswerving dedication to the duties they have performed, but to the empathy they have extended to me in a year which has been personally the most trying time of my life. Steve for the efforts of securing venues for our meetings, Geoff for stepping in to undertake some of the ticketing duties, your efforts have also been appreciated and to the road warriors Jeff, Martin, Leroy, Kelvin, Scott and others who have driven in all sorts of weather and unsocial hours, our enormous thanks. 

As a result of some of those challenges, the work and objectives I set out to achieve, have been somewhat curtailed. That said, I look forward to continuing to work towards improving our Group and ensuring we maintain our high profile within the Leeds United family. Thanks go to Dean and David for maintaining our social media presence. 

I welcome the rebuilding of our club however we know the cornerstone of our club are the fans. That never changes. As our team rebuilds, the White Blue and Yellow of our Hampshire Whites flag will continue to fly high and the voice of our members will be heard in every corner of the UK from Plymouth to Sunderland this next season.

TREASURER'S REPORT - Chris Rumney

Full breakdown of the Income and Expenditure is available from the treasurer.

Highlights

Less money in the account at the end of the session than at the start. mainly due to:

• Timing of the AGM means we have bought two seasons pin badges in this FY
• The two Charity donations this season have been £500 rather than £300.
• The loss on tickets, especially the £223 on the Fulham cup match

We have spent just short of £20,000 on tickets this season and over £10,000 on transport

Membership Income

Remained at £10 per person. We have 11 non-paying members, 146 adult members who paid last year and 38 non-paying u18 members. 

Transport

Transport has made a small profit this season - £54 over 30 matches.

Charity Donation

£500 paid to Naomi House and Jack’s Place and £500 paid to Yorkshire cancer Research

2023/2024

Recommendation is that membership fee stays the same - £10 for adults and free for u18s.

Also recommended that we keep transport costs the same as last year - the transport has generally been full this season and we also had people willing to drive their cars when we had more than 9 but less than 14. That is £30 for 17 seater and £35 for 9 seater.
 
 

SECRETARY’S REPORT - Jacqui Greethurst

It has been another busy year with new members joining and travelling with us on the transport. 

It has been easier for me as we have had hard working committee members who are running membership records, tickets, transport and finances really well. Thanks very much to those who stepped in while I was on my travels! Probably means I’m redundant.

This has released me to help with the buying of tickets and also to work a bit more on our profile. This has included continuing to work with LUSN but also charity presentations, contact with Leeds, articles in the programme and stepping in to help where needed. It has also allowed me a bit more time with my other life!

Website: The website is still not sorted although I have been carrying out investigations as to ways forward - this isn’t really the place to discuss it but it will be top of the agenda for the next committee meeting. It will be my top priority next year. Paul L is still willing to host it.

Since the meeting changes have been made.

Social Media

Thanks to Dean, who runs the Twitter account, David who does the Instagram and to the guys who monitor the Facebook page.

LUSN

This group is as near to independent fans discussion with LUFC as we have now. Its prime role is about fans and their involvement with the club not with the running of the club - although things have been said and comments made. LUSN have been involved in meetings and discussions with Angus Kinnear and Katie Holmes and have made some progress with tickets and fans’ involvement. LUSN declined to join the SAB because we felt it was an LUFC tool rather than a proper discussion group - a full explanation is on LUSN website. There will also be a summary of LUSNs year’s work on the website in June. It has cost us £25 to be a member this year as we organised the production of some business cards to help with recruitment and information. Other groups have contributed varying amounts of money to help with the website and any other expenses. It is not like LUSC and does not aim to make a profit.

Events

Micky Adams has agreed to come and talk to us for an evening event in September - depending on fixtures. I hope members will support us. We also have an author, Alan Sutton who has many stories about Leeds in the Wilko era and he is keen to come down and talk to us. Neither are asking for expenses but a few purchases of their books on the evening would be good.

Charity

This year our charities have been Naomi House, near Winchester, where we donated £500 at Christmas and an article appeared in the programme, and Yorkshire Cancer Research where we donated £500 at Spurs match. I will endeavour to put this in the programme at the start of next season.

Next year’s charities are quite close to home. The charities have been chosen by members who I think you will all agree have a very good reason. We will be donating money to a Diabetic Charity in memory of Steve McNally’s wife Carol who lived with diabetes for a lot of her life. We will also be donating locally to Maggie’s, which is based at Southampton hospital. They were very helpful to Eddy when his cancer reappeared at the end of last year and he would like to thank them. 

MEMBERSHIP REPORT - Shirley Harrison

At the end of the 2022 - 23 season we had 195 members, an increase of 20 from the previous season. 

We met most months during the season. We started the year at The Fountain in Rowlands Castle before moving to the Harvester at Port Solent. We also met at South Wonston. We welcome suggestions for a regular meeting place, preferably in the south east of the county. We are also happy to visit different parts of Hampshire for occasional meetings to increase accessibility for members who live in these areas - let us know if you know of a suitable venue. 

Please ensure you let us know what level of membership you hold with Leeds, My Leeds, My Leeds plus or Priority, assuming the same levels apply next season. It is essential we know this when buying tickets. Also, don't forget to let us know if you move house or change your phone number or email address. If you do not receive emails from membership secretary or Whatsapp messages from Tickets, Transport or HW Noticeboard by the end of July - let us know and we can check we have the correct details. This is important as it is how we communicate with you. 

The 2023-24 Welcome Letter will be sent to all members before the start of next season, please keep it somewhere you can access it as it will contain contact details for committee members, the process for requesting tickets and booking transport and the HW bank details for payments.

I am standing down as membership secretary from today. I have enjoyed the last 10 years as secretary and membership secretary and thank you all for your patience and support during this time. I am sure you will be just as supportive to whoever takes over.

NOTE: Shirley has continued to the end of July to help us with the new membership as we haven’t had a volunteer yet. Since the meeting Steve Boucher has stepped in to the role.

TICKET REPORT - Geoff Quade 

Good afternoon, all. sorry I can’t be with you today as I’m in France slurping vin rouge and munching on frogs’ legs and garlic. 

As you know I took over the role when Judith Chalmers (aka Jacqui) went off on her adventures for half the year. I also took over the Ticket Requests role from Scott whilst he was away searching for gold in Colombia. It seemed logical to merge the two roles and I kept responsibility for both until the end of the season.

Ticket Requests

It became clear to me that there was unnecessary ‘muddle’ with the system and that’s why I altered it slightly. Under the new system I put the requests out as a WhatsApp Broadcast message direct from the ticket phone 07512043547. Replies can then be sent directly back to the ticket phone. It took 3 or 4 games for people to get used to this but it soon bedded down and has worked really well since then.

Ticket Allocation

This has gone reasonably well, however members don’t always seem to remember that they ordered tickets! The ticket purchasing team put in a lot of effort to get your

tickets and it is frustrating when members suddenly say they no longer require a ticket. It’s not a massive issue as we can send tickets back but please bear this in

mind as it is very time consuming. It will probably be mentioned elsewhere but a big chuck up for said purchasing team, you’ve all done a great job and have more or less ensured that everybody who asked for home tickets got them. The system for away games is not user friendly and was a different story but out of our hands unfortunately.

Regarding the email which accompanies your tickets for home games, it contains vital information regarding dos and don’ts pertaining to what to do if your ticket can’t

get you through the turnstile. It also gives you all the info you need regarding payment, transport and HW contacts. Please make sure you read this on receipt.

Thank you all for making my role as comfortable as it was. I am willing to continue next season.

TRANSPORT REPORT - Don Morris

I have been transport secretary for 3 years - the first year was very easy as there were no matches!! I will be stepping down this year but am willing to help the new person with advice or other help.

We have transported 385 people to matches this season and the system has worked well. A huge thanks to the drivers who have not only driven but helped with timings, pick-ups etc. Particular thanks to Jeff (23) and Kelvin (18) who have driven the most but also to Chris Morris, Leroy, Martin B, Scott, Steve B and to Paul E and Paul Longden who have driven their cars for us. Thanks to Mick G, Martin C and Kelvin who stepped in to drive to Brighton when the bus broke down. 

Thanks also to the committee who have supported when help was needed.

NOTE: Since the meeting Kelvin and Steve Lunn have stepped forward to organise transport for us next year. Huge thank you to them. More information shortly. 

Election of Committee

Chair: Mick was re-elected

NOTE: Since the meeting Mick had to stand down due to personal problems and Steve McNally has stepped in to the role.

Treasurer: Chris Rumney was re- elected

Secretary: Jacqui Greethurst was re-elected

Sub-committee:

Vice Chair: Steve Boucher

Tickets: Geoff Quade

Transport: Kelvin Fennemore and Steve Lunn

Membership: Steve Boucher

Social Media: Dean and David

Constitution

There are no changes to the constitution

Fees

The membership fees will remain at £10 for adults and free for under 18s.

The transport costs will remain at £30 for 17-seater and £35 for 9-seater, £15 for under 18s - subject to review during season.

Branch Meetings

Steve B has organised for us to meet at the Harvester in Port Solent as a base for our meetings next season. We will meet at South Wonston and are looking at venues in the Eastleigh area to help members attend more easily. These meetings are important for the running of HW but are also an opportunity for a drink and a chat.

Lovely to deliver to a very attentive and alert audience!

After the meeting a presentaion of small gifts to the people who have worked hard to ensure the success of Hampshire Whites - including one of our drivers, Leroy ...and finally the raffle. Many good prizes as usual and generous purchasing of tickets as usual.