Annual General Meeting 2011

The Annual General Meeting of the Old Tauntonians' Association, Southampton was held on Monday 7 March 2011 at 7pm at The Sporting View, Southampton Sports Centre.

You can view the Draft Minutes of this meeting that will be presented for approval at the next AGM in 2012 (including Reports from Executive Officers). This document will open in a separate window.

Presented below for your information are the Meeting Agenda, list of Elected Officers and Honorary General Secretary's Annual Report 2010.

Agenda

1. Apologies for Absence
2. Minutes of the last Annual General Meeting (held on 8 February 2010)
3. Matters arising from the Minutes
4. Correspondence
5. Reports 2010:
   1. Honorary General Secretary
   2. Honorary Membership Secretary
   3. Honorary Website Manager
   4. Honorary Editor News & Views
   5. Honorary Archivist
   6. Honorary Treasurer's Report 2010
6. Election of Vice President(s) and Honorary Members
   (In accordance with the Constitution, nominations must have received the prior approval of the Executive Council)
7. Election of Officers for 2011–2012 (each is an honorary post):
   
   1. President; Chairman of the Association; General Secretary; Membership Secretary; Website Manager; Treasurer; Editor, News & Views
   2. Election of three Ordinary Members for 2011–2012
8. Election of Honorary Examiner of Accounts
9. Any Other Business
   Members may raise questions or matters for discussion relating to the Association but are reminded that the meeting cannot vote on any question or subject discussed.

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Elected Officers

The Officers for the year 2011–2012 are:

President:	Ted Colenutt
Chairman:	Roger Parsons
General Secretary:	Bob Newell
Treasurer:	David Bryett
Membership Secretary:	Jeff White
News & Views Editor:	Vacant (Temporary Editor Bob Newell)
Website Manager:	Bob Newell

Ordinary Members of Council:

David Brown, Martin Rowe and Paul Skates

Ex-Officio Members of Council:

Principal (Alice Wrighton)
Immediate Past President (Jonathan Prest)
Immediate Past Chairman of Council (John Martin)
Vice Presidents: Messrs Bathurst, Colenutt, Hodgkinson, Humby, and Munro

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Honorary General Secretary's Annual Report 2010

This is my first report as Honorary General Secretary having succeeded the very capable (and all-knowing!) John Bathurst. This first year has been a bit of a baptism of fire with the varied events that have taken place to commemorate the School's 250th anniversary, and the Centenary Reunion Dinner.

Events in the OT year began with the Old Tauntonian / Old Bournemouthian Golf Day held in May at the Dibden Golf Club. Once again it was organised to a "tee" by John Bathurst, ably assisted by granddaughter Lucy. John produced a comprehensive report for News & Views, but suffice to say here that this event was extremely well supported on the day, and I'm told that there was some tolerably good golf played. The day ended with supper where, OTA President, Ted Colenutt, kindly agreed to present the trophies.

A "London Lunch" was held at Kettner's Restaurant in Soho, London on Saturday 19 June 2010, attended by some 32 OTs and their wives/partners. We are very grateful to Peter Jones for organising, what was, an excellent day out for many of us. Ted Colenutt was in the chair.

On Saturday 26 June 2010 a Thanksgiving Service for the life of Richard Taunton was held at Highfield Church, followed by a wreath-laying ceremony at his tomb in Holyrood Church, Southampton. The Mayor of Southampton was principal guest. Taunton's College hosted a quite excellent Garden Party in the College grounds in the afternoon, one of the highlights of which was a comprehensive display of Taunton's history and memorabilia.

The Centenary Dinner, held at the Guildhall Southampton saw some 450 OTs attend. All agreed this was a fitting highlight to what had been a quite remarkable year for the OTA. The Dinner Chairman was Ted Colenutt, and a host of guests included the Mayor & Mayoress of Southampton, (Councillor Carol Cunio and her daughter Ruth), The MP for Southampton (Test) Alan Whitehead, previous College Principals Jenny Fitton and Jonathan Prest, and representatives from the Old Symondian, Old Edwardian and Old Bournemouthian Associations. The Association hosted four members of the Management Team at Taunton's College. They were, Annelise Miller, Matt Atkinson, Phil Berry and Jane Higgins. John Martin welcomed the guests and proposed the toast to the College, to which Alice Wrighton responded. The Master of Ceremonies was Ron Allison. There are too many people to be thanked for their efforts in the organisation of these events in this short report. They know who they are!

Interspersed in the events above was the annual Summer Lunch held once again at Keat's Restaurant in August and organised by John Bathurst. This event remains extremely popular with some 70 or so OTs and their wives/partners attending. The principal guest this year was Ted Colenutt who received a special rose plant commemorating this very special year for him.

The OTA again sponsored awards of vouchers and shields for the winners of three College Faculties - Arts, Science and Social Science. This year presentation of prizes to students was by Jeff White (Membership Secretary of the OTA).

The Council met four times during the year at the Sporting View. The "100 Club". This continues to flourish under David Bryett. This year a significant grant of £5000 was made from Association funds to offset the Centenary Dinner costs. This could not have been possible without the monies accrued from the running of the "100" Club. News & Views. Two issues of the newsletter were published. Subscribers have responded well to a call for more material. Mike Gould and Jeff White are thanked for their considerable efforts in producing and distributing this document. Mike Gould is thanked in particular for his contribution as Editor over some 10 years. In the absence of a successor, the Honorary General Secretary has agreed to stand in pro-tem.

During the period the deaths were reported of: - Staff: Margaret Harley (1978-97); Margaret Alice Whittaker (1982-91); Roger Jackson (dates unknown); Ex-Pupils /Students: Mike Andrews (1948-56); Peter. R. Andrews (1945-47); Peter Bates (1955-60); John Broomfield (1926-33); William Duffin (1934-41); Peter Ediss (1945-50); John Edom (1955-60); Roy Farwell (1940-41); Ken Flood (1942-46); Keith Goulding (1956-61); Philip Howell (1938-43): Gordon Jefferies (1945-48); Norman Knight (1935-39); Colin Knott (1943-50); Hubert Long (1923 - 30); Charles Marten (1927-32); Keith Mathieson (1931-36); The Reverend Richard Nias (1961-68); Bob Pearce (1930-36); George Leonard (Len) de la Perrelle (1928-34); Neill Pickford (1959-66); Ron Sketcher (1960-67).

The site has been maintained and updated throughout the year, with some changes to appearance and layout, and the inclusion of a VC Gallery page. It remains an important means of "spreading the word", and can be updated very quickly. I am happy to take any suggestions for further improvements.

I have used a different format for the next edition of News & Views, which I hope will translate well into hard copy when printed (albeit in black and white). I intend to put the next edition on the web site (this edition ONLY) to try and encourage more members to take the publication by email and get it in colour (I shall be seeking the OTA Executive's permission to do so, of course).

Bob Newell