The following reports are from the 2019 AGM held on the 21st of Nov 2019

 

Chairman’s opening remarks

 

NORTH REGION CPSA AGM - MERCURE HOTEL, WETHERBY. THURSDAY 21st NOVEMBER 20191. OPENING ADDRESS;

On behalf of the Board of the CPSA and your Regional Committee I would like to welcome you all to the 2019 North Regional Annual General Meeting this evening. Thank you for attending. First, here are the 'Admin' matters; If you have driven please enter your registration number at one of the hotel terminals. The hotel operates parking enforcement and failure to comply could be expensive. Next, in the event of a fire alarm, please leave immediately by the nearest signposted Emergency exit and assemble on the grassed area in the rear car park. Finally, can I confirm we are all fully paid up CPSA members, living in the North Region and that you have registered your attendance at the door. I now welcome tonight's Guests; Dr. John Martin the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the CPSA, the CPSA Chief Executive Officer, Iain Parker and Stuart Oldman, CPSA Operations Manager.   These gentlemen will take questions from the floor, after the Regional business is complete. Next, as is traditional at our Regional AGM, can all present be upstanding for one minute's silence as a mark of respect for those Members – our shooting friends – who have sadly passed away this year. Please stand.Thank you. Now down to the business of the RAGM.

2. Apologies for absence: (Linda Blacker):

3. Minutes of 2018 RAGM 22.11.2018Copies of the minutes of the 2018 Regional AGM have been provided.Take a moment to read these. It would be appreciated that where any copies of the minutes or other reports are distributed, that these are not left behind at the end of the Meeting.  (Proposer – seconder)4. Matters Arising: These are any matters arising from the 2018 RAGM only. If there are any questions, please give your name and CPSA number to the secretary for accurate recording.5. Chairman's Annual Report: There are several reasons for holding a Regional AGM; ( contained in the Regional Committee Bye-Laws, available on the CPSA website.) One of the main purposes of the RAGM is for the membership to ratify the election of County Representatives who subsequently form the Regional Committee. The 2019 Committee stands down at this RAGM, and the 2020 one is elected. We currently only have one established County Committee – this being Merseyside, and the two Merseyside representatives have been nominated as Ian Edwards and Dave Walker. There are no other County Committees in the North Region -  a situation that does not appear likely to change any time soon. In these circumstances, the County Representatives are nominated from 'the floor' and ratified by the membership. The elected County Representatives then select a Chairman, Vice-Chairman, Secretary and Treasurer, collectively known as the 'Officers'. Additional persons may be co-opted to assist the Committee as necessary. In particular the Committee are looking to appoint a Discipline Manager for English Skeet. This discipline has been a bit problematical in terms of attendances to team selection shoots and Championships lately, and a skeet manager appointment will be expected to address these issues.

Another aim of the Regional Committee is to promote our sport. An example of this was a decision for the entry fees for Colts and Juniors at the Regional All-Round Championships in September to be paid for from Regional accounts, with a view to encouraging more young people into the sport. This is still being assessed. CPSA Membership in the North remains stable this year at 3063 (compared to 3068 in 2018), with a handful of renewals in the pipeline. We continue to retain the £2.00 'levy' fee at County and Regional shoots - the levies generated by your support ensure that the Region continues to flourish financially, and thanks go to all the North Region shooters for attending these shoots. A spreadsheet of all the 2019 Regional and County Champions and category winners is available on the North Region website. The Regional Treasurer will provide a balance sheet and answer any questions on the Region's finances following this. You will also be receiving a round-up shortly from the discipline managers regarding the main domestic shooting disciplines. There will also be a presentation of achievement awards later to those of our competitors who have achieved success in CPSA major championships, and a presentation of the Chairman's Award for the 2019 Shooter of The Year. (Definitions of what constitutes a 'major' or 'minor' championship can be found in the General and Technical Rules handbook – available as a download from the main website or in hard copy from HQ.)My thanks also go to all the ground operators, shooting ground staff and officials for making sure we actually have worthy venues to enjoy our sport. There are many DTL shooters excited about the prospect of the 2020 World DTL Championships in July being held at Bywell SG. |I am also pleased to report that East Yorkshire Clay Shooting Ground is now fully operational. Expressions of interest from several potential new venues have been forwarded to the Committee for consideration. On a slightly negative note, Park Lodge Shooting School have 'pulled' their support to the Region for the foreseeable future – citing lack of economic viability. Blackpool Gun Club also had to take a bit of a break in the latter half of the year due to the medical issues of the ground owner. We wish Andy well, and we continue to monitor the situation at both venues.

Finally, I would now like to thank the Officers, County Representatives and Team Managers who collectively formed the 2019 Regional Committee, in particular the Regional Secretary Mrs. Linda Blacker who keeps tabs on it all.  A lot of hard work goes into the running of the committee and all give up many hours of their free time. This is unseen, unpaid and – occasionally – unappreciated, but without this commitment our sport wouldn't function in the North nearly as well as it does. I also want to thank the Treasurer Ian Ainsley, who is standing down. Ian has always brought a breath of realism to the role, he is not one to suffer fools gladly, and is unafraid to make his opinions known – not always diplomatically, but he has decided it is time to step aside. On my part, it has been a privilege to have been Chairman this year, and I now hand you over to the Treasurer Ian Ainsley, following which we will have a few words from CPSA HQ, and then take a short break before we move onto the remainder of business.