AGM Part 2

Two weeks ago I wrote that the Annual General Meeting was where the members could hold the retiring committee to account. I have had a couple of folk ask what does "hold the committee to account" even mean??? I'll attempt an answer. The Committee is elected at the AGM and for the following twelve months runs the club as well as it can in the interests of all of the members. When the next AGM comes along, then the members can, and should, ask the committee any questions that they have about the stewardship of the club over the intervening period. We all have special interests, whether they be about the young athletes, club finances, provision of equipment and/or facilities, social activities or whatever. Everything is fair game.

For instance, were I going to the meeting, theer are a couple of issues that I would raise. The first would be about the lack of provision of any competition for the cross-country and road runners among the young athletes in Clydebank - every match or race is an 'away' fixture. I suggested a race in conjunction with the Dunky Wright but that fell through because of the Scottish age-group championships the next day. However even recognising that point, there was no indication that they would look at providing such an event next year. Is there any possibility of an event in Clydebank next winter for the young athletes? There are certainly several for the seniors. That would have been one of my points. A second would be about what happened to the sponsorship that Brian McShea tried to set up for the club with his employers? He went to them a month or so after election to the committee and the reply was sympathetic and he asked me to email a short gistory of the club to his boss. I did that, and then when a club member was asked to visit the,. Peter as President went along. The initial suggestion had been a big tent, such as many other clubs have, to be used at the track leagues and cross country fixtures as a kind of headquarters and changing facility: would have been good because the sponsors name would have had exposure across Scotland on a 12 months a year basis. This was altered to lots of medals. Then it was suggested that a tent might after all be a good idea. But where did it go from there? Do we have the sponsorship or not? And if not, how does it make Brian feel vis-a-vis his employers?
These would be my two points - provision of competition for young endurance runners and a query about what happened to the sponsorship deal and where is it at? Neither is offensive and both are seeking information.

So - what does holding the committee to account mean? It just means asking how their actions have panned out and what are the plans for the future should they be re-elected.