AGM Friday 24th November 2017
Chairman Wendy Barron welcomed members to our Annual General Meeting at 8pm. As usual there was an excellent turnout, 41 in all. The minutes of the previous AGM were accepted, and our Chairman delivered her annual report on twinning activities.
Wendy reviewed events of the past year. The Country and Western Evening (with added line dancing) was not an unqualified triumph but there were valuable learnings for the future. The April coffee morning was a success, thanks to our generous Dunmow Library hosts and support from the Co-op – a number of our members attended, together with some potential ‘recruits’ who signed up.
The 4-day visit to Dunmow of our Dourdan friends in May was very successful, thanks to Marian Steven’s hard work organising accommodation with all our generous hosts. The visit to St Albans was very enjoyable despite a lunchtime hiccup, whilst the Saturday dinner in the Foakes Hall went very well.
In July Patsy and David Beedle once again hosted our barbecue which was greatly appreciated. After a summer break October saw us visiting Le Tréport in Northern France for an overnight stay in the company of our Dourdan friends – luckily the dinner was better than the weather. On Sunday we toured the Chateau d’Eu, summer home of the last King of the French. Our final social event in Dunmow was the Fish Supper, a veritable feast thanks to a team of lady members who kindly catered, led by our President Gaenor Jones.
The Chairman was sorry to report that our hardworking Social Secretary Marian Steven was standing down. Wendy was hopeful that Marian would remain on the committee to give her successor the benefit of her long experience in the role. Our Treasurer Willie Fraser was also standing down from his role and from the committee. Wendy praised both Marian and Willie for their contributions.
Willie then took over to give his final Treasurer’s report. The finances were in good order, with a year-end balance of £4460. The trip to Le Tréport had been less well supported than we had hoped. In response to comments that it was a little expensive he urged members to reply by the published deadline stating interest in each event so that cost calculations could reflect realistic numbers.
Elections: Wendy Barron was re-elected as Chairman. With the exception of Willie, members of the committee were willing to stand again and were duly elected. Filling the roles of Treasurer and Social Secretary was deferred to the next committee meeting, and Twinners were asked to consider volunteering their services.
Wendy welcomed our guest speaker, Mary Dunk, Chairman of the Essex and Suffolk Twinning Congress, whose annual meeting we will host here in Dunmow in October. Mary was very complimentary about the dynamism of Dunmow Twinning (including the website!). All twinning groups faced similar challenges: membership, funding, reaching out to a younger generation and our European future (difficult, but less so than when twinning was re-established with Germany after WWII). Future twinning opportunities included language learning and use of social media.
Mary’s German host characterised twinning as a way of being a European citizen as well as being a German or a Brit. You add to your identity but lose nothing of yourself. Twinning was all about friendship, a ‘sheltering tree’ which has flourished here thanks to the care of Dourdan and Dunmow. Mary’s inspiring and insightful talk was appreciated by us all, committee and members alike.
Following the formal part of the evening, Dunmow Twinners settled down to the real business of the evening, the traditional ‘ploughman’s supper’ of assorted cheeses, bread and salad items, accompanied by wine, beer and soft drinks. Conversation flowed regarding, amongst other things, past events and future plans. It seems a good time was had by all.
