We had a most enjoyable Zoom AGM on Friday evening, with half of the club in attendance, albeit in the background in some cases, and a couple of apologies sent in to account for more of the membership. The chairperson’s report had been sent out to everyone in advance of the meeting, allowing plenty of time for people to have a read through it at their leisure. Cormac followed it up with a brief treasurers report, there having been very few transactions this year. Refunds are ongoing via the Itsplainsailing site for our defunct Team Challenge/Derby Show and the final accounts will be available when they have gone through.
Having put in such a strange and unusual year the current committee were glad to stand down after giving their reports but their respite was short lived as one by one they got re-elected to their former posts, with a couple of very minor tweaks. With the ‘new’ committee in place the discussion turned to the future and a number of points were agreed.
The club will change from using the Facebook Messenger group for official communications as not all people use Facebook. A new WhatsApp group has been formed, including all current members, and this group will run till 31st January 2021. At that time the group will be deleted and a new group will be formed for the 2021 membership. The Facebook Messenger group will still be there for anyone wishing to use it for a social get-together but any club discussions or notifications will be carried out via WhatsApp.
Club members expressed a strong desire to receive a list of club members and their contact details, in order to feel more connected, especially in these times of distancing. To this end our membership form will be updated to include a “permission to share contact details with club members” in order to keep us on the right side of GDPR legislation. The necessity to stay on the right side of these laws is another reason to delete the past years WhatsApp group each January and start anew.
I also intend to revamp the website and drag it kicking and screaming into modernity, but as I am not remotely tech savvy it will take me no small amount of time…probably a job for the Christmas holidays.
Membership fees remain unchanged apart from the fact that we are passing on the discount head-quarters is offering for renewals. Whilst our fees are slightly higher than some clubs it means we have a small financial buffer to help bolster events and lessons that don’t cover themselves, and also means we don’t need to fundraise. This means our 2021 membership fees will be as follows
E100 new riding member
E85 renewal for riding member
E40 non-riding member
Our next official gathering is the North West Riding Clubs AGM on Monday 23rd of November (via Zoom needless to say)
The first Letterkenny Riding Club meeting of 2021 will take place on Friday 22nd of January. Format to be confirmed closer to the time.
Letterkenny Riding Club 