Minutes of the AGM of the Friends of Coppett Hill
The meeting was held at 7.30 on 14 January 2015 at the Goodrich Village Hall.
Attendance: There were 36 present. (see note 1).
Introduction
Lawrie Lowe (LL) opened by giving apologies from the Membership Secretary, Keith Parnell, who is in hospital. Keith
had written a note to the meeting which was read out by Mike Thompson (MT).
Keith expressed his hope for an amicable and successful outcome to what had been a trying period for the Friends.
He added his support to those genuinely feeling the need for an organisation like the Friends and who will work hard
to bring back the harmony which must exist between the Coppett Hill Common Trust (the Trust) and the Friends in
order to continue giving pleasure to our community.
LL then thanked all those who had supported the Friends during the year. The resignations of the Trustees of the
Friends had been for various reasons; those of Keith Parnell and Mike Thompson had been planned 12 months
before and they were thanked for their work they had done over many years, Keith as membership secretary and
Mike as treasurer and also the author of the walks booklet which had sold very successfully and provided a steady
stream of income for Coppett Hill.
Kevin Woodhouse and Hazel Pickering had been co-opted onto the Committee at the previous AGM but decided by
mid-year that they did not wish to continue. Laurence Moss and Mary Rowberry also submitted their resignations in
November, for differing reasons which it was not necessary to discuss.
Accounts
MT presented the accounts for the year to August 2014.
In explaining the difference from previous years, he explained that there were normally three equal sources of
income – membership fees, book sales and fund raising events. In this year membership fees had been waived and
no fund raising events had been held.
Income was therefore down to £768, being mainly book sales.
Expenditure included grants of £1562 for Trust projects and training and £330 to fund outdoor learning trips for
Goodrich School.
This excess of expenditure over income led to a reduction on the overall bank balance to £9478.
There were no questions on the accounts and they were proposed, seconded and unanimously accepted.
MT went on to report an up-to-date balance of £9723, the changes coming from book sales and a gift aid rebate,
with a further £250 paid to the Trust for bird box replacement. He noted that in addition there was a stock of 300
walks booklets with a sale value of £600.
He went on to say that although the bank balance was healthy, it was also to some extent an embarrassment as a
charity should not be accumulating funds. While this money had been seen as vital for funding Trust projects and
running costs some 15 months ago when the Trust was unsure about future grant funding; this was no longer the
case.
This was the reason for the suspension of membership fees and a reason for the garden party not being held this
year. The Trust has in fact recently told the Friends that the £1000 funds for the Dew Ponds project that the Friends
had pledged to support 12 months ago were no longer needed.
In conclusion MT said that many did not appreciate that the Friends had generated income of £2000 per annum over
the past 8 years and had on average donated £1000 per annum to the Trust. He felt it was worth making this point
as there was a perception in some places that ‘the Friends just organised garden parties and walks’.
Discussion on Trustees and the Way Forward
In introducing the subject, LL explained that the current Trustees had made every effort in the past months to make
people aware of the need for new Trustees if the Friends was to continue.
The Trust Directors had been asked if the matter could be raised at their AGM in October, as ‘A’ shareholders had in
the past filled most Trustee places, but this was refused.
The Friends AGM papers explained the need for new Trustees and requested that they should come forward to talk
to the current Trustees, to see what was involved. There had been no approaches.
The AGM papers were also sent to the Trust Directors in early December and they were subsequently contacted and
asked if they could make any proposals or had any comments for the AGM, as possible solutions could involve
working in different ways. No replies were received and we have to assume that it does not concern them whether
the Friends continue.
Summary of the Roles of Trust and Friends
As there were several people present who were fairly new to the Friends, LL gave a brief review of the roles of the
Friends and the Trust and how the organisations had evolved over the past 30 years.
After successfully working together for 20 years, the funds of both the Trust and Friends are very strong. However,
as has been reported, the relationship between the Trust Directors and the Friends Trustees broke down during
2014 and this, together with previously planned resignations, has resulted in none of the Friends’ existing Trustees
being prepared to continue.
The Meeting was then opened up for discussion and the notes below summarise the main points made
1. The meeting was asked whether there were any people prepared to put their names forward as future
trustees, at this point. There were no offers. The point was made by several people that those not closely
involved were not really aware of what all the problems were and what they would be getting into.
2. It was asked whether the Friends could be ‘put into hibernation’. LL replied that for a charity to continue
there was a need for there to be Trustees. The existing three would be prepared to stay on for six months, if
nobody came forward, with the charity being inactive. This would allow others further time to come forward
and consider running it. If no solution was reached, the charity would need to be closed down and the assets
dispersed.
3. In response to a question as to how the funds would then be used, bearing in mind the Trust’s favourable
finances and whether funds could go to other organisations such as the Wildlife Trust or Butterfly
Conservation, LL confirmed that under the Friends present constitution all funds had to be allocated to
activities loosely related to Coppett Hill until it was would up. At that time funds could be disposed of to any
charitable organisation that was similar to the Friends – at the members’ discretion.
4. Several people queried whether the Friends could operate totally independently from the Coppett Hill
Common Trust, forming links with other organisations.
5. It was noted that the Friends’ constitution makes no mention of any link to the Coppett Hill Common Trust
and there is no obligation to maintain the strong link between the two organisations that there has been in
the past. That being said, LL as Chairman of the Friends said that he had difficulty with the thought of the
two organisations not working co-operatively but agreed that it would be up to future trustees to decide
how the Friends operate.
6. It was the conclusion of several people that this distancing of the Friends and the Trust could be a viable way
forward – at least in the short term.
The following specific points were made:
John Edwards, an 'A' Director of the Trust , advised that he was attending the meeting as a concerned member of
the Friends and stated that he sincerely hoped that the Friends would be able to continue. He considered that it was
Coppett Hill itself rather than the individual organisations involved that was important.
He also considered that the Trustees of the Friends were overstating the problems that they were encountering in
dealing with the Trust.
Tom Richardson, who had resigned as Minute Secretary of the Trust, disputed John’s second point above, saying
that he had resigned from his role with the Trust because any discussion at Directors' meetings of any of the
questions that the Friends asked was blocked.
Patrick Chatterton, the Company Secretary of the Trust, said that he considered that the current Trust Directors
should be able to work with the Friends again if there were different personalities involved.
LL was asked by several from the floor as to why the Trust directors would not enter into any discussions with the
Friends on matters that concerned them. LL was unable to answer, but stated that if those Trust Shareholders
present were concerned that their Directors were not acting as they would like, they should raise the matter with
them. At this point, John Edwards accused LL of trying to ‘stir up trouble for the Trust’ and insisted that his
comments be registered in the minutes of the meeting.
In summary
It was made clear at the end of the meeting (though no formal vote on the issue was taken) that all those present
were in favour of the Friends continuing.
The meeting was then asked again whether any of those present would like at this time to put their names forward
as Trustees.
Several people said they would like to help facilitate a way forward– but could not commit at this time as Trustees.
The final agenda item was then put to the vote – to re-elect the three existing Friends’ Trustees - Lawrence Lowe,
Mike Thompson and Keith Parnell - for a maximum period of 6 months. This was passed unanimously.
It was reiterated that these Trustees would be pleased to meet and work with any potential new Trustees, brief
them fully and facilitate a further General Meeting to allow their election. They would also be fully committed to
arranging a proper handover.
L Lowe
Note 1 - Attendance detail:
There were 36 present: 21 were current members of the Friends, 23 were shareholders in the Trust, 8 were
registered as members of both.