MINUTES OF ANNUAL MEETING HELD AT
ALEXANDER CENTRE, FAVERSHAM
ON 11TH APRIL 2005.
PRESENT:
Interim Committee
Bobby Mason Chairman
Roger Bennett Secretary
Peter Clarke Treasurer
Bob Heward Vice Chairman & 300 Club Promoter
Ray Leader Trustee
Ken Hammond Trustee
Sid Medley Site Co-ordination
Guest from The F.A.
Barry Bright
Members
67 Members signed the attendance record
APOLOGIES
These were received from Bob Laslett, John Webb, & John Wortham.
CHAIRMAN'S OPENING REMARKS
The Chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting & in particular
Barry Bright from KCFA & FA.
Chairman invited Barry Bright to address the meeting.
GUEST SPEAKER
Barry Bright said how sad it had been for him to see the decline of
the club under the previous regime. It had been very regrettable
that a club with such a history & record had declined to the
point where it had withdrawn from the Kent League. He was very
pleased to learn of the efforts being made to restore the club to
senior status football in Kent and he wished the Committee &
members every success in achieving this target. He realised that it
was not easy to revive the club & urged all members to do their
best to bring this about. He looked forward to attending the first
match of a reformed Faversham Town F.C. at Salters Lane.
Barry Bright was warmly applauded by the meeting.
PROGRESS AT SALTERS LANE
Roger Bennett gave the membership a progress report on the work
which had been progressing since mid 2004. "Before &
after" photos were on display which well illustrated the
transformation.
In particular this was due to the remarkable efforts put in by the
volunteer work parties at the ground led by Pat Miles & Sid
Medley who were formally thanked by the members. A new temporary
clubhouse had been acquired, a replacement stand erected, new toilet
block was on site and many other items of work completed. New
floodlights would be in place next season subject to planning &
other approvals. However, much work remained to be completed &
volunteers were always needed at the ground.
The Press Officer was thanked by the meeting for his efforts to
raise the profile of the club and bring it to the attention of the
community.
The Club was forging new links with the very successful youth teams
in Faversham.
FINANCE REPORT
The Treasurer summarised the current financial position.
There were three bank accounts operational;
1. Independent Supporters Club - started in 2004 & currently had
a balance of £454.
2. Salters Lane Restoration Fund - the account used to fund work at
Salters Lane with
£3200 approx in the account.
3. Club Account - newly opened with Nat West & £608 held by
Treasurer to be banked.
The Treasurer advised members that detailed statements were
available on request.
The Club Accounts would be for the period up to 31st May 2006 &
be available for the 2006 AGM.
MEMBERSHIP
Membership Secretary advised that so far there were 85 members.
CONSTITUTION
The Treasurer spoke on the new constitution. One of the problems
facing the interim committee as it took over the football club had
been the complete lack of any records & accounts. However it was
known that around 1998, for reasons unknown the operation of the
club had been transferred to a limited company Faversham Town F C
Limited & then to Faversham Town (Millennium) Ltd.
Records at Companies House showed the first company had been
dissolved & the second was subject to a proposal to be struck
off. Therefore the Committee had decided that the club should be
reformed and had further concluded that a members club was best
suited to the current & future structure of the club. After
consultation with KCFA a "template constitution" had been
obtained from FA & used to draft the Faversham Town FC
Constitution. The proposed constitution had been circulated to all
members. The motion to adopt the new constitution proposed, seconded
& accepted unanimously.
COMMITTEE
The following were elected to serve on the Committee until the 2006
AGM;
Chairman Bob Mason
Vice Chairman John Webb
Secretary Roger Bennett
Treasurer Peter Clarke
Membership Bob Heward
Commercial Manager Ray Leader
Press Officer James Brown
Salters Lane Site Co-ordinator Sid Medley
Committee member Ken Hammond
ANY OTHER BUSINESS
The Commercial Manager gave detail of the programme of fund raising
events
The Sportsman's Dinner on 6th May was selling well: there was a
Murder Mystery play on 28th May &, later in the year, a Golf Day
& Ladies Night. Members were urged to support these fund raising
events. The Commercial manger was very optimistic about the future
of the club with new facilities and floodlights. However, there was
a need to raise money to meet the club's ambitions.
The 300 club currently had 215
members & was working successfully with potential to raise more
money for club funds if more members joined. Bob Heward was the
promoter.
Following a question & answer
session the Chairman declared the meeting closed at 9.20 pm and
thanked everyone for attending & contributing to a very
successful meeting.
