Welcoming anglers since...1948

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AGM 27th April 2021

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1.             Chairman's Opening Address.

             Well here we are again or should I correctly state here we AREN'T again. Circumstances have forced us to hold yet another virtual AGM. Let’s all hope third time lucky for next year that we can hold a "proper" AGM.

Despite the dreaded virus the club is, as you will hear in detail later, doing well and getting things done. As we are unable to hold actual Committee meetings we have introduced a system of "internet voting" for major decisions including those matters that would be voted on during a "normal" AGM so despite not attending a AGM you still have a voice and this seems to be working well additionally we have been able to maintain and improve our waters by our own dedicated workforce and outside contractors where appropriate. Whilst some competitions have unfortunately been cancelled we have still managed to award many of our cups and trophies and I would particularly like to thank our engraver, Sue at Crowborough Shoe Repairs for her extra help in the collection and distribution of the cups and trophies. 

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I would like to take this opportunity to thank all Committee members and working party attendees for theist hard work during the season and to wish any retiring committee members all the best for the future. Don't forget if you feel that you would like to get more involved with your club and join the Committee we would be very pleased to hear from you. There are some members of the Committee who I feel have gone" the extra mile" during this difficult year, I don't intend to mention any names but my special thanks to you.

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Thank you for reading this and I trust that next year I can say THANK YOU FOR LISTENING TO ME.

Cris Millis.

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A few words from our Vice Chairman.

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'I think it unusual for a Vice Chairman to speak (virtually) at an AGM, but these are not usual times.

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When I first joined a fishing club in Essex, many years ago (note to Dave Cot - No, Isaac Walton was not the Chairman) I realised how important the riparian owners were. Without them, we would have no fishing. When I came to Crowborough, I soon realised that this relationship was even more important. I also knew that the feeling between our 'bailiffs', water management officers with these owners was paramount.

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Early in 2020 the government and the Angling Trust made a hasty decision to suspend fishing. Realising that this decision was likely to be reversed and then imposed again, the committee felt we should have discussions with the owners.   I felt that these talks should not be between the bailiffs and as I knew very few of the owners personally, I volunteered to do this, preventing, following an expected u-turn, a falling-out between the owners and their club contacts.

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I am very pleased to report that these discussions went very well and it was obvious that the bond between CDAA and the owners was very strong. Every person I spoke to was happy with the arrangements we proposed and gave the committee a free hand to do what was best for everybody.

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The committee was obviously pleased that the owners were content and to show our appreciation, we send them all a Christmas card!  Our thanks here to members for generally obeying the rules.

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However, being a MOG I cannot let this opportunity pass without mentioning a couple of points raised by some owners:

1.    Litter   and 

2.    Inconsiderate parking

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I will say no more.

Dave Stanbridge.

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2.            Apologies for Absence.

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As this is a virtual AGM there are no apologies.

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3.            Minutes of the 2020 AGM.

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You will find these as an attachment (if you received this by email) or on separate sheets.

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4.            Honorary Secretary Report.

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Dear Members,

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This time last year I had not long taken over the role of Hon. Secretary and the world, and our sport with it, had some rather difficult challenges to contend with. In the past year we have been stopped from fishing then allowed only to be stopped again, thankfully things seem to be steadying now and we are hopefully heading for more normal times again and it is looking likely that we will be able to hold our full calendar of matches along with Junior Day and our Family Weekend in July which is great for both our club and the future of angling.

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I would like to take this opportunity to thank every Member of the Committee for their commitment and support over the past year to make sure that everything happened as and when it should have, particularly after the first lockdown when we had very little notice that fishing would be allowed but with some severe restrictions which had to be put in place. The fact that our waters were kept to the high standards you expect and that all other works needed have been carried out is testament to the abilities of your Committee in these trying times.

I would also like to thank John Butler, my predecessor as Hon. Secretary, and Lyndsay Black who are both stepping down from the Committee after several years service for personal reasons, your passion and input will be missed.

Finally, this year I feel I can say with more confidence than last that I look forward to seeing you at next year’s AGM, here’s hoping.  

 

Kind regards

Dave Flint

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5.             Honorary Treasurer Report and adoption of the previous year’s accounts.

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Hello everyone and welcome to the CDAA AGM for the 2020/21 season.

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Hopefully you all have a copy of the Accounts for the last season, showing a gross surplus of £9053.68, which I think you will all agree is a fantastic result on what was probably the strangest year many of us has ever had to face.

Before I explain the results of the last season we need to address the elephant in the room. The accounts for the 2019/20 season have now been audited but still need to be adopted. A copy is attached for your records, they have not changed since the unaudited accounts were presented at last year’s AGM. I would ask that these accounts are now adopted.

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So, let’s look at the last season.

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We, like everyone else I talk to in Angling, has benefitted greatly over the last 12 months.

Our subscription income has increased substantially in 2020/21.

The Junior section had no income or expenditure, obviously.

Fund raising disappeared, obviously.

No advertising income…. as we tried to help out our long-term supporters.

Trophy costs reduced … thanks to Sue at Crowborough Shoe Repairs generosity and no Sea Section, Junior Section or Ladies Trophy engraving.

Working party costs increased as a result of work done to rebuild the Dam at Danesfield Wood. We had to hire in machinery and specialist help for nearly a week, but all of the labouring work was done by volunteers from your Committee. This work was completed just before the end of the season, as a result we will get part of this cost back from the Landowner in the coming season.

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You may notice our Net Assets have increased from £54087.18 in 2019/20 to £103386.43 in 2020/21. This is as a result of an increase in our valuation of Scaland Wood, which is based on recent prices achieved for similar properties sold locally.  We have also included the club owned equipment and our trophies based on replacement values.

Please find attached the Associations audited accounts for the 2021/21 season, I would respectfully ask that they are now adopted by yourselves, BUT please do not expect them to be showing similar figures next season.

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Thanks

Cliff Milledge
Honorary Treasurer

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6.             Any amendments to the Association Constitution and/or rules if required.
 

No amendments have been submitted for consideration.

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7.             Election of Officers…..

• President - Peter Boorman

• Vice President - Dave Stanbridge

• Honorary Secretary - Dave Flint

• Honorary Treasurer - Cliff Milledge

• Assistant Secretary - Sandra Lawrence

• Assistant Treasurer - Peter Boorman

• Membership Secretary - Sandra Lawrence

• Minute Secretary - Dave Flint

• Water Management Officer - Dave Cottington

• Fund Raising Officer - Vacant position

• Publicity Officer - Dave Flint

• Administrator of the Archives - Roger Funnell

• Auditors (2) - Mrs T Walters/Mr D Taylor

• Executive Committee – The Officers listed above/Amber Blakeway/Cai Blakeway/Derek Blakeway/Ian Herpe/John Manktelow/Cris Millis/Roy Williamson

• Junior Representative(s) (up to 2 Juniors) – Hayden Taylor

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Note:  The following Committee positions are elected at the Committee meeting following the AGM
               Chairman – Cris Millis
               Vice Chairman – Dave Stanbridge/Geoff Wicks
               Match Stewards – Roger Funnell/Helen Nicholson-Herpe

As we are unable to hold Committee meetings at present I have listed above the current holders of these positions as it is expected that they will continue in their respective roles until the next AGM.

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8.            Presentation of Prizes/Trophies.

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The 2020-2021 season winners of the various competitions are attached/enclosed on a separate sheet and can also be found on our website here: https://www.crowboroughanglers.org.uk/agm-prize-winners-2018

As per last year all winners will receive a telephone call from a Senior Committee member congratulating them and confirming that their cup/trophy is ready to be collected from Crowborough Shoe Repairs.

 

9.            Any Other Business at the Chairman's Discretion but excluding any proposal that seeks to alter, amend or add to the Association Rules or Regulations.

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Any Member may bring anything they feel appropriate to the Committee’s attention for inclusion in this section within 21 days of the above date.

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10.          Presidents closing address.

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This has been another very successful year for our Club with more people than ever turning to our Club during what has otherwise been a very restricted and frustrating year in so many other respects – our membership has never been so high.  I hope that it can continue long after the restrictions have all been lifted.

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Your Committee has had to work harder than ever to maintain all that the Club provides and our thanks must go to each and every one of them for they are the strength of our Club.

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Our Club has now got, what I consider to be, the best group of officers it has had for a very long time.  Our Committee Chairman, Treasurer, Secretary etc. and Working Party volunteers all do a fantastic job.

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In spite of the unusual circumstances of the past 12 months many have put in exceptional effort and so I have decided to give the President’s Trophy to a man who has given unwavering support to our Club not only during this year but over many years, he has granted us financial and practical help with the Junior Fishing Day each year.  He has also given much valued help and guidance on working parties, particularly Danesfield Wood in recent times.  It gives me great pleasure to make this award to Dave Cottington – Many thanks and well done Dave.

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I have also decided to give the President’s Medal to another very deserving gentleman for his unswerving support in so many ways, particularly caring for the finance which has been rather more demanding this year as our membership has grown to such levels as I don’t recall ever being surpassed in my 50 odd years as a Member.  I have great pleasure in awarding the President’s Medal to Cliff Milledge.  Many thanks and well done Cliff.

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I thank all members of our Club for your support and wish you many times of successful fishing on our waters over the coming year.

Peter Boorman

President

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AGM 2020

 

Unfortunately due to Covid-19 we were unable to hold our AGM in the usual way but instead held a virtual one, the details of which are below.

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AGM 27th July 2020    

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1.             Chairman's Opening Address.

Welcome to the first and let’s hope last CDAA PEOPLE LESS AGM. As you are no doubt aware current restrictions have prohibited us from holding a proper AGM. However the committee felt that as time was marching on we should do something. The meeting will follow normal lines with reports by the Hon. Secretary, Hon. Treasurer and President. You will have received this virtual AGM by either email or post and you will have 14 days from the above date to comment, object and/or volunteer.

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All members of the committee have agreed to continue in their present positions until we can hold our next  AGM but we need to confirm the appointment of Dave Flint as Hon Secretary and Sandra Lawrence as Assistant Secretary, we also have a vacancy for a Fund Raising Officer. See item 7 below for the names of those standing.

There are also vacancies on the committee if you would like to get "more involved” with your club.

 

I would like to take the opportunity to thank all committee members for their hard work and dedication during this difficult and unique chapter in the clubs history and my best wishes to any who are retiring from the committee. A special thank you to John Butler who has retired from the post of Hon Secretary due to pressure at work and health problems, Thank you John for all you have done over the past few years.

 

With regards to our competition winners the cups and trophies have been sent for engraving and will be available for collection at Crowborough Shoe Repairs, my thanks to Sue Brereton for her help in this. All winners will be notified in due course when the trophies are ready.  I would particularly like to congratulate Jeremy Stone for the landing of a Common Skate which exceeded the current British Shore Caught Record.

 

Any decisions at this meeting i.e. confirmation of new Hon. Secretary etc will be taken as read unless we hear from the membership within 14 days.

 

Finally I would like to thank all members for their patience and understanding through this difficult period.
Cris Millis

 

2.            Apologies for Absence.

As this is a virtual AGM there are no apologies.

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3.            Minutes of the 2019 AGM.

You will find these as an attachment (if you received this by email) or on separate sheets.

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4.            Honorary Secretary Report.

Dear Members,

It’s a shame we can't all be together for the AGM, but these are the strangest times.

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It’s been another good year for CDAA with waters fishing well and the working party regulars doing an amazing job of making all the waters look so good.

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It was great news when the government allowed us all to fish again and I am sure it has helped a lot of people deal with the pressures that lockdown and isolation brought on us all.

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Sadly I have to step aside from my role as Honorary Secretary due to work commitments and health, but I am still fishing thank heavens. I have enjoyed my time in the role and have been supported very well by an incredibly hard working Committee. The role of Honorary Secretary is too important a role and unfortunately as I was faced with severe time constraints due to work commitments in particular, I no longer felt I could dedicate the time needed. However I will still be on hand to assist with grant applications to the Angling Trust etc having successfully negotiated two grant applications previously with the help of Dave Flint’s costing and planning involvement.

Good luck with your fishing and may we all meet up again for the next AGM in the regular surroundings.

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Tight Lines & Wet Nets one and all.
Kind Regards, John Butler

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A few words from your new Hon. Secretary:
As your hopefully new Hon. Secretary I would just like to say thank you to my predecessors for leaving me a club which is both successful and in good shape which I intend to continue with and build upon.

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I do feel a little like Boris in that just as I took over from John we were hit with the Covid-19 scenario which meant that what was expected to be a quiet transfer become quite “interesting” as we were stopped from holding our normal face to face meetings and everything has had to be done via phone calls and email. Fortunately our Committee, although aging (sorry but we mostly are), are pretty tech savvy and so we continued to function as things changed on an almost daily basis and I hope you the members are happy with how we have dealt with the situation and especially with the very short notice we got to reopen our waters.

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I look forward to seeing many of you at our next AGM by which time let us hope things are back to normal.

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Kind regards
Dave F

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5.             Honorary Treasurer Report and adoption of the previous year’s accounts.

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(The 2019-20 accounts are attached or on a separate sheet, these will be adopted at our next AGM)

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Hello Everyone. Firstly, may I apologise. I would love to be giving you these figures at our AGM, but due to this really weird year, that is not going to happen. So, I must now deliver the annual results virtually.

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It has been another great year for us financially. We made a surplus of £1738.80, our 3rd best performance in the last 9 years.

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At the last AGM I asked you for the authority to raise subscriptions by £5 per year if the Executive Committee deemed it necessary. At the time I tried to re-assure you that this was not a case of need request but a request for the future should we ever need to raise subscriptions quickly. I am happy to confirm that we have not raised subscription rates this season, that is now 7 years since the last increase, and I do not foresee having to raise them next season either.

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So why is our surplus so much better this year than last year’s £597.44? The basic answer is us, i.e. your Committee and a few other volunteers. Over the last few years, a small body of individuals from the Association (approximately 12/15), have been doing a lot of work maintaining the Associations waters. Day to day maintenance as well as larger projects have all been managed in house. As a result, we are now on top of the projects we need completed at our various waters. Last season the efforts of those few individuals meant that our expenditure for working party work reduced by £1725. However, we do need more people able and available to do scheduled working parties and ad hoc work. Generally, this is never more than 2 or 3 hours at a time, but the benefit to the Association is enormous, and as one of the regular participants I can say it gives me an enormous amount of pleasure visiting any of the waters and thinking I helped it look like this. Being involved does not mean any regular commitment, just a willingness to be involved, a happiness to be contacted and an ability to be involved when it fits in with your other commitments. If anyone seriously thinks they can be involved in the day to day or one off working parties at our waters I will be more than happy to talk you through what we do, when we do it and what we need, to see if it fits with what you are able to commit to.

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The other big change for the 2019/20 season is the membership. Income from memberships dropped by £951, however our membership numbers increased by 19 to 326. This change in income is partly due to the fact that we have more junior members, this accounts for approximately £300 of the drop, but the remainder is due to timings for renewals. Effectively fewer existing members renewed in March this year, and we all know why that happened Mr Coronus Virus.

To sum up – everything is great….
Membership numbers are up.
We have not had to increase subscriptions, again.

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There is one thing I must emphasise. Due to the current situation, our Annual Accounts have not been audited. I hope that you are happy for us to continue moving forward. The accounts will be audited as soon as social distancing allows for this to happen, and if the audit required any changes to be made to them, you will be advised immediately. If the audit does not produce any issues, I will bring the accounts to the next AGM for official adoption.

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Thank you all.
Cliff Milledge

 

6.             Any amendments to the Association Constitution and/or rules if required.

No amendments have been submitted.

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7.            Election of Officers…..
 

• President - Peter Boorman

• Vice President - Dave Stanbridge

• Honorary Secretary - Dave Flint

• Honorary Treasurer - Cliff Milledge

• Assistant Secretary - Sandra Lawrence

• Assistant Treasurer - Peter Boorman

• Membership Secretary - Sandra Lawrence

• Minute Secretary - Dave Flint

• Water Management Officer - Dave Cottington

• Fund Raising Officer - Vacant position

• Publicity Officer - Dave Flint

• Administrator of the Archives - Roger Funnell

• Auditors (2) - Mrs T Walters/Mr M Blackledge

• Executive Committee – The Officers listed above/Lyndsay Black/Amber Blakeway/Cai Blakeway/Derek Blakeway/Ian Herpe/John Manktelow/Cris Millis/Geoff Wicks/Roy Williamson

• Junior Representatives (up to 2 Juniors) - Vacant position(s)
   

Note:  The following Committee positions are elected at the Committee meeting following the AGM
               Chairman – Cris Millis
               Vice Chairman – Dave Stanbridge/Geoff Wicks
               Match Stewards – Roger Funnell/Helen Nicholson-Herpe

As we are unable to hold Committee meetings at present I have listed above the current holders of these positions as it is expected that they will continue in their respective roles until the next AGM.

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8.            Presentation of Prizes/Trophies.

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The 2019-2020 season winners of the various competitions can be found on our website here: https://www.crowboroughanglers.org.uk/agm-prize-winners-2018

All winners will receive a telephone call from a Senior Committee member congratulating them and confirming that their cup/trophy is ready to be collected from Crowborough Shoe Repairs.

 

9.            Any Other Business at the Chairman's Discretion but excluding any proposal that seeks to alter, amend or add to the Association Rules or Regulations.

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Any Member may bring anything they feel appropriate to the Committee’s attention for inclusion in this section within 14 days.

 

10.         Presidents closing address.

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Great relief all round now that we are able to go fishing once again and I hope that you all have had the opportunity to enjoy our favourite sport.  It appears that our waters are now all open again, except Wirgol which we are confident of being able to fish again in the near future, and that having rested they are all in fine fettle.  It is such a shame that we cannot all meet face to face at our AGM but your Committee is doing its best to keep you all informed. 

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Your Committee has this year worked even harder on behalf of our Club.  This Coronavirus has meant lots more effort from virtually all of the Committee and I give them my most sincere thanks for all their dedication to our Club and our cause. 

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I wish you all success in the remainder of the year in life and angling.

Pete Boorman

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AGM Report 2019

 

On Tuesday 23rd April we held our 71st AGM & prize giving evening at the Social Club in Crowborough. Once again this was a popular event and we would like to thank the 40 odd members who attended and helped make the evening a success once again.

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Our Guest of Honour this year was Carl Rasey who is an Environment Agency Fisheries Bailiff, he gave a very informative chat on his work and also the signs to look out for if set lines have been placed at a water you are fishing.

 He also advised on the number to call (0800 807060, it's in your club handbook) if you see something happening that you think is not right or legal and explained that you won't often get an immediate response as they don't have the manpower but that everything is logged and used to build up patterns of evidence. He fielded several questions from our members with straight and honest answers during the evening.

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As usual the evening was started by Cris Millis our Chairman:

 Well once again I stand before you its not my fault that I’m here again its that the Committee they keep voting me in as Chairman ,seriously I’m pleased to do the job.

 My first act as your retiring chairman is to extend a warm welcome to you all, nice to see so many of you have made the effort to attend. A special welcome to Carl Rasey who is a Fisheries Bailiff for the Environment Agency. Carl will later be presenting the cups and trophies and give us a short talk on the activities of the agency.

 Once again as the Hon Secretary and Hon Treasure will later confirm in greater detail we are handing back to you a club in good shape with both new waters added to our portfolio and many improvements to our existing lakes. As you can imagine progress of this nature doesn’t come cheap and I take this opportunity to thank all those who negotiated agreements and attended working parties, without such dedication from these members such progress would be, to put it bluntly very very expensive and probably beyond the clubs means at present subscription levels.

 Tonight there will be a buffet served during the break and our Water Management stroke super salesman, Dave Cottington, will be coming amongst you with raffle tickets for the glittering array of prizes.

 The committee has decided to make a few changes to our constitution, many of these are merely grammatical or just tidying of wording but the main points will be read out later and you will be asked to vote on the changes.

 I would like to thank the Committee for all their hard work during the year and would make special mention of Roger Funnell and Dave Flint for their work on the new website and for running the Junior and Have a go Days, Cliff Milledge for the work on the constitution, Peter Boorman for getting  the council grant for Junior Day, Roy Williamson for his help with the cups and trophies and Peter Gotts for arranging the very successful Race Night which incidentally will be held again on 25th May, do try and come along its a great night with free buffet and a chance to go home richer than when you left home.

 

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This was followed by Apologies for Absence and the acceptance of last year's AGM Minutes and then Hon. Secretary  John Butler's annual report:

Good evening Everyone

 I will keep this fairly short so as not to delay you getting to eat and drink any more than is necessary.

As the Chairman has just said it has been a busy and good year for CDAA and a lot of hard work has gone into making sure our Club is growing in size and stature and reputation. We are well known for our Junior Section and Match scene and have a thriving and active Ladies section.

 Membership numbers continue to be very impressive so thank you all for renewing and introducing friends.

 Last year we spoke of new waters recently acquired, namely Oast Farm between Buxted and Uckfield which offers a fantastic days fishing, and now the CDAA work parties have had their hands on it this is thriving and a joy to fish on the new swims. Don’t forget the farm has a great shop and café with deals on coffee and sandwich for CDAA members fishing there.

 This year we secured rights to fish at Claygate Lakes in Marden a very popular match and day ticket venue and having now fished it a few times I am very happy this has been added to our portfolio.

 Going forward we will all as a committee continue to work to make the club as successful and popular as we can and we are always open to new ideas and therefore if you think you have anything to offer whether it be an idea you want to put forward, help at working parties or attend meetings and maybe join us on the committee, then your ideas are always valued and welcome.

 Please have a great evening and well done to everyone involved in running the club and who participate in the club and a special mention to all those about to get up and collect your trophies for your efforts in the last season.

 

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Next up was Cliff Milledge our Hon. Treasurer with his report:

Welcome everyone, and thanks for taking the time to attend tonight.

 It has been another successful season for us financially.

We made a surplus of £597.44, our lowest in 5 years, but still a surplus.

 There are a number of reasons for this drop :

1. Membership numbers have dropped slightly over the previous seasons, but at 307 this is still the second highest figure in the last 7 years.

2. Our membership profile is changing.

In the 2015/16 season we had 57.19% adult members, last season this was down to 47.88%.

In the same period Senior memberships rose from 22.1% to 27.04%, and Juniors rose from 11.23% to 20.19%.

So less income from the same number of members.

1. Last season we received 3, one off donations totaling £476.

 On the cost side:

1. We have taken on a new water, as a result of that and a cost renegotiation on another water, Water Rent has increased by £400.

2. We have spent over £2000 this year on water maintenance.

Including projects at Oast Farm, Wirgol, Underhill, Scaland Wood and Danesfield Wood.

We have also spent on equipment for water maintenance.

However we have no major projects planned for this year.

 

In summary:

 Our Club is still in a healthy position.

We have reserves of £11000.

Membership continues to trend upwards ( last season was a blip we knew could not be maintained ).

We have an increasing water portfolio.

Our Lakes are being well maintained.

89.4% of all membership fees was spent on Water rent and maintenance.

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 I would personally like to thank the Executive Committee members, the Working Party volunteers and anyone that has helped out at fundraising events for all their hard work and commitment, without which we would not have this successful club.

 

 As you may or may not know we have not raised subscription rates for 6 years now. The way we operate means that any subscription increase gets agreed at the AGM for the following season. So any increase agreed at this meeting would not come into effect until 1 April 2020.

 

 We do not anticipate needing to increase subscriptions in 2020, but we would like your approval to make an increase of up to £5 per membership, excluding Juniors, if the Executive Committee felt it was necessary at the end of the 2019/20 season.

We then had the election of the Clubs Officers which are listed elsewhere on this website and we would like to thank Cai and Amber Blakeway who have volunteered their time to join the Committee.

 This was followed by an explanation of the changes to the Constitution with each amendment being voted through along with the Hon. Treasurers proposal that the Committee may increase the annual subscription next season if they feel this is required.

After the talk and Q&A session with Carl Rasey we took the opportunity to tuck into the buffet and replenish our glasses at the bar after which our winners received their spoils (see pictures below) and this was followed by the raffle which raised approximately £200.00 this year, apparently our most successful ever so thank you to all who put their hand in their pocket.

 That concluded the evening with everyone finishing their drinks and telling their own "fishy tale"before making their way home after a very enjoyable evening.