Annual Report and AGM
2021 Annual General Meeting
Minutes of the Annual General Meeting at Tollgate Hall, Stanway, 7.30pm on Tuesday 18th November 2021
Present: 16 members
John Ratford also indicated that he would not stand for re-election.
The current committee members: David Turner, Gerald Lucy and Mark Matthews were willing to stand again and Brian & Kay Gordon, Paul Roberts and Ginny Hall were proposed and seconded to stand as voting members of the committee, together with Sylvia Cousins who offered to join the committee. All were duly elected by members present.
The programme for 2022 would include up to 3 meetings per month - one at each venue and a Zoom session which would either be an invited speaker too far away to travel or an ERMS Extra presentation from the selection that Ros & Ian Mercer have available.
The ERMS website would be upgraded to enable online sales and membership and a card reader terminal is now available for transactions at meetings. Mark Matthews was thanked for his efforts to bring the running of the Society into the 21st century.
The Show, for which plans are in hand, will take place in 2022 on 19th February at the usual venue – the North Romford Community Centre. Fliers have been printed for distribution in the New Year.
There being no further business, the AGM was closed at 8.28pm.
Committee for 2021-2022:
Chairman, Ian Mercer
Vice-Chairman, Jeff Saward
Treasurer, Alistair Rickards
Secretary, Ros Mercer
Mark Matthews
David Turner
Gerald Lucy
Brian Gordon
Kay Gordon
Paul Roberts
Ginny Hall
Sylvia Cousins
Present: 16 members
- Apologies for absence – John Ratford, Bob & Caroline Markham, Mary Ann Watkins, Ginny Hall.
- Approval of minutes of AGM held on 3rd November 2020 by Zoom
- Annual Report by Chairman, Ian Mercer
- Financial Report and Statement of Accounts, Alistair Rickards
- Amendments to the Constitution:
- Para 2: reword to better reflect the current activities of the Society, viz: ‘The object of the Society shall be to promote interest in rocks, minerals, gems, fossils and general geology through meetings, a website, social media, an annual Show, displays, field visits and other means as determined by the Committee.’
- Para 5i: to insert ‘non-refundable’ re annual subscription.
- Para 6: to increase the number of other committee members to ‘up to 8’ to enable better representation from both meeting venues.
- Para 7: to reduce the bank signatory requirement to ‘one signatory’ to facilitate the use of a debit card and to add a spending safeguard: ‘Payments over £50 will require to be endorsed by 2 committee members and recorded by the Treasurer.’
- Election of Officers: Chairman, Vice Chairman, Secretary and Treasurer
- Election of Committee Members - up to 8, taking on roles of Field Visits Secretary, Membership Secretary etc.
John Ratford also indicated that he would not stand for re-election.
The current committee members: David Turner, Gerald Lucy and Mark Matthews were willing to stand again and Brian & Kay Gordon, Paul Roberts and Ginny Hall were proposed and seconded to stand as voting members of the committee, together with Sylvia Cousins who offered to join the committee. All were duly elected by members present.
- Appointment of an Accounts Examiner:
- Suggestions from Members.
The programme for 2022 would include up to 3 meetings per month - one at each venue and a Zoom session which would either be an invited speaker too far away to travel or an ERMS Extra presentation from the selection that Ros & Ian Mercer have available.
The ERMS website would be upgraded to enable online sales and membership and a card reader terminal is now available for transactions at meetings. Mark Matthews was thanked for his efforts to bring the running of the Society into the 21st century.
The Show, for which plans are in hand, will take place in 2022 on 19th February at the usual venue – the North Romford Community Centre. Fliers have been printed for distribution in the New Year.
There being no further business, the AGM was closed at 8.28pm.
Committee for 2021-2022:
Chairman, Ian Mercer
Vice-Chairman, Jeff Saward
Treasurer, Alistair Rickards
Secretary, Ros Mercer
Mark Matthews
David Turner
Gerald Lucy
Brian Gordon
Kay Gordon
Paul Roberts
Ginny Hall
Sylvia Cousins
Essex Rock & Mineral Society Annual Report for 2021
Membership
Our membership is currently 100, much the same as last year despite pandemic progress. Our Affiliation to the Geologists’ Association is aided by the fact that 12 ERMS members are also GA members. Thanks go to Mark Matthews for continued promotion and efficient management of our Membership system and help with the Shenfield venue, plus ERMS bank and payment systems updating. Our Treasurer, Alistair Rickards, has borne the brunt of unrelenting and eternal machinations of bank account changes.
Venues and meetings
Both the Shenfield and Stanway venues remained closed for much of the year, until August, following Covid19 lockdown restrictions. Online Zoom talks continued monthly, often with members joining from remote locations. Speakers are also able to present talks from remote locations, another benefit of using Zoom. Hall meetings resumed with a moderate but very enthusiastic attendance, with plenty of interest in showing specimens. We shall maintain the two monthly venues, as well as a regular Zoom offering for those who cannot attend hall meetings.
ERMS publication and production
Produced with the aid of the Geologists’ Association Curry Fund, the ‘Essex Rocks’ chart was delivered at the start of lockdown. We await the hastening of face-to-face events to enable us to sell these more rapidly.
A new signboard for the puddingstone boulder at Oaklands Park in Chelmsford was produced and installed by Chelmsford City Museum with the help of Ian and Ros. The stone looks good in its new, more visible setting.
Work on the planned second edition of the book, ‘Essex Rock’ is almost complete, aided greatly by time made available by Covid lockdown. The continued assistance of ERMS members is much appreciated. ERMS member Trev Johnson has produced a huge number of wonderful colour illustrations for the book.
Field Visits
Only 4 of the planned trips took place this year due to Covid19 restrictions. Thanks go to David Turner and Gerald Lucy for organising a variety of visits. A highlight was when AGS Chairman Mike Howgate led a tour of the Solar System in Kent, followed by a look at hard rock structures in a nearby quarry. A tour of the revamped Pebble Walk and Ice Age Wall at Thorndon Park was led by Ian and Ros in July.
Shows and Open Days
Members helped Ros and Ian exhibit their Essex Rock display at Walton Town Show in August Bank Holiday weekend; they exhibited a similar display at the British Science Festival in Bell Mead, Chelmsford in September. Both events were gratifyingly busy.
The 39th ERMS Essex Gem and Mineral Show in February was delivered simply as an online set of vendors’ contacts this year due to lockdown. We are planning with the usual venue for the 40th show for 2022. Thanks go to Jeff Saward for his continued efforts despite uncertainties through the year.
Publicity
Our publicity and Show leaflets continued to bring success. ERMS Facebook was maintained by Helen Vickers who also publicised the Society in other ways. The website www.erms.org was maintained by committee members with updated information including full details of talks, visits and events, the Show, news updates and member information.
My sincere thanks go to all of our members and committee for keeping our Society buoyant and popular throughout the past two years of disruption.
Ian F Mercer, Chairman
October 2021
Our membership is currently 100, much the same as last year despite pandemic progress. Our Affiliation to the Geologists’ Association is aided by the fact that 12 ERMS members are also GA members. Thanks go to Mark Matthews for continued promotion and efficient management of our Membership system and help with the Shenfield venue, plus ERMS bank and payment systems updating. Our Treasurer, Alistair Rickards, has borne the brunt of unrelenting and eternal machinations of bank account changes.
Venues and meetings
Both the Shenfield and Stanway venues remained closed for much of the year, until August, following Covid19 lockdown restrictions. Online Zoom talks continued monthly, often with members joining from remote locations. Speakers are also able to present talks from remote locations, another benefit of using Zoom. Hall meetings resumed with a moderate but very enthusiastic attendance, with plenty of interest in showing specimens. We shall maintain the two monthly venues, as well as a regular Zoom offering for those who cannot attend hall meetings.
ERMS publication and production
Produced with the aid of the Geologists’ Association Curry Fund, the ‘Essex Rocks’ chart was delivered at the start of lockdown. We await the hastening of face-to-face events to enable us to sell these more rapidly.
A new signboard for the puddingstone boulder at Oaklands Park in Chelmsford was produced and installed by Chelmsford City Museum with the help of Ian and Ros. The stone looks good in its new, more visible setting.
Work on the planned second edition of the book, ‘Essex Rock’ is almost complete, aided greatly by time made available by Covid lockdown. The continued assistance of ERMS members is much appreciated. ERMS member Trev Johnson has produced a huge number of wonderful colour illustrations for the book.
Field Visits
Only 4 of the planned trips took place this year due to Covid19 restrictions. Thanks go to David Turner and Gerald Lucy for organising a variety of visits. A highlight was when AGS Chairman Mike Howgate led a tour of the Solar System in Kent, followed by a look at hard rock structures in a nearby quarry. A tour of the revamped Pebble Walk and Ice Age Wall at Thorndon Park was led by Ian and Ros in July.
Shows and Open Days
Members helped Ros and Ian exhibit their Essex Rock display at Walton Town Show in August Bank Holiday weekend; they exhibited a similar display at the British Science Festival in Bell Mead, Chelmsford in September. Both events were gratifyingly busy.
The 39th ERMS Essex Gem and Mineral Show in February was delivered simply as an online set of vendors’ contacts this year due to lockdown. We are planning with the usual venue for the 40th show for 2022. Thanks go to Jeff Saward for his continued efforts despite uncertainties through the year.
Publicity
Our publicity and Show leaflets continued to bring success. ERMS Facebook was maintained by Helen Vickers who also publicised the Society in other ways. The website www.erms.org was maintained by committee members with updated information including full details of talks, visits and events, the Show, news updates and member information.
My sincere thanks go to all of our members and committee for keeping our Society buoyant and popular throughout the past two years of disruption.
Ian F Mercer, Chairman
October 2021
