The first notice for the HSMBA AGM 2024 has been released. Please find the below letter from HSMBA Secretary Ian Roe that has been emailed to Club Secretaries.
To access the documentation Ian refers to below, including the all important nomination papers, please follow this link to the AGM event page or speak to your Club Secretary. Committee role descriptions can be found on visiting the Resources Page of the website or please do feel free to email one of the committee directly.
To: Club Secretaries
Please find attached the following papers relating to the Association’s AGM which is being held at the Larruperz Centre on Wednesday 15 May:
- Notice of AGM
- Agenda
- Committee Nomination Paper
- Retiring Committee Details
You will see from the papers that there will be a number of vacancies on the committee, including for some important functional roles which are integral to the operation of the Association.
Notably, after serving on the committee for the entire 25 years of the Association’s existence, Sue Stannard has taken the decision to retire. Sue will be sorely missed from the committee in many ways and we will be looking for someone to assume the role of Membership Secretary.
As regards the role of Safeguarding Officer, whilst Ruth Martin would otherwise have been willing to stand for re-election, next season she will be playing her competitive bowls with a Gloucestershire club so will be registering through that county. The situation was discussed with the National Safeguarding Officer and one outcome from that discussion is that a proposal is being considered to refine the constitutional status of the Safeguarding Officer role – whilst the responsibilities would remain the same, the independence and confidentiality attached to the position would be enhanced by making it a non-committee role, albeit reporting to, and liaising with, the committee as appropriate. This is a structure adopted by a number of other counties and by the ESMBA themselves. Such a change, if adopted by the committee and approved by the members, may also make the role more appealing to a candidate who does not wish to take on a committee role but is prepared to fulfil the function of Safeguarding Officer. The role is integral to the functioning of the association and without a post-holder in position the county cannot participate in most national competitions.
Can you please ensure that your club members are made aware of the need to fill these important roles and encourage anyone interested to complete a nomination form. They can, of course, speak to any current committee member if they have any questions or need further information regarding the roles (Role Descriptions for all Officer roles are also on the Association website on the Resources page). Can you also encourage members to stand for general committee positions if they do not feel able to take on a particular functional role from the outset.
Nominations and any constitution or rule amendment proposals or other notices of motion need to be back with me by 14 March.
Regards
Ian
Ian Roe
Secretary
Herefordshire Short Mat Bowling Association