Present: Simon Lang (President), plus 15 members and one guest.
The Secretary asked for comments on the minutes of the previous AGM of 28th July 2022. None were received. Simon Lang proposed acceptance of the minutes with John Tennant seconding. The minutes were accepted with 12 votes for and 0 against.
The President signed the minutes on behalf of Council.
The actions from the 2022 AGM were:
Action AGM2020/1 Jim Brightwell to liaise with Paul Clements on the telescope drive system.
This drive is currently working. Paul Clements has produced a new drive with a ‘Go To’ system. The meeting felt the action should continue.
Action AGM2020/2 Simon Lang to ensure Martin Williams is involved in live feeds of video from the observatory.
In Council Simon Lang had said he suspected that live feeds would not happen in the near future as volunteers were too busy and it would be too problematic. Martin Williams had pointed out that the observatory gives people the opportunity to look through a telescope live. Camera views are available elsewhere. Kevin McNulty said the issue had been live when we were in Covid lockdown. He would talk to Martin Williams, and if justified, consider using 5G mobile connections. Action complete.
Action AGM2022/1 The Secretary to ensure the independent checker issue is on the Council meeting agenda.
She had, but the Council had not resolved the issue. Action complete.
Action AGM2022/2 Julia Daniels to enable the independent checker to check the Astronomy Accounts.
She did, and the accounts were approved and we were able to make our annual return to the Charity Commission. Action complete.
The President reported that this year, we had lost member Robert Hatch in October, and also Vice President and Astronomy Section Treasurer Julia Daniels this year. She would be very much missed by all and this was the first AGM that she had not attended since she joined in 1957. Leo McLaughlin had checked the society’s accounts for many years and she had made only made one mistake in over 40 years. She was a powerhouse who did no much for the society with her husband Doug Daniels. This included maintenance of the observatory, picnic lunches for staff, and the observatory roster. She made a point of knowing each member of the observatory staff and how circumstances affected their duties. She was involved in other things too, e.g. the Amateur Geological Society. She used to walk from Finchley to the observatory and back in her early days with the Society. There was no news of the funeral yet, and her husband was being looked after.
The President reported that now we were free of a certain virus restriction and it was good to have face to face meetings again. He hoped there would be no more pandemics for years. He noted that there were fewer speakers coming through for talks, though and asked anyone to report to Council if they heard any interesting talks.
He reported that the observatory was up and running again, though there had only been four sessions because the weather had been diabolical and the forecasts abysmal. The Annex had been rebuilt due to dry rot.
He thanked Julie Atkinson and John Tennant for their work in running the Society. Any offers for volunteering were welcome. He noted that John Tennant would be retiring next June and we were struggling to fill posts for Treasurer and Meteorological Secretary.
He also thanked Kevin McNulty and Jasmin Qureshi for their work at the observatory. Modern day life meant that a strict roster at the observatory was not possible any more. He noted that they had five new volunteers at the observatory so things were looking up. He introduced David Convery who had offered to take on the archivist role.
Finally the President apologised for his absence at events this year and said he planed to be around more in the new session.
The Council’s separate reports will be collated into a Trustees’ Annual Report as recommended by the Charity Commission. Since the Astronomy Section Treasurer had resigned earlier in the year and had not been able to compile a report or to hand over the accounts completely to a successor, the Society accounts are incomplete and so the Annual Report is a draft, but had been distributed to members as such. Sections would be presented separately to the AGM.
The Secretary went through the main body of the Trustees' report.
There were no comments.
John Tennant presented the Treasurer's report.
Martin Williams asked if the Society had security of tenure at the observatory. Simon Lang said no. but we have no problems with it at the moment. The site was under a threat once in the 1980’s and we had campaigned to stay. We don’t anticipate anything happening but need a contingency in case. Leo McLaughlin asked where we could move the observatory to, but Simon Lang could only say that was a good question.
Kristoff Bwek asked why we had not included claimed gift aid in the accounts, and whether it was because the accounts had not yet been validated? John Tennant said that it had not been claimed yet. He said that if we arrange to take electronic donations in future, the facilitator would collect gift aid on our behalf. Kevin McNulty suggested using Just Giving. The charity would just need to set up a Just Giving site. Donors would be able to opt out of paying commission on their donations. When a person donates £5 it comes out with £5.50, but the donor can specify £5 only. However, the site does have running costs and the charity does not pay a fee for administration. Gift Aid comes to the charity but with a delay.
Julie Atkinson asked what was needed to access the Astronomy Section accounts. The John Tennant said that he would be contacting the banks to ask what they needed, e.g. death certificate and accreditation for himself as the new Astronomy Section treasurer.
Julia Daniels’ sad death means that there is no Archivist’s Report this year. There should be no change in status since last year.
The Secretary announced that Council had elected Simon Lang as President at the Council meeting on 11th May 2023.
The Secretary said that Council had announced its nominations for officers in the May newsletter. There was a vacancy for Archivist, and happily we received a nomination in time for this post: David Convery, proposed by Simon Lang and seconded by Kevin McNulty. As there were no further nominations, the following officers were declared as elected:
| Hon. Secretary | Julie Atkinson | Hon. Treasurer | John Tennant |
| Hon. Programme Secretary | Jim Brightwell | Hon. Membership Secretary | John Tennant |
| Hon. Archivist | David Convery |
The constitution requires at least one ordinary Council member to resign at the AGM. The Secretary reported that Jasmin Qureshi had resigned earlier in the year, so no further resignation was needed. Council thanked Jasmin for her service.
The following nominations were made by Council for the 5 ordinary members of Council and distributed in the May newsletter:
| Nominee | David Brandt | Martin Williams | Nick Maslov | Anne Watson | Kevin Devine |
| Nominated by | Council | Council | Council | Council | Council |
As there were no further nominations, these nominees were declared as elected to Council.
A checker must not be a member of Council but must be a member of the Society. Simon Lang proposed Andrew Rennie, a member of the Astronomy section. He had helped with observatory maintenance, had worked in forensic accounting, had agreed to taking the role, but was unable to be present at the meeting. Martin Williams seconded. The meeting voted with 12 for the proposal and none against.
The Joint Astronomical Section Secretary, Simon Lang, had included the main points of the astronomy section report under item 1, President’s remarks. The main body will be distributed as Annex 2 of the Trustee’s report.
The Astronomy Section Treasurer’s report was included under item 4 above.
The Secretary said that we were again in a bit of a quandary on approval of the report. The Treasurer's report had been presented but had not been independently checked, so Council and the AGM only had a partial Trustees report here and now and could not approve it.
She suggested that when the accounts have been checked, the Trustees’ Report could be completed and the Council should approve and distribute to the membership. The President agreed.
It was pointed out that if there were extensive changes, then it should go back to the membership, e.g. at a Special General Meeting.
Julie Atkinson proposed that the report be provisionally accepted, with proviso on not changing substantially and the accounts being independently checked. John Tennant seconded. The proposal was accepted with 12 votes and none against.
Meteorology
Martin Williams said that he would like help with meteorology equipment at the observatory as he was not a meteorologist, would need access to the site and should not work there on his own. He was also considering pollution monitoring equipment. Simon Lang suggested that we should contact a meteorological organisation as someone would need to be responsible for it, even if it ran automatically. He suggested that Martin Williams produce a concrete plan for the kit. David Brandt volunteered to assist in gathering costs for Council.
Non-Cash Donations
Kevin McNulty said we were missing out on fund raising opportunities. Generally donations are 50-50 cash and online. We need a bank account which is ring fenced for the Astronomy Section and linked to a Just Giving page. He suggested that we could easily raise £2,000 for the observatory that way. He noted that Simon Lang had personally put in a great deal of work on the building, but this could not go on forever, and is a risk if we rely on him. We need to be able to pay people to do some of the work, and we could put out an appeal for it.
Kristoff Bwek suggested just opening a PayPal account. Kevin McNulty noted that as a charity we are entitled to get Gift Aid and though some candidates would get it for you, PayPal would not. He said we could start a bank account now to get going.
David Brandt asked about contactless payment methods, and related fee and transaction costs. Kevin McNulty said that one option was to use a contactless payment method, but we could also use a QR code and link it to a Just Giving page. Whichever was better, we would need a link.
Communication Between Parts
Martin Williams said that he felt there had been a division between the lectures and the observatory. In the past, members using the observatory would meet up with others. We needed to reunite the Society.
David Brandt suggested that there could be an ambassador for talks at the observatory to make visitors aware of all our activities. He had been up there two or three times and could speak to those waiting about talks. This is a potential opportunity for mingling and spreading the word.
Kevin McNulty said that if there were a programme card to take away, then they would give them to observatory visitors as in the past. Simon Lang said that they do tell visitors that they are part of the Hampstead Scientific Society. Anne Watson confirmed that Kevin McNulty and Simon Lang made sure there was always someone to say that the observatory is part of the Hampstead Scientific Society and that we do talks, and she also said that volunteer trainees are always told the history of the Society. Martin Williams said if that was so, he apologised.
Simon Lang said that there had been a Society sign on the observatory wall but it had gone.
Kristoff Bwek noted that the observatory is rarely mentioned at lectures. The message needs to go out that way around too. It is on the website, but it gives the impression that the astronomy bit is separate.
Conclusion
The President announced the conclusion of the AGM, and then there was a general chat rather than a scientific entertainment.
Julie Atkinson, Hon. Secretary, 0118 977 5192
Last updated 27–Aug–2024