MEETINGS

The Northern Association is a truly democratic institution in which all matters of any import are determined by meetings of delegates of member clubs.  These delegates’ meetings are held in the Spring and Autumn, and each of our 105 or so affiliated clubs is entitled to send one delegate who may vote and one observer who may not.   The day to day business of the Association is conducted by officers who serve a three year term and who operate within the policies determined by the delegates’ meetings.  In addition to the officers, a professional insurance broker administers a comprehensive insurance scheme on behalf of the Association.  In recent years the meetings have been held at Ockbrook, near Derby.  The Annual General Meeting usually precedes the Spring delegates’ meeting.

The last AGM was held on 25^th March and saw the election of an almost entirely new team of officers, the previous chairman, secretary and treasurer having all served six years, more in some cases. Only the boiler registrar Alan Reid continued in office.  The new officers are Frank Cooper (chairman), Alan Budd (secretary) and Maureen Stephen (treasurer).   They may be contacted if necessary using the contact details on the home page of our website.   Our insurance broker, Tony Wood of Walker Midgley Insurance Brokers, was also elected for a further term of office.  He may be contacted either through your club, or through his own website at www.walkermidgley.co.uk.  Other elections included the boiler safety committee, BMELG representative, auditors and accountants.  Further information is available from club secretaries, who will have a copy of the meeting minutes.

The delegates’ meeting followed the AGM and after the usual preamble and introduction of two new member clubs, continued with arrangements for the Narrow gauge Efficiency Competition and the annual rally, including the hosting of next year’s events, and representation at exhibitions  More light was shed on the impact of the Protection of Children Act on our club operations by incoming secretary Alan Budd, and the president of the Bradford club gave a short presentation on the ‘safeguarding policy’ his club had adopted, to general approval.   The debate on the new code of practice for boilers continued unabated and the chairman announced that it had been agreed that the document would be reviewed in eighteen months time when the dust will have settled and the true concerns will stand out more clearly.  The treasurer then gave a report on the status of loans made to clubs by the Association, and the newsletter editor explained the background to the decision to discontinue the printed newsletter.  Again, a full account of the proceedings should be available from your club secretary or Northern Association delegate, usually one and the same person.

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Page last updated 3rd June 2006 by webmaster