Workers' Music Association

EC Meeting 18 September 2021

MINUTES of the WMA EC MEETING held 18 September 2021 at 10.30am 

  1. PRESENT. Anne Schuman Chair, David Martin President, Maria Hughes Treasurer, Joy Street, Isla Cameron, Rob Harper secretary.
  2. APOLOGIES were received from Keith Sparrow, Tom Tomkins, Ria Caravanas and Ben Lunn.
  3. MINUTES of the MEETING held 24 JULY 2021 having been previously circulated were ACCEPTED.
  4. MATTERS ARISING. a. Information Commissioner’s Office re GDPR. A reminder had been sent but no reply was forthcoming. b. FCA. Maria reported that the Finance documents now appeared on the portal. c. The Rules documents required by the FCA had all been sent ‘signed for’ to the FCA and no reply had been received. It was Agreed that we prepare for the forthcoming AGM on the basis of the Rules being changed. d. WMA Piano at Ingestre. A reply had been received from Ingestre giving contact details of the piano tuner used by them and that they were awaiting advice from Sandwell Council regarding insurance. It was Agreed to await advice on insurance and for David to contact the piano tuner used by Ingestre to arrange biannual tuning.
  5. FINANCE. The bank balances are: Main Account £7543.84, Deposit Account £12013.96. Maria was thanked for the distribution of the bank statements prior to the meeting. b. Zoom. Rob reported that the Zoom payment had been made automatically from his bank account and requested that WMA meet £100 of the £143.88 payment. He advised the EC that he uses Zoom for meetings with his brother and sister-in-law who live in France and his friend who lives in Yorkshire. All other use is for WMA purposes. It was Agreed that £100 be met from WMA funds given the savings as compared to alternative means of virtual meetings of the membership, the EC and committees and officers.
  6. MEMBERSHIP. Keith had submitted his apologies. Rob would contact Keith about three new possible members.
  7. BULLETIN. Anne reported that the response to the design layout was in favour of the two-column design. Both Rob and Anne had reminded each other to send the copy to Maria for proof reading as agreed.
  8. WMA WEEKEND OF MUSIC. No progress had been made on this. It was Agreed that the focus now be on a Spring Week end and Ingestre Hall and Cranham be considered by the working group.
  9. SUMMER SCHOOL. The Working Party would meet in the near future as the detailed planning for 2022 will soon begin.

10. WMA WEBSITE. Maria reported on her investigations to date. We have 10 weeks outstanding on our existing provider which should allow sufficient time. Comment was made regarding the workload involved and that the site should be advert free. Rob agreed to assist as a lay person who has little knowledge of such matters.

11. MUSIC IN EDUCATION. It was Agreed to meet on 2 or 9 October depending on Ben’s availability.

  1. 12.  AOB. USE OF ZOOM for the ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING. A brief discussion took place during which the environmental benefits and the percentage turnout of members was mentioned. It was also noted that no member objected to the use of Zoom for AGM 2021. It was therefore Agreed to hold the 2022 AGM via Zoom and to advise members as such in the Bulletin. Should there be significant objections the EC will reconsider. A problem was raised about emails going to ‘spam’ folders. It was Agreed to put an article in Bulletin warning members of this possibility.

13. DATE OF NEXT MEETING. 13 NOVEMBER

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