Our annual general meeting is held on the last Wednesday of every October and we encourage as many members to attend as possible. At this meeting you’ll hear our Chairperson, Treasurer and Show Secretary’s reports and our Committee will resign, and be re-elected where appropriate, or new committee members will be elected.

The AGM is an important date in our calendar and we implore you to join us to have your chance to vote, speak, ask questions and chat with our committee. We require a quorum of 30 or more members in attendance for the AGM to go ahead so if you cannot make it on the day, please send your apologies to llantwitmajorhortsoc@gmail.com for them to be recorded and counted toward the quorum.

Read some of our previous AGM Reports below.

Annual General Meeting Report 2025

The AGM was held on Wednesday 29th October and was very well attended by members of the Society. Speakers Secretary Cath Thomas had very kindly brought tins of chocolates which were handed round and gratefully received - thank you Cath! 

Our Chairperson, Bill Lee, opened the meeting by thanking everyone for attending, noting how pleasing it was to see so many members. He also thanked the committee, and Gwennan, who manages the Society`s website, for their ongoing hard work, and for providing their time so readily.  He also asked for volunteers to consider joining the committee to ensure the Society keeps moving forward.

Kath Pugh, our Treasurer, provided a breakdown of the Society`s finances, talking through the entries and giving additional information where required. The Committee wishes to thank John Nunn again for examining the accounts for us. It has been a little more challenging this year keeping up with the activities of the Society with additional £5 membership fees and payments directly into the current account for trips, both being added throughout the year, made it difficult to keep things up to date. The cost of speakers continues to rise in spite of Cath’s efforts and few ‘freebies’ she has negotiated have kept cost down. Subscription income increased to £2672.50 mostly due to the £10 fee and new members, however, quite a number of existing members have failed to increase their subscription and again some have either left without informing the Society or forgotten to pay their subs. The rent paid to the Council for talks remains at £25 per session whereas the Committee meet in the Rugby Club who generously allow us to meet free of charge. Expenses of £512.24 included travel, printing costs, postage, stationery etc, approximately £300 of which was spent sending out letters notifying Members of the change in fees.

There were 4 trips this year including a 5-day trip to Nottinghamshire and a day out at the Malvern Show. Elizabeth is as usual busy organising trips for next year including a 5-days in the Cotswolds. The insurance premium which increased considerably last year was partially refunded and we are now insured through the RHS which will be renewed in January. The website has again kept both Society Members and the wider community up to date but the cost of the Domain Name and the hosting fees are more expensive year by year, but the Committee consider it money well spent. The store income was excellent due to all Dave’s hard work. It is this increased income from Membership, the Store, support for trips and the Bank interest has kept us well in the black this year.

Our Show Secretary, Tim Prior, gave his report on this year`s annual show, noting the pleasing number of exhibitors and entries, and also the high quality of the exhibits. 11 children exhibited in various classes which was lovely to see, and again the exhibits were of a high standard. Tim thanked his team of helpers, also the 3 judges who willingly support the show, and all the exhibitors, without whom there would be no show. 2026 is our 50th annual show and will also sadly be Tim`s last, and any ideas on how to celebrate this anniversary are welcome.

There were some proposals for changes to the constitution and these were voted on, and unanimously agreed by the members present. They are outlined below;

1. To amend Paragraph 18 of the Constitution it is proposed to be amended to say

The Committee shall have the power to co-opt additional members as it seems fit to assist in carrying out the work of the Society. The Committee shall also have the authority to determine whether any co-opted member shall
have voting rights at Committee meetings. Co-opted members shall serve until the next Annual General Meeting unless otherwise decided by the Committee.

2. Current paragraph 6 of the constitution it is proposed to be amended to say:

The affairs of the Society shall be conducted by a management committee of a minimum of 10 members and consisting of:

The officers of the Society (Chairperson, Vice Chairperson, Treasurer and Secretary), 5 Permanent members will hold the offices of Membership Secretary, Store Manager, Speaker Coordinator, Trips and Tours Coordinator and Show Secretary.

A maximum of 5 Further members, who may be permanent members of the
Committee, or Co-opted members as designated by the committee.

3. To amend Para 10 of the Constitution to read:

The Quorum of the Committee meeting shall consist of a minimum of 7 members, 2 of which must be officers the society plus 2 permanent members who hold office as described above.

Both amended sections of the Constitution are proposed by Steve Martin and seconded by Alison Leach secretary.

To amend paragraph 4 of the Constitution which states The Officers of the Society shall be a Chairperson, Vice Chairperson, Treasurer and Secretary. No persons shall hold more than one office at a time.

Only if the situation arises when no member comes forward to fill vacant posts. It is proposed to amend clause 4 to read:

4. The Officers of the Society shall be a Chairperson, Vice Chairperson, Treasurer and Secretary In the discretion of the committee that any Officer of the Committee can hold 2 posts until the next AGM is held.

Proposed by Albert Payne

Albert Payne discussed his intended proposal in more detail, explaining that in late 2026/early 2027 two of the current committee will be standing down - his working example being our Show Secretary Tim. Having filled the post himself for 18 years, Albert is well placed to understand the work that goes into running our summer show and explained it would be in the best interests of a member coming forward to shadow the Show Secretary whilst he’s in post, to learn the ropes so to speak! Despite asking for new committee members at the monthly meetings, AGM and the website it has taken nearly two years before Steve Martin, who is currently on the sub committee resolving issues with the membership, to be in a position to take over the post of treasurer once the membership has been resolved. If the same were to happen again we may not be in a position to hold a show. The committee recognise there are many reasons why members do not wish to join the committee but Albert appealed to all, if you can or know someone who may be interested to please put your names forward.  

Cherrill Barrett, currently a general committee member, was voted into the post of Membership Secretary, Alan Price was elected as a general member and Steve Martin was co-opted on to the committee as Deputy Treasurer. The remaining committee members were unanimously re-elected.

Steve outlined the work of a subcommittee, made up of himself, Cherrill and Gwennan who have been meeting for a number of months to evaluate our current membership process. The subcommittee have been analysing whether the current process is fit for purpose, and if not, how the society can move forward to create a more streamlined, less manual process that’s easy for members and committee alike. The subcommittee is due to present their findings to the committee at the end of November, and members will be updated in the new year. 

Members in attendance were also reminded of the increase to the annual subscription to the society which was raised from £5 to £10 per annum in January 2025. Over half our of membership have yet to pay the increased fee for 2025, and Cherrill Barrett and Cath Thomas have been working extremely hard over the last few months to contact members and correct their subscriptions. 

The committee remain concerned that the same issue will occur in January 2026 when the next year’s subscription is paid and we implore you to check your standing orders and ensure you’ll be paying the correct £10 subscription for you and your partner/spouse.

We have thus far given a year’s grace as we work through our membership list but those who do not pay the correct £10 subscription will cease to be members in 2026. 

We would again like to extend our heartfelt thanks to all those in attendance, and the whopping 27 who sent apologies ahead of time - it is fantastic to see we have such an engaged and supportive membership and we look forward to the new year and all we have to celebrate.

Annual General Meeting Report 2024

The Annual General Meeting of the Society was held on Wednesday 30th October 2024 at the Llantonian Hall in Llantwit Major. More than 50 members attended in person along with over 30 apologies sent - a fantastic turn out and well above the minimum required for the meeting to proceed.

The meeting commenced with the Chairperson’s report in which the society members were thanked for their on-going commitment which has ensured the society remain alive post pandemic when so many others have fallen. He also thanked the committee and behind the scenes volunteers for their hard work, especially noting stock in the store, the variety of speakers we have enjoyed this year and the dedication of the Show and Trips Secretary’s. The Chairperson also explained the increase in membership fee which is due to commence in January 2025 as a product of ever increasing costs in running the society.

Our Treasurer produced a financial statement for the year and thanked John Nunn on behalf of the committee for examining the accounts. She explained some of the costs including the increase in cost of monthly speakers and our insurance, as well as money generated from subscriptions and trips. She also outlined the cost of the website upkeep and mentioned we did not receive a grant for this year’s summer show, explaining that it was the bank interest and store income that kept us afloat this year.

The Show Secretary`s report pondered a funny old year with the weather that impacted exhibitors entries, leaving gaps in all sections of the show where produce would once have been. Despite this Tim outlined some of the winners on the day and the success story of the best kept allotment won by Annette Smith, and the increase in children’s entrants this year. He thanked the committee and the volunteers who’s hard work on the day itself is integral to the show’s success. He finished by noting that less than 25% of our members contributed to the show and hoped we can do better next year - the show booked for August 16th 2025.

All bar one of the present committee members indicated that they were prepared to stand again. As there was no opposition to this, the Committee was duly re-elected. After 20 years of service our Treasurer Kath Pugh is hanging up her spreadsheet and the meeting was introduced to Sarah Barlow, who was voted in as our new Treasurer. Kath will remain on the committee to ensure a smooth handover.

No points for discussion had been received from members 14 days prior to the date of the meeting, as required in the constitution. No other general questions were raised and therefore the meeting concluded at 8pm.

Our thanks to those who attended both in person and sent their apologies to be counted.

2022 AGM Report

The Annual General Meeting of the Society was held on Wednesday 26th October in the Llantonian Hall. The minimum quorum of 30 was achieved so the meeting commenced at 7.30pm.

Bill Lee, our Chairperson gave his report on the previous year. He thanked the committee for their continued hard work and commitment to the Society and was pleased that finally we've been able to resume our monthly talks, trips and the annual show.

Kath Pugh than gave her treasurers report and she explained some of the individual entries on the financial statement. David Davies, our independent examiner, was thanked for auditing the Society's accounts.

Tim Prior gave a very comprehensive report on our annual show held in August, thanking everyone who exhibited, together with all who helped with the preparation beforehand and on the day. Next year's show has been booked for Saturday 19th August in the Llantonian Hall.

All committee members were re-elected in their roles, and we welcome Cherrill Barrett to the committee, who will serve as a General Member.

Our two trustees were also re-elected, and our independent examiner.

A motion to make the constitution gender free was passed unanimously.

Lifetime membership certificates were presented to Kath Pugh and Elizabeth Rees for their longstanding contribution to the Society.

A fully copy of the AGM minutes, along with the amended constitution, can be seen below.