Annual General Meeting update
Meeting held at:
Hallhill Sports Centre
Kellie Road
Dunbar
EH42 1RF
On Tuesday 24th August 2021 at 18:30
AGM Update
A well attended AGM took place last night, at Hallhill.
The agenda included updates from the Manager, Chairman and Treasurer and approval of the new Dunbar United Community Interest Company constitution and a proposed Life Members policy.
The Manager’s update focused on early season performances, his initial observations, and his targets for the year ahead. It was noted that several of the current squad have now signed up for next season as he is already looking to build for next season with recent signings joining on two year contracts.
The Chairman’s update reflected back on what had been a difficult season for players and coaching staff and highlighted the off-field progress made in regaining financial stability following the losses of season 2019-20, delivering physical improvements to the ground and our club governance necessary to attain the clubs SFA licence, navigating the operational challenges of the pandemic and delivering improvements to the back-office systems and digital presence at the club.
The Chairman’s updates also confirmed that the planning application, for the new 200 capacity stand, has now been submitted to East Lothian Council. However, it was highlighted that significant work remains to ensure that necessary funding is in place to progress this. It was noted that, in some cases, planning was a prerequisite for funding applications so progressing the planning application would support this area.
The Treasurer gave their financial update highlighting the progress that was made in 2020-21, particularly around increasing sponsorship revenue at the club, a strong achievement in a pandemic. Looking forward to 2021-22 early indications suggest significant progress will be made surrounding season tickets and gate income, with gate and season ticket income already surpassing our last full season pre-coronavirus restrictions (2019-20).
A significant discussion was had around the Club Lottery recognising this is a critical revenue stream. A sub-committee was agreed, with members identified, to review best practices in this area and drive forward recommendations to help maximise this for the club.
The proposed new Dunbar United Community Interest Company constitution was discussed, and agreed, as was the proposed new Life Membership Policy.
The Life Membership Policy seeks to bring more consistency to this area going forward. Following the approval of the Policy, Life Memberships were proposed and seconded for players who were awarded testimonials but who were not awarded Life Memberships specifically Paul Lees (2001), Adam Cheetham (2009), Geoff Jones (2011) and Steven Girdwood(2016).
Life Membership of Dunbar United was also proposed and seconded for Ian Gray, Jimmy Combe, Malcolm Jones and Robert Hendrie all of whom were agreed as notable omissions from the current membership list.
The existing Board members were all re-elected for the coming campaign. Albeit Janette Hendrie has stood down as club secretary, she will remain a Board member.
The Board for season 2021-22 is:
- Stuart Robertson (Chair)
- Callum Porteous (Vice-Chair)
- Dougie Gray (Operations Director)
- Pam Munro (Secretary)
- Lorraine Anderson (Treasurer)
- Janette Hendrie
The Chairman highlighted that various opportunities exist for others to get involved with the board with the club wholly reliant on the community to get involved in order for the club to continue to progress.
Opportunities also exist to help with specific projects like working with our Colts to establish a U20 pathway and in the project to build a stand at New Countess Park.
Those in attendance passed on their appreciation to the Board for their hard work over the previous season.