1. Welcome and Apologies
DK welcomed everyone to the meeting.
Apologies: None
2. Register of Interests
No change.
3. Approval of Minutes of Meeting of Directors (15th August 2023)
Minutes were approved
4. Matters arising from previous minutes
DK confirmed that Andy Mitchelmore had been appointed as Event Director to replace Paul McGreal. He has met with Richard Oxlade and is working on a viability report.
KR indicated that he has some comments on Andy’s contract and required clarity on fee.
Jon Cross has been working to recruit the volunteers required for Euromeeting who would then be able to take forward these roles for WOC.
5. WOC 2024
Budget
KR indicated that there were no updates on the budget but Bob Dredge had provided more information on the cost of salaries and clarity was being sought on the Event Director costs going forward. The Board accepted that until more information was available v 11 was the working forecast going forward.
Insurance
NH confirmed that more information was being obtained and she would then revert to the insurers.
Action: NH to progress insurance position
Funding
DK reported that there have been more encouraging noises from the partners in respect of additional funding but there had still not been any confirmation in writing. The need for this confirmation would be pressed by DK at the next Steering Group meeting on Thursday.
KR indicated that the outcome from Moray 2023 was looking more advantageous than hoped for with the cost of event services and expenditure down. The updated position was that there was £273,000 in the Bank at present after the amount ring fenced for WOC was taken into account. He felt less uncomfortable than he had previously about the situation.
Risk Register
This has been updated by RW. Now needs to be completed to show which Board member was responsible for looking after each risk and ensuring progress / mitigation. The Board undertook to look at the document and provide comments to RW.
Action: ALL to provide comments on Risk Register to RW
6-Day Board
DK indicated that Tim O’Donoghue, Keith Roberts and Ben Hartman had all confirmed they were willing to provide support to the 6-Day Board. Roger Scrutton was also willing to commit after returning from New Zealand in January. Additional support would be as co-opted members / advisors but it was agreed terms of reference were required to protect them from being seen to be acting as shadow directors. KR/DK undertook to prepare these terms of reference.
Action: DK/KR to prepare terms of reference for co-opted members
Roadmap/Milestones
CE reported that Richard Oxlade had been working on a detailed plan as an acting event director until Andy Mitchelmore was appointed. This was a management plan and would allow review on a regular basis. It has been passed to Andy Mitchelmore to take forward.
CE indicated that when it was in a manageable form he would make it workable. It would then dovetail with the risk assessments / mitigations.
Action: CE to work on detailed plan to make into manageable form for use by 6-Day Board in governance
Business Plan
DK reported that the SOA Board, now that finance had been addressed, had raised again their concerns about deliverability and governance. They had requested sight of a business plan and this required to be taken forward.
Officials
The main gaps in the current event staffing / volunteer structure were discussed. The main issue is volunteer director and marketing/comms. Jon Cross had offered to help provide names and Andy Mitchelmore would be supported in filling these gaps moving forward.
Permissions
SOA has employed Alasdair Pedley on contract basis to help arrange permissions and is liaising with NH.
Assistant Event Director Recruitment
NH indicating that had received a number of applications in respect of the job advert. EM to help determine applicants worth interviewing in DK’s absence.
Action: NH to share job applications with EM once the application process closes on Thursday.
Governance
The Governance paper which had been prepared by Richard Oxlade and DK was discussed. DK is preparing the terms of reference for the Steering Group meeting.
Timeline
Next meeting will involve the Board reviewing the report from Andy Mitchelmore and a business plan would be required for the SOA Board thereafter.
An action plan for preparation was agreed. It will reference the risk register and roadmap plan and link with the Andy Mitchelmore assessment.
Action: Business Plan
DK will pull together some headings and some basic text before he leaves.
Sections will be prepared as follows:
Funding – KR
Governance – DK
Deliverability – CE
Resourcing – RW
5. AOB
A meeting to discuss the 6-Day events will be held in early October.
2025 – Still trying to find co-ordinator. NH to put out to club committees and put out via social media. NH had met with GRAMP/MAROC re possible areas.
6. Date of Next Meeting
Wednesday 27th September 7.45pm