AGM Report 2010
Delegates met at Oxford earlier this month for the YHA’s 80th anniversary Annual General Meeting. This is the Association’s yearly chance to hear reports from the leadership and to hold them to account. This is my view of how it went.
As usual, the meeting started by considering the minutes of the previous year’s meeting and any matters arising from them.
It was announced that, in response to environmental and other concerns raised by hostellers, bed packs will no longer be wrapped in plastic by the end of the year. This won’t be without problems, but at least hostels won’t have a mountain of clingfilm to dispose of every weekend.
The business of this year’s meeting started with a report from Richard Cockcroft on the work of the Council Nominations Panel. This body, in its first year of operation, is responsible for selecting people for election to the Board of Trustees. The Panel is tasked with selecting twice as many candidates as there are posts, with the final selection taking place through a vote at the AGM (of which more later). Judging by the set of candidates they picked this year, they’re doing a pretty good job.
It was the the turn of Alan Bourne, the YHA’s Treasurer, to take us through the accounts. As might be expected, in a year when we’re closing eight hostels, the situation isn’t exactly rosy, but it’s not desperate either. Improvements in efficiency have seen the annual surplus reach the same level as it was in 2000 (allowing for inflation). It’s not enough though – it needs to be half as much again for real financial security.
As usual with Alan’s presentations, a host of detail was presented in such a way that financial laymen like yours truly could understand it. I wish it could be more widely circulated, though matters of commercial confidentiality would make it difficult to do so fully.
Last of the officers to speak to the meeting was Chairman Chris Darmon, who gave a typically barnstorming presentation entitled Taking the Past into the Future. Looking back over 80 years Chris talked about how we can carry the YHA ethos forward, adapting for modern times whilst remaining true to our principles.
Talking about the current wave of hostel closures, he had good news for the small hostels beloved of many hostelling groups. Places like Idwal Cottage were described as “the jewel in YHA’s crown” and are to be ringfenced from closure. “Nobody else could have a Bretton.” Chris said “The problem’s not Bretton or Black Sail, but the crummy hostels that are not going to make the journey with us!” There may be as many as 30 of those places closing in the next 5 years.
Looking to the future, he mentioned research that said that young people are looking for similar standards to that they receive in student accommodation. To mark out what that means in the 21st century, he showed us this film:
Squaring that sort of facility with the “simple accommodation” ethos is going to be quite a challenge!
With the presentations part over with, the meeting embarked on a rather technical bit of business – approving a new set of standing orders. As a result of decisions made at last year’s meeting, rather considerable changes had been made to the way in which AGMs are conducted and these need to be reflected in the rules. Concerns were raised over the wording of some sections, but the new orders were approved on the understanding that refinements would be made in the future.
After lunch, we reconvened to hear from two guest speakers. First was Andy Eccleston who gave some feedback on the Get Involved trial programme of forums, rallies and volunteering events. The experiment seems to have had mixed results, with some new people attracted, but not in the numbers (or age groups) hoped for. It’s going to have lasting results in Wales though, as noted in the accompanying paper:
Although Wales Council does not wish to continue with the experiment, we would not wish to return to the previous system. we will therefore be changing our programme for Council Meeting days. In future there will be a short formal session in the morning and a more relaxed discussion period in the afternoon. We will attempt to find interesting topics for the afternoon Forum sessions in an attempt to attract new members to meetings.
Following Andy, it was the turn of Ken Kilkenny – President of An Òige, the Irish hostelling association. Ken shared with us his own experience of leading a painful and controversial hostel closure programme – a feat that even led to his being lambasted in Private Eye for some weeks. However the closures funded two new hostels, and Ken remains convinced that An Òige is stronger as a result.
It was now time for delegates to flex their voting cards. First it was the turn of the three officers of the Association. Chris Darmon and Alan Bourne, Chairman and Treasurer respectively, were re-elected unopposed, but there was a three-way fight for the post of Vice Chairman. The three candidates: David Huber, Karl Shepherdson and Barbara Smith each gave a short speech and answered questions from the floor. The decision was then made via a secret ballot.
I’m very pleased to say that Karl was the winner by an overwhelming majority. It’s good to see someone with a proven commitment to communicating with ordinary members right at the top table of YHA. Let’s hope he can help deliver long overdue improvements in that area.
Next it was the turn of those hoping to join YHA’s Board of Trustees. A total of twelve candidates were standing to fill just four posts, and it was difficult to choose from such a strong field. After more speeches, questions and ballotting the following people were selected:
- Steven Boyd
- Lindsey Fairbrother
- Helen Maurice-Jones
- Pauline Scott
A nice blend of “old hands” Helen and Pauline with “new brooms” Steven and Lindsey. Lindsey is a prominent member of Potteries Group, and whilst I don’t suggest this will influence her unduly in her new role, it can’t hurt to have someone from a groups background on the board. Hopefully those would-be Trustees who were unsuccessful will remain involved with the YHA in some way – it would be a shame to lose their undeniable talents.
Finally, after approving Nick Hardwick and Paul Shearman as members of the Council Nominations Panel, it was time to debate the motions presented to the conference. Only one was voted for, and overwhelmingly carried:
This meeting asks that YHA provide a network of rural youth hostels
What, if anything, this means in practical terms remains to be seen.
All in all an interesting and enlightening meeting. The YHA staff, both at the hostel and in the meeting, did an excellent job of keeping things running smoothly and should be commended. For another view of the meeting, you can read the YHA press release about it.
One recommendation of the Purkis Governance Review was that regional councils be replaced with a programme of local rallies, forums and volunteering events open to all members. In order to see how such a set-up would work in practice, YHA Wales is organising a series of events under the heading Get Involved.
YHA have issued their 
The first round of consultation on the