Happy New Year everyone!

Not a very positive start, I'm afraid. As you know we are affiliated to Open Morris, mainly for insurance purposes. Unfortunately there seem to be a lot of problems in their ranks, which has led to the breakdown of their latest AGM and the resignations of both Chairperson and Treasurer. I'm forwarding the latest info I have from Brian and Nikki but no one from the Ravens attends their meetings, so we're rather in the dark about the detailed machinations.

I had already sent our subscription for 2016 before all this blew up, but they have given us the option to reconsider our membership in the light of the forthcoming meetings (see below). We may, for example, wish to discuss transferring to the Morris Federation, which is longer established and seems more stable and freer from internal politics. I don't even know if Open Morris will survive, although from what little I know of them, both Brian and Nikki seem like decent people and committed to resolving the problems. I don't know the two who have resigned and I haven't a clue about their reasons.

Anyway, please read the stuff below, even if it means as little to you as it does to me. It would be very helpful indeed if anyone fancies attending the EGM/AGM on 30th January in Nuneaton. Also feel free to stand for one of the committee posts if you wish. We have until the end of February to consider our future with Open Morris, but by that time we may well be up to our eyes in DERT preparation. In the meantime I trust that we are covered by them for insurance, although the insurance certificate will not arrive until later this month.

S x

Dear Open Morris Member,

I am sure many of you are aware of the conflicts and difficulties within the management of Open Morris at present. This has come about because of longstanding personal differences and differing attitudes to the ethos of the organisation between some committee members and extending to others connected with the committee.

As a result of this conflict, we sadly had to accept the resignation of the Chair, Phil Watson and more recently the Treasurer, Ashley Jones, neither of whom enjoyed the politics currently being promoted.

There is an EGM planned for January 30th in Nuneaton, details of which you will have received this week. This meeting will include voting on proposed constitutional changes and elections for a new committee. Manifestos for those standing should be available nearer the time. It is important to stress that ALL posts are available to contest if any of your side members would like to be nominated, so please make them aware of the opportunity. Any 2015 Open Morris member side is entitled to send a representative to vote, even if you are unsure of your intention to renew for 2016. It is important that as many opinions as possible are heard.

As a result of the uncertainty surrounding Open Morris, the committee has decided to offer 2 benefits to members:

1) The period of discounted renewal will be extended to February 28th 2016.

2) Any member who decides, as a result of the EGM, that they no longer wish to be a member of Open Morris, having already paid their 2016 subscription, will be guaranteed a full refund of their subscription providing their application is received in time to be processed by February 28th 2016

Regards

Nicki Pickering

Open Morris Membership Secretary,

Date: Wed, 30 Dec 2015 12:12:55 +0000
From: brianopenmorris@btinternet.com
Subject: [TR Committee] Important Notice Of EGM / AGM Saturday 30th January 2016

Dear Open Morris Members,

As you may be aware the 2015 AGM, which was held on Sunday 15^th November at Keinton Mandeville Village Hall, Somerset, was abandoned and an EGM was called for.

Since then the Chair and Treasurer of Open Morris have both resigned.

It must be stressed that these resignations were not due to any known malpractice, but because of misgivings that both officers had regarding future plans for the running of Open Morris.

To enable Open Morris to go forward there will be an EGM followed by an AGM held in the Midlands at the Crown Inn, Nuneaton on Sat 30th Jan 2016.

*These meetings are very important for the future of Open Morris and we need you to attend.

All 2015 members are eligible to vote even if you won't be renewing your membership for 2016

The EGM will commence at 1.30 pm and will be held to :

Decide who can and who cannot vote at AGM's & EGM's
Approve an AGM to be held immediately after the EGM.

The pub is open at 12 noon with the EGM starting promptly at 1.30 pm.
We have the room until 5.30ish.

There will be a range of cold snacks, sandwiches and pies available to purchase.

As this will be the AGM all committee positions will be open to re-election and nominations for new people to the committee.

These positions as per the Constitution are: 1. Chairperson, 2. Secretary 3. Membership Secretary 4. Treasurer and 5. Web Officer

If you are interested, or know of anyone interested, please forward your nomination to chair@open-morris.org along with a statement outlining who you are and what you can bring to the position at least two weeks before the AGM so it can be distributed to all members.

Nominations must have a Proposer Side and a Seconder Side and they cannot be from the same side.

As per the constitution, nominations will also be accepted on the day of the AGM although it is preferable that they are presented two weeks beforehand to allow sides to discuss their preferences.

We are also looking for someone to be the Editor of Dancing On, the Open Morris magazine and volunteers to be Area Representatives. If you are interested in any of these positions, please contact the committee for further information.

If you have any items that you would like to discuss at the AGM, please send them to me at secretary@open-morris.org for inclusion on the Agenda.

If you feel you would like to come along but would need a lift or you have spare room in your car Sam from Locksided Rapper has created a lift sharing website on http://tinyurl.com/oby57mv

The Crown is very close to the Nuneaton Rail and Coach/bus service.

There are numerous retail car parks 100 yds behind the pub serving Asda and numerous other stores.

See http://whatpub.com/pubs/NUN/52/crown-nuneaton.

If you are interested in hot food please contact John Clifford on cliffordjohnm@yahoo.co.uk as soon as possible. They are suggesting chilli con carne, a hot Veggy meal and another simple bulk pub meal. He can find out more if there is sufficient interest to make it worthwhile to the pub. The pub that weekend is in the midst of its Beer/Cider festival.

Brian Antuar
Secretary, Open Morris

_______________________________________________ Tower Ravens Committee and Info List info@towerravens.org.uk