Minutes of the fifty first annual general meeting of Scottish Disability Sport held on Wednesday 24th September 2014 at the Windlestrae Hotel, Kinross at 1930 hours.

Attendees and Apologies

A list is attached.

Welcome and Apologies

The Chair Gordon McCormack OBE welcomed everyone to the meeting.

Adoption of Minutes

The minutes of the previous AGM were adopted as previously circulated.

Presentation of Audited Accounts

The audited accounts were presented by Gerry Milne.  The accounts had been circulated in advance of the AGM and a copy was available to view at the registration table.  Thanks were given to the Finance Manager for diligence in the preparation of the accounts.  They had been agreed with the auditors and there were no comments.

Report by Gavin Macleod, Chief Executive Officer

North Ayrshire Branch had rescinded membership during the course of the year and had formed part of a new pan-Ayrshire Branch, Ayrshire Sportsability.

The Branch Conference had been held in November 2013 with 55 delegates attending representing 11 Branches.  The next Branch Conference was scheduled for 16th November 2014 at Dewar’s in Perth.

PVG training had been offered to Branches during the year with a good take-up.

International events had included the CPISRA European Football Championships where Scotland had ranked 5th, the UCI World Cycling Championships in Mexico, the IPC European Swimming Championships in the Netherlands, the IPC European Athletics Championships in Swansea and the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.  Michael Cavanagh would be joining the meeting later in the evening.

Education and Training

Support continued to be received from Education Scotland and sportscotland.  Congratulations were given to Heather Lowden, Claire Morrison and Lynne Glen for their work with GB Boccia on boccia coach education.  The Coaching Matters Performance Coaches’ Conference had been held in December 2013 at Stirling Management Centre.

Governance

The Memorandum and Articles of Association had been reviewed and Iain Smith, Board legal advisor, would speak during the evening.

The Opportunities & Equality Manager was leading on working towards the Equality Standard Intermediate Level with the aim of completion by March 2015.

Tina Gordon was welcomed as Regional Consultant for Tayside and Disability Sport Fife recognised as fulfilling the remit for Fife.

Dave Rhoney was now in post as RAT with Help for Heroes Personnel Recovery Unit.

Communication and Leadership

Web statistics were given and it was noted that the facebook and twitter audiences were growing.  Sport specific fact sheets had been produced for priority and Commonwealth Games sports.

Thanks were given to:

• The SDS Management Board, particularly the outgoing Chair;
• Branches and volunteers;
• Sport specific officers and coaches;
• Colleagues in Fife and Edinburgh;
• Local authorities, leisure trusts and sport governing bodies;
• sportscotland, in particular the Partnership Manager Jo Bell;
• Sponsors and key partners; and
• Athletes.

Election of Directors

In accordance with the new Articles of Association, Board members would be elected for an initial term of one year.

One nomination had been received for Chair – Janice Eaglesham.

Proposed: Richard Vallis

Seconded: Anna Tizzard

One nomination had been received for Vice Chair – Catherine Goodfellow.

Proposed: Angus Whyte

Seconded: Millar Stoddart

Seven nominations had been received for Directors – Anna Tizzard, David Rhoney, Gerry Milne, Iain Smith, Sandra Proudfoot, John Reid and Claire Morrison.

Proposed: Gordon Quinton

Seconded: Alan Oliver

Re-appointment of Honorary Auditors

Geoghegans were re-appointed as honorary auditors with particular thanks to Mike Crerar and Denise Meikle.

Proposed: Sandra Proudfoot

Seconded: Dave Rhoney

Membership Subscriptions

Membership subscriptions would remain the same as the previous year, at £200 for branches and £50 for associate members.

Proposed: Michelle Philip

Seconded: Paul Noble MBE

Company Matters

Iain Smith had been asked to review the Memorandum and Articles of Association.  It was considered good practice to review them and the revised Articles of Association had been circulated to the membership.  No comments had been received.

Briefly, the aims of the new Articles were:

• To amalgamate several documents into one place;
• To contain specific objects relating to the charitable status of Scottish Disability Sport;
• To condense the objects into a more concise document.

The most substantial change related to the election of the Board of Directors.  It was recognised that it was not best practice to have the whole Board standing down at the same time and therefore a rolling programme would be introduced with a three year rotation.

Ten votes were received for the Articles to be adopted and there were no votes against and no abstentions.  The resolution was therefore carried and the new Articles of Association adopted.

The Chair thanked Iain Smith for his explanation and support.

AOCB

There was no other competent business.

With the official business completed, it was noted that the AGM was well attended and all were thanked for coming.

Guest Speaker: Aileen Neilson

The CEO welcomed Aileen Neilson as guest speaker.  Aileen thanked SDS for inviting her and gave a presentation (attached) on her sporting career to date, culminating in the Winter Paralympics in Sochi 2014.

Presentation of Awards

The SDS Awards were presented by Aileen Neilson.

• David McCrae Bursary: Scott Meenagh
• Archie Cameron Bursary: Joanne Butterfield and Laura Cluxton
• Special Award – Commonwealth Games Council for Scotland
• Special Olympics Trophy: Ruairidh Brown
• Capability Scotland Salver for Most Promising Newcomer: Maria Lyle
• Glasgow Trophy for Service to Sport: Pauline Stirling
• Elspeth Watson Trophy for person outwith SDS contributing to disability sport in Scotland: Terry McLernon MBE
• Russell Hogg Trophy for Development Coach of the Year: Stephen Somerville
• Fife Trophy for Coach of the Year: Tony Zummack
• Dedication to Football Award: Gordon McCormack OBE
• Findlay Calder Trophy for Athlete of the Year: Libby Clegg
• Brian Dolan Memorial Trophy for Swimmer of the Year: Andrew Mullen
• Angus Trophy for Sportsperson of the Year excluding athletes and swimmers: Neil Fachie MBE
• Gordon Brown Memorial Trophy for Athletes’ Athlete of the Year: Andrew Mullen
• Special Presentation: Gordon McCormack OBE

Gordon McCormack OBE was presented with an award by Janice Eaglesham in recognition of his eight years as Chair of SDS, from 2006 to 2014, during which it had been an honour and a privilege to work with him.  Janice commented that she had worked with Gordon for 26 years in total and that he had been a volunteer with SDS for more than 35 years.  Everyone knew Gordon in a variety of ways – SDS Chair, West of Scotland, as a colleague or volunteer or as cameraman at events.  During this time many changes have taken place in disability sport and SDS has expanded from six paid staff to 18 at the present time.  Of the three Commonwealth Games during which Gordon has been Chair, the most special was the most recent in his home city of Glasgow.  Tonight Gordon was leaving his position but not the organisation, but would remain involved in grassroots disability sport and in tutoring, and it was hoped he would be present as a mentor to others.

Gordon McCormack thanked all for making his time at SDS wonderful, and also gave credit to the staff for achievements.

The CEO thanked Aileen Neilson for her presentation and introduced Michael Cavanagh, Chair of Commonwealth Games Scotland.

Closing Remarks: Michael Cavanagh, Chair, Commonwealth Games Scotland

Michael Cavanagh gave a presentation (attached).

Gavin Macleod, CEO, Scottish Disability Sport

The CEO thanked Michael Cavanagh for his remarks and congratulated him on the success of the Games and the inclusiveness of Glasgow 2014.  Thanks were also given to Julie and Brooke Hogg for presentation of the Russell Hogg Trophy.

Date of Next AGM

Wednesday 23rd September 2015