Welcome to Clwb Llanllawen/Croeso i Clwb Llanllawen
Plas Efenechtyd B&B Ruthin North Wales
Our Next Event
Mis Mehefin/June 6th 7pm
Walk round Ruthin with Nia's dad
(start and finish at Awelon)/Cerdded o gwmpas Rhuthun efo dad Nia
(dechrau a gorffen yn Awelon) Tea and biscuits/Paned a bisgedi.
Clwb Llanllawen website is sponsored by:-
Alison Bradley Gallery, Holyhead Road, Betws-y-Coed, LL24 0AB
Tel (01690) 710080 Fax (01690) 710090 Mob (07733) 294106.
All images and text copyright © Clwb Llanllawen
Clwb Llanllawen Annual General Meeting Minutes
Date Time Minute taker Next meeting
2nd May 2012 19:30 Rachel Johnson n/a
Chair Joy
Attendees Committee: Jan, Carole B, Colin, Rachel, Carole R, Myfi
17 members, 7 friends of club
1. Welcome and Chair’s report of the club year
Joy gave a welcome to all who were attending this important meeting and outlined the agenda.
Joy gave her report, in Welsh and English, of the club’s year. She reported that the club had continued to meet on the first Wednesday of the month at Awelon and that all the evenings had been written up in the book and on the website. There had been a range of meetings – quiet, noisy, interesting, energetic, and all accompanied by food. The trip to Ynys Enlli had been the highlight of the year – Llanllawen is a special place for the club, and the island proved to be even more so. Joy thanked the committee and the members who have organised the evenings and events this year.
2. Annual accounts
Carole presented the audited accounts for the 2011/12 financial year. There is *** in the account – membership had decreased this year, and so membership fees received had reduced. There were no questions. Colin proposed to accept the accounts and Jan seconded.
3. Proposal to dissolve Clwb Llanllawen
Proposal and summary of the reasons:
Joy stated that the committee propose to the membership that the club should be dissolved from the end of August 2012. This is not a decision that has been taken lightly by the committee; it is now being presented to the members for discussion and a vote. The club has had six interesting years, and we have created a big family of Welsh learners and friends of the club, aiming to give events to the communities, including Llangollen and Corwen, where the Llanllawen classes were taught; we have had a lot of support from the Welsh community.
The committee are resigning as they do each AGM, but this time none of the committee will be standing for re-election.
There are three reasons that the committee have for making this proposal which are:
i) Lack of new members
ii) Difficulties in communication/practicalities of running the club
iii) Money
Each of the three reasons was expanded upon by Joy, on behalf of the committee, with questions and discussions from the floor throughout.
i) Lack of new members:
The club was the brainwave of Myfi who, together with some of the current committee, were the prime instigators of the club. From the start Myfi had a passion for the club as did Mair at the college – both Myfi and Mair gave over and above to the club and both were crucial and indispensible. With Myfi no longer at the college and Mair no longer allowed to work with us, we have lost that passion and they are irreplaceable. With no disrespect to the tutors whatsoever, you cannot timetable enthusiasm, and coupled with a lack of learners’ classes over the last two years, partly because they were not advertised, our membership from the Llysfasi classes has fallen.
The committee have put the club and events in the local press, and have visited all the classes in the area over the last two or three years, and the learners have shown interest on the night, but without the tutor passion and their ability to bring the learners to the events, they haven’t attended.
If we haven’t got the learner membership coming through, the committee feel that we cannot fulfil the aim of the club to integrate learners with Welsh speaking friends.
ii) Difficulties in communication / practicalities of running the club
The committee have really appreciated the help and support they have received from the tutors, both from Llysfasi and other tutors from the local area, individually but we are affiliated to the college. Currently and over the past six months, there has been no effective conversation with the college. They are extremely difficult to get hold of, and it can be weeks before Joy’s phone calls are returned. The Welsh co-ordinator at the college has twice told us that the best way to contact her is to write a letter – it is impossible to have an effective dialogue through letter exchange.
Of the committee, only Marilyn is still in contact with the college as a learner – the rest have moved on beyond the college courses. The club post goes to the college and does not get passed on to us quickly or reliably. Personnel changes at the college have not been communicated to the committee in a timely manner and so we haven’t known whose support we have had at various points. As learners, the committee need help checking our Welsh writing for reports and letters – the college told us that a although a secretary would be available to us to type up minutes/reports (we do not need this), she will not check the Welsh (which is the piece we really need) – they said that is a role for the tutor and asked us to document the amount we would need.
Without the links with the college, either through a tutor in close proximity or regular contact, nor taking classes through the college, the logistics for the committee of getting things printed, such as the programs or letters, are difficult, meaning a special trip to the college is made to drop them off or to pick them up. As a result, the committee have been printing things themselves in bulk at their own expense.
The trust has been lost between the committee and the college. Each member of the committee is a volunteer and in a way we are doing work for the college, and we feel that we are not appreciated.
iii) Money
When we launched, six years ago, there was no financial help for Welsh learners clubs, and so we established a £5 membership fee.
We were the first Welsh club of this kind for learners and we remain the only one run by learners, and because of that we’ve been held up as an example of good practise, as the flagship. Other institutions teaching Welsh to adults are required to have a similar club for learners because of what we’ve done in Clwb Llanllawen. The institutions receive funding for the clubs, and we recently found out that Llysfasi College (and latterly Deeside following the merger) had received funding for Clwb Llanllawen but that didn’t come our way. The college have spent this money for provision of a club for learners on our behalf since they started receiving it (at least over two years ago although we do not know when it was first given to them) and we were not told about it. It grieves the committee not just that we were not told of the funding but also because local community groups have been supporting us financially (Y Bedol with a gift of £800 and Awelon by not charging us rent – no other groups get the use of the hall rent free), the committee themselves have been using their own resources and haven’t claimed expenses (for phone calls, postage, printing, food donations, etc.) and individuals/groups who have run evenings for us have supported us free of charge or have been reluctant to accept what was due to them.
The money was used by the college to pay for tutor time in lieu, for time spent at club evenings. We were told that tutor time is £50-70/hour per tutor. In response to a question from the floor, it was clarified that the tutors did not receive monetary compensation for time spent with the club. Joy reported that Bangor (at a meeting in January) had stated that use of the money to fund tutor time is legitimate. The committee stated that while we really appreciate the help that the tutors have given, they have not, with the exception of Myfi (while she was at the college and since) run or planned any club meetings. We would not necessarily have chosen to spend the money on tutor attendance at all meetings, over other expenditure options, had we had the choice.
One of the members asked whether anything could be done to get that money to the club. The committee explained that, having found out about the money, they requested a meeting with the college and a meeting was held in January to which Ifor, director of the Welsh for Adults Centre for North Wales, (based at Bangor University) also came. At that meeting, it was stated that they want us to be able to remove the membership fee for learners, as the other clubs don’t have membership fees. We cannot do this without funding as those fees are our only incoming monies. The committee were asked to put together an outline of the costs/expenditure for the next club year, which the college and Welsh for Adults Centre would review against the funding provision that is available. The committee did this, including the costs for insurance, auditing the accounts, and other expenses for running the club alongside the costs of putting on the monthly and a few additional events (in line with what we have held each year).
Joy and Colin were asked to attend a meeting with the college (Head of Welsh and the Welsh co-ordinator) on Monday of this week, where the college responded to the expenditure proposal from the Clwb Llanllawen committee. At the start of this meeting, the college stated that they cannot pay for insurance for us as we are not part of the college, and they cannot fund auditing of the accounts for the same reason. It was then stated that tutor time is so expensive, the implication being that there is no money left after that. It was apparent from those statements that the college do not want to fund the club. They want to take over the club and run it similarly to the club they run at Deeside.
The committee have always been transparent in all matters, and with that ethos, we find it despicable that the college can receive money for the club and not tell us. This is not the first time that the college have acted unilaterally in money matters relating to and impacting the club. A few years ago the college received some money from the European Social Fund and the college wrote to some of their students telling them that they could have free membership of Clwb Llanllawen for a year. The first the committee knew of this was when we received our individual letters as learners. This created quite a mess for the club (in terms of administering it) and a lot of confusion among the learners, as this wasn’t allocated universally. At that time, the committee informed the college of their concern at the way they went about this and stated that the club isn’t something that they can use without consulting with the committee.
We know that the college do use the club to meet some requirements on them as Joy is asked to send in details of the numbers of members and Welsh friends annually.
The members spoke up to voice that they could sense that the committee were “up against a brick wall”, and that they felt the college has behaved disgracefully over the funding they received for the club – that it seems that the way they have used it is tenuous, and they should have told the committee. One member stated their suspicion that the college have used the funding to offset staffing costs at Llysfasi.
General discussion
Comments from the floor included that “it is a very sad state of affairs that it has come to this”, and that “the whole thing stinks”. Local tutors in attendance stated that they have admired us over the past years and enjoyed the events put on – that they are ever so grateful for what the club has done.
The committee stated that they have enjoyed doing it, that we feel we’ve created a big family of local learners, with a lot of friendships made through the club.
Someone asked “What is the source of the money?”, with the response that we believe it comes from the Welsh Assembly to Bangor and then is given to the colleges. When we started, the college was not obliged to offer anything – we did this following a suggestion from Myfi that all learner classes supported and wanted to run with. Since then, it has changed – all FE colleges providing Welsh for Adults courses are now obliged to have a club (“informal learning”) and we were told it was because of Clwb Llanllawen. We don’t know when it changed exactly – no one told us when it did change.
A member asked whether the alternative is to say to Deeside that we are winding up and so it is up to them. The committee responded that the college will be obliged to have a club, and from what was said at Monday’s meeting in the college, it seems that the club Liz runs in Deeside will be extended to include this area.
Clarification was sought from the members as to what the club would be, and while the committee cannot be sure, they stated that Deeside today has Clwb y Dysgwr for learners in the early Welsh years (1 & 2 perhaps), with Eirian in Mold organising a club for more advanced learners. Someone said they feel it would be a change in ethos from Clwb Llanllawen.
The committee had asked Bangor, at January’s meeting, whether, if an independent club approached them in the future, funds could be available. Ifor responded that he didn’t see why not in theory.
The committee concluded by stating that we want to dissolve Clwb Llanllawen because it is our reputation at stake – we have built the club. Now that the college relationship with the committee has changed we feel things cannot continue as they are currently and we feel strongly that we want any provision of a club for learners by the college to be distinct from Clwb Llanllawen and not associated with what we have built.
At this point, the meeting broke to allow the members to discuss what they had heard amongst themselves, and to talk to the committee individually if they wished.
Having reconvened, Joy asked if anyone had anything more to say or ask before the vote – there were no further questions or comments.
Members’ vote on the proposal
The members voting in favour of the proposal to dissolve the club: 15
The members voting against the proposal to dissolve the club: 0
Members abstaining from voting 0
(Note: two members had had to leave during the discussion prior to the vote being taken.)
The proposal was carried unanimously, so the club will be dissolved at the end of August 2012.
3. Forthcoming events
June 6th 7.30pm – Walk around Ruthin, starting and ending at Awelon.
July 4th 7.30pm – Bingo & beetle evening at Awelon.
August 1st 7.30pm – Quiz and an evening of celebration of the club, with a bring and share supper.
August 19th 2pm – walk with Carole & John, meeting outside Llanferis church. This is not a hilly walk; dogs are welcome and bring a head torch if you want to go into the cave.
4. AOB
Future – Many friendships have grown out of the club and we’re sure that from time-to-time we will meet up for coffee, walks, meals, etc. whatever the future holds. Be sy’n digwydd nesa tybed?
Personal contact details – please let Jan know if you don’t want her to hold onto your contact details to be used should any informal gatherings be arranged.
5. Meeting close
The meeting closed with Joy thanking everyone for their help.
One of the members proposed to close the meeting with an expression of gratitude to all on the committee.
As Clwb Llanllawen prepares to close at the end of August we are publishing our AGM Minutes in Full.
We the Committee of Clwb Llanllawen wish to thank our members, friends and all those
people involved in the Inauguration and running, in any way whatsoever, of Clwb Llanllawen,
We will still consider you our friends and wish you all well for the future.