The Association held its 126th Annual General Meeting on 14 June 2024 at Riverside Church in Whitstable. It was chaired by the Association’s President, The Lady Colgrain, His Majesty’s Lord Lieutenant for Kent. There were 42 Members in attendance.
At the meeting, the Rules adopted by the Management Committee at its October 2023 meeting were confirmed, with a minor modification. These Rules were introduced to implement the decision taken by the membership at the 2022 AGM: that the Association should become more Branch-centric.
The Members decided at this AGM, on the recommendation of the Board, that there should be a further reduction in County-level operations and that this should be achieved by suspending the Rules indefinitely. It was emphasised that this did not mean that the Association was closing, rather that it would live on through the Branches; existing in name only at the County-Level, with no formal structure.
However, the membership indicated that there would be the need for someone to act as titular head of the Association, in order that it might be represented, when appropriate, at events. Such person is to be chosen by the Branches and will have no executive responsibilities.
The current Chair and Vice Chair agreed to continue in their roles solely to implement the decision to suspend County-level operations, following which the Board, at its final meeting, will appoint someone to be the figurehead for the Association.
The motion adopted at the Annual General Meeting was as follows:
That the Chair be authorized to undertake all actions necessary to suspend, as soon as is reasonably practicable, the operation of the Association at the County level including, but not limited to:
- paying all monies due or committed to the government and others,
- disposing or arranging for storage, as appropriate, of all assets of the Association, including regalia,
- offering to Kent Archives all records of the Association in the possession of the Chair, or alternatively arranging for storage or the disposal, as appropriate, of such records,
- arranging for preparation of Financial Statements by the Association’s Accountant up to the date of the suspension of operations,
- notifying the Association’s insurers, indicating that the insurance of the Branches should continue until the end of the current policy,
- closing the bank account(s) held by the Association, and
- convening a final meeting of the Board to suspend formally the Rules of the Association indefinitely.
For information on events leading up to the taking of this decision, please click HERE.
