CSPA Scarborough Group : Minutes of Meeting Held on 25^th September 2023 at Westborough Church, Scarborough

1. Welcome

Joyce I’Anson opened the meeting and welcomed nine members of the branch.

• Apologies

Apologies were received from Sheena O’Connell, Jocelyn Lovett and Dennis. 

• Minutes of the meeting of 26^th June 2023.

It was noted that the minutes had taken a longer than normal period to arrive but nonetheless were agreed with Richard Moore proposing and Karen McCabe seconding.

• Matters Arising

There were no matters arising for consideration.

• Treasurer’s Report

James Howie reported that the branch had a balance of £38.99 in cash and, taking account of room hire for that day’s meeting, a bank balance of £335.86 giving a total of £374.85.  He noted that the branch cost roughly £200/year to run which included expenses for travel to the Regional Meeting and occasional hospitality.  It had been decided to suspend collection of the annual subscription for 2023 but subscriptions would be due for 2024 on 1^st January 2024.

• Record Secretary’s Report

The Records Secretary had left a note of matters to report which consisted mainly of noting problems with communicating with CSPA Headquarters.  As noted above the minutes of the last meeting had taken longer than normal to be distributed by headquarters, possibly because of outsourcing.  The passing of two members of the branch had been reported to HQ but it took persistence to get confirmation from them that action had been taken.  In addition, the continuing requests for an up-to-date membership list had not resulted in a list being provided.  The Chair noted that emails were being sent directly from HQ to some members in our region where their email addresses were known but it had not been possible to obtain a list of who was receiving them.  It was noted that a number of HQ staff had left and this had probably not helped HQ to provide their normal level of service.

• Matters of Interest

The Treasurer noted that he would attend the AGM as the Branch’s representative.  He noted that following the last meeting the branch had submitted a motion calling for the Executive Committee to seek to end the practice of increasing mobile telephone, broadband and telephone charges by 3.9% + the rate of inflation.  A similar motion had been proposed by Bristol group.  The Treasurer would be called upon to defend the Branch’s motion at the AGM. Members were asked to submit any comments on the other motions for the AGM directly to the Treasurer for consideration

• Cost of Living Crisis

Richard Kilsby informed the Group that the Yorkshire Building Society (YBS) had donated funds to Age UK and the Citizen’s Advice Bureau to fund a scheme for providing confidential one to one advice for anyone (including non-YBS customers) experiencing problems as a result of the current cost of living crisis.  Further details can be found on the YBS website at www.YBS.co.uk .

• Christmas Lunch

Lunch has been booked at the Park Manor Hotel for the last Friday in November, namely 24th.  The lunch is scheduled for 12.00 for a 12.30 start.  The cost will be £27 and a deposit of £10/person is required now for anyone wishing to attend (payable to the Chair).  A minimum number of 15 guests is required to ensure the booking.  If anyone wishes to attend the lunch then please let the Chair know as soon as possible.  A menu is available.

1. AOB
2. A branch member noted that there were problems with the machines issuing rail tickets at Scarborough station and that it was advisable to check any tickets printed by the machine.  In the event of any mistake, it would be necessary to consult the ticket office; another good reason for retaining ticket offices!
3. Karen McCabe informed the group that Age UK were taking up the issue of older people being excluded because of their lack of computer access entitled “offline and overlooked.”
4. A warning was given about donating to certain causes where details were being used fraudulently to request additional donations from subscribers.  Members were urged to check carefully that they were not being scammed. 

1. Next meetings will be on 22^nd January 2024, 22^nd April 24^th June and 23^rd September.