The Annual General Meeting followed the talk on 12th April 2019.
1. Hazel Fort began by describing the current state of SUES before opening a wider discussion about its future. The coming year will involve a major new initiative, in which SUES will sponsor the University of Liverpool Continuing Education Department in providing three long courses (7 sessions each) in Southport in the academic year 2019-20. These courses will be available to SUES members at a subsidised fee. Members will also have access to 3-4 single session meetings as we have now. The purpose of the project is to ensure that courses of the type that have been running successfully in recent years can continue at a moderate cost. It is also a way of deploying the considerable funds that have come SUES’s way through a bequest. At the moment discussions are continuing with the University about the funding details.
2. It was agreed that Hazel Fort should continue as Chair and Bob Neate as Treasurer. John Sharp remains on the committee with a responsibility for membership records and communications. Three new committee members were elected: Roger Mitchell, Peter Firth and Alan Potter. These are our proposed lecturers for next year and they were invited to explain their approach to the SUES project. Roger and Peter are from a humanities background and Alan from one in science. Particular interest was shown in Alan’s work on learning in later life.
3. Bob Neate presented a financial statement. We continue to lose a small amount of money each year as subscriptions do not match expenditure on venues, lecturer fees and communications. However, given the funds the Society holds, this is not a major concern. Nevertheless, it was agreed that the subscription for the coming year will be increased to £5, which will be due in September. This, of course, will give access to the benefits described above.
Hazel Fort
John Sharp