Minutes of the 44th meeting

Minutes of the 44th meeting of the Kent & Sussex Regional branch of The Socialist Party of Great Britain held on 12th July, 2015The meeting started at 2.28 pm and was held at the Muggleton Inn, High Street, Maidstone, KentPresent: Dave Chesham (Secretary), Marie Chesham, Rob Cox (Treasurer), Dan Fabian, Ed Mann, Jacqueline ShodekeApologies for absence: Mandy Bruce, Les Courtney, Hannah Dutton, Glenn Morris1. Election of ChairMotion 1. Shodeke & Mann “That D.Chesham be Chair”AGREED2. Minutes of the 43rd Meeting held on 14th June 2015 were before the meetingMotion 2. M.Chesham & Fabian “That the minutes be adopted”AGREED3. Matters arising from previous minutesi) Street StallsThree members were present to run the stall in Canterbury on Saturday, 27 June. Another good four hours with five pamphlets and 1 current Standard sold and some back numbers given away. Four more names were added to the branch's mailing list, one of which turned out to be a son of Oliver Postgate, the writer, and great-grandson of George Lansbury, one-time leader of the Labour Party.The next stalls would be in Canterbury on Saturday, 18 July and Saturday, 22 August.There was further discussion about the material used on the display stand which accompanies the stall. It was AGREED that the maze image on the back cover of the July 2015 Socialist Standard be enlarged to A3 and used.ii) Brighton Introductory Meeting – 16-6-1522 people present (7 members and 15 visitors). At least four others who had RSVP'd did not attend. 9 new contacts have been added to the branch's mailing list which now stands at 114.With chairs arranged in a circular formation everyone present took turns to briefly introduce themselves and state the reasons why they had come to the meeting. A very informal and affable discussion period then took up the remaining time.It was fairly unanimously agreed to hold similar discussions on the third Tuesday of each month, at least for the forseeable future; the next one taking place on Tuesday, 21 July at 7.30pm with an end time of 9.30pm. The same venue and room have already been booked.Two non-members who attended have booked to go to Summer School.iii) Report on 2015 Election CampaignThere was a fair amount of discussion on the election campaign.iv) University and College Committee – nominations requiredAt the June meeting it was agreed to ask Ed Mann and Sam Wicks if they would be prepared to accept nomination for this committee. Ed had declined and no response had been received from Sam.v) Call for a volunteer to prepare EC agendasAt the June meeting it was agreed to ask Keith Scholey if he would be interested in volunteering. No response had been received from Keith.vi) Ballot Committee – nominations requiredNOTED4. Branch financial reportIt was AGREED to defer this item to the August meeting5. Autumn Delegate Meeting – Items for DiscussionIt was AGREED to defer this item to the August meeting6. Forms 'A' & 'F'Two new members, NH & HW, accepted into membership by the EC at its May & July meetings respectively, had been allocated to the branch. Welcoming emails had already been sent to these two new members.7. Branch Membership TransfersThe Secretary reported that Keith Chopping had transferred to K&SRB from Central branch.NOTED8. EC minutes – June meeting – 6-6-15NOTED9. Summer School – 24/26-7-15Seven branch members and two supporters would be attending Summer School this year.10. Kent Miners' Festival – Betteshanger Community Park – 31-8-15The Secretary has booked a stall at this year's festival but had not received any confirmation from the organisers.11. Future propaganda activitiesNONE other than those already mentioned.12. Any other businessRob reported on some of the items of business discussed by the July EC.A lengthy discussion ensued on one issue in particular.Meeting adjourned at 6.07pmCollection taken: £9.50