Minutes of the EC of the BKA held at Cranford, 1.30 pm Sun. 26 Feb 2006

Present G. Salmon, A. Nash, D. Spacey, T. Chapman, G. Thriepland, P. Budden, J. Howell, E. Schofield.

Apologies H. Jones, V. Cook, L. Law [Child Protection].

1. The minutes of the Nov.13th 2005 meeting were approved with correction to Item 7: Dojo leader’s signature is required for new and temporary members, and for temporary to full membership conversion.

2. Matters arising:

• Child protection, 38 out of 87 dojo have responded. A letter indicating that the dojo will be removed from thee web site if there is no response by April 1st is to be sent.
• 50 more Fighting spirit Menjo to be obtained. We have 500 stickers available at £3 each.
• Dean Wormall will take on a retail marketing responsibility.
• It was agreed that money would be available up front to the Kendo Taikai organiser.
• Sword legislation, it was agreed that the V. Chair should set up a group, which should be proactive. It was felt that input from Iai at IKET might be important to this cause. President should contact Ian Stewart MP.
• It was agreed that Duco should be the contact point for membership matters. A clear picture of the membership was desirable so a grading register is to be set up. In future a new person must have been in membership for six months before applying to take Ikkyu. A Menjo copy is required with grading applications. For grading abroad application is via the president. From 1st April an administration charge of £15 will be made for foreign applications up to 5th Dan.
• Paul Grey will take over matters of sponsorship. He was accepted for co-option as PRO subject to the Chair approving his CV.

3. Matters arising from the AGM.

• The president provided an update of the constitution changes from the AGM. Publication to members will go ahead after a full review. This will be undertaken by Theresa Thorpe and Anthony Scott, using a Sports Scotland document as a guide.
• An offer for H&S advisor has been received and is being followed up. Keith Dawick is to be asked to continue as Grading Officer, working with the Bu.
• Stuart Gibson is to be asked to look into BKA insurance; Gen. Sec. To obtain the papers.
• In the matter of the Lidstone Taikai a letter is to be prepared in answer to the questions raised by Mr. Baboolal-Blake.

4. IKET arrangements are going well. Attempts will be made to get an Iaido/Jodo teacher to join the visiting group. It is important to have bare feet in the Dojo as well as bums on seats at IKET. Its future frequency and venue is to be considered.

5. In future EC minutes will appear on the web. They will no longer be posted to Dojo leaders. A copy is to be sent to the Auditors as well as EC members.

6. Treasurer reported that membership was up on this time last year. The new arrangements for renewal were a success. Purchase of Sage software [£200] was approved, as was £70 for an experimental web system for membership.

Financial rules for hosting BKA events were in the constitution, and must be adhered to.

7. It was suggested that next year’s AGM, along with Shochu geiko [summer training] will take place at the Kodokan, in May. Date to finalised in conjunction with the calendar.

Next meetings: Sun. 9th July, Bu reports before Fri. 30th June

Sun. 12th Nov. Bu reports before Fri. 27th Oct.

Being no further business, the meeting closed at 4.40pm.