Earthworm Society of Britain AGM 2022

Committee Members Present: Frank Ashwood (FA), Gino Brignoli (GB), Keiron D Brown (KDB), Kevin R Butt (KRB), Kerry Calloway (KC), Keith Lugg (KL), Anke Marsh (AM) and Anthony Roach (AR).

1. Apologies for absence (KC)

  • Committee members: Emma Sherlock (ES), Aidan Keith (AK)
  • Members: Jane Turner, Ian Dunn, Victoria Burton, Alene, Jean Wagstaff and Mark Wagstaff.

2. Chair's Report (ES)

3. Treasurer's Report (GB)

Summary of accounts for ESB from 01 Apr 2021 to 31 Mar 2022:

  • Opening balance as at April 2021 = £8,702.62
  • Closing balance as at March 2022 = £10,619.55 
  • Total Income = £1,926.52
  • Total Expenditure = £9.59

The ESB accounts have benefitted from the continued relationship with the FSC BioLinks project minimising expenditure related to training delivery. The ESB’s financial position is robust with reserves that would enable the Society to operate at previous rates of delivery (pre-BioLinks) for 3 years assuming no further income is received exceeding the Society’s constitutional obligations.

ESB Accounts 2022

4. Membership Officer Report (KDB)

  • All memberships were processed as of 18:22 on 05 Oct 2022.
  • Currently have 354 members.
  • Including 189 Life members and 165 individuals.
  • Keiron Brown now undertaking Membership Officer duties.
  • New member and renewal payments only accepted via PayPal through ESB website.

5. Enquiries Officer Report (AR)

This is a summary of the Enquiries Officer’s report, for the full report contact KC. 

The following report outlines a summary of ESB enquiries for the period 01 Oct 2021 to 01 Oct 2022 2022. In total we received approximately 172 enquiries and a summary of the enquiries is shown below. 

ESB enquiries summary 2022

I am formally stepping down from the roll after 6 very enjoyable years and want to thank Emma, Keiron and Kerry in particular for their support and the rest of the team for some fun Recording Weekends, AGMS and training sessions that I have attended. 

I like to think Darwin would have been pleased with the work I have done in raising the profile of the earthworm through radio interviews, outreach and writing since I started at the NHM and later Earthwatch in 2016. Thanks everyone for all of it! 😊

6. Appointment of Trustees (KDB & KC)

Voting was carried out virtually using the survey tool on Zoom. Results are:

Nominee Role For Against
Emma Sherlock Chair 32 0
Kerry Calloway Secretary 32 0
Gino Brignoli Treasurer 32 0
Frank Ashwood Ordinary Committee Member 33 0
Keiron D. Brown Ordinary Committee Member 33 0
Kevin R. Butt Ordinary Committee Member 33 1
Aidan Keith Ordinary Committee Member 33 0
Keith Lugg Ordinary Committee Member 33 0
Anke Marsh Ordinary Committee Member 33 0

Therefore, all nominees were appointed.

7. National Earthworm Recording Scheme Report 2022 (KDB)