The decision to increase annual membership fee for the RN&RMAA was taken with the strategic aim of being in a position to advertise, recruit and continue to support our current membership base, including associate members with future projects/events being made more widely available.

In my letter explaining the reasons for the increase and the figures involved, I tried to make it clear that associate and full members get access to Fox and Richworth at trade discount; other sponsorship deals will come but this takes time. The RN&RMAA fee has remained at £10 for the past 5 years. The treasurer indicates, below, that an increase in subs across the board is required and the committee took the advise that an increase to £20 pa for all members should be accepted. Even if members fish purely for pleasure and are not subsidised at any event, the trade account makes membership of the RN&RMAA very attractive to most anglers.

It is regrettable that the AGM had to be moved to May 09. I took this decision because I wanted to ensure maximum visibility of the event and to gain as much input to the agenda as possible. The AGM date in March was drawing criticism that there was not sufficient lead time. I fully understand that members will need to join the RN&RMAA to attend the AGM. The debate on the increase will be just that. If, after debating it, members feel they cannot support the increase, then clearly we will vote on it and reassess the way forward; it may be that individuals are refunded their 2009/10 membership fee if they feel the fee just isn't giving them value for money.

As a side note, with this year's Annual Sports Lottery grant being approximately £1500 down on the 2006/7 grant, it is likely that the Carp anglers will get very little from RN&RMAA membership and in order to fund their events, they will be paying out of their own pockets - lamentable but they do it for the love of the sport, without wishing to sound melodramatic and clearly, access to the trade accounts is a big retainer.

We are asking for the support of all of our members to improve the lot RN&RM angling across the board - sometimes our best intentions are masked by our haste to make change without being fully transparent in what we are trying to achieve. Apologies if this is the perception of the majority of members - we'll get it right eventually.

Proposed Annual Membership Increase

It should be noted that all these figures are approximate as provided by the section secretaries. For more accurate accounting the secretaries would need to provide detailed reports of total event costs and the number and type of member entering.

I would anticipate the £1,200 General fund spend on Association running costs to increase as the association takes on certain initiatives such as increased membership communication from the PRO, Membership Sec etc.There have been enquires about foreign expeds, either for the whole association or for individual sections on a yearly rotation. Any left over funds could be moved to the reserve account for this use, there is currently £640 approx in the reserve account; is there a plan for this money?

I would recommend increasing both Full and Associate memberships to £20 giving plenty of scope for any future project funding, particularly in the current financial situation with regards public funding available. At the same time recognition of the significant increase (25% over last 3 years) in the association membership base should be taken into account for the next Annual Grant allocation.

Affiliation Fee

The Affiliate fee is for the Plymouth Command Club becoming an affiliate club as discussed at the last committee meeting. I considered £50 appropriate but needs to be sanctioned by the Committee.