The club is run by committee members.
The current committee for the 2025/26 Season are:
Chair: Terry Rees-Pedlar email: tjrp01@hotmail.com
Treasurer: Mike Roberts email: mjrob36@gmail.com
Secretary:
Programme Secretary: Adrian Butcher email: butcher.adrian@btinternet.com
Competition Secretary: Keith Sharples (internal and external competitions) email: sharplkei@gmail.com
Webmaster: Lyn Sharples email: sharplyn2010@gmail.com
If you have any questions or suggestions about the running of the club please speak to a committee member.
The committee is elected at the AGM. Any member can put themselves forward for any position on the committee at the AGM. If more than one person is interested in a committee post it will be decided by a vote at the AGM. We are always on the look out for new committee members, if you feel you might like to take up a committee post please talk to the current committee.
Image on this page: "What's Down There?" by Helen Lord
Committee meetings are held as and when necessary to discuss the running of the club. Below are summaries of what was discussed at the latest committee meetings:
8/4/25
Nobody has yet expressed an interest in standing for the positions of Secretary and Competition Secretary which will become vacant at the AGM. Terry will ask around to see if anyone would be willing to take up either of these posts.
It was agreed that all committee members should have some training in setting up the equipment for meetings so that it does not always fall to the same people, and the use of Dicentra, laptop etc so there are people to help if there is a problem.
A strategy for the club was discussed. Ideally we would like a slight growth in membership numbers but without getting too large, but enough to replace any members who do not rejoin. It was agreed to promote the club through a display at the Monmouth library and a stand at Monmouth Market in the summer. It was also felt our participation in WPF and other Welsh events was important in maintaining a presence.
A possibility of a new category of online membership for overseas members at a reduced fee of £25 was discussed. It was agreed to put this to the AGM.
The need for more training for members in basic photoshop/ photo manipulation was discussed. Keith will offer training over the summer.
Our current Zoom licence is provided by Fintan, he will continue for the 2025-26 season. After that we will need to purchase our own licence.
It was decided that after the success of the Five Print Challenge we would continue with this as an annual event.
A suggested rule change for dpi competitions, whereby if the entry numbers are too great the third entry from each member would be withdrawn, was put on hold for the time being. We only had one competition where the high entry level was considered a problem last year so it was decided to review this again at the end of the next season.
Plans for Monmouth's visit to Gwynfa club in September were discussed. There are about 7 members willing to provide short presentations.
Sometimes speakers/ presenters at club meetings can be difficult to hear. It was therefore agreed to purchase a PA system for the club.
Club finances are relatively sound at present and it was agreed to recommend at the AGM that club fees stay at the same level of £80 next year, to be reviewed the following year.
A request has been made to see if we could project dpi s (of prints) during print competitions as it was difficult to see from the rear seats. It was agreed to trial this at a future print competition.
14/1/25
Fintan reminded us that his three year term as Chairman will end in May and we will need a new Chairman. He will email members to remind them. There is already someone willing to put themselves forward for the post.
Competitions were discussed and concern expressed that if there are too many entries in a competition, (as in the last dpi competition), it makes it difficult for a judge to score and to provide an adequate critique for each image. Suggested a possible rule change for next year whereby in dpi competitions members number their entries and if there are too many the third entry for everyone will be taken out. This will be put to the AGM before being implemented.
There was an update on arrangements for the WPF Memorial Trophies day which we are hosting at the Bridges Community Centre.
As Lloyds Bank are now charging for our account a possible move to Metro Bank, (which is currently free), was considered. This would not be straightforward and would involve at least three members going to Cardiff or Bristol, (nearest Metro Bank branches). It was decided to remain with Lloyds for the time being and to review at the end of the season.
It was noted that it can sometimes be difficult to hear presenters in the Village Hall. It was agreed to look into the possibility of purchasing a radio microphone for speakers to use.
29/10/24
Club finances are reasonably healthy at the moment with membership fees having just been paid. There will be a further payment of fees in January from the second instalment .
Membership has increased this year to 32 members with 9 new members so far. Two from last year did not rejoin so we are 7 up from last year. Some new members are from other clubs, some joined as a result of the market display in August and some after visiting our website.
Lloyds bank are now going to start charging for our 'Community Account', £4.25 a month plus various other charges for cheques, cash withdrawals etc. There is no easy alternative if we want internet access. It was decided to remain with Lloyds for the time being and review at the end of the year.
The WPF are looking for a club to run the Memorial Trophies Competitions in January. Several committee members would be willing to help out with this so it was decided to contact the WPF and offer to do this at Bridges Community Centre on 25th January, providing it would be of no financial cost to the club. A request will be sent out for more members to help out on the day.
The rules for mounting prints for club competitions were discussed and confirmed. It was also agreed that when selecting prints for outside competitions, prints do not need to have a backing unless the rules for that particular competition demand it.
It was agreed that it would be beneficial to have up to two extra committee members, ordinary members with no specific job title.
10/4/24
Mike brought us up to date on current finances and stated that the new account with Lloyds Bank is working well. It is very useful to be able to make online payments and check finances online. We are in the black but our expenditure will be more than our income this year. A potential saving next year would be to slightly reduce the number of Zoom presentations (currently every month).
There was further discussion about increasing membership. It was decided to go ahead with an advert in "The Voice" in the September/October edition. We will also have the mini exhibition at Monmouth Market on Saturday 31st August, weather permitting.
Arrangements for the upcoming Bill Ward event were discussed, publicity to go to other local clubs and the possibility of using a ticketing system to sell visitor tickets. If the workshop Bill is giving the following day is over subscribed names will be pulled from a hat.
Arrangements for this year's AGM were discussed. All committee members are willing to stand again except for Jackie who wishes to step down from the post of competition secretary. If re-elected, it will be Fintan's final year as chair.
The competition themes for the next two years were discussed and decided on: 2024/25 - dpi "On This Day", print "Boats"
2025/26 - dpi "Intentional Camera Movement", print- "Architecture"
A new competition "The Five Print Challenge" will be introduced in 2025. This will run independently from the other club competitions. It was decided to re-purpose the Tony Cutting Trophy ,(which isn't really working in its current use), to be the award for the Five Print Challenge.
The Photo Marathon will take place again this year, on August 10th.
It was suggested that at some club meetings, (those where we have a greater number of visitors) it would be good to run a raffle to raise funds.
10/1/24
Mike gave a summary of the current finances which are reasonably healthy at present, but would benefit from increased membership.
The insurance is due for renewal in February, Terry has this in hand, at an increased cost of 20p from last year!
Terry and Mike are in the process of moving the club's bank account to LLoyds Bank. This will have the benefit of allowing on-line banking.
We currently have 25 members. It was felt that an increase in membership would really help the club. Various idea were suggested for increasing publicity and it was decided to hold a further meeting at the end of January to discuss these ideas in more depth.
Having been asked by the WPF what we felt they could do to help clubs more, the current benefits of belonging to the WPF were discussed, and the need to make the membership more aware of what the WPF do. It was felt that more workshops along the lines of the recent WPF print workshop would be well received.
Adrian is already working on next years programme and initial dates were approved.
There was some discussion around competitions. It would be nice to have more members enter and ideas were considered to encourage this, however entering competitions is not for everyone and that is fine. The photoentry system seems to be working well, Fintan will offer help to anyone having difficulty with it. As a club we are doing well in external competitions this year and more members are submitting entries for these.
28/3/23
Update from latest committee meeting:
Mono Training and Workshops: Fintan, on behalf of everyone, expressed his thanks to Keith for the Mono training. All enjoyed it immensely and members believed it has helped their photography greatly, Elisa gaining a ribbon after re-editing on Keith’s advice.
Replacing the old computer: Keith has listed the required spec and researched prices for a replacement. We believe that we are looking at around £500 to get a suitable laptop. To help finances Jackie has booked a market stall for April 29 th to sell prints donated by members. She will email members asking for mounted images and help on the day. Friday 21 st April will be a collection at the club evening. Jackie will source some cheap cellophane covers to keep the images clean.
External Battles and Competitions: MPC has had an excellent year in external competitions, representing the WPF at Blackburn and achieving very good scores in all the other competitions entered. Pat and her team have put a tremendous effort into organising, entering, selecting and attending these events. Well done to everyone who put images forward for selection as without you it would not be possible.
Approaching the end of the Year: The annual Open Competition is on May 5 th . Let’s have a great turn out to end the Year. Hand in evening is 21 st April.
End of the year and the AGM is coming up. Jackie wishes to stand down as secretary and if possible, we would like to recruit a vice chair to support Fintan. The present committee are willing to continue in post if no members would like to put themselves forward. It is essential to have a secretary, it is part of the conditions of belonging to the WPF. If you think you have some time and can contribute speak to a member of the committee.
The AGM: Friday 19 th May Not only will we have the AGM but prize giving and social evening, so keep the date.
15/11/22
The club's finances and membership numbers were discussed. Both are looking good at present, though it was noted that under the new system of fees most of the income comes in at the beginning of the season rather than being spread out over the season as before. We have 28 paid up members at present, with at least one more likely to join.
The programme was discussed, especially planning for the Bill Ward event in January. This will be by advance ticket only for outside guests (members free but need to say in advance if attending).
The Christmas Social will be on 16th December at Creates, Monmouth. Payment and menu choices to be made in advance.
Outside competitions are going well with the PAGB championship attended and the Stanley Chell and Adrian Webster Memorial competitions coming up. Also there is a possibility of a battle with Orkney Camera Club (by Zoom).
Publicity wise we will be having another display at Monmouth Library. We also plan to get some leaflets printed as we have some credit with 'Bizay'.
Keith and Lyn are planning to run some Monochrome tutorials, two by Zoom and one 'live' meeting.
29/08/22
First meeting of the new committee after the AGM.
The committee agreed that although we no longer need to take money at the door for meetings in the Village Hall we do need to keep a register of who is present, and emergency contact details. It was agreed that potential new members get their first month of meetings/zooms etc free but must join in the second month. Pro -rata fees were agreed for those joining part way through the season, and also that under 16s would be half price. The fee for visitors was set at £5.
It was decided that the Bill Ward evening in January should be a ticketed evening (free to Monmouth PC members), and to publicise the evening to encourage visitors from other clubs.
Pat reported that the preparations for the PAGB inter-club competition at Blackburn in October are going well. We are still waiting for confirmation of dates and venue from the PAGB.
Keith Sharples offered to run a mounting workshop on 1st October for those needing help before the first club competition.
Jackie agreed to make a start on organising the Christmas Social.
27/04/22
The committee discussed the agenda for the upcoming AGM.
09/03/22
A quick update from our last committee meeting where we looked to the future programme now it is looking like Covid restrictions will be removed. We felt Covid had put a damper on spirits in general and we needed to reinvigorate MPC. Also finances are not as healthy as they were due to the past two years when Zoom costs have had to be covered but with no income from Zoom meetings.
Going forward to next year we will probably have to charge to attend Zoom meetings as the speakers are all charging a fee now, and consider putting the cost of the Zoom licence into the annual fee.
On a more cheerful note, the webchallenge will continue as feedback from this has been excellent and all who have taken part have really enjoyed it.
Also we have decided to have a trip out once a month which will be scheduled into the programme and can be followed up with a Zoom meeting for people to share their images.
To kick this off our first trip will be to Fintan's garden in Brockweir. It is part of the National Gardens scheme and he has invited us all to bring a picnic and our cameras. Full details to follow.
Now that Christopher and Catherine are stepping down we do need more members to join the committee. This is not an onerous task and the more of us the lighter the load. Roles are flexible so please speak to a member of the committee if you think you can spare some time.
12/10/21
After consulting the members on how they feel about returning to F2F meetings it has been decided to have a mixture of zoom and live programme as there was a small but significant number of members who were still anxious about retuning to the hall. November is going to be F2F meetings as they aren’t possible to change, and Zoom for meetings in December. In the new year there will be some tweaking of the programme to get a balance between Zoom and F2F.
When using the hall, we will be following the risk assessment set out by the hall and have sent everyone the procedure we will follow to do our best to ensure everyone’s comfort and safety.
If you are going out on a trip to take photos and would like company, let everyone know via WhatsApp. Its always great to be able to share ideas and knowledge.
