WELLINGTON Conservative Club in High Street has avoided closure after a successful appeal to members to become officers and committee members.

The club held its annual meeting last Sunday - described by acting secretary Peter Readings as ‘probably the most important AGM in the history of the club’.

If it had failed to fill vacancies on the committee it would have been forced to close.

“It was a successful meeting, well attended, and we have managed to fill the vacancies on the committee,” said Mr Readings, who is currently sharing the secretary’s duties with other members.

The club has always been financially sound but before last Sunday had failed to fill vacancies of officers and committee members who have left or are to leave.

Without a minimum number of officers/committee members it would have been legally forced to close.

The annual meeting should have been held in March of last year but was postponed due to Covid-19 and was finally held last Sunday.

The club used to have 650 members but this has dropped considerably since it closed because of the pandemic. It is also still looking for a secretary to be appointed on a permanent basis.

Peter Readings said he felt that publicising the need for new committee members by the WWN, along with emails and letters sent out by the club, played a major part in alerting members to the potential crisis facing the club and the previous committee were very appreciative of the WWN running its front page story.

Officers elected included: president Roger Lane, chairman Sam Berg, treasurer David Huggett, membership/communications secretary Peter Readings. The general committee has one vacancy which is expected to be filled by co-option.

The treasurer, David Huggett, reiterated that the club was ‘in a strong financial position’.

After the meeting, the club issued the following statement: “Now there is a new and dynamic committee in place the club is looking forward to a bright future and would like to thank all those members who have already renewed for 2021 for their support and belief in the club.

“Finally, Peter would like to remind members who have not yet renewed that the ‘amnesty’ is still in place for renewals, so there are currently no financial penalties for late renewal. However, the new committee will be making a decision on how long this ‘amnesty’ can last, so if you have been considering renewing, please do come along and pay your subscriptions as soon as possible and be part of the club as it moves forward.”