We welcomed Rachel Johnson (Chertsey District Master), Simon & Liz Burton (Chertsey District Joint Secretaries), Paul Buckley (Guildford District Treasurer) and Robin Burnett (Leatherhead District Secretary) as new members of the executive committee.
The Executive Committee reviewed and adopted the 2023 accounts, both the General Fund and the Bell Restoration Fund, details of which you will find published in this year’s annual report. It was pleasing to see an increase in the membership of some 37 over last year, and given the number of membership certificates I have signed over the past 3 months, I am not surprised!. Both funds benefited from an increase in interest rates and donations during 2023. Only two grants were made from the BRF last year to Leatherhead and Hascombe.
Whilst Guild Officers are elected at the AGM, at this meeting each year, we elect other officers and sub-committee members:
Peals Recorder – Martin Turner
Public Relations Officer – Roger Tompsett
Safeguarding Officer – Jonathan Hetherington
Library Sub-Committee – John Young, Catherine Edwards, Malcolm Loveday
The Librarian, Training Officer and Report Sub-Committee appointments were all deferred until the next meeting.
If you have tried to find tower details on the Guild website, you may have been disappointed, as our internet service provider has upgraded the server, and not all the data is currently accessible. A solution is currently being found.
Online Membership System – This is now in a pilot stage, the system has been created and currently the members of the executive committee are taking part in the trial. The next step is to review the current Guild processes for collecting subscriptions, to see what, if any, changes may be required if we decided to adopt an online membership system.
Guild Branded Clothing – A potential new supplier was found to be unsuitable, and two further local suppliers are currently being sourced.
Guild Events:
The Guild 6-bell striking competition and the AGM will take place on Saturday 9th March. The competition is being held at Compton and the AGM at Godalming. Look out for the notices for this event, and I hope to see some of you there.
The inter-District 8-bell and 10-bell competitions have now been scheduled, to be hosted in the Leatherhead and Chertsey Districts on 13th July and 31st August respectively. District bands will be arranged by the District Ringing Masters.
The Essex Trophy is a 10-bell competition between Guilds and Associations in the South East of England, and this year we are hosting the competition at Epsom St Martin. It’s on Saturday 14th September and we will be entering a Guild band.
Stu Aitken, Guild Master