It was an early start and two trains but worth the effort to attend the AGM. As I gave my name, Alex came rushing to meet me. We have been corresponding regularly re the CBP and she is now also a new trustee. I guess that was the tone for the day. I believe that there was an excellent exhibition ,but I never had a free moment to see it. I talked to SO MANY members. I was delighted that the NWR made up about 10% of the audience and I must check but think about 8 or 9 branches were represented. We were greeted by Jean and Jan and then heard from Susie Vickery who has lived in many different third world countries, and encouraged the locals to stitch. She has various charities and I am in awe of what she has done. I suggest you look her up on the web and if ever you get the chance to meet her, then drop everything for it.
The formal AGM passed without controversy. The auditors were reelected and the rise of £3.00 membership fees was passed.I have copied a small part of the report from the national pages but do go on line and read the Minutes and reports in full.
Muriel Campbell explained the consequences of the outcome of the members' consultation October/January 2015/16, reviewed many of the successes in the last year and concluded her report with an announcement... that the Embroiderers' Guild Collection will be moved later this year to a new home. It will remain the Guild's Collection but it will be looked after for an initial period of 25 years by the curatorial team at Buckinghamshire County Museum Trust in Aylesbury. Bucks County Museum is an Accredited Museum. They will provide a permanent exhibition gallery for the Collection from 2017 and members will be able to visit the museum at any time and arrange for visits 'behind the scenes' to see specific pieces on request and tour the substantial collections of textiles and other significant artefacts already held by the museum trust.
Gill Drury focused on the importance of income generation particularly to help fund the central Guild's work in support of realising the Vision and Aims of the Guild. She also explained the consequences of the rejection by members of the consultation proposals, in particular, those relating to reducing the burden and costs of administration; the consequence being the need to make further substantial cost savings which would inevitably result in a loss of capacity at head office. Gill also included important messages in relation to year end returns from regions and branches and the importance of banking with Unity Bank - itself the policy of the Guild and one put in place to afford maximum protection for all Regional and Branch committees
Linda Danielis another new trustee from Cumberland introduced herself at lunch. She will be joining us at our regional AGM in October. Her skill is marketing and many of you will know that this is close to my heart.
After lunch we had the presentations and I was particularly impressed by the graduates. They explained how their bursaries had been used,
The afternoon concluded with a talk by Sian Martin. I understood that she would talk about Lace but also gave us a brief biography of her family and their crafting skills. I particularly liked her ideas of lacing together portions of photos. Again look her up via the main site.
So an early start for a Saturday but I came away feeling quite comfortable. There had been a friendly atmosphere and positive vibes for the future, If you were there, let me know what you thought.
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