MINUTES OF THE 19th ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING of THE FRIENDS OF MORSTON CHURCH

HELD AT THE VILLAGE HALL, QUAY LANE, MORSTON ON SAT 19th June 2021 AT 6.30 pm

 

Committee Present

Dr. Peter Tibbetts, Chairman

Mrs. Carole Bean, Deputy-Chairman

Mr. Rob Metcalfe, Treasurer

Mr Joc Wingfield,

Mrs Susy Harrison,

Mrs. Sandra Morris,

 

‘Friends’ and Members Present

Mrs. J. Tibbetts

Mrs. V. Wilson

Mrs. S. Wingfield

 

1.Apologies. These were received from Rev. I. Whittle, Mrs. M. Athill, Mr & Mrs Pell and Sir Robert ffolkes.

 

2.Minutes of 18th AGM. Held by Zoom and at West Acre, Morston on Saturday 25th July 2020 at 6.30 pm. Proposed as correct by Dr Tibbetts, seconded by Mr Metcalfe, they were unanimously approved and were signed by the Chairman as a True Record.

 

3.Matters Arising. The Chairman announced that the PCC had again proposed Mr Wingfield as their representative on the FMC Committee. Approved unanimously.

 

4.Annual Appointments/Reappointments. Dr Peter Tibbetts proposed the re-election of Mr Rob Metcalfe and Mrs Sandra Morris to the Committee. This was seconded by Mrs Susy Harrison. (Dr Peter Tibbetts, Mrs Carole Bean and Mrs Susy Harrison were re-elected in 2020). The appointments were approved unanimously..

 

5.Committee vote for Chairman and Secretary. Dr Tibbetts was nominated for the combined position of Chairman and Secretary. This was proposed by Mrs Sandra Morris and seconded by Mrs. Carole Bean. The appointment was approved unanimously.

 

6.Committee vote for Deputy-Chairman and Treasurer. The Chairman proposed Mrs Carole Bean to be re-elected as Deputy-Chairman (seconded by Mr Joc Wingfield) and Mr Rob Metcalfe to be re-elected as Treasurer (seconded by Mr Joc Wingfield). The appointments were approved unanimously.

 

7.Treasurer’s Report. (FY 2020-2021). Mr Metcalfe presented the accounts and stated that the FMC’s income was significantly down on last year as a result of discontinuing the annual book sale and the inability to hold our usual annual events due to the Cociv-19 pandemic. However, the continuation of selling books on-line created an income of nearly £14,000 (being the sum of two year’s sales). Expenditure was significantly down on last year with the only cost being insurance. The balance of income over expenditure was up on last year at just under £18,500. The balance in the Current Account is, consequently, up to just over £64,200. 

 

8.Chairman’s Report (including the Architectural Adviser’s Report). The Chairman welcomed the attendees to the AGM and thanked them for coming. He read out the Architectural Adviser’s report. This stated that very little work was carried out over the period on All Saints’ Church. However, the South Aisle, which had suffered badly from damp over the years, was replastered and repainted. Some repointing was also carried out under the South Aisle gutter. There is still another £75,000 worth of ‘Priority B’ work to be carried out (including structural work on the tower) and a further £60,000 of less urgent work. Potentially more work will be identified by the 2021 Quinquennial inspection. The Chairman thanked Mr David Carnwath for his report.

 

The chairman stated that the last year had been unusual and exceptionally challenging. All of our annual events have had to be cancelled due to Covid-19 and the social distancing requirements introduced by the government. Although the Shovell Dinner was cancelled last year, he announced that this year’s dinner would go ahead, covid regulations permitting. Charlie Ward has agreed to have a second attempt at giving his talk this October.

 

He thanked Rob, Sally and Max Metcalfe for their on-going dedication to collecting books and selling many at on-line auctions. At the current rate this seems to raise about £6,000 to £7,000 a year, which was a massive boost to the ‘Friends’ accounts, particularly when other income was so drastically curtailed. Many other people also rallied round to raise funds for the Friends of Morston Church, including Richard Longley and the Morris family, who produced an excellent Christmas album called “A Morston Tale”, the sales of which raised over £300; Margaret Smith, who raised £250 from plant sales and Sue Smith and Margaret, who raised £273 from the sale of lavender bags. He noted that these, together, replace the income of one of our usual annual events, which was a great effort and he thanked all those concerned.

 

The Chairman noted that we still have 17 supporters of “EasyFundraising”, who have raised £1694.85 since we started , of which £279.69 was in the last year. This is under half what was raised last year, but probably reflected the lack of holiday bookings etc. However, only 6 of these supporters have shopped using ‘EasyFundraising’ in the last year, so perhaps we should send round some reminders to our members

 

The Chairman emphasised that past eighteen months had been a difficult time for charities as Covid-19 has severely restricted the ability to hold events to raise funds. He therefore expressed his gratitude to the members of the “Friends of Morston Church” for their continued support. They are more important than ever in keeping revenue coming in to our charity.

 

9. 2021-2022 Special Events. The 2022 Quiz was agreed to be on Sat 5th Feb assuming that no covid restrictions are in place.

 

The 2021 Shovell Dinner will be on Sat. 16th October 2021 when Charlie Ward will give the talk that had been planned for 2020, entitled “East Coast Sailing Barges and the building of “Juno”.”

 

The 2022 AGM will be on either Saturday 18th or Saturday 25th June. A decision will be made when the 2022 Tide Tables are published, so that we do not clash with an evening tide.

 

10.The Tympanum Fund. After delaying this for a year due to covid, the PCC has started a ‘Tympanum Fund’ to cover the cost of its restoration. £40,000 has been raised through trust grants and a letter that was sent to potential donors has raised a further £25,000, which with Gift Aid makes a current total of about £68,500. Work is now scheduled to start in September. This is a great result and well done to the Morston PCC for achieving this.

 

11.AOB. The committee was asked if we could have another Impromptu Shakespeare event. It could possibly be held in 2022 at the earliest. We would have to talk to Gill Kay to see if we could hold it again in her walled garden. We should offer help in the maintenance and preparation of her beautiful garden leading up to the event.

 

Peter Tibbetts

Chairman