MINUTES OF THE 20th ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING of THE FRIENDS OF MORSTON CHURCH

HELD AT THE VILLAGE HALL, QUAY LANE, MORSTON ON SAT 18th June 2022 AT 6.30 pm

 

Committee Present

Dr. Peter Tibbetts, Chairman

Mrs. Carole Bean, Deputy-Chairman

Mr. Rob Metcalfe, Treasurer

Mrs. Sandra Morris,

Mrs Sally Metcalfe

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‘Friends’ and Members Present

Mrs. J. Tibbetts

Mr R. Longley

 

1.Apologies. These were received from Mrs Susy Harrison, Rev. I. Whittle, Mrs. M. Athill, Mr & Mrs Pell and Sir Robert ffolkes, Mrs G Kay and Mrs V. Wilson.

 

2.Minutes of 19th AGM. Held at Morston Village Hall on Saturday 19th June 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, following the resignation of Joc Wingfield, the PCC had proposed Mrs Sally Metcalfe as their representative on the FMC Committee. Approved unanimously.

 

4.Annual Appointments/Reappointments. R.Metcalfe proposed the re-election of Dr Peter Tibbetts, Mrs Carole Bean and Mrs Susy Harrison to the Committee. This was seconded by Mrs Sandra Morris. (Mrs Sandra Morris, and Mr Rob Metcalfe were re-elected in 2021). 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 Carole Bean and seconded by Mr. Rob Metcalfe. The appointment was approved unanimously.

 

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

 

7.Treasurer’s Report. (FY 2021-2022). Mr Metcalfe presented the accounts and stated that, although the FMC’s income was down on last year, this was because the on-line book sales for last year actually included two years’ worth of income. There was additional income from the reintroduction of the Quiz night and the Shovell Dinner. As a result, expenditure was slightly up on last year. The balance of income over expenditure was down on last year at just over £13,700. The balance in the Current Account is, consequently, up to just under £78,000.

 

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, as far as building work was concerned, there is nothing to report. However, after decades of effort, the tympanum panel has been restored to its former glory. The presence of the scaffolding allowed a better look at the high level nave walls, so the Quinquennial could be more confident in reporting what might be needed. This has shown that much more work is needed than was previously thought. Although work is needed on the tower, it is not structurally significant and would be very expensive. So the PCC has decided to concentrate on the nave, repairing the parapets and redecorating. The £75,000 worth of ‘Priority B’ noted in the previous Quinquennial still needs to be carried out along with a further £60,000 of less urgent work, although, due to Brexit and the pandemic, costs have risen sharply. Chairman thanked Mr David Carnwath for his report.

 

The chairman stated that the last year had been more of a return to normal after the Covid pandemic. All of our usual annual events were held and he thanked the committee for all their help in running these events. The Shovell Dinner in October retained a nautical theme, but ventured away from Naval history. Charlie Ward gave an enthralling talk about East Coast sailing barges; the hardships endured by the skipper and crew and the skills needed to navigate, not only in the open sea, but also along many miles of inland waterways. He also spoke about the building of his sailing barge “Juno”. Charlie’s enthusiasm ensured the rapt attention of the audience. We had very complimentary feedback about the talk and the chairman again thanked Charlie and Helen for making it a very special event.

 

The quiz night was held at its usual time in February, but, due to the resurgence of the Covid pandemic, it was felt necessary to move to a larger venue- Blakeney village hall. This enabled us to keep suitable distances between the tables. A couple of the traditional teams had to drop out due to covid, but we welcomed back a long-lost team “Missing the Point” and a new team “Morston Mavericks”. Peter Tibbetts took over as quiz master after 20 years of Joc Wingfield’s sterling work in the post. As usual, all present were treated to a delicious dinner of Cottage Pie with salad followed by Fruit Crumble and Eaton Mess. The chairman thanked all the volunteers who produced the meal and particularly to Jill Tibbetts for organising its production and washing-up. Thank you also to the Metcalfes and Sue Smith for scoring (and washing-up) and David Beale, who did a superb job as manager of the mobile bar.

 

As was reported by the treasurer, Rob Metcalfe and family have still been 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 is a massive boost to the ‘Friends’ accounts. The chairman again thanked Rob, Sally and Max for their on-going dedication to this cause.

 

The Chairman noted that we now have 18 supporters of “EasyFundraising”, who have raised £2034.44 since we started , of which £339.59 was in the last year. This is 50% more than last year due to life returning to some sort of normality.

 

The Chairman noted that we seem to have turned the corner after the covid pandemic, but we are still indebted to the members of the “Friends of Morston Church” and thanked them for their continued support.

 

9. 2022-2023 Special Events. The 2023 Quiz was agreed to be on Sat 4th Feb and will return to its traditional location of Morston Village Hall. There was some discussion regarding the catering arrangements and it was agreed that it should be simplified. It was suggested that it would be better to issue standard foil dishes to each of the caterers (easier to have 2 x 4 serving dishes for each table). This would also greatly reduce the washing up.

 

The 2022 Shovell Dinner will be on Sat. 16th October 2022 when Robert Smith MBE will give the talk entitled “Tales of a Harbour Master”. The venue will have to be changed from The Anchor in Morston and the chairman is currently negotiating with the Blakeney Harbour Rooms to host the dinner. The 2023 Shovell Dinner was agreed to be on Saturday 14th October 2023.

 

The 2023 AGM will be on either Saturday 17th or Saturday 24th June. A decision will be made when the 2023 Tide Tables are published, so that we do not clash with an evening tide.

 

Sandra Morris was asked whether it would be possible to invite Impromptu Shakespeare back for another performance. SM said that she would make contact to see if hey would be willing.

 

Sandra Morris suggested that a sale of old artwork might be an idea for raising funds. This was agreed to be an excellent idea by all. It was thought that it could be held over the May bank holiday weekend, with drinks and preview on the Saturday and the sale on the Sunday and Monday.

 

10.AOB. We would like to make an addition to our constitution regarding a commitment to equality and diversity and inclusion. The proposed wording was read out by the chairman and the proposal was agreed unanimously.

 

Richard Longley will shortly be living permanently in Morston and offered to upgrade and maintain the Friends of Morston Church website. His offer was gratefully accepted.

 

Peter Tibbetts

Chairman