GUILD SECRETARY’S REPORT 2019
Once again I have undertaken the secretarial duties which as the job title suggests comes with the position. This has included not only answering general enquiries as they are received but other routine tasks such as the happy one of dealing with requests for Long Service Certificates and the much sadder one of recording the deaths of former members as I learn of them, and the much happier one of. Other jobs such as making the arrangements for this meeting and for the meetings of the Standing Committee require help from other officers of the Guild and I am grateful to them for the support which I always receive.
As you know, at this meeting Annie Holland stands down after completing three years as President. She has carried out this role with great commitment and success, attending a while host of Guild, District and tower events across the whole of our county. Furthermore, she has led on the introduction of the new Guild website, and she has also steered the Standing Committee in its consideration of the changes which will be necessary to ensure that our governance arrangements remain appropriate and compliant with Charity Commission requirements. I have very much enjoyed working with her, and I wish her well in her retirement to the back benches.
Another retiree is John Davis, who has put an enormous amount of work into his role as our Bell Restoration Officer. A large number of towers have benefitted from his help and guidance in as they have planned and undertaken their various projects. The Standing Committee will be appointing a successor in due course, and I am glad to know that John has indicated that he will still be available to help in the period until that appointment has been made. Another post which is a Committee appointment rather than subject to election at an AGM is that of Safeguarding Officer. Mary Jones has stood down on health grounds, and she too deserves our thanks for all that she has done, particularly as a member of the Diocesan Safeguarding Panel which has enabled her to ensure that we have kept in touch with current church thinking. I am pleased to say that the Committee was able to make a fresh appointment in this role, in the person of Sue Shadrick from Marhamchurch. We are grateful to her for agreeing to accept appointment. The Church of England nationally has recently issued fresh safeguarding guidance, and this is plainly a subject which will remain very important to all of us, whether or not we currently have children and/or vulnerable adults in our towers.
Over the year the Standing Committee has met on four occasions. These meetings included a single-issue session at which we discussed and decided to go ahead with the introduction of the new website, on which our President, Martin Spittle and to a much lesser extent I have carried out a huge amount of work. This remains a work in progress and will no doubt be refined further as time goes on. We also considered proposals for a recasting of the Guild’s annual calendar, which has resulted in this meeting taking place now, in May, rather than in March as had previously been the case since at least 1966. The make-up of the Standing Committee remains a live issue. Those present will recall that a motion to reconstitute it failed to achieve a sufficient majority at last year’s AGM and another motion on the same subject appears on today’s agenda. Meetings of the Committee are sometimes hard going, but all who attend put a great deal of effort into the meetings and I am grateful to all members for their commitment.
Today we shall elect a new President. I am happy to accept nomination for a further year in office as Secretary if that is this meeting’s wish, so as to give some continuity in a year or transition, but as I have already told the Committee I shall not, if re-elected today, seek nomination at next year’s AGM. It is time for someone new – and dare I say younger – to take the reins as our Guild moves forward to what I am sure will be a challenging but interesting future.
Finally, and as always, I thank all members for their help over the past year. I much appreciate it.
Robert J Perry
