THE FRIENDS OF ST PETER S CHURCH WINCHCOMBE SPRING NEWSLETTER 2015 WITH THE ANNUAL REPORT FOR 2014
From the acting Chairman, John Hayter This has has been rather a strange year in that we have said farewell to several of our long-standing committee members. Firstly, at the AGM Sue Crownshaw, who has been our secretary for many years stood down and we would like to record our appreciation of her valuable contribution. Ronald Green, the first person to formally join the Friends (Membership No.1) and a founder member of the committee, also stood down. Again we very much appreciate the vast amount of work and time he has given over the years and for his commitment with regard to the various art exhibitions that he has organised during that time together with the church fabric and West End exhibition. Geoff Kimber, the membership secretary also stood down after ten years in the role. A lot of effort goes in to keeping track of membership and we thank Geoff for this. Finally thank you to Arthur Ruddock (PCC Representative) to whom we say good bye after a relatively short period and Ian Hodgson the minutes secretary, a job that he carried out for several years. With so many leaving it was good to welcome David Crow as the new secretary. The membership secretary's position remained vacant. Sadly it was necessary to call an extra-ordinary meeting in July to accept Christine Lainé s resignation due to ill health. Christine, a founder member, former secretary and current chairman has been a tremendous driving force behind the Friends and making it what it has become. During the special meeting Adrian and Linda Sharpe volunteered to be joint membership secretaries, which is greatly appreciated. A few days later it emerged that David Crow felt that he could not continue as secretary and thankfully Elaine Webb, our minutes secretary has been covering that position. Well done Elaine! 2
We were very pleased to welcome both Court Clarkson and Alan Thomas as PCC reps. to the committee. Alan is no stranger to us as he set out our Constitution and was a founder member of the committee. It is good to have Court on board bringing new ideas and a younger person s point of view. Finally it has been good to see a large number of fresh faces at our various events and our thanks go to these and our regular supporters. Membership Report The membership has declined slightly over the year there now being 202 members 69 of whom are joint members. Four members have died and others have moved to nursing or care homes and their subscriptions have lapsed. We have four new joint members this year. Do tell your friends about us and encourage them to join. I now have 71 members on email, which enables us to communicate more rapidly and at less cost with our membership. If I do not have your email address and you would like to be included, do please let me know. The Annual Report and accounts will always be sent to you in hard copy. My new email address is adriand.sharpe@talktalk.net. Adrian Sharpe 3
2014 EVENTS Steps Through Time The Story of Winchcombe The following is taken directly from Christine Lainé s text, which accompanied the DVD and could be said to be The History behind the History. It must have been as a result of sitting through school Speech days during which students were told to follow their dream that I began to explore the possibilities of developing this novel production. About four years ago I recalled an idea I had cast to one side as impossible telling the story of Winchcombe as a son et lumière. In June 2010 I mentioned my thoughts to Peter Teague in the hope that he would write the music. He was enthusiastic and we started to plan. At that point I visualized the main characters speaking from stands, with a chorus to act, mime or sing. The town s Millennium book contains Mike Rafferty s accomplished piece that personifies Winchcombe. It struck a chord and Mike joined the team. His original script had a chorus, using rhyming couplets, injecting wit and spark. Things changed. My original idea of static performers changed to one of having a costumed cast, acting the roles. Images would be projected, sound effects added, dancing added all staged in the round. This was complicated! But our excellent team rose to the occasion gloriously and the interior of St Peter s Church was completely transformed. This was a large scale production, only possible because of so much hard work from everyone involved. I was delighted with the result. 4
Luckily, we decided to film the production. Of course you had to be there to experience fully the buzz and excitement of the occasion, but this DVD captures the performance and the atmosphere magnificently. CML September 2014 Ed: DVDs are available from Cotswold Eye Care Centre at 6 each Picture taken from the back of the DVD cover The pictures overleaf were taken during the setting up of the stage and lighting. 5
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GARDENS OPEN 2014 Our grateful thanks go to Philip Barton and to all the garden owners who together with their individual teams of helpers made 2014 the most successful ever. A staggering profit of 3,564 was made. Fortunately the weather was kind to us, which encouraged hundreds of people to visit the 16 lovely and well-tended gardens that opened. The plant sales were well supported too. The gardeners offering cups of tea were also very much appreciated. In saying Farewell to Philip, we say Hello to Marilyn Cordery, who is heading up a fresh team for this year. If you have not opened your garden before but would like to do so, please contact Marilyn. (See details on back page). It can be very rewarding. MURDER MYSTERY This year s theme was What happened to Will a mystery based upon William Shakespeare Approximately 60 people had a truly fun time disentangling the plot. What a shame if you missed it. We were very pleased to see a number of new faces. Again thanks to the cast who made it a good evening. What did actually happen to Will? 7
TOWER ILLUMINATION For a minimum donation of 5 you can illuminate St Peter s tower. Application forms available at St Peter s Church, St Peter s Centre, Coventry Building Society and Top Shop. Two weeks notice required. FUTURE EVENTS A DAY S OUTING The committee are considering a guided tour of Worcester Cathedral followed by lunch at Spetchley Park Gardens in the Spring/early Summer. Please look out for further details. AUTUMN LECTURE We are delighted that Dame Janet Trotter, Lord Lieutenant of Gloucestershire, has kindly accepted our invitation for her to speak to us on October 16. The title of her talk is My Year as Lord Lieutenant. 8
This is quite a scoop and a rare opportunity to hear her. We hope that you will support us. More details closer to time. Please make a note of the date. ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING 2015 The AGM will be held in the Cleeve Suite, Abbeyfields Community Centre on Friday 17 April 2015 commencing at 6.45 p.m. There is no charge involved and we hope as many people as possible will attend. This year we are breaking with recent tradition and rather than move to a local pub, we will move across to the main hall in Abbeyfields for a social event. We are blessed with several very good local poets and several of them have offered to entertain us during the evening. Not only that, but you will enjoy delicious Paté, Puds, Plonk. This part of the evening is ticketed ( 10 per head) and will commence at 7.30 p.m. 9
Tickets will be available from St Peter s Centre, Coventry Building Society or committee members. 10