Since our 2023 AGM, we have been saddened to learn of the death of three of our members, Margaret Allen, Jean Papworth and Janet Rundle. Jean was not only a loyal member of the Friends of St James but also a founding Patron when the Association was formed in 1983. She was always an enthusiastic and generous supporter of our activities and will therefore be sorely missed.
As has been our tradition in recent years, the Friends’ 2023 fundraising started with a Quiz Evening, but last year it had a new twist. We joined forces with St James Church to host a Family Quiz Night, with questions of a similar format to those in previous years set by Pam Robertson interspersed with more family friendly ones. Our Rector, Gaz, ably took on the role of Quiz Master and Chris Collins prepared a fantastic selection of meals for the interval. It was a most enjoyable evening. Given the success of last year’s event, we were delighted to start this year with what was an equally enjoyable joint Family Quiz Night held here, in the St Barnabas Centre, last Saturday evening. Our thanks go out to Gaz and Chris for making these events possible.
The Friends other activities during 2023 were a Sale of Nursery Plants in May, the provision of Sunday Afternoon Teas from the Church Room during the summer months, and an Autumn Craft fair in November. As you may recall from my report to last year’s AGM, the Committee decided to seek donations for the refreshments served during the 2023 season, rather than have a definitive price list as had been the case in previous years. As well as simplifying the serving of the Teas, this approach has the advantage of enabling the Friends to benefit from the 25% uplift obtainable on cash donations of individually no more than £30 through the Gift Aid Small Donations Scheme (GASDS) administered by HMRC. I will leave it to our Treasurer, Des, to report on the financial aspects of all of our activities last year, but I am pleased to say that this change in approach worked well, and the Committee therefore intends to continue with it going forward.
As you will have seen from the letter inviting you to this year’s AGM, the Committee’s plans for the remainder of this year once again include a Sale of Nursery Plants in May and an Autumn Craft Fair in November. We would also like to be able to offer Sunday Afternoon Teas from the Church Room during the months of May, June, July, August and September. However, the Committee has been experiencing increasing difficulty in recent years in finding volunteers to organise rotas for segments of the season and those willing to sign-up for the weekly slots in these rotas. Although I make a plea for such volunteers every year, I do so this year with a greater sense of urgency than previously. However, ever hopeful that sufficient volunteers will be forthcoming, the Committee has, with the kind help of John Loadman, procured a new set of roadside notice boards to promote the Teas, as the old boards were in a very sad state of repair after many years of use. We have also taken the opportunity of obtaining these new boards to change the timing of the Sunday Afternoon Teas from 2.30pm to 5.00 p.m. to 2.30 p.m. to 4.30 p.m.
The Friends Churchyard Team continued their important work throughout last year’s March to December growing season. We were very grateful to our small band of regular volunteers who undertook this task, and to those others who helped whenever they were able to do so. The Churchyard powered machinery has recently been serviced for this year’s season.
Conscious that one of the strimmers used in the maintenance of the Churchyard was reaching the end of its life, the Committee had to decide whether to buy a new petrol strimmer or to instead purchase a more environmentally friendly electric version.After careful investigation we concluded that the limited run time of an electric strimmer would significantly curtail its usefulness during Churchyard maintenance sessions even if a second battery were to be purchased, something that would also have significantly increased the cost of such a purchase. We also ascertained that an electric strimmer would be much heavier than a petrol one, and therefore more difficult and onerous to manipulate, with potential safety implications for the volunteers who would be called upon to use it. The Committee therefore concluded that the only viable option was to purchase a replacement petrol strimmer, which we are acquiring for the new season.
If you can spare a couple of hours each month to assist with Churchyard maintenance this year, please contact Margaret and Peter Morley who will be delighted to hear from you.
As you may recall, the 2019 Quinquennial Church inspection ascertained that the stained-glass window in the tower is in need of some restoration. The PCC therefore commissioned a report on its condition by Andrew Taylor, the Wiltshire based ecclesiastical stained-glass designer and conservator who undertook a major restoration of that window that was funded by the Friends in 1993. Andrew’s report concluded that the current need for further work was because the glass that had then been repainted had eroded back to its condition before that restoration and other previously unaffected areas had succumbed to similar erosion in the intervening 30 years. Although Andrew advised that the ideal remedy would be to repaint such eroded areas and to seek to prevent future paint loss by installing isothermal glazing, he suggested that simply repainting these areas would be a far more cost-effective solution that would likely last for a number of years even without the protection of such glazing. As I noted in my report to last year’s Annual General Meeting, the PCC decided to proceed with this latter approach, subject to receiving approval through a faculty application, and the Committee agreed that the Friends would cover the modest cost involved.
Unfortunately, the PCC’s application for a faculty was turned down as the diocese did not recognise Andrew Taylor as being qualified to specify and undertake such restoration work. This despite the conservation, care and repair of historical stained glass being an important area of his work and him having previously been entrusted with the restoration of the window in the tower in 1993 and those in the north and south walls of the chancel in 1995.The PCC was instead asked to seek a further report on the window in the tower and enquired if the Friends would contribute towards the cost of obtaining this. The Committee declined to do so given the then already availability of Andrew Taylor’s report. The PCC instead sought and were fortunate to be able to secure other grant funding to cover the cost of a second report.The Committee is concerned that a new report could lead to the Friends being asked to cover the cost of a far less cost-effective approach to the restoration of the tower window than that suggested by Andrew Taylor, something that we are not sure would be the best use of the Friends’ funds. This is particularly so when there could shortly be other calls on the these funds, such as a contribution towards the significant cost that would likely be incurred if the PCC were to proceed with an enlargement of the Churchyard. Making such a contribution was agreed as a worthy use of theFriends funds during the 2016 AGM and the possibility of doing so discussed in greater detail at the 2021 AGM. Given that the enlargement of the Churchyard is a matter to which the PCC is planning to return at its next meeting, the Committee would value any views members might have on the Friends’ way forward in respect of the funding of the restoration of the stained glass window in the tower.
Once the necessary business of this AGM has been completed, Ron Sambridge will give a short presentation entitled ‘The Bells of St James the Great. Thorley’. This has been prompted by the grant being made by the Friends towards work being undertaken on the Bells as was suggested at our AGM last year, something about which Des will be saying more in his report. Our evening will then conclude with a ‘bring and share buffet’ with drinks provided.
However, I cannot end my report without paying a very special tribute to a long-standing member of the Friends’ Committee who has decided not to seek re-election, or co-option to the incoming Committee. Looking back through the Friends’ records, I have confirmed that Lina Loadman joined the Friends’ Committee in 1992. She initially served as a co-opted member until transitioning to becoming one of the PCC’s appointed members, a position she held until standing down as a member of the PCC in 1996. Lina was then immediately co-opted back on to the Friends’ Committee, and has served on it ever since, clocking up over 30 years of sterling service. Although Lina is now standing down as a member of the Committee, she has indicated that she will be happy to continue to assist in the organisation of the Friends’ activities. Lina, I would like to say a big ‘thank you’ for everything that you have done for the Friends during your time as a member of the Committee and ask you to accept this small token of our thanks.
I will now draw my report to a close by thanking Margaret Morley, our Vice Chairman and Des Conridge, our Treasurer, and indeed all the members of the Committee, for their help and support since our last AGM. On behalf of the Committee, I would also like to thank you for the support you have given us.
Unless there are any questions or observations at this stage, I will pass over to Des for him to deliver his Treasurer’s Report.