• Another year of effort by a very small committee. Fina Stannard has
been a most welcome addition, and I am grateful for all her work and
support. Likewise, Carole Grigg and David Bishop. Thank you for all
efforts made this year. I also thank non-committee members,
principally Rob and Liz Turner for their hard work, Jan Fisher for
helping with publicity and Greta Fookes for supporting us when she
can.
• It has been an interesting year with fundraising events, the context for
which has been the installation of modern facilities within the church
to address the need for refreshment and comfort. We were very
happy to be able to donate £6,000 to facilitate the completion of the
work in very short time. However, we need to replenish our funds for
future projects and so we worked hard to progress towards that aim.
• Elaine Reynolds of Bruallen Flowers returned for a pre - Christmas
flower demonstration, which was instructive, enjoyable and
entertaining. Tom’s contribution of mulled Haywood cider
enlivened the evening and we all went home full of Christmas spirit
and confidence in our own creative efforts – if only until the next
morning.
• Johnny Cowling’s gospel evening at the church on 28 April drew a
large enough audience to make our considerable efforts
worthwhile. 93 tickets were sold, and generous donations were
given for refreshments (Haywood cider and Aunt Avice pasties). I
am grateful to all who sell us their goods or services discounted to
help our charity, such as the above mentioned as well as Palace
Printers and Bricknells for printing and photocopying. A great deal
of work for months beforehand went into making this event a
success. It was a wonderful evening, supported by an audience
largely from outside the village. The warmth of Johnny’s
performance raised the feel-good factor for us all and I am grateful
to him for giving us an evening to remember. Mera Royle, an
outstandingly talented harpist and winner of the BBC Young Folk
Musician of 2018 award, gave a performance during the interval
which impressed us all and gained her new followers. What a lucky
coincidence that her cousins brought her for Sunday lunch at
Westfield and decided to stay for the evening.
• Exultate, in concert on 11 May, gave a thrilling performance of
choral music, which filled the church with glorious sound. It seemed
that this is what the great barrel vault was built for: to amplify
sublime voices. Rob and Liz were instrumental in organising the
concert; Fina and I worked very hard to promote it and sell tickets
and whilst we were sorry that the church was not absolutely full for
such an uplifting concert, we were relieved to have sold over 70
tickets and to have made just enough to cover costs. We would
happily host the choir’s return in future but would give over the
promotion and ticket sales to their own organisation.
• The FoSMC stall at the fête held in the church did respectable
business in strawberries, cakes, tea towels, etc.
• I was pleased to receive a substantial donation in January and
would be delighted to receive one-off donations from anyone who
feels they would like to support the ongoing maintenance of the
fabric of the church, without necessarily joining as a member. If you
are able to confirm that you are a tax-payer, we can benefit even
more in the form of gift-aid.
