Chairman's Remarks - Trust Annual Report 1991
There have been a number of changes amongst the Council and the Officers of the Trust. Two members of the Council resigned during the year.
Ken Johns, who has moved away from Winchester, joined the Council of the Trust in 1984 when he also became Chairman of the Heritage Centre Management Committee. He has played a vital role in the affairs of the Heritage Centre during what was a particularly difficult time because, until agreement was reached with the City last year, our tenure of the building was uncertain and this made forward planning difficult if not impossible. Nevertheless under Ken's leadership a great deal of progress was made. The permanent exhibition "Discover the City" was opened in May 1986 and the following year the Trust commissioned the audio/visual production "Winchester Heritage" which is still shown at the Centre and has been a great success. Although Ken had to resign before the current `leap forward' following the renovation of the Centre, it would not have been possible without all his patient spadework in the preceding years and we are indeed grateful to him.
Robert Cross, who has had to resign due to pressure of other commitments, joined the Council of the Trust in 1988 but during a comparatively short term in office he made a very considerable contribution. He took over responsibility for the Trust's publications, including editorship of the Newsletter, and the professionalism which he was able to bring as a result of his wide experience in publishing made an immediate impact and is reflected in the very high standard which has been achieved in the Newsletter.
Both he and Ken Johns are much missed by us all. Fortunately for us Jeffrey Smith has taken over as Chairman of the Heritage Centre with Chris Webb as Vice Chairman, and Gill Collymore has become Editor of the Newsletter. No-one who has visited the Heritage Centre of late or read the last two editions of the Newsletter will doubt that we have found the right replacements.
Gill Collymore has also been responsible for the organisation of the 1991 Award Scheme. Results will be announced at the AGM. Meanwhile a substantial number of entries have been received and these are being judged by an independent panel under the Chairmanship of Gordon Michell RIBA, architect and environmental consultant in private practice. Amongst other distinctions he was Consultant Architect at the Civic Trust.
During the year we have co-opted two members onto the Council of the Trust and their re-election will be proposed at the forthcoming Annual General Meeting.
Mrs. Shione Carden, who holds a BA from the Open University, has been closely associated with the Trust for many years and indeed is an Honorary Life Member. Latterly she has acted as Secretary of the Development Control Committee. This is an onerous task involving a great deal of co-ordination to ensure the smooth running of our two panels, the submission of their comments on planning applications to the City, the arrangement of presentations, etc. Largely thanks to her, this very important side of the Trust's activities has never run more smoothly.
Hugh Watson will need no introduction to many members. As a past member of the Council of the Trust he made a substantial contribution particularly in the establishment of the Heritage Centre and on the Landscape Committee where his professional expertise as a landscape architect was invaluable. He stood down from the Council in 1988 due to pressure of work and we are all delighted that his commitments now permit him to rejoin us both on the Council and on the Landscape Committee.
Sadly Commander Bertie Tower, the Membership Secretary, died early this year. Combining great charm with a high degree of efficiency, he was an ideal Membership Secretary and is a great loss to the Trust. I am very glad to report that Mrs. Clarissa Turner who was Secretary of the Trust until forced to resign last year due to illness has rejoined us as Membership Secretary. Mrs. Charmian Devas continues as Secretary and is following a tradition established by all previous Secretaries of the Trust of becoming totally indispensable. How fortunate we have been!
Finally, Mrs. Brit Croft who has been responsible for distribution of the Newsletter has decided that the distribution of this Annual Report will be her swansong. The prompt delivery of the Newsletter, like the milk, is something which we tend to take for granted until it doesn't happen, but it involves a great deal of hard work and organisation, particularly when accomplished, as in Brit's case, largely with the aid of a bicycle. We are grateful for all that she has done for the Trust both in this role and earlier as Programme Organiser.M
During the year we have had a concerted drive on membership. This has been designed on the one hand to attract new members and on the other to bring our records up to date, and in cases where subscriptions are overdue either to collect them or to establish that the membership has lapsed. This has been a successful process and we are grateful to members who have helped, particularly by completing Bankers Orders, and most especially by using the form which suggests potential members whom we can approach. Total membership of the Trust now stands at 970. This brings us within sight of our target of 1,000 and I am confident that this can be achieved during the current year.
The Trust has had another busy and successful year and its activities are described in detail in the body of this report.