The AGM is upon us and its time to make some mild changes to the club. We are hoping that you are all enjoying the new enthusiasm which is making the club a more attractive proposition. Enthusiasm propagates itself. We have six new members and more enquiries. The club was stagnant. Membership was falling. Ideas for revitalising things were voiced but disregarded. It was easier to say no than to say yes. Following resignations. That is now changing.
The major change in the club is the change in status with the AWGB. From an associate club, we are now an affiliated club. This. has opened up a whole lot of possibilities. It was a cunning plan worthy of Baldrick. We had to pay the AWGB £250+ to make you all members of the AWGB. In return we have an immediate grant of £350 plus an extra level of insurance cover which allows the club to do hands on training and demonstrations in the great outdoors. We have initiated a woodturning in the community project, Helped by Bingley council and their partners. Bingley Creates. More about that later! We have also changed the constitution slightly. It is now specified that the secretary and treasurer should be separate people.
In the last newsletter we asked for nominations for the expiring positions in the club. No nominations were received. This means that the incumbents in those positions are automatically confirmed in the roles until 2028. So this is the new committee.
Chairman……… Jim Barker…..all hail Jim lol
Secretary …………John Douglas
Treasurer…………Alan Davis
Events Organiser…….Mick Watmough
Webmaster…………Philip Bristow
We also have Clifford Clark who runs the shop as a committee member
The Membership secretary, Newsletter Editor and Speaker Organiser roles are currently shared out amongst the existing committee members, as they overlap into other positions.
But if anyone wants to take one of these roles they can be nominated from the floor at the AGM. Otherwise the situation remains the same.
There are three ordinary committee positions . Sylvia Watmough and Jean Clark have been nominated as ordinary committee members and are appointed.
Leaving one position vacant.
The WIC Project [Woodturning in the Community]
The club is working at giving anyone in the community a hands on experience of woodturning over the rest of the year and into 2017. We are sourcing funding to do this. To date the club has been given or pledged grants to do this. So far £1050 has been granted by Bingley Town Council with pledges of £750 from the ASDA community chest and £350 from the AWGB. These monies will be ring fenced for the woodturning in the community project. More grant applications are in progress.
Experience Days. The plan is to run experience days in the Bingley Creates event which is held monthly in the café area in Damart Mill. We will have lathes running for demonstrations and invite the public to have a go. Under the supervision of our 5 AWGB approved trainers.
We are also looking at working with younger people in scout and guide groups and youth organisations. Subject to safeguarding check. We could also go into schools and colleges. By doing this we hope to expand the hobby and gain new younger members. People who can continue the club as we all pop our clogs.
The project is still evolving. Our first session is planned for Saturday 25th April in the Damart café. If successful we will be there on a monthly basis. We are also looking for other venues. Please get involved if you can.
We are also investigating taking space in the developing craft centre in Bingley Town Hall
Great Yorkshire Show
The club is hosting the woodturning section at the upcoming Great Yorkshire show. We also host the prestigious woodturning competition at the show. This year’s judge is Emma Cook, the tiny turner. If you enter 6 pieces you get free admission to the show on any one day. Entering 6 pieces is considerably cheaper than paying for entry to the show. So it’s a win win situation. See Chairman Jim for details.
We will also have hands on experience sessions at the Bronte Gathering in May and at other local events. We need members to turn up and help at these events. We will be giving more details fairly soon. It is the intension of the committee to make the club as open and inclusive as possible. So in addition to the website we will be continuing to send out regular newsletters and updates.
That’s about it for now. If you have any questions we will answer them at the AGM on the 7th April. 7.30 in the village hall. There will be a quality pie and pea supper provided. Please come along. It’s important.