Committee Report 2021
Committee Report 2020/1 Annual Report.
In this extraordinary year, our AGM, which should have been held in February 2021, was postponed until October because of Government Restrictions during the Covid pandemic lockdown.
Our meetings April, May, June, July 2020 were cancelled but the good news is that we restarted our meetings in August 2020 until October 2020 only for them to be cancelled again until April 2021.
Balmoral Community Centre Trustees and the Manager Trish were very supportive to us during this difficult time, enabling us to meet in a Covid secure Community facility.
Our speakers programme was problematic this year at best! As always we can rely on our own members to keep us entertained and informed. David Stansfield, Bob Howes, Colin Beaumont and Brian Hill stepped into the breach.
The campaign was in surplus by £506. This is the highest in many a year. Income was over £200 ahead of the previous year and expenses were about £200 down. A major contribution to greater income was from donations. This, of course, is not a dependable source. Expense benefited to the tune of £110 by moving from the Avenue Baptist Church to Balmoral Community Centre so is a one off gain
We continued to run the lottery during the year despite the difficulties of the lockdowns, selecting the winning numbers at committee meetings when we were able to meet. Members continued to support the lottery during lockdown winning prizes and raising funds for the club. The new lottery starts again in October. So support the club and buy tickets! You may be lucky!
Our fund raising lunches are proving very popular and a great way to socialise and make new friends, they are usually on the first Wednesday of the month.
Our new website went live last September 2020, with significant help from Roger Savage, Development Officer with SAVS. He designed the layout in his own time and spent considerable time and patience to train members of the committee to maintain the site.
Our main way of circulating information about our meetings to the wider community is by way of our posters in local shops, pharmacies etc. At the last count Alan Grubb was circulating 23 throughout the town!
We need to rebuild our Membership base with initiatives in the local community which we can only achieve with increased active membership.
Our Committee also needs new members to drive forward our primary aim of promoting the welfare and interest of pensioners and to act as a valuable information resource for older people’s organisations within the extended Borough of Southend on sea. Campaigning and marketing has almost ceased in the last couple of years.
Some long standing members have suffered health issues during the last year, Martin and Ann Tweed, Barbara Armitage, Elsie Moore, Lorraine Blacker and our President David Norman to name a few we have missed seeing throughout the year
Our thanks to the Committee Members who have kept this organisation alive whilst so many other groups have folded.
Jean Howes Hon Sec,,
David Stansfield Hon Treasurer,
Margaret Haydon Lottery organiser,
Bob Howes, Elsie Moore, Jill Allen-King, and Alan Grubb.