Firstly I would like to thank everyone for their encouragement, support and advice during my year as Chairman.

The task as I saw it was to maintain and consolidate upon the progress achieved over the past three years by teh previous chairman.  I believe we have accomplished this and I thank the officers, committee and choir members for their efforts.

Successful organisations depend upon teamwork and commitment.  We have this in abundance; from within the choir, our supporters, wives and partners.  As a choir we are privileged to have such strong and willing support, they deserve our grateful thanks.

There is no doubt that the impetus for our success stems from our Musical Director.  Dedicated, professional, attentive to detail and humorous, Sue consistently gives 100%.  As a choir and as individuals we should reciprocate her endeavour, particularly with regard to practice attendance and commitment to learning.

With pleasure, we continue to support young performers at our concerts and we thank Sue for facilitating this.

We have an excellent accompanist, Melanie.  Arrangements have been made to cover her maternity leave.  We wish her well over the next few weeks and look forward to her return with our youngest member!

Margaret continues to sort and monitor our music library.  Many thanks for this and also her willingness to deputise as accompanist when necessary.

 

We have had an excellent year of concerts, many of them joint ventures , thus providing a wide range and choice of music for our audiences.  Despite the recession, our major concerts continue to be sold out.

 

I would like to take this opportunity to thank Janet for all her hard work in producing tickets and programmes for our events.  We hope the new printer makes the job easier.

We cannot afford to be complacent and standards must remain high if we are to continue with our success and popularity.  This demands commitment to the choir and increased discipline at practice (in other words, if you come to sing, why do you talk?)  Whilst we have had many positive comments about performance we have also had some negative ones; notablty after the Celebrity concert in March.  A minority of members displayed their lack of practice attendance by "goldfishing" incorrect words to songs and being unaware of the finer details practised prior to performance.  This reflects badly on all of us and in particular on our Musical Director.  Sue, quite rightly, wrote to the committee to express her concerns and opened up a debate as to how to rectify the problem.  It has been thoroughly discussed at committee.  A proposal seeking to enforce the principles within Rule 8D of the choir Rules and Constitution will be presented by the Vice-Chairman for further debate at this meeting.

 

My year as chairman began with a piano trauma but our healthy bank balance enabled us to purchase the desired new model.

The gradual replacement of blazers has commenced.

At this point I would like to thank Alan Booth and Kath for being so meticulous with the administartion ofthe choir's finances.  In September 2008 we had a very enjoyable visit to North Wales.  Our hosts made us exceptionally welcome, the sun shone and the organisation was faultless.  Our thanks to Terry and Janet Cater.

We look forward to our forthcoming visit and concerts in Chester.

The social events which help to subsidise such ventures have been excellent.  Thank you members of the Social Committee for all your hard work for these and hosting visitors.

The Friends of the Choir organisation remains popularproviding us with an excellent bedrock of support.  Thank you to Mac Moffat for administering this on our behalf.

Chris Mills beavers away at our publicity and deftly produces the newssheet.  Yes I will try to write neater and endeavour to be more proficient in IT.

I trust Keith Raynor will continue as Tote Organiser, his efforts help us to maintain a valuable source of revenue.

 

Organisations such as ours would never be so successful if it was not for the exceptional hard work of an excellent Secretary.  Melvyn Dyson works tirelessly for this choir.  I am especially grateful for the help he has given me.

 

I hope Gareth Beaumont will continue to deputise in Sue's absence, his musical knowledge and enthusiam enriches our singing.

 

In conclusion, I thank the officers and committee for all their hard work.  Steve Dixon and Terry Cater for their ongoing support and last, but not least, Brenda for putting up with the trials and tribulations of a Chairman.

 

Being Chairman has helped me regain a measure of self-confidence and rediscover some public speaking skills.  There is still work to be done.

 

And finally, it has been encouraging to see members returning, existing members overcoming personal traumas and new members welcomed and supported.

I enjoy being a member of such a supportive choir and feel privileged to have been your Chairman.

 

John Hind

 

Melvyn thanked John for his hard work and support in his first year as Chairman.

 

 

The choir's finances are in very good shape.  The balance was £315 down on last year but we have bought a new piano and a number of new uniforms.  We have a healthy surplus and there is no need to raise the subscription level beyond last year's.

 

Steve Dixon had reviewed the accounts and commented on their clarity and thoroughness.

 

Sue thanked all the choir members for their committment and camaraderie.

 

Overall she was very pleased with the standard of our concerts.

 

It is great to see new members coming along and more importantly staying with the choir.

 

Sue is always on the look out for new performers, be they solists from within choir or guests to appear with us at concerts.

 

The Social Committee arranged several successful events in the year, including Victorian and Yorkshire evenings and the Lamb Roast.  These enabled the choir to significantly subsidise the cost of the trip to Chester.

Most of the sub-committees have not met this year as they have fulfilled their purpose.  The Recruitment subcommitee is still functioning and advising on issues relating to new members.

 

The members voted to accept the motion to keep subscriptions at last year's level.

 

Election of Officers