Arts Society Lunesdale. Chairman’s Report to the AGM June 25th 2024

Arts Society Lunesdale. Chairman’s Report to the AGM June 25th 2024.

Arts Society Lunesdale has now reached the grand old age of 21 and has continued to thrive over the

last year. The advantages achieved by our monthly two lecture format in terms of ambience,

comfort, safety and car parking are, I believe, now well accepted and appreciated by the large

majority of members.

This has been Jean Paton’s first year as Programme Secretary and we thank her for her part in

maintaining the consistent high standard of our lectures, and for dealing with the associated

problems that invariably arise from time to time. Overall attendances have risen and we even had a

reasonable turn out in January when the weather was very challenging!

Membership numbers continue to rise and stand at 188 at the time of writing. Judie Graham-Clegg

was a founder member of the society and in recent years has worked tirelessly as our much-loved

Membership Secretary. She has now decided that it is time for her to step back from that role, which

we must reluctantly accept with all our thanks and appreciation.

In March we were able to reinstitute our traditional new members meeting following a long gap after

the pandemic. This was organised by Mary Frankland at the Judges’ Lodgings in Lancaster and was an

enjoyable and successful event.

Another of our founder members, Sue O’Brien, stepped down from her role as Society Secretary last

year but we have continued to rely heavily on her help to the committee and her advice with the

benefit of long experience. Jenny Fisher is another who, although not a committee member, provides

invaluable service particularly during the morning sessions and in liaising as necessary with our

meeting venue at Borwick Hall.

John Wilson organised a very successful day trip to Dumfries House, in Ayrshire, last July and is now

planning an outing to Tennants Sale Rooms in Leyburn which will also include a visit to the nearby

Constable Burton Hall. Full details to be announced shortly.

You will remember the excellent exhibition showcasing the artistic talents of our members, organised

by Jenny and held in association with our last AGM, and in a new departure we held a one day Pen

and Wash Watercolour Workshop at Borwick Hall in March. This was enjoyed by all the participants,

as well as the artist John Harrison, and I am grateful to Jackie for all her work in organising this.

Financial pressures are never far from our considerations and we are very lucky to have Margie Dixon

as our competent and dedicated Treasurer. Her annual report will be presented at the AGM and

shows that, although there is no room for complacency, we are managing to keep our head above

water at the present time. We were obliged to increase our subscription fee significantly last year

and we are grateful that this was accepted by the membership. It is likely that this will continue to

rise, hopefully by a small amount each year, in order to keep in line with inflation and the increasing

amounts charged by our lecturers. The annual fee for 2024-25 will be £75 and the fee for a guest will

increase to £7. Obviously, the more new members who join us the less these increases will need to

be, so please continue to extol our virtues to your friends and acquaintances.