The Chairmans Annual Report - delivered at the Branch AGM 21 October 2008

Chairman’s Annual Report 21st October 2008

It has again been a very busy year for the branch, firstly with monthly meetings and the branch A.G.M. being held at the Cock Inn in Barnsley, as well as the Psalter and Porter Brook in Sheffield. With well in excess of a hundred attendees over the year, it is continuing to be a great success. I feel at this point that we must thank all of the staff, as nothing has ever seemed to be too much trouble.

Once again, the enthusiasm of the committee has not only contributed to a sound basis for us as a whole, but has also helped push forward our branch’s opinions. With regards to our branch involvement at a national level, I feel that we have made huge progress.

In November 2007, we successfully hosted the National AGM and Members Weekend at Wentworth Castle. The majority of the feedback that we received showed that it was considered one the best that had ever taken place. The election that took place here resulted in three members of our branch succeeding to positions within the National Management Committee, these being Branch Representative, Elected Member and National Deputy Chairman.

We also now have a representation on the National Officer’s sub-committee, the sub-committee looking at the Five Year Plan for the association, and three of our branch members are active within the newly formed Membership Team.

To try and support an initiative for branches to help raise funds for the national association, we also organised a 40^th Anniversary Clothing range, with all of the profits been donated to the national body’s funds.

We have had mixed success with our demonstrations, where shows at Birdwell, Emley with the West Yorkshire Branch, Norton, Broomhead, and Penistone went ahead without any problems. However, Whirlow Hall Farm Fair did not due to the date being changed without our knowledge.

A further problem that we seem to have had is with regards to training. A major drop in training attendees could be partially due to free courses, which have been provided within our area by organisations such as the Wentworth Castle Trust. Although we have had some members arising from this training, I feel that a way forward with this would be to try and forge a partnership with these bodies. In addition, I feel that not being able to offer membership with our training course fees is something that we should investigate once again.

Since our last branch AGM we have hosted three certification days, two of which were at our new Hoylandswaine centre, with a third taking place this coming weekend on 25^th October 2008. It was also used this year in the making of the new Dry Stone Walling DVD produced by Kirklees Council and the West Yorkshire Branch.

The Examination Centre at Hoylandswaine continues to progress and evolve, where we are now capable of potentially holding several Master Craftsman, four Level 3 Advanced, six Level 2 Intermediate and well over a dozen Level 1 Initial timed examinations at the same time.

I for one am confident that in future, it may become one of the biggest examination centres in the country, and as part of our expansion plans, we also now have the use of on-site classroom facilities with electricity and a site portaloo.

Whilst I feel the focus for the coming year should be on training, I also feel that a new project would be beneficial, and the suggestion I have could be the creation of a social area with a barbecue and seating for example at Hoylandswaine. I also think that more of our membership should be encouraged to take part in our demonstrations, as this has been shown to help prepare them for potential examinations. Lastly, I feel that we should further ‘source out’ more of the roles and responsibilities of the branch secretary, examples for creation could be Publicity Officer, Shop Coordinator, etc.

At this point I feel that a special thanks must go to a National Elected Member as well as our Branch Secretary Les Young, who is sadly stepping down from both these roles. Being the former Branch Secretary of West Yorkshire, I for one realise the tremendous efforts that Les shown to these roles. Newer members may not be aware, but his knowledge, contacts and personal drive, has resulted in the creation of our blogsite, the setting up of both our Branch and 40^th anniversary clothing range, as well as coordinating the sponsorship for the National AGM.

He also persuaded the Y.T.V. presenter Ian Clayton to be our after dinner speaker, and secured a heavily discounted booking for the O.F.B soul band.

Les all I can say is that you are going to be one hell of an act to try and follow, and I hope that you will still be able to help our branch where possible.

To conclude, throughout the last year we have worked well as a team. I feel that the efforts and enthusiasm of our branch officers, committee members and also some of our newer members that have got involved in various events, have helped to improve the profile of our branch. No activities take place without someone helping to organise them, and they cannot run without members, giving what time they have to help.

I would like to end once again by thanking everyone and more importantly, their partners, for allowing them to become an officer, committee or branch member, and for their valuable contribution to this year’s programme, and feel confident that we will continue to build on our success.

Alan Devonport (South Yorkshire Branch Chairman)