Page 30 - November 2021
P. 30

  THE SALAMANDER November 2021
From the Clerk
Steven Tamcken
Firstly, I would like to say a big thank you to all for your assistance and patience throughout what has been a very difficult year for us all, and to say I hope that this message find you and yours all safe and well, and that you have either had or will be very soon fully vaccinated.
Secondly, to say, hopefully, by the time you read this we will all be able enjoy those things that come so natural to us human beings, hugs, laughter, banter when mixing in each other’s company and so on. So, to the Clerk’s report. Well as you are aware, we have all endured a full year of lockdowns and becoming proficient at on- line meetings, and on that note, I must pay tribute to our IT Manager Colin Simpson, who whilst holding down a demanding Day job, has managed to ensure that all of the on-line fare that has been presented to Company members has gone without a hitch.
We have had our Carol Service, two on-line Freedom Ceremonies of new members, Many ESCB meetings, presentations and lectures, amongst many other things, all of which members of the Court and the Company have
been able to partake at nil cost. The other big High-light of the year was the Annual Fire Lecture which had over 300 registered attendees, I must here thank Past Master Sir Ken Knight for an exceptional good and thought provoking evening, ably assisted by Court Assistant Peter Holland as Chairman. I know that the Master and the Upper Warden received many congratulatory emails after the event.
Geoff Fall, our Finance Manager and Assistant Clerk, has slotted into his role amazingly well and I can say that the Company’s finances are in a robust and good shape even after all the issues with the Coronavirus. Our debtors is now at the lowest it has been since I have been Clerk and a lot of the reasons for this is the diligent work of Geoff. Of course, you as members could make his life far easier and saving the Company money by moving your quarterage payments across to GoCardless, if you do wish to take up this option, please contact Geoff on fmac@ wcoff.org, or give him a call.
A lot of work behind the scenes has been done on behalf of the Company, and there have been several upgrades (using Computing jargon) to various Company Documents including Standing Orders, Financial Regulations as well as the Constable and Sentinels, Ceremonial events such as Common Hall, so although not physically in the Office, many an hour has been spent reading, reviewing, discussing, and redrafting.
One of the major items has been two surveys sent to the Company, one on whether members would
attend Common Hall and the other regarding how they would like to see how the Company would go forward for the rest of the year. I am very sorry to say that the response was, at best, very disappointing! Please remember that the ESCB, at present, and the Management Board when it resumes need YOUR input to this to YOUR Company to be able to run it to the best it can for the WHOLE membership.
The ESCB are looking to the Management Board and Court to hopefully start holding a series of smaller events to allow more time for members to get home and meet and socialise, more on this later when all the details have been formalised. These are of course in conjunction with the Larger events that the Company already holds.
Lastly, it would be remiss of me not to say a fond farewell to the Master, Frances Blois, for her sterling work for the Company for the last 2 years and also to the members of the ESCB for their diligence and hard work. I would also like to say Welcome to the Master Elect – Graham Maltby, and I look forward to working with hm over the next 12 months. I also include in that welcome Professor David Holt as Under Warden and Andrew Phillips as the Under Warden in Waiting, welcome both.
Hopefully, this will give you a flavourofwhathashappenedfrom the Office of the Clerk over the last 12 months, but as you are all aware, I always finish by saying it is an HONOUR being your Clerk, and to be of SERVICE to you, I thank you for your FELLOWSHIP and look forward to another year of HARMONY when working with you all. Only this year I again add, Stay Safe and Well, one and all.
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