THE CHAIRMAN’S REPORT AT THE A.G.M. ON THE YEAR 2006-7 This year has been very successful. We have had a variety of fund-raising events – who will easily forget the ‘Murder’ at Nansough Manor or the evening sea-borne Pasty Raid on Falmouth with a run ashore at St. Mawes before slipping quietly back up river to Truro? We have had another Pilgrimage as well as the monthly Coffee Mornings; and we are not finished yet! Due in no small measure to these efforts, we have continued to enlarge our membership and still have room for more. We have spent quite a lot of money, rather more than our income in fact, and we are committed to spend more. You will find a full list elsewhere in the A.G.M. booklet together with the Council’s recommendations for future projects. Of course money, or the lack of it, is always a problem, and without the trading units we have had much less income than we used to. HOWEVER, and it is a big however, we have been extremely fortunate to receive a very substantial legacy. Suffice it to say that we intend to squirrel most of the money away to provide an income for future years whilst still being able to contemplate meeting some of the Cathedral’s pressing financial needs. Whilst few of us could envisage leaving quite such a large sum of money may I take this opportunity to suggest that, when you have finally finished with your own ‘pot of gold’ you might leave a little to The Friends for future years? This year the Secretary has included in the A.G.M. booklet contributions from various people or groups within the Cathedral without whose often unobtrusive but always tireless efforts many of the more obvious things would not happen, or at least not so well. As ever opportunities for volunteers abound, so don’t be shy! Of course this is always a time for Goodbye, Hello and Thankyou. Neville Smith, our Treasurer, had wished to stand down two years ago, but kindly agreed to stay on whilst we settled in to our new Constitution. I am sure that I speak for all of you when I say how much we appreciate his firm and competent grip on our finances. We also thank our erstwhile Auditors Messrs. Winter Rule whose help and advice over the years has been invaluable. However our finances are less complicated than hitherto and we are no longer required by the Charity Commission to receive such a degree of expert attention. I am delighted to welcome Miss Katrina Skipper, the manager of HSBC in Truro, who has kindly agreed to undertake the checking of our accounts in the future. To so many people who give so much of their time and with such willingness, my most sincere thanks: not least to those who support our fundraising events. I do encourage as many as can to join in, bring a friend, and maybe make them A FRIEND (a sort of two for the price of one). To those who live too far away our especial thanks for your subscription, it is greatly appreciated and we hope that you will visit us and see what we are doing to assist and support the Chapter in furthering the religious and charitable work of the Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Truro. Mark Evans TRURO - Saturday, 19th May 2007 **************************************************
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