Dear Member,
This newsletter, like last year, has been sent out by email and posted on the website. Last year, while we assumed that the majority of members would have internet access and that those members without email access would be disadvantaged, I have had no negative feedback regarding the adoption of this strategy. One could say that this was because those members who are not on email, were not aware that the newsletter had been sent out at all and so had no cause for complaint – a touch of the “What you’ve never had, you’ve never missed” syndrome! However, District Superintendents were asked to assist with its circulation as hard copy and so some non-internet-connected members did receive it.
Thus out of a membership of almost 1000, over 600 received it by email leaving 400 who did not but of which some did receive hard copy and some may have visited the web-site. In a club like the English Twenty Club with so many members and such a low membership fee, the costs of circulating all members by post is a significant task and expense which would probably lead to a rise in the membership fee. The Council do not wish this to happen and note that some members are still paying at the previous level in spite of having been written to on a number of occasions! With the Club having honorary officers who give up considerable amounts of their spare time on its behalf, the effort in assuring that all members are in full contact, assuming that they have responded to earlier requests to enable us to update our records, is quite beyond what should be expected of us. This degree of uncertainty is perhaps greater than we should wish, although it is probably acceptable since we are a non-primary rifle club. However, we would ask any member who has changed his or her address recently and has not alerted the Membership Secretary, to do so immediately and if he/she is now on email to inform the Club of this please.
Nomination for President
My three years as President have gone very quickly and in spite of this apparent speed we have achieved much change which hopefully, you the members, will have noticed and benefited from – of particular note are the improvements in clubhouse management under the recently constituted Facilities Committee chaired by Toby Lehmann, which all members attending the Spring and Annual Bisley meetings have experienced. Plans to improve the clubhouse itself and increase its use are in hand. Our rules have been updated and the yearbook is now being produced and circulated at the beginning of the main full-bore shooting season. A final significant achievement has been the establishment of an F Class Division and the Club’s first ever sending of an England F Class touring team, namely to Canada in 2006.
While I am willing to stand for re-election, the Council and I invite nominations for the position of President and a nomination form is also printed at the end of this letter. Because of my current dual role as Honorary Secretary and President, I think that it would be more proper if nominations for President were returned to our chairman, Tom Rylands. His address is on the tear-off form.
The Challenge of Finding an Honorary Secretary or indeed, any Kind of Secretary (the saga continues from 2006)!
In order to simplify the Honorary Secretary’s work, we now have a Minutes Secretary, Carol Painting, who services Council meetings and the AGM. Council is grateful to Carol for taking on this role. Thus we now benefit from having minutes that are correctly formatted and absolutely error-free….thank you Carol.
We have not been able to fill the proposed Competitions Secretary position as planned last year, but your chairman took responsibility for organising last year’s KGV Final and the Club Championship during the Annual Bisley Meeting. This year, it is expected that the Honorary Secretary will again oversee the KGV Heats and a similar system as last year will be used during the meeting. This situation cannot continue since our officers are now starting to multitask and so increasing their responsibilities on behalf of our 1000 members. Any member who wishes to be considered for the role of Competitions Secretary should please contact the Honorary Secretary in the first instance.
Nominations: Election of Ordinary Members of Council
The members retiring by rotation are C J Aldridge (now Evans), S J Comins and E Stuart-Bamford. Stuart is willing to stand again for re-election at the AGM in 2007 but Charlie and Eric have decided to stand down. May I take this opportunity of thanking both of them for their efforts during their periods of office – especially Charlie’s editing the yearbook for 2004 and 2005. On behalf of the Club, I am requesting nominations for the potential Council vacancies. If you have one or more nominations to propose, please fill in and return the tear-off part of this Newsletter below.
The Club Yearbook, 2007
Once again, the yearbook for 2007 is expected to be produced ahead of the shooting season by Peter Jordan as editor with Carol Painting producing the final pdf files and Peter Merry undertaking proof reading – thank you all for your efforts expended. The version without members’ names will be on the web-site.
Would all members please check that their entries in the National, Lawrence, Mackinnon, Kolapore and Australia match rolls in the new yearbook are accurate and send any corrections as soon as possible to yearbook@englishtwenty.org.uk and cpainting@iee.org.
The Clubhouse
Lease update: The saga of the lease continues with the end almost in sight…this process has spanned 3 years and, hopefully, will be fully resolved by the time shooting really starts this year. The terms of the lease have been finally agreed and it awaits the final signing off.
The Armoury: The Armoury will in all probability not be available for use this year because of the lack of security and the difficulty of having the clubhouse occupied during the time that firearms are stored. The Council has had to take this decision reluctantly and this was partly influenced by the majority of members already having alternative armoury facilities in the clubs and elsewhere. The Facilities Committee are considering an alternative use for the area which will benefit all members attending the clubhouse and Bisley in the future.
Membership Facilities Committee: This committee has led the improvements in service experienced in the clubhouse during 2006 and we expect these to be further improved during 2007. Council has authorised some release of capital to enable the kitchen to be upgraded as well as for some much-need repairs to be undertaken. The clubhouse can be hired for £30 per day for general club and training purposes and anyone interested should approach the Club through the Acting Honorary Secretary or the Chairman.
F Class Team to Canada, 2006
The summer of 2006 saw the tour of England’s first ever team to Canada, captained by Peter Medhurst with Mik Miksamovic in support. The tour report is available on the web-sit and although England’s performance was not at a winning level, we have now been able to firmly establish the discipline at national level. The new F Class Division is expanding its membership with a target of 50 members within the near future.
England Team to South Africa, 2009
Tom Rylands has been elected by Council to captain the England touring team South Africa in 2009 to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the South African Bisley Union. Because of the need to be able to take a very strong team and yet enable new caps to be taken, especially in the under 25’s category, Council has agreed to an official team strength of 22 plus reserves. Invitations to be considered for team membership have been advertised and all interested members are encouraged to apply.
Amercia Cup Team, 2008
England, along with the other Home Countries, has been invited to send a TR team in order to participate in the America Cup in the USA during 2008. Given the relatively short time frame, Council and the chairman are presently appointing the captain to lead this team and the outcome should be announced by the Spring Meeting.
Spring Meeting 2007
This year the Spring Meeting will be held at its usual time, 26th, 27thand 28th May 2007. Paul Sykes will once again lead the team who will organise this, although after this year he has expressed his wish to transfer the organisation on to other shoulders….anyone interested? The Club hopes that it will build on last year’s first F Class entry by attracting as many F Class shooters as possible. Entry forms will be available on the web site and in the Bisley Clubs soon.
Funding of England Teams
Council has agreed that the Club will fully fund teams for the National and Mackinnon as normal, but the following will prevail for other matches:
- LR or SR Championships: 50% funding. The Club will provide a souvenir to be awarded as agreed before the match.
- Lawrence Match: the Club will pay the entry fee as late in the day as possible because sometimes the match is made concurrent at the last minute. Team members will provide their own ammo.
- The RAF matches remain self funding. Captains are encouraged to advise people well in advance of the cost. The Club will provide a souvenir for the highest scorer in one of the teams.
- The match versus the Combined Services in the Bisley Meeting remains self-funding. The Club will provide a souvenir for the highest scorer in one of the teams.
- The concurrent match during the Welsh Meeting also remains self funding; no souvenirs provided.
Dick Horrocks, President and Acting Hon Secretary
Tom Rylands, Chairman of Council