EG: Council Communique 27th January 2016
Meeting of the Council of Regional
Chairs
27th
January 2016
COMMUNIQUE
1.
Members and Branches Consultation
The
initial consultation exercise has indicated that there is no
consensus within the Guild membership on a remodelling of either the
Branch or Membership model.
However,
the profile of the Guild has to be in the forefront of people's
minds. Membership was 13,500 in 2008 and is 7,500 in 2016. There has
been success in slowing the rate of loss from 500 per year to 280 per
year but a different gear is needed to raise the public's awareness
of the Guild as a charity and to re- build membership numbers.
Recent
initiatives such as the Magna Carta Embroidery, the Capability Brown
Festival and the Game of Thrones project have demonstrated the
enhanced impact all elements of the Guild working together can have
on its public profile and this ‘combined efforts’ approach will
be pursued on other occasions.
The
Board will be considering the outcomes of the consultation exercise
and, as a result, the need to achieve significant savings in overhead
and administrative costs.
2.
Branches at risk of closure
There
have been a number of closures of branches in recent years and
Regional Chairs are being asked to monitor branch sustainability
closely. Branches are asked to give early indications of problems to
Regional Chairs so that help can be given to prevent possible
closures. The majority of closures have been in branches with less
than 30 members but it is acknowledged that some of the smaller
branches are among the most stable and committed.
3.
National Celebration of Stitch Day
This
will be on 6th August in 2016 and building on the partnership theme
it is hoped to raise the number of branches participating from 65
last year to 100. Guidance notes will be sent out to branches during
February, a new poster is being designed and , to link to Capability
Brown, there will be a common theme for participating branches of
Landscapes
and Gardens. Public
involvement in stitching can be encouraged in ways which relate to
this theme EG.' Stitch a leaf ' and add it to a tree branch etc.
Branches
are asked to indicate to regional Chairs if they intend to
participate by the end of May.
4.
Capability Brown
Plans
for Capability Brown exhibitions are now well under way and branches
and Regions are encouraged to utilise all social media and press
outlets to publicise events in their areas.
5.
A Game of Thrones
All
designs and materials have now been sent out to those people
participating in this initiative and Press and PR issues will be
handled
centrally
by the production company. The
CEO is seeking ways to capitalise on the publicity and to mount
exhibitions of the work produced around the country. It is felt that
this has the potential to significantly raise the profile of the
Guild and to generate income.
6.
Inspired to Create Courses
These
new courses were publicised in the previous issue of Contact.
Branches, clusters of branches and Regions are now able to offer
these courses to existing members and potential new members in order
to promote learning. If sufficient indications of interest are
received by HQ by the end of May then further resources will be
devoted to their development.
7.
National AGM.
This
will take place on Saturday 7th May in Manchester when the speakers
will be Susie Vickery and Sian Martin. Full details are available on
the national Guild Website.
8.
New Guild Trustees
New
Trustee posts have now been announced and can be accessed via the
Guild web site Members page - About
Us
– Our Organisation/Trustees
Comments