Committee Meeting 10-Jan-2026 Minutes
Minutes of the Committee Meeting held on 10th January 2025 by Violet Rook
- Present: Chris Huck, Liz Ashcroft, Henry Curry, Violet Rook, Vanessa Lester, Gary Carr, Kevin Machin, Susan Cartwright Smith, Louise Courtney, Ellie Stevenson.
- Apologies: Jennifer Margrave, John Grieve, Gill Scholey.
- Minutes of the previous meeting: These were accepted.
- Matter arising: All items were on the agenda and the Secretary indicated they would be dealt with as they arose.
- Chairman's report by Chris Huck: This report was given later in the meeting regarding the sub-committee.
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Treaurer's report by Liz Ashcroft: She provided a verbal update regarding the financial balances. She indicated she now had her acknowledgement from the bank as the Treasurer. But indicated the difficulty of the online form regarding the two other bank signatories. She would contact the bank and get advice on other methods to allow these applications.
Members indicated their difficult experiences regarding similar situations. It was agreed that there should be a time limit to ensure the bank provided the necessary information. The Treasurer said she would contact the bank again within the week.
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Membership Secretary's report by Violet Rook: This report had been sent to the committee. Details were provided about actions undertaken between 6th December to 10th January 2026. These included the setting up a WhatsApp group. Also, the sending of emails providing the new password for the members website page. Examples of the emails sent to advertise the special individual membership offer. Vanessa Lester drafted the email. This gained five new members to that date. These had been sent a welcome letter, newsletter and a copy of the Link magazine.
Vanessa Lester added to the conversation regarding the structure of the monthly meetings for the individual members which she indicated she would facilitate, but committee members could attend. She would provide a schedule and send it to the committee, and a Zoom link would also be provided.
The Membership Secretary said she would attend the first meeting which was on 26th January at 6.30 pm.
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Competition reports 2025/6: Liz Ashcroft indicated that the members only competition was now open since 1st December 2025. Winners of open competitions were advised and prizes given.
Susan Cartwright-Smith provided details about the Spooky Flash Fiction competition held in October. She had sent copies of the winning entries to the committee. This provoked a discussion regarding another short competition for Valentines Day in February.
The committee agree this would be a good idea. Susan said she would advertise it on social media. Henry and Kevin would put announcement on the website. The Secretary would put an advertisement in the newsletter which was due to be sent to members.
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Secretary's report by Violet Rook: This report listed the actions taken during the time period. The report had been sent to the committee. The actions included Zoom meetings with the Treasurer and Vanessa Lester about the arrangements for the special membership offer. Also Zooms with Henry Curry and attending the Christmas events online. A New Year greeting had also been sent to fully paid-up members.
Members who had attended the Christmas events had enjoyed them, especially the quiz.
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Technician's report by Kevin Machin: The report was taken from the website: it was a summary of progress since the previous meeting. It covered the website and the shop aspects. Kevin indicated the need for security regarding the members page and the shop.
Committee members commented about the problems of members entering the competitions via the website. Also about the methods of payment, especially Paypal.
Kevin indicated that he hoped to improve these aspects. He also mentioned the cost of implementation with reference to the website hosting platform at present in place. This he would research and seek a better deal.
- Newsletter report by Violet Rook: The next newsletter would be published that week. Included in it would be information on the anthology The Write Path. Also details of the members only free competition which began in December 2025. Plus some general details of writing events in the country. To a mention about the new flash fiction competition for Valentines Day, it was indicated that that too would be included in the edition.
- Link magazine editor's report: No written report was received. Henry Curry said he usually is sent the copy for the magazine and sets up the editions.
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Online events & courses 2026: Gary had provided written report on the sub-committee to date. They had discussed a "distributed festival", where events take place in various locations on the same day. Face to face meetings being important, also working with local members.
The date of the festival was a consideration, September being problematic for many members. Funding also needed to be considered. The groups plan for January included have a video call asap, create guidelines for groups, make financial projections.
Discussion regarding workshop and tutors also needed to be formulated. There were positive comments from members present concerning these ideas. Everyone understood the need for funding.
Others were made to contact tutors whohad provided previous workshops. The Treasurer indicated and Henry Curry mentioned, the cost of tutors for workshops on previous occasions.
The date of a festival was also considered. This was ongoing at this time in regard to research concerning all the items mentioned in the report.
- Any other business: A general discussion in regard to the time and date of the next meeting.
- Dates for future meetings: Next committee meeting on 26th February at 19:00.