President's Page
Peter Harvey 32 Lodge Lane, Grays, Essex RM16 2YP. Tel: (01375) 371571.
Email: grays@peterharvey.freeserve.co.uk
Changed circumstances mean that Jacquey and Roger Newton will have left Essex for
the south coast by the time you read this newsletter. We thank them very much indeed
for all the enthusiasm and work that they brought to the Field Club Council and wish
them well in the future. They will remain members of the Club and perhaps one day they
will make Essex their home again!
This means that we desperately need a new Treasurer to take over from Roger. If you
would like to volunteer or can suggest someone else that we can approach, please contact
me or Mary Smith as soon as possible. With little cash to deal with, mostly only from the
Exhibition & Social, I am assured that the job is not too onerous, and that it should not
take up too much time over the year, the major commitments being the maintenance of
a clear accurate record of transactions, attending Council meetings, passing all the
paperwork over to the auditor at the end of the year and providing a report to the AGM.
Ken Adams has very kindly offered to take over as Programme Secretary, and he will
soon be chasing people to lead meetings next year. If you want to attend either of the
two Fungus Group meetings that Roger was down to lead (Swaines Green on Sunday
30th September and Hainault Forest on Saturday 6th October) please check with Tony
Boniface or Mary Smith first (details on p. 13).
As reported in the May newsletter we are currently exploring plans to build a new centre
at Wat Tyler Country Park in Pitsea to house the Club's collections and library. Many
thanks to all those members who completed the questionnaire on the proposed new
centre included with the May newsletter. The response has been very good, with nearly
60% of the membership responding and everyone either totally or mostly supportive of
the project and its associated aims, despite reservations expressed by some members
about specific aspects.
Members responding to the questionnaire have also promised a total of over £5000
towards setting up the centre, and there have also been additional offers of financial
help from several members.
Council put in a funding bid at short notice in April to the Essex Community Initiatives
Fund and we have been allocated £19,000 towards our project. We have been in
preliminary discussions with three other potential funders and we have received very
positive feedback. When we have obtained all the necessary estimates for the costs
involved we will be putting in further bids in line with funders'deadlines. The timescale
has slipped slightly, but we should still be on target to get these bids in and find out
whether we have been successful or not by the end of the year. If we are successful then
we should be in business next year.
Essex Field Club Newsletter No. 54, September 2007 1