Month: January 2023

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Chair’s Report to Annual General Meeting, January 2023

Robin Boucher, chair of PVHG, prepared the following report of 2022 activities to the Annual General Meeting on Tuesday 24th January 2023:

After the disruption caused by the Covid pandemic, it was a relief to be able to resume our normal pattern of face-to-face meetings in 2022.

During the first months we were planning our participation in Packington’s celebration of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. When the time came this went well; the Platinum Poem was well-received and we presented a display and book stall at the cream tea event. Thanks to everyone who contributed over the weekend.

In the second half of the year we have researched the story of the village’s carnivals, 1973 – 2008. We have now gathered substantial information and started a process of interviews with people who took part. We intend to landmark the fiftieth anniversary of the first carnival during the coming year.

We provided a display and bookstall at the Open Gardens event at the end of August.

During the autumn we have provided substantial new material to Wikipedia’s section on Packington’s history and, at the end of the year, started talks with the Parochial Church Council about publicising the history of Holy Rood Church. We have been pleased to see prospective new members joining the group (and former members returning) – meetings have become lively!

My thanks go to all who have taken part during the year, in particular to Sue Brown for taking minutes, for arranging our displays and for excellent work on the 1921 census, to Robert Dilworth for keeping us up-to-date with technology, to Adrian Mongredien and Nev Bray for their contributions to our carnival project, and to Yvonne Eaton for keeping our finances in order..

Robin Boucher
4th January 2023

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Minutes of the Annual General Meeting held on Tuesday 25th January 2022

Present: Robin Boucher, Yvonne Eaton, Adrian Mongredien, Robert Dilworth, Nev Bray, Sue /Brown.

  1. Chairman’s welcome
  2. Apologies for absence – Ian and Pat Scruton, Marion Wright, David Fill.
  3. Notes from meeting held on Zoom on 23rd February 2021. There were no matters arising but Robin mentioned Yvonne’s long service to the group, having been a founder member and secretary for the past 30 years. He presented her with a pair of crystal glasses as a mark of appreciation from the group.
  4. Chairman’s report
    • During the first half of 2021 we were constrained by Government restrictions on meetings, due to the Covid pandemic. Some of us met on Zoom while others felt unable to do so. In the autumn we were able to meet face-to-face once more. Despite the difficulties, the year was not without some achievements.
    • Following Yvonne Eaton’s retirement form the position of secretary, Sue Brown agreed to take on the role for the next couple of years. Thankyou, Sue, for undertaking this work.
    • While we were unable to meet, Sue Brown and Robert Dilworth worked on production of a list of baptisms and burials which now appears on the Group’s website. 3,286 entries are now available for visitors to examine.
    • In mid-June, I led a walk up Mill Street. The weather for the evening was beautiful and around thirty people turned out, which was close to the permitted attendance for an outdoor event at the time. The walk was well-received – the appearance of a peacock near the starting-point was clearly a good omen!
    • Meanwhile I had also started preparing a publication, based on oral interviews which our predecessors had undertaken from the late 1980’s onwards. Group members helped with proof-reading and supportive feedback and the Parish Council made a grant from its Solar Fund towards production costs. “A Way of Life That Has Gone” was published in December; the PVHG publicity machine rolled into action (thankyou Robert and Sue) and it was launched at a signing session in the Memorial Hall. At the time of writing over half of the print run of 100 copies has been sold.
    • Our autumn meetings included a session looking at the 1735 estate map of Packington and a very interesting presentation by Sue Brown on the Leeson family, prominent in Packington from the fifteenth to the eighteenth centuries. We concluded by starting to plan our contribution to the village’s Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebration to be held in June 2022.
    • Ian had been transcribing some of the wills and Robin would discuss with him the way to take this forward.
    • Robin also stated that whilst he was willing to stand as Chairman for the coming year he did not consider that he should continue holding the position for a long time.
  5. Treasurer’s report Yvonne reported that we had a balance of £673.43 in the bank. Income consisted of £105 in membership fees, sale of books £233 and £706 from the Solar Fund grant. Expenditure consisted of £72 for the hire of venue 35 from 2020 to date, and the payment to Context for the printing of “A Way of Life that has Gone” of £814.
  6. Election of officers for 2022
    • Chairman Robin Boucher
    • Vice-Chairman – to be decided by those present as and when the need occurs.
    • Secretary Sue Brown
    • Treasurer Yvonne Eaton
  7. Membership fees for 2022 would remain at £10 for individuals and £15 for couples. The meeting decided that potential new members could attend two meetings before being asked for a subscription.
  8. Dates of meetings for 2022 – Below is a list of proposed dates for meetings in 2022, following the pattern of previous years.
    • 25th January 2022 Tuesday
    • 22nd February
    • 22nd March
    • 26th April
    • 24th May
    • 2nd-5th June Platinum Jubilee Celebrations
    • 28th June
    • No meetings in July or August
    • 27th September
    • 25th October
    • 22nd November
    • No meeting in December
    • (24th January 2023 – Annual General Meeting)

The meeting closed at 8.20