13th March 2023
Present: John Long, Sean McGhee, Martin Roberts, John Sutton, Felix Martin, Martin Relton, Eddie Haughey and Stuart Jones
Apologies: None
Not Present: Chris Jones
Meeting started at 19:30 and finished at 21:30
Outstanding Actions (from previous meetings)
- John Long to ask Nick Johnson to check on Leilo’s intentions about joining the circle. No update on status of Leilo, though he has been seen around town. Ongoing.
- Felix to arrange for a photo of Simeon and Alfonso – our new members – to be included in the newsletter and a short article to be sent to Catena via James Power. Ongoing.
- John to organise a buffet meal at the Sessions House for the 30th March.
New Actions
- Sean to follow up the payment of subs by Mike Diver
- Stuart to set up a WhatsApp ‘social’ group for the Circle and to communicate to the Circle re permissions to be added to the new group.
- Stuart to migrate Knutsford Circle website to the new province hosted area and communicate this to Circle.
- Stuart to ensure that we do not have auto renewal set up with our current hosting company.
- Eddie to contact Paul O’Brien and suggest they meet up at the next Circle meeting to have a chat about him taking over as Treasurer and Paul’s role as auditor.
Completed Actions
- Sean to see if he can contact Neil Farmer and Mike Diver to check if they want to remain a member of the Circle. Both have been contacted – Neil has resigned, Mike wishes to remain a member.
- Stuart to record forfeiture of membership of Neil Farmer and Mike Diver if no change in status following contact from Sean McGhee. Neil Farmer’s resignation has been processed.
- Stuart and John Long to send out notices about the Tatton Walk. Completed
- Felix to ask Father Michael about a recollection date in Lent. Completed
- Stuart to communicate the proposals about subscriptions and alternative fund raising to the Circle prior to the meeting. Completed
- Steve to look at a contact in St Nicks’ re what happened to the Catenian donation of rosaries. Completed
Decisions
- We will create a new WhatsApp social group for the Circle – this will include non-Catenian friends of the circle. The current group will be retained for circle only business.
- The content of the newsletter will be simplified – it will include details of events, anniversaries, meetings and important news. Articles about past events and other items of interest are welcomed but discretionary.
- Council will recommend that subscriptions increase by £10 and that the deficit is covered by reserves. We will also recommend 4 raffles a year to contribute to circle funds and the Children’s Christmas Party and that subs are increased each year to avoid future bill shock.
Social Events
- The walk in Tatton Park went well with 15 people attending.
Upcoming events are
- Recollection at Thorneycroft – 22nd March
- Informal meal – Thursday 30th March at the Sessions with a buffet meal
- Knutsford Beer festival, Thursday 20th April
- St George’s Night – Saturday 22nd April. Venue to be confirmed
- Parish Walk – probably Saturday May 13th (to be confirmed)
- Gardener’s Question Time in May or June – date to be confirmed
St. George’s night event – possibly use the Giovannis
Membership
Sean spoke to Neil Farmer who has decided to resign from the association. It was noted that Neil was unhappy with the lack of support from the Circle during the last year whilst he and his wife were ill.
Mike Diver has stated that he wishes to remain a member of the Circle and that he will pay his subs – though he has not done so yet. Sean will remain in touch with him.
it was noted that Paul O’Brien had not been attending circle meetings for a while – Eddie will follow up using the opportunity of his new role as Treasurer
Some people are in the pipeline – possibly 2 people. The president urged council members to attend the members event on 30th March.
Province
The next meeting is Tuesday 14th March.
Stuart (with help from Martin Relton) has developed the provincial web-site which is now well under development and is being demonstrated at the next provincial meeting. Stuart has looked at whether we can keep our domain name when we move hosting to the province web-site and the answer is no (certainly not without incurring costs). Our own website will be transferred shortly.
Welfare
Our sick list is: Tony Weir, James O’Dude, Joan Shaw plus Finn (Jim Flood’s grandchild), Peter Philips (former president of the circle).
Updates on welfare were given at the Circle meeting.
Officers
After much discussion – recognising the difficulty of getting brothers to volunteer for the VP and President roles. We noted that President’s can flex the role to suit their own circumstances and that we need to be flexible in how we see the role. There is a potential pipeline of excellent candidates for president – but these people are not yet signing up.
The officers for next year are:
- President – John Long
- Vice-President – Felix Martin
- Treasurer – Eddie Haughey
- Secretary – Stuart Jones
- Provincial Councillor – Martin Relton
- Registrar – Steve Graham
- Co-opted members – Sean McGhee and John Sutton
- Membership secretary – TBA
- Entertainments Officer – TBA
It was noted that we need to get the next VP lined up early to avoid difficulties in 12 months time.
The council expressed its thanks to Martin Roberts for his stirling efforts as Treasurer over the last 5+ years.
The president thanked Felix for stepping up and volunteering to be the VP.
Other notes
- We discussed subscriptions at length – last increased in 2019/20. A proposal was agreed (see Decisions above).
- Stuart will offer some cycle ‘training’ in support of those planning to do the Macclesfield Bikethon
13th February 2023
Present: John Long, Sean McGhee, Martin Roberts, John Sutton, Felix Martin, Martin Relton and Stuart Jones
Apologies: None
Not Present: Chris Jones, Felix Martin.
Meeting started at 19:30 and finished at 20:50
Outstanding Actions (from previous meetings)
- John Long to ask Nick Johnson to check on Leilo’s intentions about joining the circle. No update on status of Leilo. Ongoing.
- Sean to see if he can contact Neil Farmer and Mike Diver to check if they want to remain a member of the Circle. Ongoing.
- Felix to arrange for a photo of Simeon and Alfonso – our new members – to be included in the newsletter and a short article to be sent to Catena via James Power. Ongoing.
New Actions
- Stuart to record forfeiture of membership of Neil Farmer and Mike Diver if no change in status following contact from Sean McGhee
- Stuart and John Long to send out notices about the Tatton Walk.
- John to organise a buffet meal at the Sessions House for the 30th March.
- Felix to ask Father Michael about a recollection date in Lent.
- Stuart to communicate the proposals about subscriptions and alternative fund raising to the Circle prior to the meeting.
- Steve to look at a contact in St Nicks’ re what happened to the Catenian donation of rosaries.
Completed Actions
- John Long to invite Harish, Mike Chidgey and Mike Guerin to our charter dinner. Completed
- John Long to invite brothers to the beer evening on Thu 26th Jan using WhatsApp (also Richard Jones and Chris Wilkshire). Completed
- Stuart to send out reminder invitations to the charter dinner. Completed
- Stuart to write a letter to Mike Diver – asking if we can help him be more engaged with the circle and to pay his subs. Letter sent – no response
Decisions
- The council decided that Mike Diver and Neil Farmer should forfeit membership given lack of payment of subscriptions unless Sean hears differently when he tries to contact them.
- We decided that subscriptions for 2023/24 would need to increase by £20 or we increase by less e.g £10 and also add a mechanism for raising money for the circle e.g. raffles, 100 club.
- Next council meeting will be held at John Long’s house
- April council meeting will be 17th April.
Social Events
- The ‘last Thursday of the month’ drinks event was well attended, enjoyed by all and gave some leads to potential members.
- The Charter Dinner went well – thanks in the main to Tony Andrews who organised the event
- The Children’s Christmas Party also went very well with 29 children attending, Thanks to Martin Relton for organising this annual event, he received many notes of thanks from those who attended
Upcoming events are
- Parish Walk – Saturday 11th March
- Informal meal – Thursday 30th March at the Sessions with a buffet meal
- St George’s Night – details to be discussed at the Council meeting
- Couples recollection at Thorneycroft – date during lent
St. George’s night event – possibly use the wedding venue near to the corner cafe, weekend of 21st April. Style may be as a garden party.
Membership
No response from Mike Diver or any feedback from Neil Farmer. See actions above.
Some people are in the pipeline – possibly 2 people
Keen to continue with
Province
Mike Chidgey will be the provincial president next year, Mike Swarbrick will be the treasurer, Harish will remain membership officer and Ken Lewis the secretary.
Province capitation fee will not go up.
Stuart (with help from Martin Relton) has agreed to develop the provincial web-site which is now well under development. Stuart will look at whether we can keep our domain name when we move hosting to the province web-site.
Welfare
Our sick list is: Bill Gore, John Piper, Tony Weir, James O’Dude, Joan Shaw plus Finn (Jim Flood’s grandchild), Matt Lynch, Peter Philips (former president of the circle). Dorothy Relton (Martin Relton’s mother).
Bill was at church and choir practice though still using a wheelchair.
Martin Relton’s mother is now out of hospital in a nursing home – though is not getting better.
Updates on welfare were given at the Circle meeting.
Officers
Eddie Haughey will take on the role of treasurer.
Nominations are still missing for the President and Vice-President. John Long will ask some of the ‘elders’ of the Circle to help with asking people to volunteer
Other notes
- We discussed subscriptions at length – last increased in 2019/20. Could add to circle funds with raffles, or other fund raising methods, each meeting. If we had increased by inflation the subs would be £183
- We are able to move our web-site but need to look at options such as looking at keeping our current domain.
- Agreed proposal to have one visit a month as an organised group.
- Sean mentioned the article in the church newsletter about the involvement of women in the church and the implications for Catenianism.
16th January 2023
Present: John Long, Sean McGhee, John Sutton, Felix Martin, Martin Relton and Stuart Jones
Apologies: Martin Roberts
Not Present: Chris Jones
Meeting started at 19:30 and finished at 19:50
Outstanding Actions (from previous meetings)
- None
New Actions
- John Long to invite Harish, Mike Chidgey and Mike Guerin to our charter dinner.
- John Long to invite brothers to the beer evening on Thu 26th Jan using WhatsApp (also Richard Jones and Chris Wilkshire)
- Stuart to send out reminder invitations to the charter dinner
- Stuart to write a letter to Mike Diver – asking if we can help him be more engaged with the circle and to pay his subs
- Sean to see if he can contact Neil Farmer to check if he wants to remain a member of the Circle.
- Felix to arrange for a photo of Simeon and Alfonso – our new members – to be included in the newsletter and a short article to be sent to Catena via James Power.
- John Long to ask Nick Johnson to check on Leilo’s intentions about joining the circle
Completed Actions
- John Long to check with NIck Johnson about Leilo – who has indicated that he is keen to rejoin the Circle. Completed
- Stuart to organise flowers for Frances Gore. Completed
- Stuart to organise a card for John and Maisie Piper. Completed
- Stuart to send a WhatsApp reminding brothers about the Tatton walk on Saturday 19th Nov.. Completed
- Stuart to send out details of the recollection (once received from felix). including to Province Secretaries
- John Long to check with Nick Johnson the current numbers for the Christmas Dinner. Stuart to then send out a reminder for people to sign up.. Completed
- Stuart to check with Father David what the dates are for the Christmas Carol concert.. Completed
- Martin Roberts to make arrangements for payment of £50 in support of the local Ukrainian Charity. Completed
- Stuart to send the membership form to Alfonso. Completed
- Martin Roberts to ask Eddie Haughey if he would be interested in being the treasurer. Completed
Decisions
- None
Social Events
December had been an very active month with support for teh crib, the parish carol concert as well as our own Christmas Dinner, recollection evening and Beer & Curry night. All went well though it was disappointing that the crib event was cancelled by the council due to the cold weather.
The party for Bill Gore after the circle meeting in Jan went well – though the cost of the nibbles from Cottons, at £200, was more than expected.
- Children’s Christmas Party – Sunday 22nd January
- Charter and Clergy Dinner – Friday 3rd Feb
- Tatton walk – March TBA
- Next Paris Event – TBA
- Informal Lambing Shed type event – TBA
- St George’s Night – TBA
- Couples recollection at Thorneycroft – date TBA
Attendance at the Charter dinner is reasonable – but none yet from province. Tony Andrews is doing a great job in organising the event.
24 children have signed up so far for the Christmas party (max number is 30) – helped by Steve Graham ensuring the event was mentioned in the school newsletter. Martin Relton has everything in-hand.
It was noted that time is now very short to organise a St. George’s night event.
Membership
Simeon Johnson and Alfonso Escauriaza – enrolled in the circle at the January meeting. We now have 41 members plus one joint member.
Chris Wilkshire would join but cannot make the 1st Monday of the month. John long has other potential members in his sights.
Province
Mike Chidgey will be the provincial president next year, Mike Swarbrick will be the treasurer, Harish will remain membership officer and Ken Lewis the secretary.
At the last provincial meeting two representatives from a local Ukrainian church attended and expressed their thanks for the £900 raised to by children toys at Christmas.
Stuart (with help from Martin Relton) has agreed to develop the provincial web-site. A web hosting service is needed.
Welfare
Our sick list is: Bill Gore, John Piper, Tony Weir, James O’Dude, Joan Shaw plus Finn (Jim Flood’s grandchild), Matt Lynch, Peter Philips (former president of the circle). Dorothy Relton (Martin Relton’s mother)
Updates on Tony Weir and James O’Dude were given at the Circle meeting. Bill attended the meeting and is OK but still recovering. Jim Flood’s grandchild remains poorly in hospital following his major operation.
Officers
Eddie Haughey has expressed interest in taking on the role of treasurer – but final confirmation has not yet been received.
Nominations are still missing for the President and Vice-President.
Other notes
- Two brothers have not paid subscriptions – Mike Diver and Neil Farmer. See the actions above.
- John will be adding £300 to Circle funds plus £74 for his charity from monies collected in cash at recent events.
- Brother Treasurer has distributed the latest accounts. He has indicated that we may need to increase subs next year.
- We agreed that it remains good practice to aim for a newsletter each month with a primary focus on social event. The newsletter is valued by widows, some brothers and province.