Members' Centres and
Friends' Groups
STIRLING MEMBERS' CENTRE
NEWSLETTER, MARCH 2005
FROM THE CHAIRMAN
Dear Members
I hope that members will forgive me if this newsletter is somewhat shorter than usual as I am suffering from repetitive strain injury in my right wrist. This is due to excessive use of the PC at work and I have been advised to curtail my use of the PC as much as possible. In this report I will brief members on developments relating to our branch and in the Western Region of the Trust since many of us met at the AGM in October 2004.
The winter programme of events is now well under way. It began with the AGM at the end of October 2004, which was attended by some ninety members. At it the chairman drew attention to the continuing downward trend in membership (currently at 336) and in demand for bookings for Centre events. After the formal business, the winter programme got off to a splendid start with the outstanding talk by Roger and June Watts on the forgotten life and travels of the intrepid and now totally forgotten lady Victorian traveller Isabella Bird. The demand for the visit to the Queen's Gallery at Holyrood House in November 2004 was satisfyingly large, showing that the introduction of a half-day outing as part of the winter programme met a popular demand. As always, the Stirling and District Camera Club never fail to astonish with the sheer professionalism of their photography and their audiovisual presentation. Their pre-Xmas show was a sell out. At the New Year, Jack Sutherland again organised for the Centre a musical outing in the evening. As members will note, the Committee is responding to members' requests for a greater variety of events in the winter programme. The Committee warmly welcomes suggestions from members for different forms of events.
The Committee has met once since the AGM, in January 2005. It noted that the branch had now made its intended donations of £2,000 to the Bannockburn Heritage Centre; £1,000 to the Hornell Collection in Kirkcudbright; and £1,000 to the Pineapple. It reviewed the summer programme for 2005. I am pleased to report that all places on the holiday in north Wales, based at the University of Bangor between 25 and 29 July 2005, have been booked. I am now finalising the programme of events and I will be contacting those members who have paid their deposit later in the spring with complete details of the holiday and a request for the balance of the payment.
On the regional front the West Regional Committee of the Trust met on 9 December 2004 with the chairmen of Members' Centres and Friends' Groups. It was reported that visitor numbers to the Trust's properties in the West Region were significantly down in the 2004 season. The really bad news was that, as members may already be aware, the major proposal to completely rebuild the Bannockburn Visitor Centre has had to be put on hold. This is due to the fact that the Scottish Executive has decided to focus its funding on a similar project at the Culloden Visitor Centre. At present the Bannockburn Visitor Centre requires £200,000 for repairs.
Members who know their history of Britain's military role on the Western Front in the First World War will recall a very famous recruitment poster of Lord Kitchener pointing his finger at the reader under the caption "Your King and Country need You!" Well, dear members the Centre's Executive Committee needs you! Or, to be more exact, we need a volunteer to become Treasurer from the autumn. Our long serving Treasurer, Donald Way, has intimated that he will definitely be resigning his post at the autumn AGM. If the Committee cannot find a replacement, it will have to pay an accountant, which will cost the Centre about £1,500 per annum. This will mean the loss of this sum, which would otherwise have gone to the Trust's good causes. If any member would like to volunteer for this post, he or she would be given a warm welcome by the Committee. If anyone, would like to volunteer, please do contact myself or Jack Sutherland.
With all best wishes to members for the New Year and continued enjoyment of the Centre's programmes.
Regards
R (Bob) B McKean
OBITUARY
We have been informed of the deaths of the following members and would like to offer all their friends and relatives our very sincere sympathy in their sad loss and our appreciation of their support and companionship during their membership over many years.
Mr Hamish L Duncan
Mrs Muriel A S Fleming
TREASURER'S NOTE
During the last six months we have made donations to the National Trust for Scotland of the following amounts:
- To support the Homel Collection at Broughton House, Kirkcudbright £1,000
- To support the restoration work at "The Pineapple", Airth £1,000
- To Bannockburn Heritage Centre for purchase of Postal Franking machine to assist with publicity for special events, etc, a Mini TV with integral DVD Player for promoting shop sales of DVD/CDROM, a digital camera, a document scanner and a CD player for promoting CD sales. £2,000
A shortened version of the Annual Accounts for 2003/2004 was enclosed with the printed version of the Newsletter. The full version may be obtained on request to the Treasurer.
A NOTE FROM THE PROPERTY MANAGER
I would just like to say thank you very much to the executive committee and the Stirling members for the generous donation to the Bannockburn Heritage Centre. As you are aware, Heritage Centres in general, as well as presenting and explaining the subject of local, or national interest, also have to generate income with the aim of making a net profit or at least, being self sufficient. With this in mind, the donation has been allocated to equipment and goods that will help to promote awareness of the centre as a site of exceptional interest, thereby generating greater visitor numbers and income for the National Trust for Scotland.
The major item we have purchased is a mail-franking machine, which prints an image of "The Bruce statue" as well as the necessary Royal Mail legal print requirements. This will be used for all routine mail, any special event promotions, and any cards/letters that visitors would like to have imprinted with the Bannockburn logo.
Other items include a CD player and a DVD player, both to promote the shop sales of items with a Scottish or historical interest. We have also bought a digital camera, and a scanner for the computer system, and much needed racking and shelving to create sufficient working space and storage in the office to meet the many requirements of day-to-day operations.
Finally, I would like to remind you that, in appreciation of the member centre contributions, all centre members are entitled to a 20% discount on items bought in the shop at any time, on production of their member centre cards, and this offer also applies to visitors to Alloa Tower.
Alison Corley
Summer Outings 2005
Details of the Summer Outings may be found by following the "Stirling Main Page" link.
All outings will leave from and return to the Smith Art Gallery and Museum unless otherwise indicated - please avoid parking at the Smith Museum Car Park!