Annual General Meeting 2018 - Officers Reports

GLAD Annual General Meeting Wed 9th May 2018

GLAD Chairman’s Report for 2017/2018

Good evening everyone. Well, after my first full year as Chair of GLAD I’m still alive and kicking, and I have positive things to report.

Firstly, and most importantly however, I want to do the thank yous. Thank you to all of you for coming, (it’s good to see such a healthy turnout (adjust/ignore, according to numbers)

Next, I would like to thank the Committee for all their support, hard work and excellent attendance at our monthly committee meetings. We are indeed blessed to have such an enthusiastic committee, and the fact we hold our meetings in a pub is absolutely not connected with the said turnout and the good humour with which proceedings are conducted!

Talking of pubs – as ever we cannot thank Gill Pengelly enough for all her support – the use of her back room stage area for rehearsals and productions has been instrumental in the improvement in our finances. Venue hire is one of our largest outlays during the year.

Thanks are also due to our Writer-in-Residence, Frank Goodman, whose scripts written with us in mind has made life enormously easier – we now have a small library of plays and sketches that he has written for us, which makes choosing what to do next not only easier, but massively cheaper, as we do not have to pay heavy copyright charges.

So, what have we been up to since the last AGM in May 2017? Annie Hearn had already been performed in the Bucc to acclaim, but a first for GLAD was going on tour. Thanks to the excellent efforts of our director, Michele Berrie, liaising with the Lewannick local history group/villagehall/amdram group lynchpin David Eno, in June we put the show on in Lewannick, the area where it all happened, with descendants of the dramatis personae in the audience. We also learned how to adapt to different staging, and were thrilled to not only play to a full house (some 80 plus people) but to make a healthy profit from ticket sales.

The Youth Group was run in the summer, aided by a Caradon Area Community Fund Grant, and although numbers were not large, enthusiasm was, and the children put on a show for the Festival. Thanks to those who jumped through the various safeguarding hoops and gave up their time in planning and conducting this. Gratifyingly, most of the children who attended took part in the Pirate Panto, with a far larger presence than children have had in any previous production.

Ah yes, the Pirate Panto – another Goodman script, and possibly the most fun we have had as a group yet. We were very pleased at the enthusiastic response, good houses and extremely enthusiastic audience participation.

What is next on the programme? We hope to re-run the Youth Group again this summer, although the precise format has not yet been decided. We are going to put on a murder mystery, to be held in the Public Hall, to kick off the Festival on the 6th July and then reprise it a few weeks later in a garden setting for Yelverton Tennis Club for actual payment (hence we wanted to practice on the good citizens of Gunnislake).

Frank is busily writing some short individual sketches with a view to being performed in November (venue to be decided) with the main show next year “Passport to Gunnislake” slated for April.

Our costumes have been on the move! Carol Banks reclaimed her basement, and they had an excellent temporary home in the Albaston Memorial Chapel. The parish council have now kindly agreed to semi-permanent storage in the crypt of the chapel, and they have been moved, but some sorting is still required. The Football club changing rooms were inspected with a view to storing props and scenery, although there are drawbacks to this site. If the planned “Village storage shed” goes ahead, we would hope to be able to have some space in that.

Our Treasurer will take you through our finances next but it is worth noting that following our period of retrenchment and the performances in the Bucc and Lewannick, we are in a far better financial position following a full show than at any previous time in our shortish history. However, we do need to be constantly on the lookout for fundraising opportunities and not sit on our laurels.

Before the Committee is dissolved and Carol masterminds the Election of Officers and Committee Members for the following year, I can only remind you of the GLAD Mantra:

“A few beers, a few laughs, and a chance to dress up and show off – what’s not to like?”

Secretary’s Report for AGM - 2018

Looking back over the last year, we have continued to build on our experience since our inception in March 2011. People have grown as actors but also the 'backstage crew' has grown and developed.

Two of the major problems we have faced this year (as always) is space for making and storing props and the storage of costumes. We have temporarily solved the costume storage issue but will continue to look at other options. Making and storing of props is still largely based on the goodwill of GLAD members. You will have seen as you come in that we are putting together an updated inventory of where props and equipment are being stored so if you are 'looking afte' anything for GLAD please make sure you add it to the list.

We have, like everyone else, been affected by changes to data storage regulations and this has resulted in a new membership form. Even though no membership dues are currently being collected from existing members it is important that everyone fills in the new membership form or we will not be able to retain your contact details and you may miss out on invaluable information that is shared.

Once we have elected our new committee, they can get down to the serious business of planning the social programme for the rest of the year, organising training sessions, and oh yes, deciding on our next production! Thank you.

Treasurer’s Report 2017-2018

The bank balance at the end of March was £3,807.68 as increase of £22.46 on the figure at the end of March last year.

The pantomime, which was a great success, took a total of £2,094.38 including £1470.00 in ticket sales. Sales of programmes and tickets on the door, refreshments and the raffle raised an additional £624.38. Expenditure totalled £2,502.38 leaving an overall loss of £408.00.

During the year tickets sales from the showing of Annie Hearn also raised £941 and a raffle held during the Gunnislake Festival an additional £52.

A total of £256 was also taken in membership subscriptions.

Frank had secured a grant of £500 for the GLAD youth group during the previous financial year, the balance of which was spent this year. Monies were spent on hall hire and t-shirts for the Festival Youth Group performance in July 2017. Following this the children were then involved in the pantomime.

Additional expenditure during the year included insurance and membership of NODA the National Operatic and Dramatic Association.

Many thanks to Steve Sheasby for auditing the accounts for us.