Shed Notice Board
"Please read the notices before you leave the shed."
June 2010
25th June - Update from the Chair
Your Board of Directors have met on the last two consecutive
Saturdays!
The Directors and Officers meet once a year primarily to plan the show. We met two weeks ago at the Statfold Barn Railway to plan for our 2011 show at Stoneleigh. In past years we’ve hosted the meeting at a one of our houses, done “the business” in the morning and then steamed our engines in the afternoon. This year was slightly different as the proposed meeting date coincided with one of Statfold’s open days. This enabled us to arrive on site, marvel at the engines being steamed before the meeting even started.
The format of the 2011 show will follow the established pattern of
2009 and 2010. I’m grateful to Andrew Cooper and John Orson
who tease out a little more space each year to cope with the
increasing trader and visitor numbers.
Following on from the highly successful ‘Hunslet’ theme with the
visit of ‘Edward Sholto’ in 2010 we are looking to theme
the 2011 show too. The theme,
which was suggested by Derek Wiggins, is a heritage one and we will
be celebrating the
60 year
anniversary of preservation on the Talyllyn Railway. Ian is
now looking
to track down an appropriate centre piece..... watch this space.....
We welcomed William Bickers-Jones back onto the planning team
this year with a new hat on
– he’s organising our Model of the Year
competition (MOTY). There was talk of introducing some new
categories
too, but I won’t steal William’s thunder there, as he needs to
finalise a few things yet. However one item I will declare is
the on-line booking in facility which we plan to make
available in 2011.
Plans are in hand for the draw too
–
several nice steam engines are being ordered as I type
– offering a coal fired engine for the first time. As usual
tickets will be sent with SMT and be available on the day.
With the show business dealt with the Directors and Officers were
free to mingle with the other guests at Statfold.
Interestingly rather than ride
behind the superb
engines two Directors were seen
“riding” on a manual pump trolley
– curious choice? To sum up 2011 will be a great show, and
absolutely essential if you’ve got even a passing interest in the
Talyllyn Railway, on the flip side I’m booking myself in for the
next open day at Statfold I found it fascinating and was
disappointed I didn’t get to see and do everything that was
available.
Our second meeting, last weekend, was more routine in so much as we
met in London and there were no steam trains
evident. This meeting however was constructed with a specific
agenda; our aim was to understand how the Association would need to
evolve as our membership
continues to grow. More specifically we looked at our
administration processes, how we could optimise these and where
there are opportunities to reduce overlap and
avoid peak loads (e.g. renewal time and SMT delivery dates).
We looked at other aspects around
“business continuity” and what information we would each need to
pass on to our successors. Previously this has been ad-hoc,
but as
the Association grows bigger the tasks are getting more complex and
involved.
I
am really grateful to both the Directors and Officers for
giving their time freely to make these two
important meetings happen.
So enough writing
– it’s time to get back to the enjoying the
summer evenings.
Nigel
May 2010
27th May - SMT in the post, Membership Cards & General Membership Update
I have received confirmation from our mailing house that SMT completed mailing today, Thursday 27th May and should start to arrive with UK members from Saturday 29th onwards. I know from past experience that postal times vary across the country so please give SMT up to 2 weeks to arrive. Overseas members should allow more time as regrettably it can take even longer. If however you are concerned about whether you were included in the mailing, please contact me at membership@16mm.org.uk and I will put your mind at rest. Members who left it as late as this week to renew will be serviced when I receive my extra copies during next week, as will members who have joined this week.
Your name and address are printed on a sheet of white A4, known as the Carrier sheet. Your new membership card is stuck to the back and your membership number is printed adjacent to the card. Please follow the instructions on the carrier sheet to write your name and membership number on the card. The card does not carry an expiry date and will remain valid as long as you continue to renew your annual subscription. If your card is missing or damaged, please contact me and I will supply a replacement. Cards for the Affiliate members of Full UK members have been sent out today and should start to arrive from Saturday onwards. Again, please give good time for this to arrive but do contact me if you are concerned.
Finally, our membership stands at 3,260 as I write. 6% of 2009’s members have so far failed to renew, which is a little under the attrition rate in 2009. It’s encouraging to see that notwithstanding the belt tightening that many continue to endure, membership is still seen as good value and that we have returned so quickly to in excess of 3,000 members. May is not yet out but I’m certain we will exceed 50 new members this month.
Do enjoy your railwaying as Spring turns to Summer – I know I will!
Alan Regan
22nd May - An update from the Chair
The outdoor running season is now in full swing and my own area group is in full swing with opportunities to run most weekends now. My open day went down well, I counted over 30 people in the garden at one point. Tail chasing was the order of the day as Steve Acton’s Tom Rolt was in fine form, with his full TR train looking very authentic – it’s just a pity my line is based on the Lynton and Barnstaple Railway!
The Board of directors have a two meetings looming in early June with meetings on adjacent weekends. Firstly, we are meeting with the wider show planning team on the 12th June to discuss the ideas and opportunities for the 2011 Show (2nd April 2011 if you’ve got your diary to hand). The following weekend we’re sitting down to look at how the Association needs to organise itself as the membership continues to grow – we need to be able to service the needs of the members effectively and efficiently – the meeting on the 19th June is to look at how we can take that forward.
Clearly taking two consecutive Saturdays out for Association meetings is a significant commitment and I continue to be grateful to the Directors for their energetic support.
Several factors have conspired against us and SMT will be delivered toward the back of this month, later than we’d hoped. One factor was the date of the show in April as Andrew was looking to include content from the show. I look forward to another bumper sized edition landing on my doormat.
If you have any questions or observations regarding the Association please feel free to contact me via e-mail chairman@16mm.org.uk or by phone (details in SMT and Bulletin) I hope you enjoy your running season.
Nigel
April 2010
27th April - An update from the Chair
Hurrah – finally we get the weather to get out and run in the garden! I’ve surveyed the winter damage and need to resort to a spot of concreting to get our track back into condition. As our annual show at Stoneleigh was later in the month Andrew is busily trying to catch up time and compile all the information from the show and the AGM into the next edition of our magazine. The two kits I bought at our show sit on the side of my work area, and if this weather holds they will stay there until the central heating comes on again in the autumn. I attended my first garden event last Sunday and had a great afternoon. It wasn’t until I got home that I realised that my engine didn’t turn a wheel! I spent most of the afternoon talking! I hope you get the time to get out there soon and enjoy the “running season”. If we do have a damp evening I may give into temptation and have a go at those two kits........
Nigel
15th April - An update from the Membership Secretary
Well, who’d have thought it? I was asked at the AGM, not even a week ago, when membership would breached the 3,000 mark. April is not yet out and its already happened. We are 3,008 members as I write and rising. We had just short of 50 new members join us at Stoneleigh – a tad higher than in 2009. It would have been exactly 50, but a putative member was out of money and so was his wife! Maybe he is one of the 10 or so who have joined since Stoneleigh. What I want to convey is that the Association is starting the 2010 membership year where it left of at the end of the 2009 year – membership increasing and in rude health as ever.
Reminders for the 400 members who have not yet renewed will go out on Monday 19th April. If you are reading this and are amongst that number, please ask yourself why your late renewal has happened and how you, or I, can prevent this happening next year. Did you put it off, did you mislay the renewal papers, did you forget it needed doing? Whatever the reason, please act on the reminder as soon as you receive it, otherwise you risk missing the excellence which will be, as usual, SMT in May (another large issue as I am led to believe).
My updates of late have been a little long winded so I will leave your with this. A member has joined today, via Join Now, and has declared his county of residence as Rutland. Now as the cognoscenti will know, Rutland is today a unitary district as opposed to a county but feelings run deep and many living in the county wish very clearly to demonstrate their association with the ancient (and copyrighted) name Rutland. There is another member who lives in the same town as our new friend, only he has registered his county as Leicestershire. Should I take it upon myself to unite the Rutland Two in order that they appear, shoulder to shoulder, in the new Rutland county section in next year’s membership list? Are there others out there of like mind and will the Rutland Two soon be a Rutland Three, or Four, or more?
Mail me at membership@16mm.org.uk as required to make your county change. Or with anything else for that matter. Or not at all if you are enjoying Spring Steaming.
Alan Regan
March 2010
23rd March - Narrow Gauge North 2010
Many thanks to all the 16mm Narrow Gauge Modellers who attended, or participated in this year's show.
Due to their involvement we have been able to donate £4,600 to the Sue Ryder Care Home – Wheatfields.
Next year the show will be on 12/13 March.
Peter Kirkby
Organiser
