Club Chronicle

7 May 2026: Annual General and Business Meetings

Business Meeting

We started with the Business Meeting, although we occasionally got confused as to which meeting we were in.

The minutes of last month’s Business Meeting were approved. The Treasurer reported that the Spring Jumble Sale had raised £473 and that the Club had donated £1,056 to the End Polio Now campaign. Part of this sum represented donations passed on from individual members; the Rotary Foundation would be claiming the relevant Gift Aid. We agreed that Club should pledge a donation of £500 to Porridge and Pens.

Anne Moriaty mentioned that the District’s Handover Meeting taken place the previous Saturday.

Although the amount raised at the Spring Jumble Sale was reasoable, it was felt the event itself was somewhat disorgansised. Some of those who regularly helped with events at the Danbury Village Hall were thinking of stopping, in which case we would have to reconsider future arrangements.

On 15 May the Club will be running a quiz for the Wilderness Foundation at the Foundation’s premises in Chatham Green. Warwick Aldham agreed to sell raffle tickets.

Alison Moses will send Francis Whitbread details of the caterers for the Senior Guests’ Summer Party

We agreed that Anne Scott, the widow of our late Past President and Honorary Member, Alan Scott, should herself be made an Honorary Member.

We also agreed to buy two new pull-up banners. It was suggested a professional designer should be engaged.

It was suggested that we keep future Fellowship Meetings at the Ingatestone Saddlery to under an hour. We don&rsqup;t yet have a venue for our meeting on 10 September or for our Christmas Party.

Annual General Meeting

We then moved into our AGM. President Graham thanked all members for their support during his Presidential Year, particularly his fellow officers and others with special roles within the Club. He welcomed our new members during the year, Warwick Aldham and the Wilderness Foundation. He believed that the Club had achieved everything he had set out in his initial address at the start of the Rotary year.

We agreed that the Club subscription for 2026-27 should remain at £150. The following appointments were made or noted for that year:

• President: Anne Moriaty
• 1st Vice President: Warwick Aldham
• Immediate Past President: Graham Furnival
• Secretary: Francis Whitbread
• Treasurer: Bob Booker
• Other Council Members: David Axon and Keith Dabbs
• Representative on District Council: Anne Moriaty
• Independent Examiner: Keith Otter

Rotary Young Musician District Final

Report by Anne Moriaty

The District Final took place in Brentwood Cathedral on Saturday 28 February in the presence of the Deputy Mayor of Chelmsford, Cllr Smita Rajesh, and her consort.

The audience were treated to a lovely concert with high standard performances from five vocalists and six instrumentalists. Sadly there could only be two winners going through to the Regional Final and after lengthy deliberations the accolades went to pianist Tailin Liu sponsored by the Rotary Club of Bishops Stortford and vocalist Harry Sunderland sponsored by the Rotary Club of Dunmow.

Our Chelmsford winners, Henrietta Lawrence and Chloe Mahler were worthy runners-up.

I had the honour of giving out the certificates and the Deputy Mayoress presented the winner and runner-up trophies.

Collection for Marie Curie

On 25 February 2026 President Graham, Francis Whitbread, Keith Dabbs, Anne Moriety and Steve, worked as a team at Morrisons Supermarket to collect monies on behalf of the Marie Curie charity. We collected a handsome sum, of which £80 was collected via card payment through the “SumUp” device. We enjoyed the day and special thanks to Francis who made the arrangements and remained all day throughout others’ slots. A photo opportunity could not go amiss.