Keswick Film Club - AGM 2017

AGM 2017

Chairman's Report 2017

2016/2017 has seen many changes for the club, which I think we have weathered pretty well.

Firstly, Ian Payne donned the heavy mantle of running the Film Festival from Ann Martin. Ian will do his own report today, but I feel the festival went really well and we should thank Ian for doing a great job.

This did mean that Ian stood down as club secretary; I am very pleased to announce that David Andrews has taken over successfully, both by continuing Ian's role as 'club conscience' and by taking over some of the committee roles I have done in the past; a great big thank you to him from me then!

Astrid Perrett has been club treasurer since 2013 and has done a fantastic job of keeping our accounts and paying the bills; not an easy job I can assure you. She told me at Christmas that she would not be carrying on next season (now), so we have two jobs to do here; we have to thank Astrid for all her work, which I do on your behalf whole-heartedly. Then, further down the agenda, we have to elect a new treasurer; Paul Titley not only answered our email request for a volunteer but has already taken over the reins from Astrid during August so - unless someone else stands today - we will wish him well in this all-important task.

As a club, we have had a good year. Our audience numbers averaged very close to 100 (99.49), up from 90 last year, whilst our membership was pretty stable at 209 (from 214).

Including the Club and festival together, we did overspend by £2800, however, so the committee propose to increase the non-members ticket price to £6.00 after Christmas, which will then save you members £2.00 per film. That good news for you is slightly tempered by an increase in membership price to £10, but I do expect we will have a few more members next year, making the most of the savings! We are having to review festival prices too, I'm afraid. As you already know, we are also trying to increase our audiences by campaigning in Penrith and Cockermouth and by asking everyone to try to bring along a friend or two; your club needs You!

On a sad note, we had the news during the year of the death of John Hurt, the Festival's patron for the last three years. John has been a rock of the British Film industry for many years and will be sadly missed.

I will end with one last piece of good news. David Miller had the foresight to apply to the BFI for a grant for a new projector. This was successful and, together with the new BluRay player we have bought, will enable us to offer better films at the festival, and 'on the road'. This should help us continue to be one of the best clubs in Britain and, more importantly, help us continue to offer you good films throughout the year and at the Festival.

Lastly, I would like to thank all the committee for their hard work; all those who worked behind the scenes at the festival and the club and, it goes without saying, to all of you who keep coming week after week, without whom we would have no club at all. Thank you all; let's hope the new committee and, hopefully, the new members we get, make next year both fun and financially successful!

Vaughan Ames, Chairman

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