Notice of the 2024 AGM and Agenda of The Richmond Society

AGENDA for the ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING THURSDAY 12 DECEMBER 2024 at 7:30 pm at Richmond & Hillcroft Adult Community College, Parkshot, Richmond TW9 2RE

 Introduction and review of the Society’s work during the year

  1. To note the Minutes of the Annual General Meeting of 14 December 2023
  2. Ordinary Resolutions
    • To receive the Annual Report and Accounts for the year to 30 September 2024 available here
    • To elect the Chair, Honorary Secretary, Honorary Treasurer (Note A)
    • To elect or re-elect other Trustees (Note B)
    • To appoint the Independent Examiner (Note C)
  3. Any other business

 NOTES

A Nominations are invited for the positions of Chair, Honorary Secretary, Honorary Treasurer and other Trustees. These must be submitted in writing to the Secretary, The Richmond Society, 13 Fitzwilliam Avenue TW9 2RD or by email to the Secretary. Candidates for election must be Society members who are willing to serve, and must be proposed and seconded by Society members.

B (i) The following being eligible offer themselves for election:

Andrew Coleman as Honorary Treasurer;

Barbara Allen as Honorary Secretary.

(ii) Ian Galbraith, having been co-opted, retires and being eligible offers himself for election;

(iii) The Society has six trustees other than the Chair, Secretary and Treasurer, one third of whom excluding trustees co-opted during the year (rounded up to a whole number) must retire in accordance with the Constitution. In accordance with best practice, all six, having been proposed and seconded, offer themselves for re-election:

  • Ginny Curry
  • Lizzie Danckwerts
  • Pamela Fleming
  • Louise Fluker
  • Stephen Speak
  • Nicky Wood.

(iv) In addition the following member, having been duly proposed and seconded, offer themselves for election

  • Brigitte Clausen

C Marian Williams has acted as our Independent Examiner for two years and is willing to be reappointed.

Yours sincerely

Louise Fluker

Acting Chair

General Election Hustings, June 2024

Hustings for the 2024 General Election organised by The Richmond Society took place on Monday 24 June at Duke Street Church, Richmond and simultaneously on Zoom.

After opening statements from each candidate they responded firstly to pre-submitted questions and then to questions from the audience before giving their closing statements.

A video of the entire event is available on YouTube.

Hustings Panel

 

The published list of candidates for the Richmond Park constituency:

CORYTON, Laura (Labour Party)
FRENCH, Chris (The Mitre TW9)
GEZDARI, Sara (Conservative Party)
HARRISON, Richard (Social Democratic Party)
HEARN, Michael (Reform UK)
OLNEY, Sarah (Liberal Democrats)
WARLOW, Chas (Green)

Obituary Barry May

Barry May, Chairman of The Richmond Society from 2018 to 2023, died on June 1 at the age of 80 after a valiant fight with cancer.

He was passionate about preserving and enhancing everything that contributes to the special character of Richmond and felt honoured to lead the Society during five years of change. The Society was re-invigorated with new Trustees, new Patrons and new ideas.

Barry May

His other local interests included the Museum of Richmond where he was a Trustee, and Richmond Local History Society.

Born in Strawberry Hill, May was a lifelong resident of the borough in between assignments as a Reuters foreign correspondent to Beirut, Dubai where he was Gulf bureau chief, Johannesburg, Karachi, New York, Rawalpindi, Tehran and Washington where he covered The White House, State Department, Congress, Pentagon and US Supreme Court during the presidencies of Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan, whose attempted assassination in 1981 he reported. In London he was Reuters parliamentary lobby correspondent with a front row seat in the House of Commons press gallery during the premiership of Margaret Thatcher.

An early claim to fame came at the age of 19 when, as a reporter on The Richmond & Twickenham Times, May wrote the first published article about the Rolling Stones, an emerging rhythm ’n’ blues band who played a Sunday night gig at the Crawdaddy Club in the Station Hotel, Richmond, in 1963.

The son of a pianist, he had been writing an occasional jazz column in the weekly newspaper and went to see who was drawing the crowds.

The review brought the band to the attention of London’s thriving music scene and helped to propel them to global acclaim.

The Stones rolled on, and so did May’s life in journalism.

Patron, Trustee and other changes

We are very sorry that Lord Hendy has decided to resign as a Patron. He is, amongst other roles, Chair of Network Rail and does not wish to be constrained by possible conflicts of views. We are grateful for his support and the work he has led to revamp Richmond Station.

Ian Galbraith has joined as a trustee. He is a Chartered Surveyor and currently Group Executive Board Director of Mott MacDonald, a 20,000 strong employee-0wned engineering and professional services consultancy in charge of strategy. He has lived in Richmond since 2021.

We are very grateful to volunteers Richard Baldwin who is our Membership Database manager, Patrick Gillen who has taken over as Webmaster and Sofia Gammelgard who is helping streamline office processes. They should reduce the burden on Neil Maybin who generously continued to run all these functions and provide IT admin support after stepping down as a trustee. They join Shimei Zhou who looks after our social media.

Committee – update following the AGM on 14 December 2023

The Committee has changed since the AGM. Barry May and Anne Koutabeloulis decided not to stand for re-election and there were no candidates for election as Chair and Secretary respectively.

These posts remain vacant and for the time being Louise Fluker, vice chair, will be the Acting Chair. The Secretary’s activities will be picked up by other members of the Committee.

The officers and members of the committee, who are also trustees of The Richmond Society, are now:

Chairman (vacant)
Vice-Chair & Planning Louise Fluker
Hon Secretary (vacant)
Hon Treasurer Andrew Coleman

 

 
Events Lizzie Danckwerts
Infrastructure & Environment Stephen Speak
Pamela Fleming
Landscaping & Riverside Nicky Wood
Membership Ginny Curry

Notice of Annual General Meeting 2023

 

AGENDA for the ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING THURSDAY 14 DECEMBER 2023 at 7:30 pm at Richmond & Hillcroft Adult Community College, Parkshot, Richmond TW9 2RE

 

Introduction and review of the Society’s work during the year

1. To note the Minutes of the Annual General Meeting of 15 December 2022

2. Ordinary Resolutions

   

2.1

To receive the Annual Report and Accounts for the year to 30 September 2023, which can be read at https://richmondsociety.org.uk/annualreport2023

   

2.2

To elect the Chairman, Honorary Secretary, Honorary Treasurer (Note A)

   

2.3

To elect or re-elect other Trustees (Note B)

   

2.4

To appoint the Independent Examiner (Note C)

3. Any other business

 

Notes

A. 

Nominations are invited for the positions of Chairman, Honorary Secretary, Honorary Treasurer and other Trustees. These must be submitted in writing to the Secretary, The Richmond Society, The Bridge Workspace, 7B Parkshot TW9 2RD or by email to the Secretary. Candidates for election must be Society members who are willing to serve, and must be proposed and seconded by Society members.

B. 

The following being eligible offer themselves for election:
      –   Andrew Coleman as Honorary Treasurer.

C. 

The Society has six trustees other than the Chairman, Secretary and Treasurer, one third of whom excluding trustees co-opted during the year (rounded up to a whole number) must retire in accordance with the Constitution. In accordance with best practice all six, having been proposed and seconded, offer themselves for re-election:
      –   Ginny Curry
      –   Lizzie Danckwerts
      –   Pamela Fleming
      –   Louise Fluker
      –   Stephen Speak
      –   Nicky Wood

D. 

Marian Williams has acted as our Independent Examiner for two years and is willing to be reappointed.

 

New Bridge House Gardens information board

The Richmond Society’s latest interpretation board, which tells the history of Richmond Bridge and Bridge House Gardens, was inaugurated by the Mayor of Richmond upon Thames, Cllr Julia Cambridge, with the Society’s Vice Chair Louise Fluker on Monday 24 April 2023.

Photo of Cllr Julia Cambridge, with the Society’s Vice Chair Louis Fluker at the inauguration of the board

Photo: Nick Andrews

The board, created by Chairman Barry May, is in Bridge House Gardens beside Richmond Bridge.

Several other boards have been placed by the Society over the years, including at the Church of St Mary Magdalene in Richmond town centre, on Richmond Green, at the river end of Old Palace Lane, at the Riverside, and elsewhere.

Richmond’s Trees – celebrating Richmond’s unsung green heroes

Trees on Richmond Green, Riverside Path and Terrace Gardens – the town’s unsung green heroes – are celebrated in our new handbook and trail guide.

Cover of Richmond's Trees bookRichmond’s Trees: A fascinating trail of discovery gives details of 34 specimens on Richmond Green, along the Thames Path and in the hillside Terrace Gardens. It is beautifully illustrated and includes many practical, literary and scientific references. Each tree is labelled for easy identification by walkers who follow a leisurely two-mile trail.

The book was inspired by our Patron Lord Lee of Trafford. When he came to live in Richmond a few years ago he noticed that whilst the trees of Kew Gardens and Richmond Park were celebrated, those elsewhere in the town were relatively unsung.

“When I moved to Richmond from the North I was immediately struck by the magnificence and diversity of so many of our trees – what a story many of them could tell of life in Richmond over the ages and what they would have witnessed,” Lord Lee said. “However, I was surprised that there was no publication which covered these trees – yes, coverage of those in Richmond Park and in Kew Gardens, but not in Richmond itself.”

A small team of Richmond Society members was assembled – Linda Christmas, journalist and author; Patrick Eagar, professional photographer; and Nicky Wood, Chair of the Society’s Landscape and Riverside Committee. Others who contributed advice and expertise were Livi Gosling, map and trail illustrator; Tony Kirkham, former Head of the Arboretum, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew; Craig Ruddick, Arboricultural Manager, London Borough of Richmond upon Thames; and Patrick’s daughter Kate Wakeham, book designer. We are hugely indebted to them all.

Lord Lee and Craig Ruddick spoke about the project when the book was launched on Thursday 10 November in the presence of The Mayor of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, Cllr Julia Cambridge.

The 88-page book will make a wonderful gift for anyone who loves Richmond and admires its trees. It costs £10 and is on sale at, or can be ordered from:

The Open Book, 10 King Street, Richmond TW9 1ND.
Contact: 020 8940 1802 or theopenbook@btconnect.com.

It is also available at:

Royal Botanic Gardens Kew
Parade’s End Bookshop, Ham Parade
Kew Books, by Kew Station
Sheen Books, East Sheen
Daisy Home, East Twickenham
Orleans House Gallery, Twickenham
Strawberry Hill House, Twickenham
Barnes Bookshop, Barnes

Proceeds come to The Richmond Society.