ATTENTION UK FILKERS! - SWiGGLes at the archery club

[aunty_marion]

The archery club's AGM was last Wednesday, and various things have transpired which may affect our continuing use of the clubhouse for SWiGGLe meetings.

First, a motion was passed that restricts hire of the clubhouse to the evenings - 7pm to 11pm, with a small 'work party' allowed in from 5pm to prepare. I am about to compose an email to Gwyneth, who is in charge of the bookings, and is sympathetic, asking if we can continue our previous practice (and we have been using the clubhouse since 1996!) of arriving from 2pm (please note: NO EARLIER! except for myself), and keeping to the bar area, with the pool table to stay against the wall for food.

Secondly, the motion also included a change in the rates of hire, so that a 'member's booking' has gone up from £25 to £50. This means that the 'hat' rates will have to double too if we are to cover costs (and, alas, I can no longer afford to make up any shortfall).

I have confirmed the booking for April 28th pro tem, but the October one is, I think, in doubt, and we may well have to change the date from October 27th, as it was recorded in the minutes that the Hallowe'en 'fun shoot' which partially derailed the last October SWiGGLe should be an annual affair.

(Tangential to all this is that memberships have also risen, to £120, and I am going to have to pay in instalments as I simply don't have that sort of money to hand any more, after over 5 years' unemployment. I know a small amount was collected to help towards this, but I still need to find the bulk of it from somewhere.)

Comments

[aunty_marion]

ADDENDUM: This is the e-mail I am proposing to send to Gwyneth. Any comments before I do so?
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I'd like to ask for the club committee's indulgence regarding these meetings, and the timing of them.

We have been using the clubhouse for these music meetings since 1996, and have usually been able to have the clubhouse from 1.30pm, with most people arriving between then and about 5pm, and the meetings have carried on till, sometimes, quite late. However, several of my friends who regularly like to attend have young children, and would not be able to attend a meeting that started at 7pm that is quite late for the children - often they will arrive at about 3pm, but will need to leave by 7pm in order to be home in reasonable time for children's bed-times. Some of our attendees are also coming from quite a distance - Cambridge, Lincolnshire, Swindon, Chieltenham, Southhampton, etc - and again, a late start/finish is going to be difficult for them.

We are, and always have been, perfectly happy to allow archers to use the clubhouse for drinks and so on, though obviously we'd prefer to keep guitars (and other musical instruments) and bows/equipment separate as far as possible for safety and breakage reasons! We mostly stay down in the 'bar' area, though as we need to feed people we do like to have the use of the pool table as the communal site for food. Again, we're happy for the table to stay against the wall.

We would be extremely grateful if we could continue to use the clubhouse from an earlier time than 7pm; this would also be advantageous to the club, as otherwise we would have to find somewhere else for our meetings and the club would lose the revenue! The rise in price is something we can probably manage - we 'pass the hat' to cover the costs, and it would just be a case of asking people for a little more than previously.
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[pauamma]

Sanity check: did you mean to post this to filk? Unpleasant as it is for you, the connection feels tenuous to me.

[aunty_marion]

Oh, yes - this is mainly aimed at UK filkers, though. SWiGGLes are the thrice-yearly filk meetings, held (since 1996!) at the archery club to which I belong.

[pauamma]

*nod*

[catsittingstill]

FWIW it looks reasonable to me. Good luck!