2 June 2013 - a great day for the Trust !

It is announced today (Sunday 2nd June) that The Kennet and Avon Canal Trust (KACT) has been awarded the prestigious Queens’ Award for Voluntary Service, the highest recognition for volunteer groups in the UK. 

The Trust, which celebrated its 50^th anniversary last year, received the accolade for its leadership of the restoration of the canal and its buildings over the past half century, and for creating a landscape and amenity valued by the whole community. 

Rob Dean, chair of the KACT Trustees, says, “This is a great honour for us and an absolute tribute to the tireless work of thousands of volunteers from Bath to Burghfield, Wilton to Woolhampton, and others in between, who have given their time so generously over the past 50 years to complete the restoration of the K&A. To receive this award from Her Majesty after she re-opened the waterway 23 years ago is the icing on the cake for us.

People have given from a few spare hours to the best part of their lives to the K&A, everything from helping out in our tea rooms, crewing our fantastic fleet of boats, hours of form-filling for grants, to clearing canal beds and towpaths. I and the rest of the Trustees will always be incredibly grateful to them, many of who are sadly no longer with us, and also to our present generation of fantastic volunteers who are helping to protect and enhance the waterway for future generations. This award will propel our very necessary work into the future.”

The Trustees offer their congratulations to all who have worked in or with the Trust, to make the Kennet & Avon the wonderful asset for the nation that it is today.

Trust AGM

A reminder that the Trust AGM will take place on Saturday 8th June at 10.30 at Bromham Social Centre.  (postcode SN15 2JB)

The agenda is available here to print:

Trust Council minutes for April 2013

Trust Council Minutes for April 2013 are available here

We apologise for the delay in posting these.

Trust Council

Trust Council Minutes for March 2013

Trust Council Minutes for March 2013 are available here

We apologise for the delay in posting these.

Trust Council

Trust AGM 2013 - agenda and resolutions

        

      THE KENNET & AVON CANAL TRUST

51^st Annual General Meeting

8^th June 2013 at 11.00 am at Bromham Social Centre, New Road, Bromham, Wiltshire, SN15 2JB

Agenda

1. Attendance & Apologies
2. Welcome and introductions
3. Minutes of the last meeting
4. Matters arising
5. Report from Trust Council – Rob Dean CMG, Chairman of the Trust Council
6. Ordinary Resolutions:
1. To receive and adopt the Council’s Report and Accounts for the year ended 31^st December 2012.
2. To elect Members to be Trustees:

                                               i.     David Copley and Daisy Mundy retire in accordance with Articles 50 and 51 of the Trust's Articles of Association. They, being eligible, offer themselves for re-election.  (Note: The above persons make up the number of annual retirees required by Article 50 of the Trust’s Articles of Association.)

                                              ii.     Nominations for election to Trust Council have been received from Mr Tony Nares and Mr Richard Selvidge.

Close of formal business followed by open forum questions chaired by Trust President, Mr David Bruce.

 

A brief introduction to Members nominated for election as Trustees

David Copley is one of the many canal users who enjoy waterways from the towpath and trip boats. He has explored most waterways in Britain and many in Europe. Whilst working, David was a Chartered Member of the Institute of Logistics and Transport. He has now retired from his work as a passenger transport planner, initially for a public authority and later as a consultant, but retains his interest in most aspects of travel and transport.

David has been a Trust member since 1972. He joined the Reading Branch committee in 1974 and has been Branch Chairman for the past 5 years.  He is a long standing member of Trust Council and now focuses on the seemingly boring but necessary items such as drafting the Trust response to Government consultation on waterway reorganisation and revising the Trust constitution.

David values the role of volunteers and was one of the members of the Newbury and Reading branches of the Trust who completely restored Bulls Lock in the 1970s. More recently he was heavily involved in volunteer assistance with operation of the Aldermaston Visitor Centre prior to transfer to franchisee operation and is now working to redevelop the Visitor Centre facilities following restoration of the buildings. He also arranges the annual waterway clean-up events in Reading.

Daisy Mundy is a serving officer in the Army and works as a Training Development Advisor in the Educational and Training Services (ETS) Branch. Having completed 24 years service, she is due to retire from the Army later this year and will be taking up a new job as a training consultant.  She has an Honours Degree in Further Education and Training and a Master of Science in Computer Based Learning and Training.  A keen boater, Daisy and her husband, Terry, have been joint members of the Trust for the last six years and have their own narrowboat moored in Devizes.  Daisy was elected to Trust Council in 2011 and has since served as Company Secretary for both Trust Council and the Enterprise Board.  Terry was elected to Trust Council in 2010 and has worked as the curator of the Devizes Museum for the last four years. 

Tony Nares is a Chartered Accountant who has worked in the hospitality industry for over 30 years, including public company and board responsibilities with considerable experience of relationships with stakeholders and funders. He was Finance Director of the Company of Proprietors of the Stroudwater Canal from 2008 to 2012 and has been involved on the boards of other charitable organisations. He lives in Devizes adjacent to the canal.

Richard Selvidge has a broad range of business experience covering Sales, Operational Management and most recently Human Resources. He approached the Trust following the Volunteer Recruitment activity in late 2012 and has recently been co-opted onto the Trust Council. His interest in the Canal is as a walker/cyclist and occasional boater. Richard is in the process of getting around the various branches to better understand the organisation and is keen to use a fresh set of eyes and his experience to support the Trust in the future.

Trust AGM - Agenda and Resolutions

THE KENNET & AVON CANAL TRUST

51^st Annual General Meeting

8^th June 2013 at 11.00 am at Bromham Social Centre, New Road, Bromham, Wiltshire, SN15 2JB

Agenda

1. Attendance & Apologies
2. Welcome and introductions
3. Minutes of the last meeting
4. Matters arising
5. Report from Trust Council – Rob Dean CMG, Chairman of the Trust Council
6. Ordinary Resolutions:
1. To receive and adopt the Council’s Report and Accounts for the year ended 31^st December 2012.
2. To elect Members to be Trustees:

                                               i.     David Copley and Daisy Mundy retire in accordance with Articles 50 and 51 of the Trust's Articles of Association. They, being eligible, offer themselves for re-election.  (Note: The above persons make up the number of annual retirees required by Article 50 of the Trust’s Articles of Association.)

                                              ii.     Nominations for election to Trust Council have been received from Mr Tony Nares and Mr Richard Selvidge.

Close of formal business followed by open forum questions chaired by Trust President, Mr David Bruce.

 

A brief introduction to Members nominated for election as Trustees

David Copley is one of the many canal users who enjoy waterways from the towpath and trip boats. He has explored most waterways in Britain and many in Europe. Whilst working, David was a Chartered Member of the Institute of Logistics and Transport. He has now retired from his work as a passenger transport planner, initially for a public authority and later as a consultant, but retains his interest in most aspects of travel and transport.

David has been a Trust member since 1972. He joined the Reading Branch committee in 1974 and has been Branch Chairman for the past 5 years.  He is a long standing member of Trust Council and now focuses on the seemingly boring but necessary items such as drafting the Trust response to Government consultation on waterway reorganisation and revising the Trust constitution.

David values the role of volunteers and was one of the members of the Newbury and Reading branches of the Trust who completely restored Bulls Lock in the 1970s. More recently he was heavily involved in volunteer assistance with operation of the Aldermaston Visitor Centre prior to transfer to franchisee operation and is now working to redevelop the Visitor Centre facilities following restoration of the buildings. He also arranges the annual waterway clean-up events in Reading.

Daisy Mundy is a serving officer in the Army and works as a Training Development Advisor in the Educational and Training Services (ETS) Branch. Having completed 24 years service, she is due to retire from the Army later this year and will be taking up a new job as a training consultant.  She has an Honours Degree in Further Education and Training and a Master of Science in Computer Based Learning and Training.  A keen boater, Daisy and her husband, Terry, have been joint members of the Trust for the last six years and have their own narrowboat moored in Devizes.  Daisy was elected to Trust Council in 2011 and has since served as Company Secretary for both Trust Council and the Enterprise Board.  Terry was elected to Trust Council in 2010 and has worked as the curator of the Devizes Museum for the last four years. 

Tony Nares is a Chartered Accountant who has worked in the hospitality industry for over 30 years, including public company and board responsibilities with considerable experience of relationships with stakeholders and funders. He was Finance Director of the Company of Proprietors of the Stroudwater Canal from 2008 to 2012 and has been involved on the boards of other charitable organisations. He lives in Devizes adjacent to the canal.

Richard Selvidge has a broad range of business experience covering Sales, Operational Management and most recently Human Resources. He approached the Trust following the Volunteer Recruitment activity in late 2012 and has recently been co-opted onto the Trust Council. His interest in the Canal is as a walker/cyclist and occasional boater. Richard is in the process of getting around the various branches to better understand the organisation and is keen to use a fresh set of eyes and his experience to support the Trust in the future.

Devizes Branch

Well, we won the skittles match against Wilts and Berks, who organised a very enjoyable evening for the competition.  It will be our responsibility to arrange next year’s match.  We’ve now also been reminded that there is another match due – Bradford on Avon beat us a couple of years ago, so will be arranging a date to defend their title – more details to come.

The Annual General Meeting will be held at 6.30 on Saturday 4^th May in the Canal Trust Café on Devizes Wharf.  Please come if you can.  It will be an opportunity to share what has been going on, and to hear the ideas of members.  We will be looking for a new Secretary as Val Noviss had to stand down last month.

The Cheese and Wine cruise will now follow the AGM. Details are in the updated Events Diary, available here.

Look out for our Grand Raffle.  1^st prize is a week in a canal-side holiday cottage, and among others there are also a discounted canal boat holiday, meals in the Trust’s cafes, and the personal charter of Kenavon Venture for a party or a special event.  Tickets will be available in the Reception and Information area of the wharf building, or from committee members, and are a good way of all members contributing to an activity of the Branch. Please try and buy or sell a few!

Alan and Jean Smith have invited us to a Garden Party at their home in June, and the draw for the raffle will be held during the evening.

We have been invited to take part in the celebrations of Devizes Carnival this year. We will be organising an evening Carnival on the Canal event on Friday 30^th August, with music and other attractions, with a Turkish BBQ and beer tent. If anyone would like to help with a float for the Carnival Procession the next day, please let us know.  

We are about to start an e-mail newsletter for Devizes Branch members.  If you do not receive it, it may mean your e-mail address on the Trust database is not up to date.  Please let the office know your current address.

Finally, please note Bank Holiday Monday May 6^th in your diary.  Devizes Branch will have a stand in the Corn Exchange at the Lions May Fair, with a focus on recruitment and fund raising.  If you have canal-related books, memorabilia or small objects that could also be used as prizes, or sold on the stand, these would be very welcome. Raffle tickets will of course be available.  Come and have a chat and share your enthusiasm for the canal with others.

Paul Jakeman

Chairman, Devizes Branch

devizes.chairman@katrust.org.uk