The Friends of St Anne’s Church, Kew
Registered Charity No. 1085389
Minutes of the Annual General Meeting held in the Church Hall on 24 May 2025
There was a quorum. Attending were Susan and Howard Bailes, Wendy and Paul Booth, Joan Brown, Rosemary Charles, Sylvia Chitty, Bill Cottle, Giles Fraser, Marion and Robin Goodgame, Ben Jones, Simon Mollett, Lorraine Neale and Susan Sloman.
Apologies had been submitted by Adrian Bradshaw, Susan and Jane Hayman, Anthony and Patricia Holme, Claudine McCreadie, John Mortley, Belinda Pethick, Telfer Saywell, Francesca Snow, and Lynn Tandler.
Giles Fraser (GF), the Friends’ President, chaired the meeting and welcomed all attending.
1. Minutes of the Annual General Meeting held on 15 June 2024
Lorraine noted that those minutes showed she had raised the issue of the church windows being cleaned and that she was pleased to see that it had now been done and the Friends had helped pay for it. There were no other comments, and the minutes were therefore approved.
2. Election of Executive Committee
GF read the list of the officers (Simon Mollett (SM), Treasurer; Ben Jones (BJ), Secretary) who are presenting themselves for re-election this year, noting that we do not currently have a candidate for Chairman, and the persons submitting themselves for election as elected representatives on the Executive Committee (Wendy Booth, Belinda Pethick and Lynn Tandler). He proposed that they be voted on together, which was agreed, and all were elected,
3. Annual Report and Accounts
Copies of the annual report for the year 6 April 2024 to 5 April 2025, including a statement of accounts for that period, had been made available to all members. GF passed the floor over to the Treasurer for his comments.
SM noted that Sian Merrylees has decided to retire from the committee and thanked her for her support. He also thanked several people present for their contributions – Susan Bailes for her help in getting speakers (and for giving a talk herself) and Susan Sloman for giving a talk.
Simon then reviewed the events which The Friends had put on during the past year – My Life in Toy Theatres, The British Portrait Miniature, the Costliest Painting in Christendom, Three British Queens and Their Wonderful Miniature Worlds, The History and Creation of Frames (which had been postponed from last year) and the Greening Family. He pointed out a number of events coming up soon – a Choral Evensong, an interview with Steven McRae the ballet dancer and a talk by Lee Davies of Kew Gardens on Fungi of Madagascar.
He listed the many projects which the Friends had paid for in the past year – the long-awaited churchyard pathway finally finished, a large TV for the church to enable future presentations, and the cleaning of the church windows (referred to above) which has been much admired. The Friends have also continued to contribute to the costs of the verger, which was discussed at the AGM last year.
Giles commented on what a joy it is to have those things done and extended a huge thank you to The Friends. He also emphasized what a fine investment it has been to have the verger to enhance the use and appreciation of this building. Lorraine congratulated Giles and the verger for tidying up the church so much.
Turning to the financial side, Simon noted that we made nearly £5,000 from events in the year. Even after sponsoring expenditures as noted above, we had £16,771 in the bank at the end of the financial year (with recent subscriptions, now over £19,000), so we are well placed to spend more. He has not filed a claim for Gift Aid for subscriptions of this and the last year, so we can expect additional funds when he does file the claim, which he proposes to do soon.
He referred with pleasure to the £12,000 deficit for the year, as it results from spending in pursuance of our objects. The members then approved the annual report and accounts..
4. Membership
Wendy confirmed that membership as of the AGM was 133.
5. Any Other Business
Giles then spoke about tentative plans for the royal gallery at the back of the church. It has been tidied up and electrical sockets installed (by Paul Booth). The dark red material hanging on the front and back of the rail overlooking the nave needs replacement, as does the carpet and the wallpaper on the walls on the back of the gallery. He said that the gallery is very much a part of the history of the church, but it is right now a space looking for a use (could be used for overflow services, musicians, etc.) It has been used as a storage space, and storage space is needed, but that does not seem an appropriate use for the gallery. He thinks it might be a project appropriate for The Friends once a proposal has been formulated.
Simon mentioned the death recently of Adam Watson, a St. Anne’s parishioner who has greatly helped The Friends with our website, for which we are very grateful. Wendy is managing the website with technical assistance from Paul.
He announced a list of probable events for the autumn – a concert at the Pethick’s home on Kew Green for 3 October (tickets not on sale until autumn), wine tasting “of mature claret” at his home (limited to 12 people), a talk by Joanna McCallum the actress in December. Giles noted that he will also try to arrange an interview with Lord Christopher Holmes on AI for some time in the autumn.
Susan Bailes raised an issue about the church’s website and access to Facebook. Giles said he and Paul Booth would look at the problem.
Simon thanked members for attending and closed the meeting with an offer of a glass of wine. Giles took anyone interested for a tour of the gallery.