Welcome
Welcome to the second newsletter of the year. I hope this finds you all safe and well, but if not then on the road to recovery. We have had two events already, namely the coffee morning at the White Horse on 19th February and our AGM on the 13th March at The Swan’s Nest, Exminster.
A report on the AGM follows after these opening remarks.
Your committee has agreed to a full programme of events this year withthree of them detailed later in this newsletter. That will be the free cream tea at The Hartnoll Hotel at Bolham (near Tiverton and the Knightshayes NT property) on Tues 29th April followed by our late Spring lunch at the Belmont Hotel, Sidmouth on Weds 4th June.
After that we thought something in July would be good and have settled on an extra coffee morning. It will be at the St George & Dragon Inn, just beyond Darts Farm outside Topsham on Thurs 3rd July. You could double it with a lunch at Darts Farm café!
After that we will have a theatre visit in August to the Sidmouth Pavilion Theatre, another cream tea afternoon on 30th September followed by an October Pub lunch (22nd).
November will be coffee time at Bickleigh with some Christmas shopping and December is already booked at the Victoria Hotel in Sidmouth on Thursday 4th December.
How about that to fill your diaries!
AGM Review
We held our 50th AGM on the 13th March at The Swan’s Nest, Exminster where we were made very welcome by the staff and had a room to ourselves and a carvery lunch. Numbers were similar to last year with 36 attendees including our guest speaker Kerry Lord from Shelterbox.
The normal business part was quickly done: all parties duly elected on, including myself with 3 more years as your Chairman. We do have a Committee vacancy as we sadly lost Carole Searle in January. If you would like to volunteer for a non-arduous position, please get in touch with me or Secretary Barbara.
Ray Cavill’s Wellbeing report included his usual plea seeking an extra person to join his team of volunteers as Chris Leigh has decided to stand down after many years of service. We do need some help….so please consider volunteering to join us.
The business part was followed by a very memorable and thought provoking presentation by Kerry Lord, a volunteer speaker for ShelterBox. He showed us a large number of contents that go in the survival packages which are now spread across many countries affected by disasters and conflict. For instance, ShelterBox is already active in Myanmar.
With my Chairman’s hat on I did the usual round of thanks to my Committee without whom this Club could not keep going and welcomed in 8 new active members to the Club this past year.
The AGM minutes and summary of all the reports (including the Financial Statement) are available from LesRendell, just email him for a copy at lesrendell41@gmail.com
To all of you, please stay safe and healthy. I look forward to seeing you at
one or more of our 2025 events.
Chairman Garry
Financial review
You will be pleased to know that our finances are plentiful and in good order. Roger Handover completed the examination of the 2024 accounts, his second outing as our new accounts examiner. Thank you, Roger. I am pleased that he wishes to continue in post!
With my change of hat, I can report that in 2024 we achieved a planned deficit of £1210 which has used up some of our accumulated funds as a result of larger subsidies available at lunches along with a number of free events. We have brought forward into 2025, a balance of £5846 to which we now add our annual subscriptions (£860) and the grant claim this year of £4285 plus interest of about £95. Total income thus £5240 expected……
With our proposed full programme of events this year (being say 10 in number), I estimate a net expenditure of £5220 on social subsidies and £1380 on Admin and Welfare payments. That should result in a deficit of £1360 in the year. That reduces our final balance to around £4500 at the year end. As you can see we are gradually using up our surplus funds.
We do however need our members to attend events as our social grant income (which is 65% of the funds from HO) depends upon attendances .If you can attend just one event in the year, then that benefits our annual grant claim!
I can end our financial review on the extra positive note that for your £5subscription , active members can enjoy subsidies and free events to the tune of about £125 per head across the year, if you were to attend all those events. Wow! Not bad for a fiver!
Best wishes from Treasurer Garry.
Garry Adams, Chairman and Treasurer
Secretary’s Notes
We are so lucky that our friendly Club has been running for 50 years but, we are looking for some new recruits to join us on the committee – for some new ideas and a bit of help. We enjoy a working lunch four times a year, so it isn’t too much of a commitment. If you are interested, please give me a ring.
At the moment we are enjoying sunshine and blue skies and long may the fine weather last! I recently visited the National Trust property at Lanhydrock, near Bodmin and enjoyed the visit. Their Magnolia trees and Camellias were almost in full bloom and the colours were quite spectacular.
The days seem to fly by and, as we the committee members have been busy organising a variety of forthcoming events, can I urge you to check your diaries and write the details in if you want to come along. (Especially urgent for the Hartnoll Hotel Cream Tea on 29th April)Then, all you have to do is let us know as soon as possible! Thank you.
I have received a further communication from Keith Norman of Wendy Wu
Tours – see below for details if any of you are contemplating a holiday of a lifetime. If you are interested, let me know and I will email you their latest flyer.
As ever, please let me know if you change address or any details, thank you. I am sure you are aware that stamps are now 87p for second class and £1.70 for first class.
I look forward to meeting some of you at the events.
Barbara Johnson, Secretary
Exclusive Discount on Wendy Wu Tours for our Club members:
At Wendy Wu Tours we have some amazing offers for April and as you know Exeter Spread Eagle Club members are entitled to an additional 5% discount. That’s on top of the offers we have in place so it represents a really nice benefit and some of the holidays on offer are for dates later in the year. Don’t forget to use your unique discount code ESEC5 to redeem the discount at the time of booking.
Wendy Wu Tours is the UK’s leading touring specialist, offering extraordinary tours to Japan, China and the Far East, Southeast Asia, India, Sri Lanka, the Middle East, Central Asia, South America and Europe. To find out more visit www.wendywutours.co.uk.
To book call their reservations team on 0808 3046 343 or email Keith
Norman at Keith@wendywutours.co.uk
Wellbeing
After many years of looking after EX20-24 and TQ and All Others postcodes, Chris Leigh has ‘retired’ from being on the Wellbeing Team. do sincerely thank Chris for her capable support over the years. So, we are looking for a new Wellbeing person(s) to join our Team and we do hope that we can find someone to cover this soon! How about YOU?
We are delighted to report that Betty and Ray Plumb have recently celebrated their 70th Wedding Anniversary in March. What a wonderful celebration of their many years together – Congratulations to you both.
And, finally, as ever, if you want to talk through any matters with any of the Wellbeing Team, then please feel free to contact any one of us.
Barbara and I are presently with our grandchildren in Melbourne and hope to see some of you at the Belmont in June.
Ray Cavill, Wellbeing Co-ordinator
Three Forthcoming Functions
Free Cream Tea at Hartnoll Hotel, Bolham, Tiverton
EX16 7RA on Tuesday 29th April at 3.00pm. URGENT !! Please advise Barbara or Peter by Friday 18th
April if you are able to attend – we need to give numbers for ordering scones!
Lunch – Belmont Hotel, The Esplanade, Sidmouth EX10 8RX – Wednesday 4th June at 1.00pm (Note New Date)
A return to the Belmont Hotel: We are assured of a warm welcome.
Menu and Booking Form is attached for this lunch (click here)
You are able to pay for the lunch – £20.00 per person for members, guests £40.00 – preferably by BACS transfer, rather than cheque, if you wish. Full details below.
Account Name: Exeter Spread Eagle Club
Account number: 10138878, Sort Code: 20-30-47, Ref: Your Surname
Your menu choices may be emailed as an attachment to Barbara and
Peter Johnson rather than returning by post by Wednesday, 21st May.
However you still have the option of returning your booking form by 21st May to Barbara & Peter with a cheque, made payable to Exeter Spread Eagle Club.
Whichever method you choose, please also let Barbara and Peter know when replying of any special dietary requirements you may have, e.g. if you do not want sauces or gravy.
Please note that parking is limited at the Belmont Hotel. There are pay and display car parks nearby or you may be able to park on adjacent roads. Please check whether these too are pay and display.
Free Coffee Morning at St George and Dragon, Clyst St George, EX3 0QJ, Thursday 3rd July at 10.30am – A new venue for us close to Dart’s Farm.
As this is our first club visit to the Inn, it would be helpful on this occasion to them and us if you could let Peter & Barbara know if you intend to come along. Thank you.
FUTURE EVENTS
Theatre Visit (Late August – details and date to be confirmed)
Free Cream Tea at King’s Garden Centre, Sidmouth
Tuesday 30th September at 2.30pm
Pub Lunch at the White Horse Inn, Wednesday 22nd October 12.30pm
Free Coffee Morning at Bickleigh Mill, Tuesday 11th November at 10.30am (Opportunity to stay on for lunch)
Christmas Lunch at Victoria Hotel, Sidmouth, Thursday 4th December 1.00pm
Full details of all the above events, and booking forms where required, will be available in subsequent Newsletters.
Barbara & Peter Johnson
01297 599086
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ShelterBox
As we learnt at the AGM this is a small Charity based in Cornwall and they provide emergency shelters, tools and other essentials so families can rebuild after a disaster. They don’t believe that one size fits all, so they work hard to understand the impact of each emergency. The equipment provided, whatever shape it takes, enables people to transform their own lives.
If you would like to make a donation to this worthy cause please visit their website www.shelterbox.org and click on the Donate section. Thank you.