Society Events

Society Events

Richard III Society Members’ Day and Annual General Meeting
School of Oriental & African Studies (SOAS), Malet Street, Russell Square, London WC1H 0XG
Saturday, 1st October 2011

As is the established practice, Saturday 1st October is both the AGM and a day for Members to meet each other and get involved and once again, although using a new (to us) venue, the event will follow a similar pattern to previous years.

At the time of writing this article, mid July, no motions have been received by the Chairman or the Joint Secretaries. All Members are reminded that motions and resolutions for the AGM agenda, proposed and seconded by Society Members and signed, should be sent to the Joint Secretaries, in hard copy, by no later than Friday, 16th September 2011. Similarly, nominations by Society Members for membership of the Executive Committee, proposed, seconded and accepted by the nominee and duly signed by all, should also be sent to the Joint Secretaries by the same date. Forms for this purpose may be obtained from the Joint Secretaries – by electronic or hard copy means or downloaded from the Society’s website.

The Annual Report will be published in the September Bulletin. It contains much of the material formerly reported by officers at the AGM. This means that officers’ reports on the day will provide attendees with any relevant updates which will enable the focus of the meeting to be on the future and Members’ issues.

As with other years, there will be an Open Forum/Question Time to enable Members to raise questions and issues. These can be submitted by e-mail or in writing to the Joint Secretaries (contact details on the inside cover of the Bulletin). If you wish to submit a question in advance, it would be helpful if it is received by Thursday, 29th September. You will also be able to post questions on the day and “post-it” notes will be available for you to place on a board in the hall. Queries and questions may be submitted anonymously, but, if they cannot be answered on the day, questioners will be invited to give their contact details to a Society officer to enable an answer to be provided at a later date.

Please remember that this is your day. Please try to attend and take the opportunity to raise any question that you have, to meet old friends and to make new ones.

This year our speaker will be the renowned historian and broadcaster Dr David Starkey, who will be talking about Yorkist sentiment in the reign of Henry VII.

If you intend to come to the event, please register your place by e-mail to the Secretaries at their e-mail address or by completing and returning the booking form which was published in the June Bulletin.

Requests to attend are being dealt with on a “first come, first served” basis. If you have not registered in advance, we regret that you may not be allowed entry as, although the venue will hold in excess of 200 persons, there is a maximum limit with which the Society must comply. If the maximum limit is reached, a waiting list will be maintained. At the time of writing (mid July) over 150 registrations had been recorded.

Further to the official notification in the June Bulletin, set out below is the proposed programme for the day:

Programme:
10.30	Doors open; Members arrive, time to visit stalls etc.
12.00	Lecture – Dr David Starkey: (further details above).
13.15	Lunch – own arrangements
14.30	Annual General Meeting and Open Forum/Question Time followed by Raffle
16.15 (estimated)	Conclusion of Members’ Day and dispersal

Venue:
School of Oriental & African Studies (SOAS), Malet Street, Russell Square, London WC1H 0XG

Public Transport:
Nearest Underground station is Russell Square (Piccadilly Line) and SOAS is within easy walking distance (about 5 minutes) from the station. The following stations are also within walking distance to the Russell Square campus: Goodge Street (Northern Line), Tottenham Court Road (Central and Northern Lines), Euston (Victoria and Northern Lines & Mainline trains), Euston Square (Circle, Hammersmith & City and Metropolitan Lines), Kings Cross St Pancras (Circle, Hammersmith & City, Metropolitan, Piccadilly and Victoria Lines, & Mainline, Thameslink and Eurostar trains) and Warren Street (Victoria and Northern Lines).

The following buses serve the local area: numbers 7, 68, 91, 168 and 188 stop on Russell Square; 10, 24, 29, 73 and 134 stop on Tottenham Court Road (north bound) or Gower Street (south bound).

Parking:
There is no general parking at the Russell Square campus but there are car parks at:

Brunswick Square NCP, Marchmont Street, WC1N 1AF
The Royal National Hotel, 38-51 Bedford Way, WC1H 0DG
Russell Court NCP, Woburn Place, WC1H 0ND
Judd Street NCP, Judd Street, WC1H 9QR

There are also pay and display bays on Russell Square and on other surrounding streets.

Reception:
The venue will be open from 10.30am. Members will be asked to sign in on the reception table which will be staffed by members of the Croydon Group and we would like to record our appreciation of their assistance in providing this service.

Refreshments:
Light refreshments (tea, coffee, water, biscuits) will be provided by SOAS during the informal part of the day. The Society will be charged for this but refreshment sales to attendees are not permitted. Therefore, delegates will be invited to make a contribution towards the cost on arrival.

Lunch:
Lunch will be by own arrangements and various local facilities are available within a very short walk of the venue. Please note that SOAS will not permit the consumption of food on the premises.

Major Craft Sale:
The thirty-second Major Craft Sale will be held around the AGM/Members’ Day. The sale will start at 10am and run until 12 noon and then will continue in the lunch interval. On sale there will be books, Ricardian embroidery, cakes and sweets (for home consumption only), paperweights, RCRF Christmas cards, knitted items and baby clothes, soft toys, collages, etc., and Ricardian and other bric-a-brac. The proceeds of the Craft Sale will be devoted to the Ricardian Churches Restoration Fund.

We would warmly welcome offers of items for sale. We do appeal to members to try to provide some item(s) for sale, so please try to look out some items of jumble or bric-a-brac. We would of course also warmly welcome all items of any sort of craft-work. If you wish to give or send items in advance, please contact:-

to check that the items are suitable. If you wish to bring items along on the day, it would be most helpful if you could mark them with an indication of the price(s) at which you think they should be sold.

Annual Grand Raffle
As usual we shall be having a raffle in aid of the RCRF. The tickets will be 25 pence each or five tickets for £1.00, and will be on sale at the meeting. The prizes include:

Prizes are not ranked in any order. The first ticket drawn will have first choice, and so on. We thank the contributors and suppliers of prizes.

Ricardian Sales Stall:
There will be a range of Society and Trust publications and Society artefacts.

Treasurer’s Table:
Paul Foss will be available to receive payment of subscriptions on the day and will have a table for this purpose.

Barton Library:
The librarians will be selling off duplicate library stock at bargain prices and a selection of the Society’s books and artefacts. They will also be showcasing the diverse services that the Library can offer to members.

Battlefields Trust
This organisation will again be represented and have a display

Bookseller:
As last year, Starkmann Limited will be in attendance with a range of publications and associated sales items.

Branches & Groups:
This is an opportunity for them to showcase their publications and activities.

Yorkshire Branch:
The branch will again be represented and be selling some Ricardian publications and items with specific local focus.

Visits Committee:
This will be hosted by members of the Visits Committee and will display information on past visits and details of future visits: suggestions for the latter would be very welcome.

REMINDER TO BRANCHES AND GROUPS
If your branch/group wishes to make a report at the AGM, please let the Joint Secretaries know by Friday, 16th September so that it can be included on the AGM agenda. Reports can be made in person by a Branch/ Group representative or, for overseas branches/groups, if no local representative is able to attend the AGM in person, a printed report can be supplied to be read at the AGM. Reports should not exceed three minutes and should consist of new material not previously reported verbally or in print.

And finally..
If you have any queries about any matters relating to the Members’ Day or AGM, please get in touch with the Joint Secretaries – contact details as set out in the Bulletin.