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| Volume 6, Number 8 - Summer/Autumn 2007 | |
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To all SCARS members and visitors to the SCARS websiteThe Revd David Long, Chairman of SCARS since it was formed in 1985, has decided to call time on his tenure at the top. It is only fair that members are aware of the background. In recent months, the Exec Committee have done a certain amount of soul-searching as we try to find a way of keeping the dream of a restored canal alive. One of our main difficulties in the past has been the lack of new active members, and the gradual dwindling of our existing active members. What is undoubtedly part of the problem is that other than Colin Greenall's work parties, we have no real mechanisms other than the 12-person Exec for getting other people involved in the Society's activities. Accordingly, we decided at our Exec meeting in September 2007 that we would move towards restructuring the Society into five distinct Interest Groups:
These groups will be led by members of the Exec, but other members, and indeed non-members of the Society, are free to participate in one or more of the groups. We hope that all of our activities will slot somewhere into this structure. Each of the Interest Groups will be free to hold its own meetings as it sees fit in order to progress their activities, but it may be that a lot of what needs to be done can be achieved through telephone, email or other informal contact. The Exec is keen to let each Group decide largely for itself how it feels it can best take things forward and some Groups are likely to be less formal than others. We want to try and achieve this within the current constitutional structure, so that we will continue to have votes for a Chairman, Hon Treasurer and Hon Secretary every year at the AGM, with nine other Exec members elected on a rolling three-year basis. Those twelve Exec members will share out the jobs of Leader of each of the five Groups (and hopefully also a Deputy Leader for each Group). The Chairman of the Society will automatically lead the Political Group, and the Hon Treasurer will lead the Finance Group. In addition we would like to establish the formal positions of both a Membership Secretary (as part of the Finance Group) and a Social Secretary (as part of the Communications Group). These posts need not be held by Exec members so any member is free to offer their services if they think it is just the opportunity they have been waiting for to do a little bit extra for SCARS. Following the Exec's agreement to take this restructuring forward, David Long decided that it was an appropriate time to hand over the reins. The Exec recorded its considerable thanks to David for all that he has done over the years, and was grateful for his offer to continue to produce Cuttings for us. While the Society cannot appoint a new Chairman till the 2008 AGM, I have been appointed by the Exec as Acting Chairman in the meantime, and intend to put myself up for formal election in March. I am pleased to report that both Peter Keen and Cynthia Greenall have agreed to stay on as Hon. Secretary and Hon. Treasurer respectively. This means that we already have Leaders in place for two of our five new Interest Groups, and willing volunteers have been found to lead the other three Groups; we even have a couple of Deputies in place! The details of all five are as follows: Political Group Finance Group Restoration Group Heritage Group Communications There will doubtless be more on all this in future editions of Cuttings, but I would like to take this opportunity to ask anyone who thinks they can contribute something to the Society to contact one or other of the names above - if you are not sure which of the Groups your interest fits into, don't worry; we'll find a way to harness your enthusiasm ! We also welcome any thoughts that members have on this, or any other aspect of what we do. None of us claim to have all the answers, but it is only by pooling our thoughts and experiences that we can do the best we can for the Sankey Canal. We have to try and make our time spent on SCARS' activities more effective, and this is especially true for those of us who still have to earn a living during the day. We cannot all dedicate as much time to the Society as we would probably like, so we must make sure that every hour we do spend, is an hour well spent. Our doors, and ears, are open to any ideas. Please tell us what you think, and more importantly how you think you might be able to help the Society going forward. With the very best wishes, and here's to the dawning of a new era as we near the end of our 22nd year (and the canal's 250th) - let's try and make 2008 the year when we all did a little bit to put the Sankey firmly back on the map, and back onto the consciousness of all those who live in, work in, and visit, the three Boroughs. Andy Screen, Acting Chairman
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