Words from the Chair

And so it goes on!

It is now quite apparent we will not be meeting for some time yet. The lockdown has been extended again, not entirely unexpected given the number of positive tests and sadly rising deaths that are reported daily. I hope that everyone is taking notice of guideline advice and staying safe.

The committee met online this week although there is little we can do due to the effects of the current covid restrictions.

We are still looking into arranging some kind of club activity. Meanwhile you will, by now probably, have heard from our secretary about online demonstrations available. When we are able to meet in the hall again Louise, events secretary, has plans in hand to organise demonstrators month by month until we are sure we are able to continue. That at least is something to look forward to.

Back in September I put it to the committee that if we were unable to hold our AGM they should continue to serve until we are able to hold the meeting, this is now the situation.

The 2020 competitions have taken place and are completed. With the highest number of entries than in recent years the votes are in and counted. Sadly the low number of voters did not reflect club membership.

Congratulations to Ted Higgs, Dennis Carter and George Locker our class winners. The trophies will be engraved and presented in the fullness of time.

Thanks to Kyle who organised the online competition.

That’s it for this time; stay safe and keep well.

Newsletter

A few small changes

You may have noticed that this newsletter is out a week later than usual. For the past few months, it’s been the third Monday of the month, this is now changing to the fourth as your committee has been meeting occasionally on the traditional club night. This means that you’ll get updates sooner.

New Emails

We have now made some small changes to our emails. You will have been receiving emails from Chelmervalleywoodturners@gmail.com. We have changed our email to info@chelmerwood.co.uk, more accurately reflecting the website. Also, we have got emails for some of our individual committee members, they are as follows should you ever need to get through. If in doubt, please email to info@chelmerwood.co.uk and your email will be directed as appropriate.

Chairman@chelmerwood.co.uk - Barry Tucker-Vincent

Secretary@chelmerwood.co.uk - Steve Crouchman

Treasurer@chelmerwood.co.uk - Ted Higgs

Events@chelmerwood.co.uk - Louise Biggs

AWGB Membership cards for 2021

Thank you all for renewing promptly. I have the membership cards for this year but as postage is so high I am going to wait until we can have a meeting to give them out. However, if you really need the card, then just let me know and I will send it to you.

Ted Higgs

Treasurer and Membership Secretary

Meeting online?

Your committee has recently met and discussed the possibility of having sessions online where we can meet virtually.

We would use a software package called Zoom. Zoom is like a meeting room, but you're at home on the sofa! You don't have install anything if you don't want to, and all you have to do is follow a link and enter a password (that we will email out to you in advance) are you're in with us.

Preferably you'd have a camera and microphone - usually these are built in together. 95% of laptops, tablets, mobiles will have no trouble getting into the meeting. For desktop users, you may have an external camera that you can just plug in. If you don't have one, they cost around £15 from places like Amazon or your local supermarket.

We are looking to see if this of interest to our members - please let us know your thoughts in the Survey linked below

We are at hand to give support and guidance and have set up a number of members online already. You'll be surprised how easy it can be when someone is there to give you a hand.

Please let us know your thoughts by answering the below questions.

Chelmer Valley Woodturners Competition 2020 - Your Winners

Free resources

With compliments of Paul Howard, he has shared with us for our membership some plans to keep you busy over the coming months. They will be attached in the email that has been sent. If you need another copy, send us an email and we will get this sent out to you.

This month is a pagoda which you may remember from the demonstration that Paul did at the club in December 2019.

Show and tell - February’s Theme

We’ll be changing the approach to the monthly competition, the AWGB are now running a monthly competition called Show and Tell where you can enter to win a £50 voucher.

Natural Edge – Whether it be a bowl, vase, or a whole host of other creations, the name of the game this month is to make something with a live/natural edge on a part of a piece. Instead of making this a feature on the rim of a bowl, how about trying it as a feature on a bead? How about including some segmented turning as part of it? The limit is your imagination (and how much bark you have).

Prize: Stiles & Bates £50 voucher and £50 of blanks.

See existing entries here - https://www.awgb.co.uk/show-tell/february-2021-show-and-tell-entries/

See how to enter and the rules here - https://www.awgb.co.uk/show-tell/show-tell-rules/