The Hon Treasurer, Basil Bryant, reported at the Centre's annual general meeting in February that more than £11,000 had been donated to National Trust properties in 2007. Most of the money had again gone to Barrington Court. By the end of the year – and the end of a five-year project to raise £100,000 for a visitor centre – the final amount stood at £100,396. It was “a remarkable achievement”, said Mr Bryant.
The visitor centre was part of a larger project involving the Somerset Food Links Consortium. Mr Bryant reported that, regrettably, the Consortium had withdrawn from the project and no definite plan remained. The National Trust was seeking new partners and finance to take the scheme forward. The £100,000 would remain available for use at Barrington. Future surpluses would be donated to various Trust projects, regionally and nationally.
The National Trust, through a recruitment agency, Whitehall and Industry Group (WIG), is seeking an employee volunteer to work on the joint Quantock Centre-Trust project, “Finding a Way Forward”.
The aim of the six-month project is to find ways to make the Centre more “manageable and viable”. Newsletter Editor Roger Silver was elected Vice-Chairman at the Centre's annual general meeting with special responsibility for the Centre's part in the project.
A report in the Trust's latest Supporter Group Newsletter says the purpose of the project is to review the Centre's “existing extensive operations and help plan for the future. We hope all groups and the Trust will be able to learn lessons from this review”.
The Trust has been concerned at the prospect that the Quantock Centre – consistently among the most successful of the Trust's supporter groups – might fold through lack of volunteers for key jobs. The immediate threat has been averted with members volunteering for the posts of Chairman and Hon Treasurer and for chairmanship of the Programme Planning Sub-Committee.
The Trust's Supporter Group Adviser, Earle Kessler, attended the annual meeting of the Centre in February to confirm the Trust's commitment to the review. He paid tribute to the Centre's Committee and executive officers for their all efforts to ensure the survival of the Quantock Centre, and hoped the project would have the full support and co-operation of members.
The threat of a Quantock Centre shut-down has been averted thanks to members coming forward for key posts. The Centre had faced the prospect of dissolution by the end of this year if no-one had come forward.
Ken Hague was elected Vice-Chairman at the annual general meeting in February with a view to succeeding Derek Spackman as Chairman next year.
Thia Tebay volunteered at the same time to take over as Hon. Treasurer from Basil Bryant, also next year.
John and Kay Robins have jointly taken over the chairmanship of the Programme Planning Sub-Committee, previously held by Jim Clifford.
“My only experience of the Quantock Centre has been as a day tripper,” says Ken Hague. But he has a wealth of experience at the head of voluntary and commercial organisations.
He was Constituency Chairman of the Taunton Conservative Association for three years and President for five years, and Chairman of the Brewhouse Theatre for three years and of its Finance and General Purposes Committee for the previous ten.
In commercial life, he was chairman of five companies and managing director of one. He still, as he puts it, “dabbles” in property and travel. Among his interests are travelling, cinema, theatre and music, and “walking, and getting lost in, the Quantock Hills!”.
Thia Tebay is a member of the Committee of the Quantock Centre and one of the most active of the Centre's organisers and leaders of visits.
She joined the Centre in 1999 at the invitation of the then-Chairman, David Bastable, who knew of her 30 years' experience in the organisation of various events for charities and specialised groups alongside her professional career.
Anxious not to see the Centre disappear after so many years, she put her name forward for the post of Hon. Treasurer from 2009, to “support Ken Hague and help the Centre to survive for the continued enjoyment of its 800 members”.
John and Kay Robins, who have been Booking Secretaries for the Centre, have already started work as Joint Chairmen of the Programme Planning Sub-Committee. They write:
“We take the opportunity to thank Jim Clifford for the splendid job he has done. It's a hard act to follow! We are undertaking the responsibility as a joint venture. Together with the small band of enthusiastic volunteer leaders/organisers, we hope we can offer you an exciting and varied programme in the future.
“If any of you would like to contact us to suggest venues for our visits, put forward ideas on how to improve the programme, or perhaps volunteer yourself as a leader, we would love to hear from you. You can reach us on 01278 423212.”