It’s been another busy but productive year for ECO, and firstly thanks must go to all those who have worked so hard throughout the year.
Richard has completed his 34th year as musical director, and yet again it’s been a great year musically, and I’m sure Richard’s report will reflect this in detail as usual.Richard’s also survived being bullied by me this year; I didn’t quite manage to get him to come to Buckingham Palace, but he did accept the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service on ECO’s behalf, and rightly so, as ECO would not be what it is today without him. Richard gives so much time and effort for the orchestra, and has done so over many years. Not only that, but he’s also donated a sizable amount of his dog-sitting money to ECO this year, yet another sign of his unfailing commitment to the Orchestra. Huge thanks to Richard for another year of his hard work.
The Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service was a major highlight for ECO this year, for once not focusing on our brilliant children but on those who facilitate everything that they do. A group of us attended the award ceremony at County Hall in June, where the award was presented by Devon’s Lord Lieutenant and photos were taken alongside a portrait of Her Majesty the Queen.
In July, I was thrilled to go to Buckingham Palace along with Alan, Rob, and Laura, for one of the Queen’s Garden Parties. We didn’t meet any of the Royal Family but spotted a number of them, and generally had a great time taking in the (at times rather wet!) atmosphere - we spent a fair bit of time in the tea tent as a result of having left umbrellas in the car! It was an excellent day out which we all enjoyed, and I am honoured to be part of such an amazing, award winning organisation.
I have a few people I’d like to thank especially; firstly I’d like to thank Nick Jackson who took over as treasurer last year; he has put in many hours of work to keep our finances in check and we all really appreciate his commitment.
Secondly, the Mason family, who again have supported us by driving the van for all our concerts, a vital role which we couldn’t do without. Thank you very much to Andy and Tim in particular, who’ve given so much of their time, and kept the show on the road, literally!
Thirdly, Rachael Shearmur, who has taken on the unenviable task of co-ordinating the return visit from Russia, along with Claire Farquharson, Debbie Harrison, Su Aves, and some help from Ron Delve too. They will continue to need all our support over the next six months, but we’re looking forward to hosting a successful exchange visit. There has been also been talk of travel to France in 2013; watch this space - and if you’re interested in helping with that in particular, do let me know.
All the other members of the committee have worked really well as a team; communication has been good, and I think we’ve just about managed to keep things running smoothly throughout the year, so a huge thank you to all the team players involved. The one area that we need to improve on is probably our publicity; we do put posters around the city and we try to get the Express and Echo on board, but there is more that we could do in order to publicise the Orchestra’s activities, raising awareness and funds too. Something for the next committee to try and improve!
Thanks as well to all of you parents who have helped with concert supervision, making cakes, loading and unloading, and simply on Saturday mornings. These are small ways in which to help but they really make a big difference.
And thank you as well for supporting your children with their music. I said this last year but it’s worth saying again this year - I am proud to be involved with this group of children and young people. They are friendly, polite, helpful, and generally lovely, and it’s a pleasure to give my time to help facilitate this wonderful orchestra.
On a personal note, at this time last year, I really dithered about chairing the committee for another year, knowing that I was taking on my first year of teaching, as well as all the usual busy family commitments. I wasn’t sure I could manage it, but with the support and hard work of all those on the committee with me, we’ve got through another successful year at ECO. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that working here on Saturdays often kept me going throughout the year when work was a real struggle!
I’m looking forward to standing as Chair for one more year, if you’ll have me. However, this time next year my five years on the committee will be up, and I’ll have to stand down, so I’m hoping there’s someone out there who’ll be ready to take over, as well as a supportive committee, so please do consider joining if you feel you could help - your support is vital to keeping Exeter Children’s Orchestra the successful organisation that it is.
