Page 7 - Demo

(3) (4)Chairman’s Report 2016I will get straight to the point. I am making an appeal to you to help supportHannahs at Seale-Hayne with a monthly donation; the leaflet enclosed refers.This is a sensitive matter because we are all assailed by charity appeals thesedays; but I will try to explain.Hannahs had a frightful time for three months in the summer of 2014, whichdealt a body blow to their finances. I am unable to disclose details but ‘certaingovernment authorities’ imposed some crippling temporary legislation andclosures on the Dame Hannah Rogers Trust’s (DHRT) splendid school andchildren’s home for disabled at Ivybridge. The closures proved entirelyunnecessary (no-one would concede that officially of course) and were liftedafter three months after it was found that Hannahs were not at fault. In themeantime it caused terrible disruption, heartache and six figure losses. Thisevent set them back dreadfully but with stoic fortitude and an understandingbank they are struggling back to regain the losses. They will recover but theyneed some help right now, hence this appeal. A cynic might ask, well apartfrom offering sympathy, frankly what has it got to do with us? We are twodistinct organisations with no formal link. Well, we all love Seale-Hayne andmost of us owe it a lot. Hannahs also cherish the place, so it is very much inour interests for them to thrive at Seale-Hayne. I will be quite blunt: If Hannahsleft, for whatever reason, make no mistake the property developers would circlelike vultures.After closure, Seale-Hayne was set to be bought by Buccleuch Properties,turning the quad into retirement flats with houses built all over the farm. Mercifully,the financial crisis of 2008 arrived just in time to scupper the deal. The Universityput it to market again and 16 property developers applied - plus DHRT thankgoodness.When Hannahs arrived, the CEO Mrs Bronwen Hewitt declared she wanted usto be ‘part of their family’, create a SHAC heritage room, hold our reunions andmeetings back here and so on. They wished to embrace the heritage. I write toyou now that since then, they have been every bit as good as their word. Hardlya month goes by without Hannahs referring to the committee for informationabout the past, which has relevance to a project they are developing, therehave been many such examples reported in the magazine. So please do whatyou can for them. My basic appeal is please sign to donate a minimum £2:00 amonth, we can all manage that. It is very little, but many £2:00’s mount up andsome may wish to donate more.And now for Seale-Haynians’ business.Membership of our club is increasing as we rediscover ‘lost souls’. Tom Jenkins,a contemporary of mine 1956 – ’59 has joined the committee and is workingwith Hannahs to gather the names and contact details of all Seale-Haynianswho visit, leaving their names in the visitor’s books. Tom is mailing them to reestablish contact and to invite them to sign up to receive the annual magazine.If you know of Seale-Haynians who you suspect are not on our register, pleaseask if you may let us know their contact details. Our ever resourceful webmasterSimon Daligan receives contacts from S-H’ians which he passes to TomWe continue to add to the Old Library Heritage room and will improve it further.What is gratifying is the number of visitors, other than Seale-Haynians who arefascinated by the history and contents of the room. And the interest in SealeHayne Military Hospital in WW1 increases. We are slowly tracing the descendentfamilies of the men who were patients here. This is reported separately in themagazine.I am very indebted as always to all members of the Committee and our“archiverators” as I call them. Especially I will mention Prof Fred Harper ourPresident for his constant encouragement and of course Igg (Ian Goodwin) whoI call ‘the engine room’ of the Club. He is the editor of this splendid magazineand it is a credit to him.With very best wishes, Raymond Bartlett, Chairman.South Hams Metal Detecting Clubare pleased to be able to offer their help in order to raise fundsfor Dame Hannah Rogers TrustIf any Seale-Haynians have land anywhere in the Westcountry (and possiblyfurther afield) we are happy to arrange a restricted club dig and donate all feesto the Dame Hannah Rogers Trust. We hope to target £2,000 which will equateto 10 digs involving approximately 20 members.We are a very long established, non-profit making club with an excellentreputation locally. All our members carry insurance and are members of theNational Council for Metal Detectors and abide by their code of conduct(www.ncmd.co.uk), which includes sharing valuable finds with the land owner.We abide by the Lower and Higher Stewardship Scheme and support theCountryside Alliance. All holes are correctly back-filled and any objects foundthat could cause injury to livestock or damage farm machinery removed. Wealso work closely with PAS (the Portable Antiquities Scheme) to ensure that allsignificant objects recovered are correctly recorded so that they do not losetheir historical associations.If you feel that you are able to help us support Hannahs, please contact Jasonon 07772 330913 or email Guy via guymassey88@gmail.com and he will ensurethat your enquiry is passed on.09m ”3aO G’s/0528mm;uh