Changes in communications from the CPA Trust

The following email was sent out by the CPA Trust Secretary on 14 August

This note is being sent to people who have expressed an interest in the Charles Parker Archive in any way in the past to make you aware of changes already made to the way the Trust operates and to let you know of further changes we are considering.

We welcome any comments or suggestions you may have and specifically we will be discussing these at the next AGM in October. Please write or email and let me know how you feel about the content of this note.

Better still, if you are able, come to the Friends AGM at The Library of Birmingham on Thursday 19th October 2017 commencing 3.30p.m. in the Heritage Learning Space on the 4th Floor. The agenda will be posted on the Trust website by the end of August and will include an item to debate matters referred to in this note.

As will have been apparent from Trust Annual Reports over the last few years we have been extending the activities and impact the Trust makes in furthering the aims set out by Charles’ wife, Phyl Parker, when the Trust was first established.

Initially this led to the Trust fully managing Charles Parker Day and the Charles Parker Prize. This has been accomplished with support from sponsors and individuals, to whom we are especially grateful, and a great deal of effort from all Trustees but particularly Andy Cartwright. The impact on Trust finances has been minimal to date, but this is likely to change.

Trustees have remained eager to see the Archive made more accessible. We have, therefore, supported several projects using the Archive as a resource. These have been described in Annual Reports.

Annual Reports have consequently become larger in content and page-count as well as more expensive to produce. Postage costs have also had a significant impact on funds.

The Report, we believe, has no longer the appeal we need to attract new supporters prepared to pay a modest amount in subscriptions to be Friends of the Archive. We need to maintain our income, even increase it. The continuing loss of much loved and honoured Friends and supporters is also a factor.

Last year it was decided to create and launch a magazine for the Trust which we named Actuality. It was made available in hard copy to all who attended Charles Parker Day in Sheffield this year. It is also now on the Trust website, details below. Sara Parker and Phil Maguire will develop it further for 2017/18. They are eager for any comments you may have.

Trustees have proposed we limit the scope of the Annual Report to brief reports covering items from the Chairman, Secretary and Treasurer and possibly the Library. For 2017 this abbreviated report will be available on-line and as printed page handouts for the Annual General Meeting of Friends of the Charles Parker Archive, which will feature presentation(s) on the work of the Trust or individuals associated with it. In the longer term it is proposed the Annual Report will be incorporated into Actuality. For the current version see http://www.cpatrust.org.uk/actuality-magazine/

Actuality will be posted to:

• Paid-up Friends or those who have paid in the previous two years

• People who have attended past AGMs

• Recent donors

Any other future documentation will be sent by post only to paid-up Friends.

Accounts for the year would be tabled at the Friends AGM and uploaded to the Trust website. Other reports (from the Chairman, Secretary etc) would be listed in the agenda. Anyone for whom we have an email address will receive a copy of the agenda by email.

Access to the Trust website, which will continue to carry all information relating to the Trust, will continue to be accessible on-line to anyone.

Helen Lloyd, who is the Friends Co-ordinator for the Trust, will be taking over communications. This will necessitate a review of our address lists and our compliance with the Data Protection Act.

Thank you to all of you who in different ways and at different times have supported the Trust. We assure you we are trying to make the Archive and Charles Parker’s work and values generally better known and more accessible.