ANNOUNCEMENT - Annual General Meeting 2024


The Annual General Meeting of The Arts Society Helmsley will take place on Monday 8 April 2024 at 7 p.m. in The Arts Centre Helmsley. 

The Agenda will be:

To receive the Chairman's Report;

To receive the Treasurer's Report; 

And to re-elect the existing Officers and Committee Members.


We will notify you by email when the Chairman's Report, the Treasurer's Report and the examined accounts for 2023 have been posted on the Society's website

Announcement - Friday 11th February 2022

We are back!

The Arts Society Helmsley opened its 2022 season on 10th January with very successful lectures on ‘ Bhutan : The Kingdom of the Thunder Dragon’ by Zara Fleming and followed up with a fascinating ‘A Day in the Life of a Paper Conservator’ by Katherine Lockett describing her work in her studio restoring works of art on paper and behind-the-scenes preparation of exhibitions of work by artists such as Millais and Turner. A wide range of upcoming lectures is shown in the Events section of this website.

Announcement - Wednesday 27th October 2021

When Jo Pitt, our Programme Secretary, was arranging last year's lectures she telephoned The Arts Society head office and asked who was their best lecturer on The Bayeux Tapestry? The answer given was Imogen Corrigan, a former Army officer (useful experience for interpreting a portrayal of the Battle of Hastings) who was originally booked for November 2020.


One year later, Imogen will be our guest speaker on Monday 1 November 2021 at the usual time of 7.30 p.m. in our usual meeting place, The Arts Centre in Helmsley. The doors will be open from 7 p.m.


I look forward to seeing you there for what may sadly be the last ever lecture to The Arts Society Helmsley.


Kind regards,

Jack Leonard,

Chairman

Announcement - Wednesday 1st September 2021

WELCOME BACK!

The Arts Society Helmsley will resume its lecture programme next Monday, 6th September 2021 at 7.30 in the Arts Centre Helmsley when Gillian Howell will answer the question: 'What did the Greeks and Romans ever do for art?'

We would be very glad if you joined us for a 'welcome back' complimentary glass of wine from 6.30 p.m. in the bar area of the Arts Centre. Soft drinks, tea and coffee will also be available.

We very much look forward to seeing you there.

Announcement - Friday 11th September 2020

September 11th 2020


Dear Colleagues

On 9 September the Government announced new measures aimed at restricting social gatherings. These measures will come into force on Monday 14 September.

The measures are not intended to restrict normal business or educational activities and as such there are exemptions contained within the guidance.

The Arts Society believes we have a duty to keep people safe and this includes members, volunteers, lecturers, our staff, venue staff, and other members of the public. Therefore, wherever possible it is our advice to consider alternatives to physical lectures.

Societies are encouraged to continue to regularly refer to the Government's guidance as well as taking into account local measures which may have been introduced. Your venues will also be able to advise whether they are able to comply with the social distancing rules currently in place.

Certain groups of people are at increased risk of severe disease from Coronavirus (Covid -19), including all people aged 70 and over. These individuals are advised to stay at home as much as possible and, if they do go out, to take particular care to minimise contact with others from outside their household.

Over 220 Societies now use one of our Zoom licenses. If you are interested in obtaining a license please click here

Below is a link to the government guidance which is updated regularly.

https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus

Do stay safe and well.

Florian Schweizer

Chief Executive, The Arts Society

Announcement - Tuesday 25th August 2020

25th August 2020

A Message from the Area Chair

When I last wrote at the end of May, we were all in lockdown with no end in sight. Three months on and we are beginning to lead a slightly freer existence, to socialise a little and to catch up with family and friends.

In my previous message, I wrote of being a member of The Arts Society as like belonging to "a big family". I confess I am missing that family. I miss the people, my Arts Society colleagues and friends. I miss my travels through the wonderful countryside that our area boasts. I miss the chat over a cup of coffee, a sandwich, a glass of wine and I miss the buzz of lecture meetings and the animated discussions of committee meetings.

Things will get better but, in the meantime, I want to reassure everyone in the North East Area that your Societies are doing all they can to help The Arts Society come through this pandemic. Some are keeping in touch with their members through newsletters and telephone calls. Many are embracing new technology, learning about Zoom meetings and webinars. It is a very steep learning curve but it is all helping to keep us together.

Details of Zoom lectures being held in our area will be posted on this website and will be available to all our Society Members so do keep an eye on this website. Equally, this autumn The Arts Society nationally will be featuring live online hour-long lectures, exclusively for Members of The Arts Society. To avoid clashes with local Society events these will take place on Friday lunchtimes:

Friday, 18th September 2020, 1pm

Friday, 23rd October 2020, 1pm

Friday, 27th November 2020, 1pm

Friday, 18th December 2020, 1pm

The films will be broadcast via YouTube, and the link will be shared with Members via email in early September.

I believe we have got to where we are by embracing what we do with passion and in a spirit of friendship. Our future relies on us continuing to do so. We will meet again in person as soon as it is safe to do so. Let us hope that time will not be too far away.

With my best wishes

Lizzie Darbyshire

Announcement - Friday June 12th 2020

FRIDAY, 12th JUNE 2020

WITH REGRET WE WISH TO INFORM THAT ALL

FURTHER EVENTS IN 2020 ARE POSTPONED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE

Dear Colleagues,

Because of the current social-distancing regulations, your Committee has been unable to meet formally. We have been discussing matters between ourselves by e-mail and have reluctantly come to the conclusion that it is necessary to postpone the remainder of the 2020 programme.

The principal difficulty is that our venue has a maximum seating capacity of 138 people. Martin Vander Weyer, Chair of The Arts Centre in Helmsley, has recently written that under current social-distancing regulations the maximum capacity of its theatre is 20%, not even 28 people. Even if the current regulations were to be relaxed later this year to a one-metre distance, the theatre could seat no more than 56 people. That is obviously inadequate for our membership, currently 116 people, and any guests or visitors.

Our excellent Programme Secretary, Jo Pitt, has been liaising with all of the proposed speakers from April 2020 onwards and has agreed with them that their lectures will be carried forward into 2021, not necessarily in the same month because some of them have other commitments in the coming year. We will send out a programme for 2021 in the autumn.

We propose that our Society should change its financial year-end to 31 December to bring it in line with the membership year; and to postpone the Annual General Meeting from November 2020 to March 2021. These proposed changes will require the approval of the members and the Society will consult you about them as soon as practicable, having regard to its Constitution and Charity law.

The members of the Committee are conscious that, due to Covid - 19, the Society has not delivered to you the promised programme for 2020. We plan to meet in the autumn of this year to consider the budget for 2021 and to decide on the membership fee for 2021, always subject to our duties as a registered charity.

I regret being the bearer of these bad tidings and hope for your understanding of the necessity of the action taken. I will arrange for this news to be published on our website, www.theartssocietyhelmsley.org, shortly.

Kind Regards,

Jack Leonard, Chairman

Announcement - Monday 16th March 2020

MONDAY, 16 MARCH 2020

THIS IS SENT TO ALL AREA AND SOCIETY COMMITTEE MEMBERS

CORONAVIRUS UPDATE:AGM CANCELLATION

Dear Colleagues

Following developments over the weekend we now confirm that the upcoming AGM is cancelled. As this is a statutory requirement we shall re-schedule and will advise you accordingly.

Since the cancellation announcement last week many of you have already taken difficult and painful decisions about the activities of your own Society, mine included. The welfare of our Members, speakers and employees is our priority and it has been gratifying to hear that that view is widely shared despite the damaging effects on each and every one of us.

We need that spirit of mutual support and empathy to carry us through uncertain times. The Trustees and management will employ best endeavours to continue to support our membership. Bear with us as we try and work through all the ramifications of recent events and give advice where we can. Please recognise that our team at Guilford Street is also under great pressure at the moment.

You may like to know that discussions are already underway to try and develop and share digital content to ensure Members stay in touch.

For the next week the management team will send out regular operational updates with FAQs

The Board of Trustees will continue to fulfil its statutory and legal obligations, probably virtually

As an asthmatic with a husband in his mid 70s I don’t underestimate the challenges ahead. Nor do my fellow Trustees. Please stay well.

On behalf of all Trustees and the team at Guilford Street, thank you for your good work and rest assured our thoughts are with you at this extraordinarily difficult time.

Julie Goldsmith

Chair

Board of Trustees

Announcement - Friday 13th March 2020

FRIDAY, 13 MARCH 2020

THIS IS SENT TO ALL AREA AND SOCIETY COMMITTEE MEMBERS

CORONAVIRUS UPDATE: CANCELLATION ANNOUNCEMENT

Dear Colleagues

As the Government has announced additional steps to delay the spread of Coronavirus, it has become clear that further measures will be taken in a phased approach to protect the vulnerable and elderly.

Whilst we recognise the Government's plan to delay the epidemic peak, it is our assessment that the well-being and safety of our Members, Volunteers and Lecturers, many of whom fall within the high-risk category, is likely to benefit from The Arts Society taking active measures to reduce non-essential Arts Society activity before the pandemic reaches its peak in the UK and Europe.

We therefore regret to inform you that the following Arts Society events and meetings for the period 16 March to 30 April will be cancelled:

Area Meetings

Hub Meetings

Directory Day

Area Study Days and Trips

Training events

All those who have organised and / or purchased tickets to any of the above events or activities will need to make the appropriate arrangements not to hold / travel to / attend these meetings and to advise Members, non-Members and Lecturers who are booked onto these days that they have been cancelled.

We are working on alternative plans to make the content of the Hub Meetings and Directory Day available to Societies through digital channels. It is unlikely that Directory Day will now be held in 2020, due to the logistics of moving such a complex event, the availability of suitable venues and potential clashes with other events.

Guidance on claiming expenses and other costs will be published early next week.

No final decision has been made about the 2020 AGM; however, we currently do not take any further bookings and advise delegates to prepare for the likely event that the AGM will be cancelled. We are exploring options to hold the Annual General Meeting - the only statutory meeting we are legally required to hold within a given time scale - as a virtual meeting, accessible to all voting members.

Societies are encouraged to assess independently if their meetings, lectures, study days and tours should be held in the coming months.

The UK Government has not yet announced measures to restrict holding, travelling to or attending public meetings. It is likely that such measures will be implemented at a later stage.

However, individual Societies and/or Lecturers might choose to cancel existing bookings; in this case we advise following The Arts Society's cancellation guidelines, which can be found in the Resources Area at theartssociety.org/resource/lecture-cancellation-advice.

We ask that Societies and Lecturers approach negotiating any cancellations due to this unprecedented situation with flexibility, amenability and understanding of the other's position.

If you are continuing with meetings please follow the Government guidance:

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-information-for-the-public

We regret that there will be negative financial implications for local Societies, Areas and the central organisation: that is what reserves are there for. If you feel that current events may impact on the viability of your Society please contact Tim Nicholls (tim@theartssociety.org). We are confident that The Arts Society remains in a robust position; however, we will reforecast our financial position for 2020 and 2021 as we expect to experience losses in commercial and investment income. We recommend Society Treasurers reforecast for the coming year using the best information available.

The office will remain open for the time being; contingency and business continuity plans are in place and we are committed to offering most of our support and advisory services without interruption. We anticipate that many of you will contact the team at Guilford Street (enquiries@theartssociety.org) in the coming days and weeks: please bear with us as we try to deal with your enquiries as quickly as we can: the team is small.

We regret that these steps will inconvenience many, and are likely to add to the workload of everyone who has taken great care to plan events and activities. These are extraordinary circumstances, and we thank you for your support and understanding in taking extraordinary measures as we play our part in prioritising the well-being of Members, Volunteers, Lecturers and staff.

Our thoughts are with everyone during these challenging times.

Florian Schweizer

Chief Executive, The Arts Society

If you have any questions please email: enquiries@theartssociety.org

Tel: 020 7430 0730

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