By: HAA Admin
MINUTES OF THE QUARTERLY MEETING OF HILLINGDON ARTS ASSOCIATION
HELD 10TH APRIL 2024
1. PRESENT
Lydia Holland, Trustee Chair, Hillingdon Philharmonic Orchestra
Sylvia Taylor, Trustee, Argosy Players, Southlands Arts Centre
Richard Fremantle, Treasurer
Sheila Scoates, Trustee U3A Singers
Jenny Thorne, TWG
Michele Needleman, Sine Nomine Singers
Tricia Kirkham, Uxbridge and Ickenham Floral Art Society
2. APOLOGIES
Lynne Kauffman, Ruislip Lions
Gaye Russell, Free and Easel, Combined Arts
Peter Russell, Middx Woodturners
Sheena Rosser, Hillingdon Artists
Gaynor Lasch, Ickenham Arts Society
Pamela Currin, Eastcote & Ruislip Choral Society
Marion Chamberlain, Proscenium
Angela Strach, Uxchor
Lisa Enright, Hillingdon Artists
Joyce Carpenter, Society of Ruislip Artists
Barbara Porket, Society of Ruislip Artists
Councillor Sital Punja
Richard Nokes, Phrasewriters
Ron and Gloria Web, Voices in Accord
3. IN MEMORIAM
It was announced to the meeting that Sheena’s husband Sir Richard Rosser had died today 12th April. Members expressed their sadness at the news and agreed to send individual letters of condolence to Sheena.
4. ACCESS TO THE CIVIC CENTRE CARPARK
Members had been advised that access to the underground Car Park was compromised by one of the Barriers being broken, it was unclear whether members attending the meeting would be able to exit the building. It was thought this had very much affected attendance at tonight’s meeting, and was possibly reflected in the long list of Apologies received.
5. MINUTES OF THE QUARTERLY MEETING HELD 15TH JANUARY 2024 and
MATTERS ARISING
The Minutes were accepted with the following amendments.
Marion Chamberlain ‘s name should be included in the Apologies.
Uxbridge and Ickenham Floral Society report was accidentally duplicated.
Lydia emphasised the need for Societies to notify her of any change in Officer/Representatives of Societies as this is the only way Notice of Meetings and other information can be guaranteed to reach Societies.
6. VENUES FOR HOUSING ARTS ACTIVITIES IN UXBRIDGE
1.HILLINGDON POP UP ART SHOP IN THE PAVILIONS, UXBRIDGE
Members had recently been shocked to learn that their present letting of a shop is to be the last in the Pavilions. This has come about due to change of Management and Focus by the Private Company taking over the management of the complex from the L.B. of Hillingdon. Lydia had contacted Transport for London in an attempt to obtain their permission to use a vacant shop ie the former Boots Store as a new temporary venue for the Art shop until such time as TFL found a use for it. Despite a positive response from the local Manager, the Managers of TFL had turned down the suggestion on the grounds of the premises are being developed for future use. Despite Lydia making a strong case for temporary use the outcome was disappointing, however Lydia felt that it might be possible to return to the subject dependent upon the success, or otherwise of TFLs plans for redevelopment.
2 The former RAF cinema is still vacant and there is no news about how it might be occupied in the future. Gaynor reported that St Modwen Homes have now stopped building on the site.
3.Uxbridge Library is now operating new hours but work is progressing in converting part of the Civic Centre to replace the present 1960s building on the grounds of it being financially unviable and lacking facilities as required in 2024. It also does not comply with the Climate Change agenda.
7. TREASURERS’S REPORT
Richard reported a slight increase in income from March 2023, the Draft Final Accounts do not show interest and this will appear in the End of Year Accounts
Membership fees are due from 1st April and the Treasurer is to remind members of their subscription.
Data from societies is still lagging behind as names of new Officers/Representatives are not being communicated to the HAA which makes contact difficult.
8. COUNCIL PUBLICITY
Attention was drawn to the latest Council Hillingdon Heritage and Culture brochure which covered the Museum Archives, Green Spaces and cultural activities promoted by the Council but scant information on the voluntary arts, music, drama, exhibitions etc. which are provided by the Voluntary societies, and in particular those which do not use Council facilities was included. Lydia had contacted Susan Dallow to enquire why publicity only featured Council activities and was told to contact Emma Gilbertson of the Council Coms department, which is responsible for content, including the Hillingdon People. The latest edition had included in its latest publication only 2 entries from the Voluntary Arts Sector. This the meeting considered deplorable given that the voluntary sector provided much of the culture for residents and also engaged many hundreds of people through their activities. It was also felt that being asked for a three month advance notice for a chance to publicise an event was entirely unreasonable given the nature of voluntary societies activities. Even when the three month deadline was met many societies were not being featured, presumably due to lack of space caused by proliferation of Council events and in some cases taking whole pages such as that advertising the DK productions at the Compass Theatre. It was suggested that at least a Notice Board outside the Uxbridge Station might go someway to redressing the balance.
9. HAA WEB SITE
In order to keep the HAA data base up to date, Lydia asked for names to be removed from the listings of Officers of Societies when they become no long relevant and pointed out that this can be done directly on to the web page by the Societies themselves.
10. REPORTS FROM SOCIETIES
Uxbridge and Ickenham Floral Society are debating whether to remain member of NADFAS as the annual subscription was becoming prohibitive. Their regular venue Ickenham Village Hall has been extended which has greatly improved facilities and demonstrations continue each month.
Sine Nomine singers – Michele Needleman
Sine Nomine Singers held their Spring concert on 16th March at St Leonards Church in Eastcote, performing a selection of pieces by composers ancient and modern, ending with the ever-popular Vivaldi ‘Gloria’. As usual, wine and nibbles were served in the interval. The deputy mayor attended, amongst a select audience of around 45. Unfortunately, this was insufficient to meet our costs. The Summer term will be the last under our current music director, Richard Thomas. He has chosen an interesting and rather lovely selection of pieces for our Summer concert on 29th June, again at St Leonards Church, Eastcote. It will include a modern work by Will Todd, his ‘Jazz Missa Brevis’ first performed in 2015.
The choir welcomes new singers in all voice parts and is suitable for anyone passionate about choral music who enjoys singing with others. We rehearse on Tuesday evenings at All Saints Church Hall, Hillingdon.
Pastiche Theatre Company had a sell out at Compass for Spamalot
Southlands Arts Centre held an International Women’s Week In March offering a variety of talks, demonstrations and a Women’s Art Exhibition followed by a very successful Easter Craft Market which focussed on families and in addition to excellent craft stalls there was a Easter Egg Hunt for the children, together with crafts and chocolate making.
Later in the month the second of a series of Concerts, entitled Spring Revels featuring Wine, Words and Music was well attended Currently it is running a Creative Writing Competition open to Adults and Children with cash prizes and the possibility of publishing.
The Town Women’s Guild encompasses 6 Guilds based in Hillingdon and Harrow, using a variety of venues.
Hillingdon Philharmonic Orchestra held a well-attended family concert of music from Disney films at Winston Church Theatre in Ruislip in Ruislip on 3rd March. The next concert will be on 22nd June.
Society of Ruislip Artists – Joyce Carpenter
We held our Spring Exhibition in The Cow Byre in March and were very pleased we had just over 950 visitors during the two weeks, and obviously it was good we had some sales too.
Our Society has quite a busy time coming up. Firstly we will be holding a Painting Afternoon for our members and visitors at the Hatch End Apiary, near Harrow Arts Centre, on Wednesday, 17th April and then we are meeting up outside on the third Wednesday afternoons of the month during the summer, deciding on the venues nearer the time. We will also be holding smaller painting afternoons just for up to 8 of our members in Ruislip Manor Library on the second Tuesday afternoons of the month.
On Saturday, 27th April, we will be holding a Workshop from 2.00-4.00 pm, again in Ruislip Manor Library. The theme for this one is still to be decided but we have had a Christmas one, one of Painting in the style of Van Gogh, and a Create your own Easter Bunny or character one. After the success of these workshops, we are going to be holding them throughout the year, mostly on the last Saturdays of the month, and hope we have people, young and old, come along to join us to have a go and enjoy themselves. Our next monthly meeting will be our AGM but our meeting on Tuesday, 28th May will be by one of our very popular members, Iain Kane which we are all looking forward to. Iain couldn’t do his demonstration in March as was arranged so we still have that to see in May.
Our next exhibition will be when we join The Combined Arts Exhibition in The Great Barn from 24th to 30th May, and then we will be taking part in the Eastcote House Gardens Summer Picnic on Saturday, 1st June.
We still have our ongoing exhibition in Vito’s Cafe, 151 High Street, Ruislip. We change our paintings every two months – our next change is due on 25th/26th April after which we will have a completely new exhibition. We really enjoy being in Vito’s – it’s a lovely place to exhibit where visitors can enjoy delicious food, and it has helped attract some new members from there, and also from our website.
From what we expected to be a quiet year, we are still delighted we have so much going on, even though it keeps us all busy!
Hillingdon Artists – Sheena Rosser
Our gallery in the Pavilions finally closed on 30th March, after 2½ years, so we are now homeless again. We have the following exhibitions lined up:
Cow Byre Ruislip Sunday 21st April to Saturday 4th May (preview is 21st April from 2 till 4)
Thursday 23rd April at Brunel Expo
at Combined Arts in Great Barn Ruislip from Friday 24th May to Friday 31st May (preview is Friday 24th May from 7 till 9 pm)
at Eastcote House Gardens on Saturday 1st June from 11 a.m. till 4 p.m.
at Uxbridge Library from Friday 31st May to Friday 14th June
at 1 Witney Cl, Ickenham, Uxbridge UB10 8EL on Wednesday 12th June from 10 a.m. till 8 p.m. (charity event in aid of Macmillan Cancer)
at Southlands West Drayton from Friday 14th June to Sunday 14th July (check our new website nearer the time for opening hours – hillingdonartists.co.uk)
at Milton Court Ickenham on Saturday 15th June from 1 till 5 p.m.(as part of Ickenham Festival)
Uxbridge Choral Society – Angela Strach
We had a very successful concert on 23rd March at St Andrew’s Church Uxbridge. We performed Fauré’s Requiem and Cantique de Jean Racine plus other classical favourites such as Mozart’s Ave Verum Corpus and Brahms’s ‘How Lovely is thy Dwelling Place.’ We had a very appreciative audience who were served with wine and juice in the interval included in the price of the ticket. But we believed they were truly there for the music rather than the booze!!!
On Saturday 29th June again at St Andrew’s Church we will be performing our summer concert of lighter music: “Uplifting Songs for a summer’s evening: choral arrangements of popular sings spanning the 20th & 21st centuries”. Tickets from the website or on the door, refreshments included in price of ticket! The timing of this concert is yet to be decided. It may be an afternoon one at about 3.30, if not, 7.30. I will try to let you know one way or the other by Wednesday. If I don’t, people should just check the website https://www.uxbridgechoralsociety.org.uk/.
Proscenium – Marion Chamberlain
March saw our first production in Harrow for many years as we performed Julius Caesar in the Boiler House at HAC. With sell out performances for 2 of the 4 shows, and high sales for the other two, we report the show as a success both from an audience and cast pov. Michael Williams, the director, made an imaginative use of the new space which was filled by a strong cast of 16 actors covering multiple roles. NODA commented that the casting choices the director made were exceptionally good. Such a large cast is required for this play …… it was amazing such a talented group was found. However, our experience of working with HAC on this new venture was mixed. Initially the collaboration and support was very positive but as time progressed the ‘package’ for hire of the space changed resulting in extra costs for basic facilities – hire of dressing rooms; lack of signage; lack of technical support and facilities. These and many other points are being discussed with HAC management to improve the experience for all going forward.
Our third production, Speaking in Tongues, June 2024,at the Compass, has been cast and rehearsals are well underway. Our November production will be Pack of Lies in November 2024. Reading dates will be held in June/July and it will be exciting to perform a play about Russian spies set locally in semi-detached Ruislip. Action takes place behind net curtains and no-one knows who’s telling the truth!
We have been delighted by the interest shown in our 2024 Proscenium Centenary Exhibition held at Headstone Manor and Museum which now has less than three weeks to run. So if you’ve not seen it yet, or want to see it again because you enjoyed it so much, it will be closing for the last time at 4pm on Sunday April 28th. More information on the Museum, and the Exhibition, can be found here: https://headstonemanor.org/. We are also hosting a party for members past and present in the summer
Eastcote and Ruislip Choral Society – Pamela Currin
In March Eastcote and Ruislip Choral had a very successful concert in URC Ickenham performing Vivaldi’s
Gloria and Bizet’s Te Deum.
On June 29th we are performing Will Todd’s Mass in Blue with jazz accompaniment in Douay Martyr
School.
Ickenham Art Society – Gaynor Lasch
There is little to report on our Club activities, other than the move to the Guide Hut went smoothly, and so far we have attracted one more new member and two inquiries.
Our A.G.M. is on Thursday 25th April and the 2nd May 2024 will be the start of our 75th year as an art society!
Hillingdon Choral Society – Eirwen Smith
The next concert on 27th April will be held at the United reformed Church in Ickenham. The main work will be Faure’s beautiful Requiem and we will also sing Jesu Joy of Man’s Desiring, Panis Angelicus by Saint Saens and Ave Verum Corpus by Mozart. We will be joined by Hillingdon Philharmonic Orchestra, who will accompany us and will also play Mozart’s Symphony No 40.
Voices in Accord – Ron and Gloria Webb
Ron and Gloria reported that they will be performing on Friday 5th July @ St Mary’s Church, Hayes, FLOWER FESTIVAL. There will also be several future Concerts for Various Charities taking us into September
11. ARTS AWARDS
Members were reminded that Nominations for Awards should be sent to Sheila Scates as soon as possible as it is hoped to be able to present Awards at the Annual Meeting of the Association.
12.This concluded the business of the Meeting. The date of the next Quarterly which will also be the Annual Meeting is scheduled for 16th July 2024.