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NEWS FROM THE OCTOBER 2009 COMMITTEE MEETING

Some sad news - We were sorry to hear of the death of an old friend, Jimmy Looms, who died on 19th October. He was in his early seventies. Although never a member of LGC, Jimmy and his partner of fifty years, Keith, were involved in the Bradford group of CHE (the Campaign for Homosexual Equality). Jimmy was also, for many years, a volunteer on the Bradford "Friend" Helpline, and he did two long stints as its Treasurer. In 2004 , following the entry of Malta into the European Union, they were able to make real their dream of living in Valetta.

Many LGC members will have memories of them from the "Friend" Annual Sponsored Walks in the 1980s and 1990s, when they often provided the refreshments, latterly in their home in the shadow of the Wainhouse Tower, near Halifax. Suffering from increasingly severe dementia, Keith has been living "in care" for several months now, still in Malta.

Thank You - So many of our members have the good of LGC at heart, that we always have someone to thank. This time we would like to thank Hugh for welcoming us to his new home in Bradford: a rather nice house near the famous Undercliffe cemetery. We wish him every happiness there.

Stuart would particularly like to thank Keith D. and Ted D. for providing details of cultural events in Leeds, which he found useful for our website and for being able to bring them to your attention via our Newsletter.

A word of explanation - If you have been to the "Diary" section before reading this, you may have been surprised to read that our committee has decided not to make a charge for our forthcoming Christmas Party on 18th December. Here's why:-

After experiencing increased costs when ordering food from professional caterers, we decided, in 2008, that we could, under Kevin's guidance, do the catering ourselves. This cut the costs dramatically; so much so that we were making an unintended profit. So we thought that this time we wouldn't make a charge. By the way, it's a long time since we paid extra for the refreshments at the AGM or for occasional "cheese-and-wine style" evenings.

Visitors - We've had half-a-dozen visitors at our Friday meetings recently, and a few enquiries since the appearance of our customary advertisement in the October edition of "Shout!". We have, however, decided not to put on a further "Come and Meet Us" evening, in view of the very small response to the three earlier ones.

Membership Matters - We finished our LGC year with thirty-nine members. By 22nd October we twenty-eight. This includes our friend Terry (from East Leeds), who, we're pleased to say, has rejoined us after a year's absence.

Hugh will soon be away in Indonesia for a while. So please pay any renewals (@ £10 or £5) to Eric at the AGM or send them to him at his home address. Cheques payable to LGC, please.

Best wishes from all committee members.

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING 2009

CONVENOR'S REPORT

The work of the committee and review of the Leeds Gay Community for the year ended 31st August 2009

In our Constitution we state that LGC's aims "shall be to provide for social, cultural and personal needs of its members". We also state that the Agenda of the AGM shall include "a report from the Convenor upon the work of the Committee during the previous year".

It is, therefore, the work of the Committee that produces a programme which, we feel, goes a long way towards providing for those social, cultural and personal needs of us, its members, who share the common bond of being gay or bisexual men, whilst remaining our own individual selves.

Before 2001, this Report was given verbally at the AGM, but since then your Convenor has been urged by your Committee Members to distribute it in advance. At first I was slightly peeved that they seemed not to want actually to hear it all, but, the big advantage lies in the fact that, this way, all members receive it whether they want to/can attend the meeting or not and that it is available for prospective members to gain an insight into who we are and what we do.

Your Committee met, therefore, the statutory eight times during our 2009-2009 LGC year. We arranged our Friday evenings meeting every Friday except on 26th December. We were at our Leeds city centre meeting room on forty-four occasions. We had fifteen or more people present at ten of these meetings, bringing the average attendance up to 11½, an increase of one on the previous year and three greater than five years earlier.

This year we had only one visiting speaker; Rachel Nauwelaerts from the Equity Partnership in Bradford. However, our own members spoke on a further sex evenings; Hugh and his friend and colleague Nancy told us about their working holiday in Indonesia; Mike told us about his six-week stay in Israel; and Eric about two marathon tours of France. Gordon read from his archive material; Keith & James, along with Ted, gave us an enthralling account of last year's Edinburgh Fringe, and Patrick presented "Out at Work", a DVD designed to enlighten various categories of employers about the needs of their lesbian, gay and bisexual staff.

One evening Tony presented a superbly produced visual review of our group's Outings in 2008. On his Desert Island, Patrick had two castaways, Timothy and Tony, whom he interviewed on separate evenings. Our old friend Bruce presented his films on two occasions. We had one Games evening - less of an attraction these days! There were two fund-raising sales; three quizzes, one each from Richard H, Mike and Stuart. We had three "Round-the-Group" evenings, one of them requiring Raymond's hatful of topics. Stuart provided Audio and Video evenings, and so did Geoff, High, Mike and the box of DVDs presented to LGC by Narvel Annable and his partner Terry.

Four times we brought Readings or Recordings or a short video, had our usual Hot Cross Buns, Mulled Wine and Mince Pies - no, not on the same evening! There were two parties, co-ordinated by Kevin and his "catering team", and the AGM! We also held our third "Come And Meet Us" evening - a very enjoyable event, without, I'm sorry to say, anybody who actually wanted to come and meet us! We think that this is something not to repeat in that particular format.

Some spent one Friday evening in Whitehaven, during yet another August Bank Holiday Weekend, kindly and efficiently arranged by Geoff. This year we had six of our traditional Summer Friday Coffee Evenings held in members' homes. Hosts Gary & Ian, Harry & Steve, Timothy & Tony, Mike, Ted and Eric can confirm that they were a popular as ever.

So much for Fridays! Now to the rest of the week! Here we arranged a further fifty-one opportunities to meet. We didn't plan to exceed one hundred events this year - it just happened that way. If somebody offers an extra event or outing, we certainly don't turn him down! At the AGM Patrick will tell you about Outings which were co-ordinated and planned with Timothy during January. In addition to those we arranged visits to the Middleton Colliery Railway during its 250^th Anniversary year, to the rhododendrons in Templenewsam Park; to Wakefield's Chantry on the Bridge. We strolled through Leeds on the canal and river banks; took part in Bradford "Friend" Helpline's money-raising event in Hebden Bridge; saw three films at Eric's; had two pizza evenings at Hugh's and three fish-and-chip ones at Eric's; met for morning coffee each month and had a meal out on thirteen occasions.

We've publicised ourselves twice with advertisements in "Shout!", and an increasing number of people are visiting our website, kindly supervised by Stuart. We had a display in the Civic Hall at Mesmac's AGM and Presentation. At Leeds Pride we were visible just opposite Queen's Court, at our stall staffed by Eric, assisted by Stuart, Paul, Patrick and Mike. People picked up our leaflets and helped our funds by purchasing books and videos to the total of £55. During March, Mike and Eric represented LGC at a York conference, attended by other LGC members, specifically prepared by various agencies for the benefit of elderly gay men, lesbians and bisexual people.

This year we had forty members. Sadly, in December, Mick A. died. We welcomed one new member, Allan, during the Spring. Ten of our members we seldom see: they live far away, are heavily committed in other ways, work very unsocial hours or are infirm. We are very glad to have them as members and rejoice in the fact that they wish to maintain their contact with us and enjoy receiving "LGC News". And we enjoy seeing them occasionally or receiving a phone-call, e-mail or note.

Eight men have been on our committee in 2008-2009 and we met for at least two-and a-half hours each time. Let me tell you what an enthusiastic, dedicated team they are, willingly spending many hours of their time to keep LGC going! I would like to thank them all, on your behalf. Stuart has been Deputy Convenor, running Friday evenings when I have been absent, but more especially he has kept our website up-to-date, he has dealt with electronic mail and has spent countless hours preparing our well-received and much-praised "LGC News". Derek has kept minutes of the meetings. Raymond has allowed his phone number to be used for contacting LGC since "time immemorial". Most people wishing to contact us still do so through him. Patrick has been our Outings Co-ordinator, and many of us have contacted him for up-to-date information. Kevin has organised the catering for our parties. Mike has taken on the job of monitoring the reports and newsletters we receive from Stonewall, Liberty, the Equity Partnership, Age Concern etc. Hugh has collected your subscriptions.

All that sounds as though we work in compartments, but it's not really like that. Everybody does whatever he can towards making LGC "go" as well as it can. I've been convenor since April 1985. It's a really enjoyable thing for me, because I receive so much support. I've also been Treasurer since February 1988. I would like to thank Bob for yet again examining "the Books" and assuring me and you that all is in order.

But, it's not just the Committee, is it, which makes LGC work the way it does and provide so many things to do? It's the general membership, too, who provide ideas and, more importantly, do things. Just how many names have I mentioned earlier on? And a suppose I've missed a few…

Personally I find that LGC has much to offer. I look around at other people I know and am fully aware that they have not the quality of social life available to me.

Just a thought, though. In our "Factsheet" leaflet we describe our main aim thus: "to provide a hassle-free space where gay and bisexual men can be themselves and, hopefully, make new friends."

By and large, I think we achieve this. We are, I feel, much less "predatory" than some other groups. Another thing which contributes to a hassle-free environment is a general ability to steer clear of those notoriously inflammatory topics of "politics" and "religion", except where we know for sure that we are not going to make a fellow-member feel uneasy or undervalued.

I will take this opportunity, on your behalf, to wish ourselves well for the future.

ERIC