UPDATE – October 2020
We are extremely pleased to announce that Sharon Shaw FSSI will be standing for election as Chairman at the AGM on Saturday 10 October. Also, Elaine Gillingham, Lay Member, has put her name forward for the Minutes Secretary role.
CURRENT VACANCIES
We are currently looking for volunteers from the membership for two roles: Honorary Secretary and Honorary Treasurer. They are both elected Officer posts and as such are key positions within the Society.
Two further positions that existed some years ago, those of Bookkeeper and Minutes Secretary, are being revived with the aim of providing support for the incoming Officers.
We are also looking for people to help with the Words Made Beautiful centenary exhibition and Capital Letters Day 2021.
If you would like further information on any of these roles, please get in touch with Alma Swan, honsec@calligraphyonline.org, in the first instance.
HONORARY SECRETARY
A portion of the Honorary Secretary’s duties have now been taken on by the Minutes Secretary.
In brief, the Honorary Secretary has the following main responsibilities:
• The Hon Sec is the first point of contact for the public, so deals with emailed and written enquiries (the Art Workers’ Guild is the postal address for the Society. Mail is collected from there on a regular basis and sent on to the Secretary, but these days the more usual form of contact is email).
• Day to day liaison with the Chair, Treasurer and, if applicable, other event organisers, on Society matters.
• Book rooms for Executive Committee meetings and the AGM.
• Contact the AGM speaker and ensure all arrangements are in place for the smooth execution of the day.
• Publicise the AGM well ahead of the date and, if there are candidates for Fellowship, organise that process
• Ensure that all SSI events are properly publicised: this involves liaising with event organisers and developing a timetable for MailChimp mailshots (training will be given) in the run-up to events. Send out MailChimp messages to members.
• Keep the Society’s stationery and order re-printing when necessary.
• Keep the Society’s brochures and order re-prints when necessary.
• Pass on any newsworthy information received to the Social Media manager for inclusion on the website or Facebook as necessary (run past Chair/Treasurer/Chair of Editorial Board).
• Keep everything filed and backed up.
The new Hon Sec would stand for election at this year’s AGM in October.
HONORARY TREASURER
Much of the day-to-day bookkeeping work has been taken on by the Bookkeeper.
The main responsibilities of the Treasurer are:
• To monitor the financial transactions and investments of the Society and report to the Executive Committee (three meetings per year).
• To advise on the probable financial consequences of policy changes.
• To provide end-of-year figures for annual reporting and taxation.
• Report to the AGM on the Society’s financial situation.
• To provide advice on how to improve the workings of the Society, where appropriate.
• To protect savings held for exhibition purposes.
• To manage various administrative needs, such as insurance and ensuring submission of tax returns.
• Provide advice relating to budget, booking contracts and so on, for various Society events.
Skills required:
• Reasonable numeracy.
• Familiarity with spreadsheet manipulations.
• Familiarity with the concepts of profit, loss, liabilities and assets.
• Able to work well with the Society’s bookkeeper.
The new Treasurer would stand for election at this year’s AGM in October. Our current Treasurer, Nikolay Valchev, is willing to remain in a close support role until the financial year end on 31 December.
BOOKKEEPER
This position would be ideal for anyone with basic bookkeeping skills who has experience of using spreadsheets and is acquainted with online banking. The general tasks are:
• To receive and hold documents showing money received, money to be paid, and bank statements.
• To check with the Society’s officials responsible that amounts charged by third parties are correct.
• To add the amounts received or paid out to the cash books.
• To compare the state of the bank balance with the transactions made (from the cash books) at the end of each month (workings for trial balance).
• To copy the summary of both cashbooks and bank statement to the Treasurer at the end of each month.
• To make payments due to individuals and third parties, where possible by BACS.
Skills required:
• Reasonable numeracy.
• Familiarity with spreadsheet manipulations.
• Familiarity with the concepts of income and expenditure, and the consequences of balancing the books.
• Able to work well with the Society’s Treasurer.
• Able to manage the Paypal account.
MINUTES SECRETARY
This is a straightforward role requiring commitment only to a finite number of meetings. The work consists of:
• Preparing the agenda for Executive Committee meetings (three times a year), checking with the Chair for approval and circulating.
• Taking the minutes at Executive Committee meetings and the AGM, typing up the minutes and checking them with the Chair for approval.
• Liaising with the Hon Sec from time to time.
WORDS MADE BEAUTIFUL: sponsorship working group
Do you have any experience of getting sponsorship or grants? We are forming a very small working group with the aim of obtaining some financial support for our Centenary Exhibition in 2021 and are looking for people who have experience in this or who are simply interested in helping with this activity. If you feel you could help, please send a brief message giving any relevant details to Alma Swan, Honorary Secretary, at honsec@calligraphyonline.org
CAPITAL LETTERS DAY 2021 VOLUNTEER
Capital Letters Day is the new name for Lay Members’ Day. We are looking for a volunteer to join the Capital Letters team to assist with the organisation, preparation and running of the event which will take place in July 2021. We are a small, friendly team who would welcome someone who could assist with the planning of the structure of the day, to undertake some of the practical considerations leading up to the event and, most importantly, be prepared to help on the day itself. No special qualifications required; just enthusiasm and ideas. Interested? Need more information? Contact Steve Eades at capital.letters@calligraphyonline.org