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Annual Report of the Friends of Kettle's Yard, 1998-99

Once again the Friends have had a successful and enjoyable year. The hard work put in by so many to achieve the results is much appreciated.

In 1998-99 the Friends gave £17,500 to Kettle's Yard. After Jim Ede's endowment and the grant from the Eastern Arts Board, the Friends are now Kettle's Yard's most important annual supporters. The Friends' grant has helped many things to happen:

The Friends also continued to finance the publication of the annual Kettle's Yard Christmas card.

Membership of the Friends as at 31 July 1999 was 1,158, a further increase of 82 on last year, including 32 Life Members: 14 joint and 18 individual - the same as last year. The 'Become a Friend' leaflet was revised to reflect the new subscription rates, as were the reminder letters. Even so, a few pensioner members were obviously confused by the term 'unwaged' and continued to pay £7.50. Just for this year they have received a membership card with a note clarifying the new rates for next year. Members making the same mistake next year will be pursued for the remaining £2.50!

In April the 2000th membership card was issued to Hazel Spencer by Michael Harrison, Martin Ballard, and Derek and Angela Taunt, at a ceremony recorded by the Cambridge Evening News.

Our holding of Amalgamated Fund Units was increased to 2,600 during the year; the holding had a value of £77,272 on 31 July 1999. At this date the balances of our bank accounts added up to £16,673. We have recovered the tax which was reclaimable up to March 1999; a claim for the period to 31 July has been submitted (£284). Although the level of subscriptions and donations was down by 18%, mainly due to a reduction in large gifts, our net income was close to that of the previous year.

Martin Ballard and the members of the Events Sub-Committee offered another successful and wide-ranging programme of activities. In the course of the year, some 400 members - averaging three events each - took part in Friends' activities. It is both satisfying and financially rewarding to send full buses on day trips and longer outings, and to see good crowds at local events. Growing support does, however, have the less happy consequence that more of our members will be disappointed when they fail to find a place on the outing of their choice. The Committee has decided to follow the policy that applicants for longer visits should be accepted in order of application, while places for oversubscribed day trips and local events should be balloted on the Application Date advertised. Events are organized into three broad categories.

Longer trips

For the first time we organized three events which involved overnight accommodation. In the autumn we took the plane to inspect the widely-publicized new Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao. In the spring we explored galleries, great houses, and churches around the meeting place of the three counties, Oxfordshire, Gloucestershire, and Wiltshire. In the summer we crossed the Channel for a week's visit to Alsace, Lorraine, and Basel. All three were well- , and the last two, over-subscribed.

Day visits

Out of seven coach parties, all but one were bound for London. As usual we visited exhibitions at the major galleries - the Royal Academy (three times), the Tate (twice), the Hayward (twice), the Victoria and Albert, the Serpentine, the Barbican, and the Whitechapel. We were also given a view of Christie's saleroom on the eve of a major exhibition, were entertained at a private collection, and attended an exciting concert at the Barbican Concert Hall. On the one occasion when we did not head for London, we visited churches and other buildings in the Northampton area.

Local events

Being based in Cambridge, we can arrange many events that do not involve group travel. 'Insider' Friends showed us around Emmanuel College and the University Library, and we again visited the Sculpture in the Close exhibition at Jesus College and were entertained at Hilton Hall. The impressive programme of home and studio visits remained as popular as ever. A good crowd turned out to hear Fuado Otsuka lecture on an unusual museum of art, and this has spawned a projected visit to Japan in the millennium year. Once again, the AGM was followed by a well-provisioned and lively party.

We have also attempted to reach a new and younger audience. George Eccles and Martin Thompson organized a successful 'Sunday at Kettle's Yard' concert of Russian folk music, which drew a capacity family audience. The same organizers also laid on a wine tasting evening.

We believe that few, if any, Friends' organizations in the country offer such a sustained and comprehensive programme of events. This is, of course, only made possible by diligent work by members of a volunteer Committee. The three new members, Eve Bradford, Reg Prentice, and John Freer, have lost no time in becoming fully involved. Gini Albutt is leaving the Committee, but she does hope to retain an interest in the preparation of studio visits. Apart from the daunting task of looking after the Japanese visit, Angela Taunt - one of our co-founders - will be withdrawing from the organization of events. She does, however, possess an invaluable range of contacts and will continue to serve on the Committee in an advisory capacity. We are particularly delighted that Tim Rogers has returned to the Events Committee after illness and would thank Ann Roseblade, Liz Budd, and Philippa Hill, as well as the Events Committee secretary, Cynthia Postan, for their continued contributions.

Thus the Friends, like Kettle's Yard itself, find themselves in fine form as the millennium approaches.

Gillian Beer, Chair


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Cambridge University Reporter Special, 17 January 2000
Copyright © 2000 The Chancellor, Masters and Scholars of the University of Cambridge.