The KCHT Annual General Meeting, which was to have been held on 22 May, after close of play on the first day of the Essex match, was, for obvious reasons postponed. We were finally able to hold it via the magic of Zoom, on Monday evening, 24th August. There was a small but select selection of the membership who tuned in, but we were quorate.
The Chairman’s Statement for the year 2019/2020 covered the main features of our work over the past year:
“During the year, Caroline Ellis took over from David Robertson as the club’s Honorary Curator, but we are happy to report that David is continuing as committee member and Hon. Secretary to the Trust.
“We have acquired the MODES software to help us catalogue and organise our collection, which Caroline has made an excellent start on during the lockdown period. Our plans to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the formation of KCCC during 2020 have been hampered by the lockdown restrictions, but the digital version of our interactive display “Kent 150: Your 150” has gone ahead.”
Arising from the report, Caroline Ellis outlined progress at the AGM on the Collections Development Plan, with a first draft now being prepared. The final decision on the content of the plan and the collections policy rests with the KCCC committee, but we trust that it will agree to our recommendations once they are finalised, given that two of the KCHT Committee, who will be closely involved in drawing up our collections policy, also sit on the KCCC committee.
The Chairman’s Report went on to say that “we have almost completed a rationalization of our book collection, and will continue to hold second hand book sales from our extra stocks of unwanted books whenever we can. Kent County Cricket Grounds, by Howard Milton and Peter Francis, two KCHT committee members, was launched at the end of our year and has been enjoying strong sales. The Heritage Trust contributed £1,500 towards the cost of producing the book.
“Inside Edge, our quarterly newsletter, under the able editorial control of Howard Milton, continues to come up with stories and photographs from our past to interest and enlighten the reader. Howard always welcomes contributions from our members – or anybody else with something to add to our knowledge of cricket in Kent – so please do not hesitate to get in touch with him if you have a story to tell.
“We have spent very little money this year on items to add to our collection, having felt it more important to make sure we protect the items that we already have, but we have received some very welcome donations, which means that the collection continues to grow.
“The County Cricket Heritage Forum, which was set up in 2015 and which I have the privilege of chairing, meets every six months to give the Heritage officers of every county club the chance to discuss the issues that concern us. Meetings were held at Old Trafford and Lord’s during the year, and all first-class counties, and MCC, are now involved with the Forum.
“Our relationship with the county club remains excellent, with the club’s Chief Executive Simon Storey, playing a positive role in the development of the Trust’s work. We continue to be very grateful to the club for their support.”
The Financial Report, prepared by our Treasurer, Tony Kilbee, showed a deficit of around £2,000 on the year, due mainly to the costs of computer hardware and software, and to the support we gave to the excellent Kent County Cricket Grounds book, but that still leaves a bank balance of £5,400. Our current year will be a more difficult one, with fewer opportunities to earn money from book sales etc., but we still expect to be in a reasonably healthy cash position by the end of the financial year.
There was also discussion about the original plans drawn up by the Club and the Trust to mark the Club’s 150thAnniversary. The intention is that the programme planned for 2020 will now be carried forward to 2021, as will be the case with practically all of the club’s 150th anniversary events. The exhibition planned by KCHT to be mounted in the Lime Tree Café, is all prepared and will be presented for the whole of next season, Covid permitting.
And that was what happened at the AGM. All Zoom meetings tend to be fairly brief, at least once everybody has logged in successfully, and this was no exception. The Trust is conscious of its duty to protect the collection, to catalogue it properly so that we know where every item is, what it looks like and who gave it to us in the first place, and also to give as wide an access as possible to the collection, for educational and research purposes and just plain enjoyment for all who are interested in cricket in Kent, its history and heritage.