The choir is keen to have appoint somebody as our regular concert compere and it occurred to the committee that some of you may have partners, spouses, friends, lovers, relatives or neighbours who might be happy (or coercible) to take on this role. The main attribute required is an ability to stand in front of a microphone and speak clearly. It would be good to keep the role 'in the family' and this will allow one follower to be part of the choir without having to sing. The role is unpaid but the compere does get to hear our concerts without buying a ticket. If you know of (or can convince) somebody who would fulfil this role please let David Evans know.
There will be a short EGM of the choir on Monday 27th October for the purpose of formally approving our accounts for the year 2013-14. A copy of the accounts will be available in the members area of the web site before the meeting.
The date given in last week's newsletter for the spring concert was wrong! It was listed as the 18th March, and should have been the 28th March. Please correct your calendars. Sorry for any inconvenience caused.
Please could everyone who has signed up for the Christmas Meal give me their menu choices and payment (for their guests as well). You can let me know at rehearsal or click this link: http://www.neweghamsingers.org/social-christmas-meal.html and fill out the form. The cost is £25.95 each. I have now been informed that in fact their will be a number of tables seating about 10 people on each. I will bring table plans to rehearsal for you to fill out so you can choose with whom you want to sit.
Chloe has a number of tickets for the Saturday matinee which weren't collected last week. She will bring them to rehearsal on Monday and if they're still not collected, she will leave them on the door at the theatre for you to collect on the day.
As you may know, Doug, husband of choir member Liz Gibson, often films NES performances as well as taking lots of photos throughout the show.
There are now four events available on DVD to buy at £5 each and Liz will have a small number of copies of each with her at rehearsal.
Please find Liz during the break if you wish to buy any of these. If they sell out Doug can always make more. All of the £5 will go to charity - probably the Air Ambulance as they attended Liz and Doug's son when he had a life-threatening accident (from which he is fully recovered!).
Did you know that it is possible to sign up for GiftAid to be applied to your choir subs?
• Tax deducted by the PAYE system from your salary or pension.
• Tax paid following the submission of a Self Assessment form by the self employed/sole traders etc.
• OR – unusually- Capital Gains tax on the sale of a property or Inheritance Tax.
If you fall into just one of these categories, then by filling out the form, you can increase the amount received from your normal subs payment to NES by 25% at no cost to yourself.
Janice will have copies of the form you need to fill out. Please take one and do so if you are eligible. Please fill out all of the fields as they are necessary in order for the HMRC to process our claim. Particularly Post Code and Title are very important.
If you have a change of circumstances at any time, and you no longer pay tax, please let either Janice Crook or Enid Richardson know. Depending on the time of year the change takes place, you may no longer be able to participate and we would need to know this.
Thank you for helping choir funds to grow, which in turn helps NES to improve the quality of our venues and concerts in the future.
We are implementing a new process to hopefully make our newsletters even more wonderful and error-free. To this end, it is more important than ever that copy reaches the secretary no later than Wednesday evening. To submit an item to the NES weekly newsletter, please e-mail secretary@neweghamsingers.org with your article no later than Wednesday evening. Please include a contact e-mail address which can be included in your posting. If you would like your item repeated, please let the secretary know on a weekly basis. Only items directly related to NES can be published. Other notices can be posted on our notice board which is displayed every week at rehearsal.
Thanks to everyone who has signed up for the Christmas meal. With 85 places filled so far it promises to be a great night! If you haven't signed up yet and want to please click this link to do so: Social: Christmas Meal or see me on Monday (13th). I will start taking payment and menu choices from Monday. The total cost is £25.95: cheques should be payable to New Egham Singers (or NES), or you can do a BACS transfer. I have attached the menu to the Newsletter or you can see it on the website at the above link. If you wish to bring a guest you may, but please note 2 things: 1) places are limited to 100 and we're now operating a 1st come 1st served list for the last places and 2) if you want to sit near somebody specific please let me know either via the website or at rehearsal.
Chloe will have tickets for collection on Monday. If you are unable to attend rehearsal she will bring them the following week and any that remain uncollected will be left on the door with your name on the envelope.
The next raffle will be held on Monday 13 October.
Thanks to all who have brought in donations for raffle prizes; please keep them coming... the November raffle will be the last one before the Christmas Meal!
Good news... we now have a venue for the Christmas meal! We have booked the Belvedere Arms, near Sunninghill, for Monday 8th December. It's a lovely gastro-pub with open fires and plenty of parking. We will need to know final numbers very soon so please look at the Christmas Meal page on the website (here: http://www.neweghamsingers.org/social-christmas-meal.html ) to register interest, see the menu (£25.95 for 3 courses) etc. So far 50 people are signed up (including guests). We will be limiting places to around 100 people, so please sign up quickly. NES members will have priority over guests in the event of over-subscription.
Reduced price booking has now closed. Chloe will bring the tickets to rehearsals as soon as she has them, or in the event you cannot pick them up at rehearsal they will be held on the door under your name. Please note, the Director has indicated that no tickets will be sold on the door.
We are still awaiting confirmation from a number of people as to whether or not they wish to attend the Workshop on the 8th November as well as from those who would like to travel to and from the Albert Hall by coach. Please email francesca.shelley@btopenworld.com as soon as possible to confirm.
The eagle eyed among you might have noticed "Magna Carta Day" in the Upcoming Dates section. "What is Magna Carta Day?" I hear you asking. "What does it have to do with NES?" It is a day of celebration that will be held at Royal Holloway College where various activities will take place. We are in early negotiating stages now, and it is not quite decided what, or if, we will be contributing. Watch this space for more information.