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## **The National Vegetable Society**
## **Annual Report of the Trustees Sep 2022**
## **National championships**
In 2021, the National Championships were held at Atcham and were very successful despite our initial concerns due to the Covid Pandemic. We would also like to thank all those who volunteered to support last year’s show.
## **Governance**
Since the previous AGM in 2021 at Atcham, The Trustees and Branch representatives of the Society have held all meetings via Zoom.
## **Changes in 2021/22**
The officers for the Society remained as is, however, recently, our Vice Chair , Ian Stocks has stood down due to his health, Gareth Cameron, stood down as Sponsorship Manager and we formally thank Ian and Gareth for their years of hard work.
During 2022, we have welcomed a new Welsh Branch Trustee, Lesley Stone who replaced Rob Holmes ( thanks Rob for your input over the past two years) and a new Scottish Branch Trustee in Frank Taylor who replaced Gareth Cameron.
I would like to also mention our Hard working Membership Registrar, Norman Dickinson, who recently suffered a heart attack, but is thankfully on the mend.
Whist this has been a particularly difficult year for some within the Trustee Team, myself included, we have continued to work on the NVS development plan albeit at a slower pace in some areas. With Covid restrictions reduced, and the ability to do more, this also reduced the time available for projects, unlike the previous two years.
## **Management**
As you know, a major change in how we manage our memberships has been in place since go live in Nov 2020. During this time, we have improved certain processes and highlighted others that require further work and development both internally and with our Service Provider, White Fuse.
## **Communication**
With the technology available through our **membership software system** , we have utilised more email broadcasts and further used the ability to manage events with bookings , for example, talks and garden visits. (This helps when managing and planning numbers). If any Branch or DA would like me to provide them with a demonstration on the various tools within the system that could benefit them, then please let me know.
Communication is vital to so many areas of our society, and so the further development of a **communications strategy** is underway and is in the process of being aligned and included within the Development plan.
Our **quarterly Simply Vegetables magazine** has continued to be one of our key communication and information sources for all our members. In addition to the magazine and web site, the activity on our Facebook members site has increased to approx. 250 members this is providing an additional avenue for sharing progress, asking questions and sharing information, whilst our main facebook page has over two and a half thousand followers.
The continuation of “Winter Zoom talks” has proved to be a success and we plan to continue with these after the clocks go back. With covid restrictions reduced, it has been encouraging to see the hard work done by our District Associations and the many members who have been giving local talks throughout the country. Thankyou.
## **External Partners**
Gareth Cameron again worked hard with our partners this year and we are grateful for the free seeds received which were provided for all our members from DT Brown and Medwny’s of Anglesey. This year, we also commenced conducting seed trials with 60 volunteer members across the country in conjunction with Marshalls and DT Brown. This is currently ongoing with our members noting their results and taking photos to help provide valuable feedback. The NVS also supported Marshalls this year at their Garden display at Gardeners World in Birmingham. It is vital that we continue to work to develop our relationships with external partners, both existing and new.
## **Finance**
Our Gift Aid Claim for 2021 has recently been submitted resulting in an overall claim of £12,421 with £3,105 expected to be received soon. This is an increase from 2021, so thank you to all who have ticked the gift Aid box. Gift Aid money is given out to each branch based on their local members who supported Gift Aid.
## **Society Awards 2022**
In 2022, we awarded 8 Fellowship awards, 2 Silver medals and 3 Gold medals, I’m delighted to say that some recipients are here today and the awards will be presented later.
## **NVS Fellowships** –
**----- Start of picture text -----**
Presentation
Branch Name location
David (Sam) AGM
Midlands Forrester
Midlands Albert Walker AGM
Southern Norman Dickinson Locally
Southern Chris Passey AGM
Welsh Gareth Morris Locally
Welsh Tom Maher Locally
Northern Dave Peel AGM
Northern Olive Peel AGM
**----- End of picture text -----**
## **NVS Silver Medallists** -
**----- Start of picture text -----**
Branch Name Presentation
Midlands Jean Forrester AGM
Welsh Eirian Jones Locally
**----- End of picture text -----**
## **NVS Gold Medallist –**
**----- Start of picture text -----**
Branch Name Presentation
Scottish Gareth Cameron AGM
Scottish Fiona Shenfield AGM
Scottish Ian Stocks AGM
**----- End of picture text -----**
## **NVS Judges 2021**
In 2021, the Scottish branch held a Judges exam on October 2[nd] which resulted in the following members becoming newly qualified NVS judges. Congratulations to; Peter Fitch, ( Moray Nr Inverness)
Veronica Smith (Livingston, Nr Edinburgh)
Ian MacPhee (Alloa Nr Falkirk)
Chris Spree (Stockbury in Kent)
This year, we are delighted that our **Irish District Association is holding a Judges**
**exam in Ireland for the first time** along with the Welsh Branch and we wish all candidates the best of luck in October.
## **Publications & Documentation**
This year we have increased the quantity of general growing leaflets which can be found in the NVS Web site library. We have further updated the membership application form to keep it current with the new website and also created A6 fliers to further advertise the NVS at events.
## **In closing, I would like to thank all our officers and committee members at D.A., Branch and National level who are all volunteers doing their best with the NVS at heart.**
This concludes the Trustee report. Fiona Shenfield FNVS, National Secretary, Sept. 2022.