Trustees Report to April 2021
This report follows on from the first report submitted in February 2021 for the period up to April 2020.
Unfortunately owing to the Covid pandemic our activities were heavily restricted, few meetings occurred and we were unable to create any events to further our objectives. However the Trustees were able to meet 3 times in late 2020 & 4 times between July and October 2021 and we were able to collaborate with Malmesbury’s Wessex Week Organisers to support events being planned for October 2021.
Our website is now beginning to draw interest with hits rising up to 2638 by the end of April 2021.
Given our restrictions, the focus for the period therefore has been to collaborate with Wessex Week Organisers to plan events that could take place in October 2021. We committed to funding the visit by Michael Wood and to the venue hire for him to give a talk in Malmesbury Abbey about ‘The Lost Life of Aethelstan’. We accepted that there would be a limited physical audience but explored the opportunity for live streaming to viewers in their homes.
We have received donations to progress two projects for the future:-
A). A sword “Fit for a King” to be made in the Anglo-Saxon way for presentation to Athelstan Museum:
We have commissioned blacksmith Hector Cole MBE to make the sword who, unfortunately had to shield from the virus and could not allow anyone else in his forge. As we have also commissioned filming of the processes involved to accompany the sword, this we could not progress this element during the period.
B). Continue to explore the possibility of erecting a statue of King Aethelstan in Malmesbury town centre.
As a design has been agreed and a Pre-App Approval granted subject to final details, the Trustees agreed to prepare a full planning application to submit to Wiltshire Council. The outcome was still awaited at the end of the period.