We are the Huntingdonshire branch of the national Arts Society, whose mission statement is ‘Enriching lives through the Arts’.
We offer a programme of monthly talks – nine a year (Wednesday afternoons, starting at 2.30pm) in the St Ives Corn Exchange.
We also arrange Visits to exhibitions, and other venues of interest, and occasional Study Days.
Our Volunteer Groups include Historic Church Recorders, and, through the affiliated Cambridgeshire Gardens Trust, Garden Heritage Volunteers.
We support ASHYAC (Arts Society Huntingdonshire Young Artists Competition), and its annual exhibition of work at both primary and secondary levels.
And finally, an annual holiday of four or five days duration, in spring or autumn, based at a location in the UK, comprising visits to museums, houses and gardens, cathedrals, etc.
On Wednesday 13th May, Caroline Levisse will talk on ‘Danish Modernism: the Skagen painters’ – the final lecture in our 2025-2026 series, before our AGM in June. We look forward to seeing you there.
Located in the northernmost point of the Jutland peninsula in Denmark, Skagen is an attractive spot in the summer for its unusual light. From the 1870s to the beginning of the 20th century this fishermen’s village was home to an artists’ colony. Some of its more famous members include Anna and Michael Ancher, Marie and Peter Severin Kreyer, as well as Laurits Tuen. Reacting against style enforced by the Academies and influenced instead by French Modernism, they painted in plein air and represented scenes from every-day life. Fishermen at work, social gathering and domestic scenes are common in their works.
_______________________________________
The Arts Society Huntingdonshire
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
to be held in the Corn Exchange, St Ives on Wednesday 10th June 2026 at 2.30pm.
AGENDA
1. Apologies for absence
2. Minutes of the last AGM
3. Matters arising from the minutes
4. Chair’s Report (Minutes and Annual Reports are now posted on the website. Any comments, or questions to the Chair, must be submitted in writing to the Secretary no later than 20th May)
5. To receive the Annual Statement of Accounts, and to nominate the Auditor.
6. Appointment of Committee Officers
6.1 Chair – Jane Woods
6.2 Treasurer – Carole Pook
6.3 Secretary – Jane Woods
6.4 Confirmation of remaining committee members: Alison Clough, Jackie Flatman, Rosemary Huckle, Mary Knowles, Claire Sarkies.
7. Votes of thanks
7.1 Corn Exchange staff
7.2 Mrs Bridget Hendry (auditor)
8. Any other busines
9. Date of the next AGM: Wednesday 9th June 2027
————————————-
The Arts Society, Huntingdonshire
Minutes of the 42nd Annual General Meeting held on 11th June 2025
at 2.30pm in The Corn Exchange, St Ives
Present: Jane Woods (Chair and Secretary), Carole Pook (Treasurer), Alison Clough (Membership Secretary), Mary Knowles (Holiday Secretary), Rosemary Huckle (Young Arts Secretary), Elaine Clarkson (Member without Portfolio), plus 67 members, and 11 visitors.
1. Apologies for absence: Kay Coope, Rosemary Davern, Pennie Harrison, Claire Sarkies, Marion Sweet.
2. Minutes of the last AGM
The minutes were approved as a true record; proposed by Elspeth Gibbon; seconded by Kay Coope. Carried nem. con.
3. Matters arising from the minutes
There were no matters arising.
4. Chair’s Report
The Chair welcomed members to the 42nd AGM of The Arts Society Huntingdonshire. According to the Constitution, full reports had been posted on the website in advance of the meeting, and hard copies provided to those with no computer access. There were no questions from the floor, and none had been submitted prior to the AGM.
She then delivered an abbreviated Chair’s Report.
Our new year 2024-25 began, as always, in September, with the first of many excellent lectures – on Van Gogh. Yet again, many thanks to Claire Sarkies, our Programme Secretary, for the energy she has devoted to securing highly recommended speakers on a wide variety of topics – this year, even wider than usual. Lecture attendance has been consistently high, and our visitor numbers have increased exponentially as the year progressed – a cheering number being tempted to consider joining the Society.
You have today been given the 2025-26 lecture programme; we hope to see as many of you as possible at each lecture – and do please continue to bring friends along with you.
In October, we had a Special Interest Day on ‘Jewellery and Costume’. You’ll recall, I’m sure, the exquisite costume jewels which Andrew Prince had been commissioned to make for the TV series, ‘Downton Abbey’, and Frances Saltmarsh showed us how, from one basic dress, she created six distinct costumes for the six Queens of Henry VIII.
Visits have again proved difficult to organise, as we still lack a dedicated Visits Secretary. However, in November, members greatly enjoyed a visit to the National Gallery in London, to see the once-in-a-lifetime Van Gogh exhibition, which lived up to every-one’s expectations.
Mary Knowles has already organised this year’s holiday – to Shropshire in September – but this will unfortunately be her last. So – if you would like to have future holidays to look forward to, we shall need a new Holiday Secretary – or even a small organising committee, which could share the work between them. Mary would always be happy to offer advice, but for personal reasons cannot continue to take on responsibility for the whole organisation in the coming year. Please consider.
March 2025 saw the annual ASHYAC (Arts Society Huntingdonshire Young Artists Competition) competition and exhibition, held this year in Sawtry Village Academy. It was even more successful than in previous years; 1,000 visitors attended, and 278 artworks from 41 schools were displayed. Once again, the event was planned and organised by our Young Arts Secretary, Rosemary Huckle, but this year with the much-appreciated help of some of our newer members. In addition, five of our students were on the shortlist of 25 in the national A Level Art Competition, though they were sadly not this year among the winners.
Easter saw the third delivery of yet more Art Bags to the Huntingdon Food Bank, containing age-appropriate art materials suitable for secondary, primary and infant. Thanks to Carole Pook, our Treasurer – the motive force behind this initiative, and to Glesny Sheppard, who made the colourful fabric bags.
We look forward to receiving this year’s nomination from Long Road Sixth Form College for the third student deemed worthy of the annual Isobel Lattimore Textile Bursary, in support of their university studies in textile design.
Though reduced in number, our Church Recording volunteers, under the leadership of Pat Hamilton, have pressed on with recording St John the Baptist, Holywell, which will be completed by the end of the year. Sadly, we understand that Pat Hamilton feels she can no longer continue as Group Leader, and unless a new leader can be found, and several new recorders come forward, there will be no more HuntsArts church recording. This would be a sad loss – both to HuntsArts, and to the national Church Recording project.
The Garden Heritage volunteers, however, continue to enjoy an impressive programme of visits, and some excellent study days. HuntsArts members are strongly recommended, if not already members, to consider becoming one.
So, in summary, we have this year offered 10 lectures, one visit, one study day and a holiday, but more support is vital if we are to continue to maintain this range of events. We are losing Mary, and should like, at the very least, some-one to shadow the Treasurer and the Programme Secretary over the coming year. We are therefore once again circulating the One Task Pledge Forms. Last year, these bore fruit. Pennie Harrison volunteered to take over from Bob Woodham – she didn’t want the title of Webmaster, nor to attend committees, but we are so grateful to her for keeping our website up-to-date, and to those members who have stepped up to help meet and greet arrivals, and to serve refreshments. So before you leave this afternoon, do please consider how you might contribute in future to the running of our Society, in whatever capacity. As it stands, we fear that, should circumstances force even one of the current committee to stand down, the Society would not be able to continue.
Finally, I wish to thank the committee members not mentioned so far – Alison Clough, our Membership Secretary – so much work goes into meticulous record keeping, without which the Society couldn’t function effectively; and Elaine Clarkson, Committee Member without Portfolio.
And once again, our grateful thanks to Joe Masters, the Corn Exchange Operations Manager, Sam Lenton, Hospitality Manager and Peter White, Caretaker. We so much appreciate their friendliness and efficiency.
5. To receive the Annual Statement of Accounts for 2024-2025, and to nominate the auditor
The Treasurer reported that £7,359 had been received in subscriptions, and £1,594 from visitors (both up on last year).
Our Arts Society contribution was £2,060.46. £1,394 was paid for the hire of the Corn Exchange. Fees to speakers totalled £ 3,380, and £316.59 in expenses (less than last year). Income from the Study Day was £830 (a small profit). The IL Textile Prize account stood at £1,678.16. The end of year Current Account therefore stood at £4,374.32, and the Deposit Account at £4,609.22.
The end of year statement, as presented, was approved by the membership (proposed by Peter Downes; seconded by Jennifer Liddell). The Treasurer proposed that Mrs Bridget Hendry be formally appointed Auditor for the coming year, to which there were no objections.
6. Election of Committee Officers
Nominations were as follows:
6.1) Chair – Jane Woods. Proposed by Janet Probyn; seconded by John Gibbon. Carried nem con.
6.2) Treasurer – Carole Pook. Proposed by Sassy Skinner, seconded by Richard Probyn. Carried nem. con.
6.3) Secretary – Jane Woods. Proposed by Jackie Flatman; seconded by Caroline Reid. Carried nem.con.
6.4) Confirmation of remaining committee members
Elaine Clarkson (Member without Portfolio), Alison Clough, (Membership Secretary), Rosemary Huckle (Young Arts Secretary), Mary Knowles (Holiday Secretary), Claire Sarkies (Acting Programme Secretary).
Re-elected en bloc, and carried nem. con.
7. Votes of thanks
7.1. The Chair again warmly thanked Joe Masters, and the staff of the Corn Exchange.
7.2. Grateful thanks were due to Mrs Bridget Hendry for agreeing to act as auditor.
Gifts were to be made to both colleagues.
8. Any other business
There was no further business.
9. Date of the next AGM
The next AGM would be held on 10th June 2026.
The business of the meeting being completed, the Chair invited Mary Knowles to introduce the afternoon’s speaker, Chris Owen, who gave a talk on ‘Henry Moore: a miner’s son from Castleford’, after which the meeting concluded with refreshments.
Jane Woods. Carole Pook
Chair. Treasurer
11th June 2025 11th June 2025
_____________________________________
CHAIR’S REPORT
Our new year 2025-26 began, as usual, in September, with the first in our annual lecture programme. Yet again, many thanks to Claire Sarkies, our Acting Programme Secretary, for the energy she always devotes to securing highly recommended speakers on a wide variety of topics. Bertie Pearce: ‘The Dancing Faun’, Gavin Plumley : ‘John Singer Sargent, the private radical’ and Chris Owen: ‘Surrealism and English Art’, were rated ‘outstanding’. Tony Faber: ‘The Genius of Antonio Stradivari’, Christopher Garibaldi: ‘George Stubbs, the English Leonardo’, Julian Reay: ‘The Shakespeare of Sculpture, Gian Lorenzo Bernini’, Rupert Dickens: ‘Hogarth at the Hustings’, and Dan Evans – ‘Caravaggio: The bad boy of the Baroque’, were all graded ‘excellent’. Lecture attendance has been consistently high, but not quite as high as 2024 – 25; our visitor numbers likewise. You will shortly be given the lecture programme for 2026 – 27, so we hope to continue to see as many of you as possible at each lecture – and particularly that you bring along your friends, as guests!
Later in September, members greatly enjoyed an outstandingly successful holiday – a five day tour of Stunning Shropshire, visiting Compton Verney, the Iron Bridge Museum, Attingham Park, the Coalport China Museum, Blist Hill Victorian Town, Stokesay Castle, Ludlow and Coughton Court. We feared that this would be our final holiday, as for personal reasons, Mary Knowles had to stand down as Holiday Secretary, but we are delighted to welcome her back on board, and with the support of Jackie Flatman, is now planning Visits – the first in June, to Kew Gardens, which are hosting an exhibition of Henry Moore sculptures.
In October, we had a Special Interest Day on Printmaking. Sherry Rea, a professional printmaker (whose studio is in Elsworth), first demonstrated the various techniques, from entry level to advanced, and then supervised our members as they experimented – printing hessian bags, pencil cases and cards to take home. In February, our Study Day was on ‘The Underground Railroad’; in the morning, Carole Pook lectured on Harriet Tubman, and in the afternoon, Kay Goddard showed us how quilts were ‘a patterned path to freedom’ – the textiles serving as maps to guide enslaved peoples to safe routes and safe houses on their journey north.
March 2026 saw the annual ASHYAC (Arts Society Huntingdonshire Young Artists Competition) competition and exhibition, held this year in St. Ivo Academy. c. 850 visitors attended, and 301 artworks from 37 schools were displayed. Once again, the event was planned and organised by our Young Arts Secretary, Rosemary Huckle, with the much-appreciated help of other members. This year, of the five of our students who were among the 25 shortlisted in the national ‘A’ Level Art Competition, two were placed second and third – Erika Ralph, from St. Peter’s School, for her work ‘Recipe for disaster’ and James Lawless from Kimbolton, for his photograph, ‘Dancer’. This was a superb achievement, and was given full coverage in the Huntingdonshire Post.
Following the death of Jill Donnelly, who did so much for our Society – organising visits and holidays, and a staunch supporter of YA – it was decided to award in her memory the annual Jill Donnelly Prize for Drawing to a secondary school student. Its first recipient is Charly Smith, of Kimbolton School.
In the summer of 2025, members of the committee had been invited to view the end of year exhibition of work by the ‘A’ Level Fashion Textiles students at Long Road Sixth Form College. The committee thought the work exhibited exceptional, and were delighted to award the bursary to Jess Laws, who is continuing her studies at the University of the Arts, Central St. Martin’s, in Fashion and Textiles.We shall shortly be receiving a nomination from Long Road Sixth Form College for the fourth student to be considered for the 2026 Isobel Lattimore Textile Bursary, in support of their university studies in textile design and conservation.
We have continued throughout the year to provide Art Bags to the Godmanchester Food Bank, where they are much appreciated. Thanks again to Carole Pook – the motive force behind this initiative. We shall be holding a raffle at our AGM, to raise funds to help continue this valuable project.
I should particularly like to thank the committee members not mentioned so far – Alison Clough, our Membership Secretary, whose meticulous record-keeping goes I fear largely unappreciated, and Jackie Flatman, who has given new impetus to our (rather tired) committee.
Again, many thanks to Pennie Harrison, who grapples with the vagaries of our website, keeping it user-friendly and up-to-date.
In the autumn, our Church Recording volunteers, under the leadership of Pat Hamilton, completed the record of St. John the Baptist, Holywell, which is now printed and bound. Our Huntingdonshire Group began in 2002, and since then has recorded six churches. Sadly, Pat Hamilton has now stood down as the Group Leader, and the group has disbanded. Her contribution was immense, both in supporting each team member in their chosen specialism, and ultimately in loading the final texts and photographs into the approved format for printing. We thank her for her dedication and enthusiasm, which kept us going through many a cold winter in icy churches! This is a sad loss – both to HuntsArts, and the valuable national Church Recording project, particularly so, as The Arts Society is once again funding the local groups, after a period when they were dependent on the Church Recording Society.
The Garden Heritage volunteers continue to offer an impressive programme. Relatively few members of HuntsArts are also members of the Cambridgeshire Gardens Trust, and they enjoy well informed lectures, a variety of visits, and some excellent study days; non-members are missing out!
In March 2026, Claire Sarkies attended the East Anglian Arts Society Spring Forum in Bury St Edmunds. Though we are still ranked as a small Society, we have this year nonetheless managed to maintain our programme of 10 lectures, plus one visit, two study days and a holiday. Our Treasurer, Carole Pook, will deliver her end-of-year financial statement at our May lecture. Our budget this year has been skewed by the sizeable increase in our contribution to The Arts Society – in February, without advance warning – and falling membership (now only123) means our subscription income is much reduced. We relentlessly beat the drum about the necessity for more support, even to maintain the range of events we currently offer, and I feel that we must warn you that the present committee finds it hard to predict the future beyond the coming year.
Finally, our most grateful thanks to Joe Masters, the Corn Exchange Operations Manager, Sam Lenton, Hospitality Manager and Peter White, Caretaker. We so much appreciate their warmth and efficiency.
Jane Woods
TREASURER’S REPORT
This financial year has presented some challenges. We are lucky to have had such excellent lecturers, but their fees and their travel costs have of course risen with inflation. We were presented with a much larger rise than we had anticipated of £16.20 for each member in the fees payable to the Arts Society itself. The large number of visitors our programme attracts has again given us a substantial bonus, but it is not a source we should rely on.
A full Treasurer’s Report will be given before the May lecture.The final accounts will be available after they have been audited at the end of the financial year, 31st May 2026.
Carole Pook
MEMBERSHIP SECRETARY’S REPORT
Our membership numbers over the past year have, unfortunately, shown a decrease and we now have 123 members on the national/local databases. Our meeting venue – the Corn Exchange in St. Ives – continues to attract a considerable number of monthly ‘drop-in’ guests to our lectures – who are warmly welcomed as they ‘sign-in’.
My on-going reminder please. To ensure you receive all communication/s from both our local and national Societies, plus the three times a year national magazine, your details need to be kept up-to-date on the database/s. If you change any of these details – please let me know as soon as possible. I can then ensure that you continue to receive communications from our committee – plus all national e-mails, etc. And all delivered to your registered e-mail and/or residential address. A ‘change of details’ form can be completed at any of our monthly meetings or you can e-mail any changes to me personally.
Many thanks for your continued on-going co-operation.
Alison Clough
PROGRAMME SECRETARY’S REPORT
Bertie Pearce’s lecture on ‘The Dancing Faun’ was a wonderful curtain-raiser for the 2025-26 season. The story of how a small garden ornament, bought in a job lot for seven guineas, came to be recognised as a masterpiece by a 17c artist that ultimately sold for seven million pounds was enthralling and told with flair by a lecturer with a delightful sense of humour and great sense of theatre.
We went on to enjoy excellent lectures on Stradivarius, Bernini, George Stubbs, John Singer Sargent, Hogarth and Caravaggio.
Jackie Klein, who gave us a highly proficient lecture on Grayson Perry, had been booked for our March lecture to speak on the Young British Artists of the 1980s. Unfortunately she withdrew as her circumstances had altered. Only one other lecturer in The Arts Society offers this topic and he failed to respond to an email request. Luckily the gap in our programme was filled by Chris Owen from Cambridge. We felt honoured that he wrote a lecture on British Surrealism especially for us. Despite the short notice he had, the result was an outstanding educational experience and the final audience participation exercise in demonstrating Surrealism through constructing a sentence was most enjoyable.
We look forward to a lecture in May on a Danish artist colony, the Skagen Painters, who are not so well known in this country. Finally, in June we shall have a visit from a textile artist living in Wisbech who has made a replica of the Bayeux Tapestry.
Study Days
The Art of Printing
It is gratifying to call upon local talent to enrich our appreciation of the arts. In October, Sherry Rea brought an exciting range of materials and demonstrated techniques to members so that they could try their hands at creating prints.
Anti-Slavery in life and art
Our most recent Study Day began with a lecture from our Treasurer, Carole Pook, who also lectures for U3A. Carole gave us a fascinating talk on Harriet Tubman, who having escaped slavery herself, worked tirelessly for the abolitionist movement and personally helped many escapees.
In the afternoon, we were introduced to the use of patchwork and its familiar patterns in helping slaves escape via the so-called Underground Railroad. The lecturer brought an impressive quilt of her own that she had created in shades of blue and yellow.
Carole not only organised these days, and delivered a lecture at the second, but also sourced and prepared delicious lunches. We owe a huge vote of thanks to her for her enthusiasm, expertise and sheer hard work.
Claire Sarkies
HOLIDAY SECRETARY’S REPORT
May has always been the preferred month for our Society’s holiday, but that was not possible in 2025 and our holiday took place in September. Holidays, whether for a couple or for a large group, take a lot of preparation and hard work, but are usually well worth it. This was certainly the case for our visit to stunning Shropshire. Twenty of us travelled to The Valley Hotel in Ironbridge via the Compton Verney art gallery on Sunday 21st September and stayed for four nights. Ironbridge is an UNESCO World Heritage Site, known as the cradle of the Industrial Revolution. It is home to ten living museums and we enjoyed visits to three of them; Coalport China, Blist Hill Victorian Town and the Museum of the Gorge. Blist Hill deserves a special mention, where visitors are immersed in the atmosphere of a small industrial town in the late nineteenth century. We visited homes, shops, engineering works, foundries, ironworks, the school and a number of us could not resist buying the best chips ever from the Fried Fish and Chipped Potato Shop. Our hotel, very welcoming with an excellent restaurant, was situated in Ironbridge, on the side of the Gorge and within walking distance of the famous bridge. We also made visits to the magical Stokesay Castle, Attingham Park, Coughton Court, the Severn Valley Railway, Wenlock Edge and made time for a brief visit to Ludlow for lunch. The weather forecast had been terrible, but the sun shone every day, enabling us to enjoy beautiful Shropshire with a wonderful group of fellow travellers.
There is not going to be a holiday in 2026, but thanks to Jackie Flatman, who has joined the committee this year, we are working together to arrange two visits. The first will be on 15th June to Kew Gardens, which are hosting an exhibition of over 100 works by Henry Moore. In January 2027, we hope to arrange a visit to ‘Renoir in Love’, a major exhibition of 50 paintings at the National Gallery.
We are a small Society and finding enough passengers to fill a coach is becoming a problem, especially since coach hire is very expensive and not really affordable for less than 40. However, our visits are very popular with members, but in future, we may need to look outside our membership in order to fill a coach.
Mary Knowles
YOUNG ARTS SECRETARY’S REPORT
In September 2025, Young Arts submitted 24 ‘A’ Level artworks, from four local secondary schools, to The Arts Society National ‘A’ Level Competition. The schools were Kimbolton School, St. Ivo Academy, St. Peter’s School and Sawtry Village Academy. In January, we were delighted to be informed that artworks from five students had been shortlisted from a long list of 126 nationwide: James Lawless and Nancy Heylan, Kimbolton School; Amy Lewis, St. Ivo Academy; Erika Ralph, St. Peter’s School and Imogen Smith, Sawtry Village Academy. Members of the National Arts Society voted on-line for their favourite artwork during January and February. In March, we were thrilled to be informed that two students had been awarded prizes. Erika Ralph from St. Peter’s School won the 2nd prize of £250 and James Lawless from Kimbolton School the 3rd prize of £150. Many congratulations to the students and the teachers.
On 7th March Young Arts held their annual competition/exhibition ASHYAC at St. Ivo Academy. In the autumn term a group of volunteers had been busy delivering invitations to schools. In January they helped to collect and deliver the entries to St. Ivo Academy. It was pleasing to see some schools participating for the first time. 37 schools presented 301 artworks for the competition and exhibition. The age range was from four years old to 18. The exhibition showcased the outstanding artistic talent across Huntingdonshire, and over 850 people visited the exhibition.
Volunteers helped to hang the art works and many Society members helped to run the exhibition on the day. My reliable team then returned the entries and later delivered the notelet card orders to the schools.
Many thanks to St. Ivo Academy for hosting ASHYAC 2026. Special thanks to Lucy Kingsbury, Catherine Harness and Lauren Tomlinson for all their help and time given, ensuring the day was a success.
Rosemary Huckle
VOLUNTEERS’ REPORTS
The Church Recorders Group
First introduced in 1973, Church Recording has since grown into a fascinating activity for thousands of volunteers. Its principal aim is to produce a comprehensive Record in the shape of an illustrated book for a church or other religious building. Copies are sent to the County Record Office, Victoria and Albert Museum and some other institutions. This means the heritage within such buildings is promoted and recognised, helping to preserve and protect it.
The nature of Church Recording has seen many changes over the years, not least technological ones. Following a period of observational work and photography in the church, combined with research, today’s Records are produced and distributed entirely digitally with physical copies now only given to the church and local Record Office.
The Huntingdon Church Recording Group began in 2002 at the suggestion of the then Lady Hemingford. Since then the following churches have been recorded:
All Saints Church, Brington, completed 2007; All Saints Church, Huntingdon, completed 2010; All Saints Church, St. Ives, completed 2015; St. Peter & St. Paul Church, Fenstanton, completed 2019; St. Andrews Church, Swavesey, completed 2023, and lastly, St. John the Baptist Church, Holywell, completed 2025.
The St. John the Baptist, Holywell Church Record was given to the churchwarden in December 2025 and the Huntingdon archive copy was deposited in January 2026. We await notification from the church of the dedication service, so that the CR group may attend.
As I am now standing down as Group Leader, I extend my sincere gratitude and appreciation to all members of my CR group, past and present, for the considerable time, effort and commitment they have given to our CR projects. Church recording is very much a team effort. My heartfelt thanks to them and the Huntingdonshire Arts Society who supported us when TAS funding ceased several years ago. We have since been informed that CR funding from TAS has now been reinstated – sadly when we can no longer make use of it.
Pat Hamilton
——————————————————
Memorial for Dr. Jill Donnelly
Saturday 28th March
The paediatric department of Hinchingbrooke hospital was a fitting venue for a celebration of Jill’s life. Former colleagues testified to Jill’s impressive work within and beyond the hospital.
Contributions from staff and friends allowed the purchase of a beautiful oak chair; Dreamdrops children’s charity presented an inscribed plaque in the shape of a teardrop which is the charity’s emblem and a leaf with Jill’s name was attached to the memorial tree in the staff garden at the hospital.
Claire Sarkies was invited to represent The Arts Society with a few words:
“Jill was a highly respected and long-standing member of the Huntingdonshire branch of The Arts Society, a lecture-based society which also supports arts in the community through volunteering.
As you can imagine she brought intelligence, dynamism and commitment to her various roles. She organised some memorable outings and holidays, generously hosted many meetings and in addition she served as our Young Arts Secretary, uniting her interest in the Arts with her love of children. In this capacity she established an annual schools’ art exhibition, which continues to this day.
During the year of the 300th anniversary celebrating Capability Brown, she liaised with Fenstanton and Hilton Primary School, supporting the project to create a commemorative stained glass window. Jill took delight in the children’s design work, especially when a child informed the grown-ups that there was something missing from the picture. The ‘something’ was Brown himself, who subsequently appeared behatted and brandishing a spade. She took part in the school’s outing to the Stained Glass Museum in Ely and organised a festive tea party at the end of the project. For all this she was given the Marsh Award by The Arts Society for outstanding volunteer work.
In paying tribute to Jill, I’d also like to mention two other Arts Society members who are here today. Margaret Gledhill and Lilian Pickin worked tirelessly, collecting artwork from local schools to brighten the hospital corridors. Sadly Covid interrupted this service but I hope it may be re-introduced as so many people commented on the pleasure it brought.
Jill was as kind as she was intelligent. Her public service was exemplary. This morning I read of Charles Darwin’s remark on the passing of John Henslow, the creator of the Botanic Gardens in Cambridge. He said “ I fully believe a better man never walked this earth”. We just need to change the gender but not the sentiment! ”
Claire Sarkies
For the JustGiving website, please click on
https://www.justgiving.com/charity/dreamdrops
2025/26 Arts Society A Level Art Competition
We have just heard that Erika Ralph (St.Peter’s School) has been awarded 2nd Place in the competition for her work ‘Recipe for Disaster’, and James Lawless (Kimbolton School) has been awarded 3rd Place for his image ‘Dancer’.
They will shortly be featured on the AS website, together with all the artwork entered in the competition.
Many congratulations to two very accomplished young artists – and to Rosemary Huckle, who works tirelessly in support of Young Arts
As you walk in have you noticed the new notelets for sale? They are priced at £1 each (cash only)
NB. We accept no responsibility for the content of any websites that are not under our direct control.
The Arts Society, Huntingdonshire 