Our New Diary
Welcome to our Autumn St James Newsletter that supplements the Fourth Quarter 2023 Diary, which will be delivered to every household in the week commencing 11th September. If you did not receive your diary or would like another one, further copies are available from St James and at many locations around the island. The details are also available here.
The Diary highlights the main St James own events, while full details of all the events on at St James are shown on the website or by scanning the QR code in the Diary.
Our Events
We continue the exciting new Global Collection this Autumn with a return of the ever popular Baghdaddies and with Electric Footprints, a Jazz-Hiphop crossover group made up of three in demand London session players. We are also hosting a Halloween Party and are bringing back the Cuban Brothers for the next Mirror Ball Night. Not to be missed for Blues Lovers is the Blues Legend Lil’ Jimmy Reed and his A Team.
For those looking for more classical events we have the latest in the Swallow Recital series, which features the Marmen Quartet, one of the most impressive and engaging group in the chamber music arena. We also feature the latest piano recital in the Fanny Davies International Piano Series.
Finally, of course our usual winter events are also scheduled this Quarter as well and details are in the diary and on the website.
Changes at St James
After a very long search we have finally located replacement lampshades to replace those which were accidentally damaged some years ago and these have now been fitted in the Hall.
We are also delighted to report that our efforts to restore our Organ to full health have finally been rewarded. Following the fitting of some further circuit parts we now have an Organ that sounds really splendid and subject to final testing, we hope that there will be an opportunity to use it at future events.
Another longstanding issue has been problems with the winding mechanism of the St James clock and the difficulty in ensuring that it was wound manually every five and a half days from a precarious position in the clock tower. Thanks to a generous donation from the family of the late Martin Storey it has been possible for an electric winding mechanism to be installed so that the clock is once again reliably showing the correct time. Longer serving members may remember Martin Storey, both as a States Deputy for St Peter Port North and as a council Member of St James, so that it is a very fitting tribute to his constant support of St James.
We can also report that the Studio in the lower level of the Dorey Centre has now been completed and is being used regularly by musicians for practice purposes. This has been an innovative use of what used to be the Plant Room for the now redundant and replaced airflow unit in the Dorey Centre.
Finally, the observant visitors to St James will have noticed that we have bright new signs around the building which adopt our current logo and design.
Changes to Opening Hours
In order to streamline working hours for the small team at St James, we are revising the hours during which St James will be open to the public when there are no events scheduled. On a trial basis, from the beginning of September St James will not be open to visitors on Monday to Wednesday, however the box office telephone will continue to be answered between 9am and 2pm for those looking to book tickets. This will enable the team to focus on preparation for events and to cover necessary weekend working to support those events. We plan to review these arrangements at the end of the year in the light of experience and feedback.
Team Promotions
Recognising their increasing roles within the team at St James we are pleased to report that Greg Harrison has been promoted to Deputy Director and Matthieu Mayer has been promoted to Facilities Manager.
Feedback Form
Naturally, we hope that everyone’s experience of St James will be positive, but we are always ready to receive constructive feedback if anyone feels that we have fallen short of our high standards. To this end we have included a Feedback Form on our website and would be pleased to receive feedback, both positive and negative.
Annual General Meeting
Our Annual General Meeting is coming up fast, and will be held at 6.00pm on 20th November at St James. This is your opportunity to find out more about how St James is progressing and to hear about the Council’s plans for the future. As usual, there will be the opportunity to join the President and Council for a glass of wine at the end of the meeting and to continue the conversations in an informal context.
The AGM is when we elect our Council for the coming year. If any Member would be interested in joining Council or would like to know more about what is involved please contact Stephen Ainsworth by emailing stephen@stjames.gg or by calling St James. Nomination forms are available from St James by calling St James or emailing admin@stjames.gg.
The AGM will also mark the retirement of Stephen Ainsworth as the current President, though he will remain eligible to remain on Council.
Please take this Newsletter as the formal Notice of the AGM. Copies of the Agenda, of last year’s Minutes and the Accounts will be available by calling St James or emailing admin@stjames.gg. Full papers will also be available on the night at the AGM.
If you wish to send Apologies or to nominate a Proxy, again please contact St James or email admin@stjames.gg.