Chairman’s Report for the AGM (27 February 2022)
 

The past year has seen us engaged in many activities on your behalf:

• We changed our named to In Heacham from IHI to better promote the name of the village in our communications

• Two location maps were erected – at North Beach and the High Street

• The trial voucher scheme went ahead with nine traders taking part

• A three month advertising campaign was run on KLFM – largely paid for by Heacham-On-Line but supported by ourselves and several individual members

• The annual Treasure Hunt went ahead - and this year the content was particularly clever and entertaining

• We arranged a Business Forum at Norfolk Lavender with invited speakers from many fields of business, commerce, tax and local government

Sadly this latter activity did not receive the member support needed to go ahead, but it was encouraging that so many expert speakers were interested in coming along and taking an interest in our businesses.

The success of this last year was in delivering on several of the plans formed previously – i.e. those items above.

In terms of developing new thinking and developing new activities the year was disappointing. I feel that this was in part due to everything falling on the shoulders of just a few people who have been at the centre of In Heacham since the beginning four years ago.

We need to do something to encourage member interest and participation and we are therefore proposing a change of focus and terms of reference that will allow members to be engaged at a social and business level but not demand such a great input of time for a “core group”

The revised constitution is intended to deliver this change.  Click to see the new constitution

At the Annual General Meeting you will be voting on this constitution and also electing two members to become secretary and treasurer. Meetings will be less frequent with a “chairman” selected on a meeting by meeting basis i.e. As chairman for the next meeting. 

Our outgoing treasurer – Roger Haverson - and secretary – Sally Bonfield – have both served for three years and deserve our thanks for all that they have done to make In Heacham operate successfully over that time.

There is still much to do. No matter how long (or short) our trading history, maintaining our businesses in the village is not a “God-given right” and to succeed we are going to need one another for support, shared information and action and to keep Heacham alive as a village to do business in.

I wish you all every success in 2007 and for many years thereafter.