Sarah Anderson introduces herself as the new Treasurer of the Sotonettes, and reports back on her first committee meeting

As well as hosting an evening of flower arranging at the Slug and Lettuce in Southampton, Tuesday 26 May 2015 is also the Sotonettes’ Annual General Meeting. One implication of this is that our present Treasurer, Cat Cooper, will be standing down after three years’ excellent service in the role, and I will be carrying the baton forward in all things finance-related. I joined the Sotonettes as a member in January 2014 after attending that month’s scrapbooking-themed main meeting. Since then I have had the pleasure of attending so many of the monthly meetings, as well as craft night and the odd book club. The variety of interesting topics covered in the main meetings, the fellow members whom I have met along the way and the anticipation of a great evening out on many a Tuesday led me to put my name forward so that I can play an even more active role in the future. I also work as an accountant at the local hospital by day, so the role of Treasurer might go some way to feeding my spreadsheet addiction.

I attended my first committee meeting on Tuesday 5 May and was warmly welcomed by all attending, with Cat hosting. To my surprise and culinary delight, Cat had prepared a delicious dish of pasta with parmesan, homemade pesto and pine nuts, amongst other ingredients. We spent about an hour discussing what I would need to do in my future role of Treasurer, during which the wonderful aroma of baking cake drifted up the stairs. This turned out to be a banana and nut tea loaf:

Complimentary cake courtesy of Cat

We progressed to the main agenda items: these included plans for future member meetings, our strategy of promoting the Sotonettes over the next few months, and discussion of this year’s NFWI Resolution: Failing to Care. There are some exciting meetings ahead for the Sotonettes and it was great to be a part of this group of ladies for the evening. I was made to feel really welcome and I’m looking forward to the main event on 26 May.

Currently there is room on the committee for others who would like to get involved; I would strongly encourage any member who feels they can commit to a few hours per month towards shaping the direction of the Sotonettes to get in touch at sotonettes@gmail.com, or speak to a committee member at the next meeting.

Sarah Anderson