Lady Mabel College Old Students Association
The Annual General Meeting of the Association Wentworth Woodhouse
Monday 17th May 2026 at 10:30 am
1. The President’s Welcoming Address
Good morning and welcome to everyone. A special welcome to the call-up years of 1966 and 1976, and I believe we have 7 new members joining us today. I hope you enjoy the day and become regulars at our annual meeting. Unless I am mistaken, we have 91 members here today. Call up year 1976 has 12 members attending closely followed by 1975 and 1970 with 10 and 11 attendees.
Would members put the area where they lived on their badge in order to match up members from different years regarding travel arrangements to the reunion in the future?
Sadly, we have lost a few members over the last year. I won’t name them in case I miss anyone out, but if you have any more information to share, please pass it on at the end of the meeting.
We have also had some very nice messages from members unable to attend this year owing to ill health or other circumstances, and I would like to wish them well and show respect for those who have passed with a minutes silence to reflect.
I believe I mentioned being cancer-free for 20 years, here, after being diagnosed 3 days before the 2005 AGM, in the hope that it gives hope to others.
Moving on, I would like to thank officers and members of the committee for their support over the year. Also, special thanks to Jenny Luxford, who, despite resigning her post last year, agreed to be co-opted back onto the committee to support us, especially regarding the website! Thank you. She can now enjoy her retirement!
You will have noted the change of format to procedure today, as the officers’ reports were sent out in advance so members could study them carefully and come prepared for meaningful discussion. Hopefully, this makes proceedings flow more smoothly and leaves more time for tours and catching up with your peers! I would also like to thank those members who volunteer at the House and maintain a positive profile with the Trust on our behalf. Every little helps.
A number of us attended the memorial service in July at Sheffield Cathedral to honour Dame Julie. Thanks must go to Sue for making sure we were dressed appropriately! It was a lovely service, and she is still sorely missed at the House.
Later in the year, there was all the excitement around the Honorary Degree ceremonies following the successful, arduous and dedicated commitment of Pam Hunt and Jan on behalf of all ex-Lady Mabel College students. I hope they have been able to relax a bit since.
More recently, Jenny and I attended a tour of the South Tower, known to students as Adam’s Room, which The Landmark Trust are hoping to restore to its original state when it was the 2nd Marchioness’s private parlour. It will then be available for rent as an apartment for visitors. Hopefully, they can successfully raise the funding to complete this before we run out of ex-students wishing to be the first visitors to stay here before the AGM!
Before we move on to the next part of the meeting. Last year, when Jenny retired from the post of secretary, I believe I said what a hard act she would be to follow. Thankfully, we have successfully acquired someone just as vigilant and hard-working as our new secretary, Coleen, whom I will hand over to now to steer us through the meeting. Thank you for keeping me on track.
2. Attendance and Apologies for Absence
As recorded in the President’s Welcoming Address.
3. Minutes of the 2025 AGM
These had been previously circulated.
Proposed by Judith Poole and seconded by Fern Connolly. Agreed.
4. Matters Arising from the minutes of the 2025 AGM
Treasurer’s Report (Finances) – The Treasurer presented the accounts to the membership for approval in October, following checking and signing by an independent examiner. These were approved.
Given the concerns by some at the 2025 AGM regarding donations made to charities, it was decided by the committee that any future donations would be given to an education-based charity. Please note that donations are often predetermined by the family of the person who has died.
Honorary Degree – The ceremony happened in November at Ponds Forge and we are all grateful to Pam Hunt for leading this initiative.
Elected Officers – Jenny Savage, Committee Member – In the last few weeks, we heard from Jenny that, due to ill health, she has stood down from the committee.
Honorary Membership – Last year, the committee approved that Carolyn Walker, a previous member of the LMC staff, would be given Honorary Membership. Unfortunately, despite our best efforts, we have been unable to locate where Carolyn lives, and therefore, we have not been able to give her the award.
Constitution – Following the 2025 AGM, amendments were made to our constitution. This was sent to the membership last October, who agreed with all the proposals. An updated Constitution was put in the 2026 Magazine.
5. Reports
This year, the reports were sent with the AGM agenda. At the meeting, the reports were not read out, but questions were invited from those present. The reports can be found as an appendix to these minutes.
a. Secretary
b. Membership and Finance It was asked why the title of this role had changed, as the role was previously just Treasurer, which included membership.
c. Magazine
Margaret Isherwood requested articles for the 2027 magazine.
d. Media Would this role be better entitled ‘Social Media’?
e. Archivist
All post holders were thanked for their work over the year.
Proposed by Chris Short and seconded by June Hawkins. All the reports were accepted.
Action: The committee to re-examine the role titles at their next meeting.
6. Constitution Amendments 2026 to be activated in January 2027
The membership had previously been circulated the amendments to the constitution. The Secretary went through all the changes and explained why they were necessary. There will be some further amendments in 2027 to cover the dissolution of the association, should that be necessary in the future. June Walden was thanked for her help with the proposed amendments.
The updated constitution will be immediately published on our website and in the 2027 Magazine.
Proposed by June Walden and seconded by Sue Gravil. Agreed.
7. Finance
a. 2025 Accounts
Signed copies of the accounts were made available at the meeting. It was explained that the committee had agreed on a different independent examiner, as the one agreed at the 2025 AGM was unable to fulfil the task.
Proposed by Kate Cartwright and seconded by Linda Gavin. Agreed.
b. Subscriptions for 2027
The Secretary reminded everyone that the students from the 1950’s would continue to only pay £7.50.
Reminders were sent out and phone calls made in 2025 to all members from the 1960’s onwards who were still only paying £7.50 and not the agreed subscription of £25. Many still have not updated their subscription, so at the Spring committee meeting, it was agreed that any member who, from 1960 onwards, had only paid £7.50, would no longer be sent the Magazine and invitation to the Reunion.
It was agreed that the subscriptions for 2027 would remain at £25.
Proposed by Jo Spence and seconded by June Hawkins. Agreed.
c. Auditor for the 2026 accounts
The committee wish to appoint J L Northard to approve our accounts for 2026.
Proposed by the Committee. Agreed.
d. Honorarium for Auditor
The committee proposed that a £50 token be sent to the Auditor.
Proposed by Katie Lee and seconded by Sue Gravil. Agreed.
e. Financial action in the event of dissolution of LMCOSA
The committee proposed that, should there be a need to dissolve the association, any funds left should be given to the Dame Julie Kenny Legacy fund for the benefit of Wentworth Woodhouse, with a proviso that it is used for educational purposes.
Proposed by Betty Evans and seconded by Chris Short. Agreed.
8. Honorary Membership
This year, there were 3 nominations for Pam Hunt to receive Honorary Membership. This is extraordinary, but it demonstrates how our members feel about what Pam has achieved on behalf of our association.
Honorary membership is given for an outstanding contribution to Lady Mabel College and/or LMCOSA.
The citation was presented to Pam along with a framed certificate.
9. College Award
This year, there was only one nomination for the College Award submitted by Jo Owen. The committee approved this nomination, which is awarded to the Fearons-Middleton School of Dance.
It is a Barnsley-based dancing school offering all forms of theatre dance lessons to children from age 2 to adult, including ballet, jazz, tap, Acro and commercial.
Many of their pupils go on to pursue a career in the Performing Arts and gain places and scholarships at Dance Academies and Colleges.
In November 2025, the juniors (14-17 years) took part in videos along with other youngsters from all areas of the country. As a result, this particular group were chosen to be the representatives of Team England at the Dance World Cup, which is to be held this July in Dublin. They will take part in two ‘large group’ sections involving approximately 20 dancers – one doing purely dance and the other song and dance.
There will be dancers from all over the world – an estimated 70 countries. This is a very prestigious event, and to be chosen to represent England is no small achievement. These youngsters are working tirelessly to succeed and practising long hours to reach perfection in July. They are full of enthusiasm for the competition, support each other and are determined to prove what youngsters from Barnsley can achieve.
The expenses involved in this venture are large, and the girls and families have been involved in fundraising activities to raise money to fund uniforms, costumes and equipment. All monies raised is purely for the girls to help them look, feel and be the best that they can.
It was agreed to award £500 to the Dance Company and, if possible, to invite them to our 2027 AGM to perform as part of our activities.
10. LMCOSA Badge and Brooch
The committee has approved an LMCOSA badge and brooch:
- Small enamel badge – Linda Gavin was thanked for organising this and was selling the badges for £5 each.
- The Silver Griffin Brooch – Bridget Hopkinson will take orders for the silver Griffin Brooch, which is £375 and is made by a silversmith. Anyone interested in purchasing one of these was asked to see Bridget.
11. Proposed reprint of ‘A Time and Place’
The committee have approved a reprint of ‘A Time and Place’ since we have run out of copies and much has happened since the book was published.
Over the coming year, a small group will be working on updating sections and adding sections to enable the reprint, and they will be working alongside Stuart Drabble, one of the original authors.
This update will be useful for volunteers in the house who always want to know more about what happened in the Lady Mabel years, as well as for us, as former students.
12. Election of Officers
Due to Jenny Savage’s request to step down, there was one committee place.
Christine Ireland was proposed by Coleen Jackson and seconded by Sue Gravil and was duly elected.
The meeting was reminded that next year, the following officer roles would be due for election or re-election:
- Treasurer and Membership Secretary
- Magazine Editor
- Facebook / Media
- Reunion Secretary
Jenny Luxford was thanked for her role on the committee over the years, and in the last year, when she was co-opted to oversee the website.
13. Date of the 2027 AGM
Monday 17th May 2027
14. Date of next LMCOSA Committee
Saturday 19th September 2026. This will be an online meeting.
15. Any Notified Other Business
None received, but comments were taken from the floor:
- The photograph presented for the raffle was given by a previous student, Naomi Jackson and was taken by her husband.
- It would be good to have a handheld mike for use when members are asking questions. Those using the microphone should be given instructions, as some could not be heard.
- Should the outgoing president receive flowers?
- The committee should check that all outgoing presidents have received honorary membership.