Minutes from the AGM 2014
Logan Regional Committee
Place: Logan Botanic Garden, Discovery Centre
Date; 15 April 2014
Time: 14:00 – 15:00
1. Richard Baines opened the meeting and welcomed everyone. He stated that he would present a report
from the Membership Department and that this would be followed by a talk from Martin Gardner MBE.
2. Apologies were received from J. Still and C. McIntyre
3. Minutes from the 2013 were approved and adopted (proposed by Mrs Walker and seconded by Mr
Walker).
4. Richard Baines presented the Convenor’s Report incorporating the Curator’s Report (See appendix 1.)
5. Richard Baines also presented a membership report on behalf of Inger Kristiansen Bragg who was
currently on maternity leave.
6. Election of members. No further offers were received so Richard Baines will remain in office.
7. AOCB – None
8. The AGM was followed by an interesting talk from Martin Gardner on The Conifer Conservation Crisis.
Appendix 1.
Convenor’s Report incorporating the Curator’s report April 2014
Recent months have seen a continuous flurry of activity in the former service yard
carrying out the conservatory project. Other than the exterior landscaping and
planting up I am delighted to inform you that all the structural elements are now
complete. Preparations are on the way to hold a formal opening in June this year.
We now have a traditional Victorian Conservatory powered by green energy that
will house a wide variety of South African plants including Proteas and Tree
Heathers.
I can also confirm that we have been awarded over £2000 for a set or ornate
metal gates leading from the conservatory to the walled garden. This will now
become the main entry point for new visitors to the walled garden.
I can also report that we have been awarded £2500 by the Holywood Trust in
connection with providing subsidised travel by school groups to Logan. It is
anticipated that we will be able to provide assisted travel for up to 25 groups
which should be very welcomed during this period of declining budgets.
The wild, wet winter at Logan scuppered a lot of our plans and resulted in the loss
of over 40 trees. I have to pay tribute to the hard working staff and interns at
Logan who managed to get the garden tidy for opening.
In recent weeks we have been busy improving the entrance drive, tarring the
coach park, carrying out lots of painting to keep buildings and structures looking
pristine and finishing of our ‘behind the scenes’ service area.
2014 will see a wide and varied range of events and exhibitions. Some of the
highlights include the wonderful world of weeds, bees and butterflies currently in
the Studio Exhibition Room, a new partnership with Spring Fling with both internal
and external exhibits on display that have been inspired by nature. August sees
the return of our annual Jazz night, late June sees the Logan BioBlitz where a range
of specialists/experts interface with the public to record as many species as
possible over a 24 hour period. During the summer period we are holding family
events every Thursday and plans are well underway for a Painting weekend in the
future. All in all lots happening!
Recent weeks has seen a promotional campaign with both TV and radio adverts
supported by Advertorials ion the local press.
Thanks to a membership appeal we shortly are due to receive 2 new wheelchairs
and 2 new scooters. Money has also been secured from the appeal to put in more
hard standing paths through the woodland to replace the wet and boggy bark
paths.
We have approximately 15 intern students with us this year from countries all
across Europe.
It is testament to the enthusiastic staff at Logan that some are returning for their
second time whilst many have been recommended by previous students.
In coming weeks we have countless new plant introductions to go into the garden
from our back up nursery and hopefully the first King Protea to flower outside in
Scotland!
Lots going on, enjoy the improvements and spread the word.
Richard A. Baines
Membership Update 2013-14
This has been another positive year for the Membership Programme across all four Gardens, with Members
continuing to provide vital support to RBGE through subscriptions, donations and events. Income from the
membership programme amounted to over £221,000 this year; £7,000 from donations, £3,000 from special
events, £122,000 from Friends subscriptions, £3,000 from Companions and £45,000 from Patrons. The amount
claimed through Gift Aid across the three categories of membership is expected to total over £40,000.
Since April 2013, the number of Friends has increased by over 7% and there are currently 7233 active Friends of
RBGE. This is the first time we have reached over 7000 supporters and 1296 new Friends have been recruited
over the last year. Thank you to all of the Friends for their help in encouraging visitors to become regular
supporters by joining the membership programme.
Eighteen new Patrons were recruited this year through the newly established Patron Introduction Dinners,
bringing the total number of Patrons to 159. This year’s Patron programme was well received, with June’s Alpine
House Preview being the most popular event to date and the Annual Dinner raising £5,400.
This year's Access for All membership appeal was a great success, with donations from individuals totalling over
£30,000. This funding will be used for much needed improvements to make all four Gardens more accessible for
visitors. The Edinburgh Garden will receive a total of ££5,900, which will be used to purchase three new motorised
mobility scooters and to construct a new storage/charging facility at the East Gate.
In April 2013, we introduced an offer to encourage both new and existing Friends to pay their annual
subscriptions via Direct Debit , in the hope that this will increase the number of individuals renewing
automatically year on year. The campaign was well received - in the first ten months there was an increase of
46% in renewals by Direct Debit and 290% increase in new members paying by Direct Debit.
This year also saw the development of a new Membership Strategy that formalises membership activities for the
period 2013 - 2017. It places at its core a focus on philanthropy and engagement, whilst outlining a vision for
the membership programme of building a substantial supporter base to be stewarded for the mutual benefit of
RBGE, its four Gardens and the supporters themselves. A review of current and historic membership
performance was carried out to look into trends and opportunities, and this informed the activities outlined in
the Strategy. Each of these activities will contribute to three key objectives: generating unrestricted income to
sustain the core work of RBGE; encouraging loyalty amongst members; and increasing public awareness of RBGE
as a cause for charitable and commercial support.
The Membership Programme continues to be delivered by two full time and one part time member of staff David Simpson as full-time Membership Administrator, Peter Traynor working part-time as Membership
Administrator and Inger Kristiansen-Bragg working full-time as Membership Manager. Inger will be starting 12
month maternity leave on 22 May and will be replaced by Alison Rankin who will join the team on 22 April.
Alison will work 3 days per week and we intend to recruit an Events Coordinator to assist with event specific
requirements, possibly also working 3 days per week. Three new office volunteers have also joined the team this
year, to give valuable support with mailings, filing and Gift Aid.
Over the next 12 months, the team will be working to produce a new suite of marketing materials to promote
the Membership Programme to visitors to all four Gardens. This will communicate the importance of raising
funds for RBGE to continue its work In Scotland and overseas.
Membership events organised by Volunteer-led committees of the four Gardens raised over £27,000 this year,
which will be disbursed to support fourteen RBGE projects via the Small Project Fund. These projects
complement the work of both the Science and Horticulture Divisions and will benefit all four Gardens. Projects
supported by this year’s fund include new direction posts for Benmore, interpretation panels for Dawyck’s new
hydroelectric scheme, a set of ornamental gates for the Walled Garden in Logan, an apiary for the Nursery and a
children’s glasshouse trail in the Edinburgh Garden.
All of the staff in the Membership Office would like to send their sincere thanks to the Edinburgh Friends of
RBGE for their continued support and the wonderful programme of events organised this year.