2003
At the AGM on March 4th 2003, those present were Ella Harris, Rosemary Ingham, Erica Richardson, Rosalind Kellen, Carmel Gregg, Elizabeth Baker, John Bennett, Stella Freshney, Chris Quarrington and Harry Bankhead. Apologies were received from Roger Hardman, John Connor, Sharon Benz and Dave Sykes. Ella Harris read her Chairman’s report and stated that the group had dwindled over the past year. The hall in St. George’s Church, Polegate, used for the main meetings, may have contributed to loss of attendances, because it was too large, cold and impersonal. The Year Book and the Writing Competition had engendered little interest. Membership stood at 24, with the subs remaining at £15 a year. John Bennett was elected as Chairman, Ella Harris as Vice Chairperson. Liz Baker was awarded the Anderida Accolade. It was decided that temporarily, the future main meetings would be held at Ella Harris’ house.

Submissions for the Year Book could now go up to a maximum of 2,000 words, and the Short Story competition entries could be up to 1,200 words on a theme of ‘The Wild West.’ Attendances at all the meetings were going down; there were only four at the May Novel group and five at the Shorties, although a few new members appeared in June. The Poetry Evening at Ella’s home and the August Novel Group were poorly supported, even though the York House Hotel was the designated new location. It was decided to open up the September main meeting to the residents of the York House Hotel. The Sharpshooters, specialists in the American Civil War, provided an entertaining evening with stories of the civil war, the clothing of that period and a demonstration of handguns and rifles.
Just four people attended the September Novel group and only eight turned up at the October main meeting to hear Tamara McKinley talking about the detailed research she had carried out for her best selling novels. John Bennet had a poem ‘Free-Fall’ published in the Daily Mail and Harry Bankhead had an article, ‘The Long Man of Wilmington,’ published in the Argus newspaper.