The 26th Annual General Meeting of the Wavertree Society will be held at 2 pm on Sunday 13th October 2002, in Our Lady's Parish Centre, Chesnut Grove (just behind the Town Hall). The purpose of the meeting, as always, is to receive reports on the year's activities, approve the Accounts, elect a Committee for the coming year, and allow members to have their say on local issues.

In June 2001, in anticipation of the Society's 25th birthday, we held a 'brainstorming' session aimed at raising the Society's profile and increasing our membership. One outcome was the introduction of a flat-rate annual membership subscription of £2 per household which, for most members, represented a very considerable reduction on the previous rates. Owing to the potential impact on the Society's finances, this was agreed by our Committee only for a trial two-year period (2001-2003). Now we have seen the results - an increase in membership from 327 in 1999 to 392 today - we are proposing to extend the trial for a further year (to 2004).

Bearing in mind that the new subscription rate barely covers the cost of printing and posting Newsletters, along with our fixed overheads such as Civic Trust registration and insurance, we are thinking of charging for admission (or inviting voluntary donations) at future meetings - say 50p a head towards hall hire and speakers' expenses. This will be one of the A.G.M. discussion topics.