UO BR. J. ENT. NAT. HIST.. 7: 1994 



OFFICERS' REPORTS FOR 1993 



COUNCIL'S REPORT 



The Society's membership stood at 704 at the end of the year, a small increase 

 on the numbers for the previous year. Forty- five new members were elected during 

 the year. 17 were struck off for non-payment and 21 members resigned. Ten deaths 

 were reported to the Society during 1993. 



Special thanks are extended by all the Council members to Mr Geoff Burton for 

 the work that he has done for the Society over the past 10 years. Mr Burton is, until 

 a replacement can be shown the ropes, our Assistant Treasurer and he now wishes 

 to resign as he feels that he has done his bit for the Society. We all wish him well 

 and again thank him for doing such stalwart work for us. 



The Cotmcil met eight times during 1993 and, on average, 15 members attended 

 each meeting. Much of the Council's time was taken up in discussing Dinton Pastures, 

 (the Pelham-Clinton building). There are ongoing problems with the air conditioning 

 and alarm systems. The two Council members who have taken on the brunt of 

 attending for engineers' \isits have been our hard-working Curator, Mr Peter 

 Chandler, and our designate Building Manager Mr Peter Baker. Our thanks go to 

 these hard working members and to the other members who have helped with this 

 work. Other items that have taken up the Council's time included the new Charities 

 Act which has needed careful discussion in order to make changes to the Bye-Laws. 

 A special meeting for this was held in September. Another time-consuming topic was 

 consideration of J. C. C.B.I, and related environmental issues. 



The Pelham-Chnton building was officially opened on 21 June 1993, by Professor 

 Sir Richard Southwood and was well attended. A buffet was prepared in the Loddon 

 Room and the people who came enjoyed a sunny outdoor feast. Open days have been 

 arranged on a fortnightly basis and have attracted good numbers of members each 

 time. In addition a series of five workshops has been arranged by Dr I. F. G. McLean 

 and these have attracted between 15 and 20 people to each meeting. Our thanks, again, 

 go to the hard w orking members of Council who are making our new premises a 

 resounding success. 



The Society continued to represent members' interests in the field of conservation 

 and Mrs F. M. Murphy and Mr S. R. Miles take an active pan as the Society's 

 representatives on the Joint Committee for Conservation of British Invertebrates. 

 The Society continues to subscribe to Wildlife Link. 



There were 10 indoor meetings, held at the Royal Entomological Society rooms, 

 and a joint meeting with the London Natural History Society which was held at 

 the rooms of The Linnean Society in Burlington House, Piccadilly. In general, 

 attendance at indoor meetings was improved with around 20 people attending each 

 time; this is probably because of the hard work put in by our Indoor Meeting 

 Secretary, Dr McLean, in arranging speakers for these events. The increased 

 interest of the membership in these organized events makes it more rewarding for 

 the Council members involved. A full programme of events is being prepared for 

 1994 95. 



Fourteen field meetings w ere held in wide-ranging areas of the countryside, including 

 two at Dinton Pastures Country Park; this is pan of an ongoing effon to establish what 

 species are living in our own back yard. Attendance at these was low and Mr Roger 

 Morris would like more members to attend field meetings since, more often than not, 

 a great deal of effort has been made to obtain permission to get onto some sites, 

 and since the leaders of these meetings have made the effon to volunteer in the first 



