The Tracy Trust ​

The Tracy Trust Report 2020-2021

Despite this being an unprecedented situation during which the Tracy Trust has been unable to offer its members all the usual facilities, we have found new and inventive ways to give our members some treats. In July 2020, on the day that we should have had our annual summer tea party, we organised fish and chips to be delivered to The Green and, through a team of well organised volunteers, we distributed them to our members.  Some members came and sat on The Green in socially distanced groups to eat their food. 
 
In the wake of this highly successful event, we organised for an ice cream van to come to The Green in August and our members enjoyed some very exotic ice cream sundaes.  Quite a large number of members sat on The Green to enjoy the ices and to listen to the beautiful cello music played by a Hedgerley resident, Jackie Phillips.
 
At Christmas we were very sad that we could not have our usual Christmas tea party but all members were given a voucher for Spar and a note pad and pen bearing the TT name and logo.
 
During 2021 members have enjoyed a wonderfully decorated muffin on Valentine’s Day, and an Easter egg at Easter – just things to remind members that they have not been forgotten.
 
The bus service, to either Uxbridge or High Wycombe, was reinstated for a short time but was stopped as soon as the second lockdown came into force.  I am pleased to report that the fortnightly bus trips are starting again at the end of April, with some visits to Garden Centres factored in.
 
Clearly, despite lockdown, people still need the services of a chiropodist and so, instead of arranging appointments in the Scout Hut, we have provided members with names of local practitioners who can visit people in their own homes or can give people treatments in their surgery.  This has been working well.  Similarly members have still needed to get to appointments at the Surgery, local hospital etc and, latterly, for their vaccinations and so we have been giving them lifts as usual.
 
We have also continued to support members with assistance with alarm pendants, etc and also with telephone calls to check that all is well.
 
We should record that we some of our members have sadly passed away.  In 2020 we learnt that Donald Vincent, one of the original Trustees of the Tracy Trust, had died – he was no longer involved with the Trust as he had moved away from the Village but he had continued to show a keen interest in what was going on. 
 
Just before Christmas, we lost Dr John Lunn – a serving Trustee.  John had been a
trustee for almost twenty years, the longest serving trustee of our charity to date. He was appointed in spring 2001 by Donald Vincent and he became Chairman when Donald retired in July 2009. He handed over to our present Chairman, Chris Woodwark in 2013 but continued as trustee. John remained active, committed and dedicated to the charity’s work right up to the end of his life.  Very sadly John’s wife, Maureen, passed away on 9th April less than four months after John.  Maureen had been a wonderful support to John especially in his work with the Trust.  They are both sorely missed.
 
Other members of the Trust who have also sadly passed away during the last year are – Harry Boxall, Ray Cox, Ken Maycock, Colin Simmons, Judith Pryde, Peter Radcliffe, Joyce Rogers and Marge Stuthard – they are all missed very much.  Two of our members have also gone into a local care home and we are endeavouring to keep in touch with them.
 
Finally we would like to take the opportunity of thanking all our Trustees and local Committee members for the time and effort that they put into the Trust and its activities and we look forward very much to business as usual very soon.

April 2021
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The Tracy Trust Report 2019-2020
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As I write this, we are in the grip of the coronavirus pandemic and, very sadly, all Tracy Trust activities have been suspended for the foreseeable future.  We managed to deliver an early Easter letter to all our members to give them details of how to order groceries and arrange delivery from our wonderful local shop, Spar.  We also gave telephone details of Trust members who would be able to give advice or just be a friendly voice at the end of the line, as well as a local DVD loan service run by Maddy Bushnell.
 
Up until recent events, we have had a wonderful year.  We celebrated in style the 30th anniversary of the Trust with a delicious lunch prepared by Ann Tennant and we toasted the memory of Edith Tracy with a glass of sherry!  Especially for the anniversary, one of our Trustees, Vanessa Pilgerstorfer, put together a booklet about Edith Tracy and her life in Hedgerley and incorporated memories of Mrs Tracy from local residents.  Each member of the Trust has been given a copy of this booklet and it has been very well received.
 
Until the current pandemic, the charity had continued to make available established activities and services:
 
·        a meeting place, twice a week, with activities and refreshments;
·        a fortnightly bus service to local shopping centres;
·        subsidised chiropody services;
·        financial help for personal alarms, TV licences, medical, dentistry & optical care;
·        help with transportation to medical appointments; we have a good number
          of volunteer drivers all of whom have been DBS checked;
·        an annual Christmas party and Christmas vouchers;
·        a summer tea party with an informative talk at the start of the event on a topic of interest to our members;
·        a weekly, gentle exercise class which has proved extremely successful and is currently fully booked;
·        a bereavement counselling service with an experienced professional;
·        outings during the summer months to local garden centres;  this new initiative has been extremely well received and so will 
         continue;
·        a Christmas-time visit to a garden centre.
 
The last three items on this list are new services which we have incorporated since our last Parish Report.
 
We have not forgotten about a ‘men’s shed’ - this idea will be revisited again once we are back to normal living. We had planned a new initiative in conjunction with the Hedgerley Memorial Hall team - a film and afternoon tea to be held at the end of April.  It is likely that this event will have to be cancelled but we will reinstate it in the future. The Summer Tea Party and talk are booked for July and a decision will be taken nearer the time as to whether it will take place.
 
This year, we have welcomed three new members who have joined our group of dedicated committee members - Margaret Chaplin, Dirk Eachus and Barbi Watson.  All members of the local committee are special people who give their time and energy to keep the Tracy Trust running smoothly and we thank them for it.
 
The website for the Tracy Trust is up and running and is where details of the Trust’s activities, services and general information can be found. The address is www.thetracytrust.co.uk.   We now have our own noticeboard in Hedgerley near the Spar and information is kept up to date by our ‘board monitor’, Barbara McNeillie.
 
Finally we would like to take the opportunity of thanking all our Trustees and local Committee members for the time and effort that they put into the Trust and its activities and we look forward very much to business as usual in the not too distant future.
 
April 2020

Report 2018 - 2019 to the Parish Council​​

I am pleased to tell you that the Tracy Trust is celebrating the 30th anniversary of its inception and is commemorating this event with a lunch party in October for its members. The past year has had its ups and downs.  Sadly we lost 8 members of the Trust and we extend our condolences to the families and friends of those who have died.
We have managed successfully to negotiate the intricacies of GDPR and every member has now expressed his or her contact preferences.
 The charity continues to make available established activities and services:
·        a meeting place, twice a week, with activities and refreshments;
·        a fortnightly bus service to local shopping centres;
·        subsidised chiropody services;
·        financial help for personal alarms, TV licences, medical, dentistry & optical care;
·        help with transportation to medical appointments; we have a good number of volunteer drivers all of whom have been DBS
         checked;
·        an annual Christmas party and Christmas vouchers;
·        a summer tea party which was introduced last year and proved most enjoyable, with an informative talk at the start of the
         event on a topic of interest to our members;
·        a weekly, gentle exercise class which has proved extremely successful and is currently fully booked.

At this moment, we are in the process of setting up some new initiatives:
·        a bereavement counselling service with an experienced professional;
·        outings during the summer months to local garden centres;
·        a Christmas-time visit to a garden centre or local Christmas market;
·        a ‘men’s shed’ - dependent on interest in such a venture among our male members.

This year, we have welcomed two new officers to the Trust - Helena Makowski as Secretary and Rainer Struck as Treasurer to replace Mr Brian Fenn after many years of loyal service to the Trust.

Mrs Gail Hurst has also come on board as a Trustee and she arranges transportation to medical appointments among other duties. Mrs Barbara McNeillie has also joined our group of dedicated committee members.

During the course of this year a new website for the Tracy Trust has been set up where details of the Trust’s activities, services and general information can be found. The address is www.thetracytrust.co.uk

Finally we would like to take the opportunity of publicly thanking Mrs Diana Saunders and Mr Brian Fenn for the huge amount of time and effort they have put into the Trust and its activities over many years, and to wish them both every happiness in the future.