Closure of the SLF

[Chris Sawyer]

I attended the AGM of the SLF last week and the decision was taken to close down the SLF.  The reasons for this are given in the following notice.

As far as OPS are concerned this means, sadly, that there will be no SLF print and PDI competitions from now on.  


Formal notice of the decision to wind up the Federation of South London Photographic Societies (SLF)
 
The 2023 Annual General Meeting of the SLF (previously adjourned on 9th June) was reconvened at Shirley Methodist Church on Tuesday 8th August 2023 at 7.30pm, specifically to deal with the election of committee officers and members, as set out in Rule 8 of the Federation’s Rules and Constitution.
 
Disappointingly, not a single volunteer to fill any of the outstanding vacancies on the SLF committee was presented to the meeting. A motion was put to the meeting, therefore,  to wind up the Federation with immediate effect, as required by Rule 11 (please see copy below).
 
9 of the 11 affiliated clubs were in attendance at the meeting and all nine voted unanimously in favour of winding-up the Federation. That being the case, and in response to that vote, this email is the Official Notice of winding up the Federation of South London Photographic Societies and is being sent to all eleven clubs today, Saturday 12 August 2023.
 
As set out in Rule 11, the outgoing committee, at the request of the club delegates in attendance at the meeting, will now begin the process of collating and maximising the Federations assets prior to distributing an equal share of those assets to each affiliated club under the auspices of the Auditor elected at the 2022 AGM. This process may take several months. As its outgoing Chair, therefore, I will from time to time keep the affiliated clubs updated on progress.
 
The SLF came into being on 23 January 1947 with the brief of fostering collaboration between photographers across South London. It has since served the local photographic community continuously in the intervening 76 years. Sadly, that service has now come to an abrupt end in 2023. As its last Chair, I can only hope that, in time, a day will come when what the Federation has offered for so long will be missed sufficiently acutely to encourage enough clubs in the area to come together again to reform it in some fashion. I look forward to that day.
 
Dr Barrie Brown CPAGB
Chair of the Federation of South London Photographic Societies (SLF)
Saturday 12 August 2023

[Fay]

Oh how sad Chris...a big loss

[Chris Sawyer]

This is a message from the SLF about an auction of their trophies

The 11 clubs affiliated to the FSLPS and their individual members are cordially invited to participate in a closed bid auction for one or more of the 18 trophies currently owned by the Federation. The proceeds of the auction will be added to the Federation's cash in hand, which will then be distributed equally amongst the clubs.
 
Information about the 18 trophies can be found in the two attachments. Attachment 1 - a list of the 18 trophies, with brief details and guide prices/retail scrap values, and: Attachment 2 - an image file containing a thumbnail of each image. The Trophy Numbers in Attachment 1 correspond to the Trophy Numbers attached to each thumbnail in Attachment 2.

Attachment_1_Auction_list.pdf



Please note that, in Attachment 1, for each of the four hallmarked silver trophies (A2 - Victis Honis Trophy, A5 - Retina Cup, B1- Alex Falk Trophy and F3- Clerk Maxwell Cup) the guide price has been set at the retail scrap silver value of that trophy. For those four trophies, only bids that are close to, at or above that value will be accepted. Any of the hallmarked silver trophies  remaining unsold on 22 September, will be offered to dealers for sale at their retail scrap value. The other 14 trophies have limited retail value, so, if unsold, will be offered to local charity shops in South London.

Bids should be sent by email to [e-mail] by midday on 22 September, each trophy going to the highest bidder.

When submitting a bid, please include the Trophy Number, the Trophy Name, the bid value, the bidder's email address and the name of the bidder in the text.

Successful bidders will be contacted after 22 September confirming their successful bid and to arrange to make their payment to FSLPS and collect the trophy.

Good luck!
Dr Barrie Brown CPAG
Outgoing Chair, FSLPS
[e-mail]

[Chris Sawyer]

Update from the SLF about the auction of their trophies:

Further to my email on 28 August regarding the auction of FSLPS trophies, the closing date for the submission of bids (midday on this coming Friday 22 September) is now only six days away.
 
There is still time to bid, but the window of opportunity is narrowing by the hour! Currently, bids have been received for only six of the trophies, so there are plenty of bargains still to be had.
 
Please also note that, since contact has now been made with the donor of the Alex Falk trophy - Alex Falk, the FSLPS committee, with the approval of the auditor, has agreed to offer to return that trophy to Alex. He has now gratefully accepted that offer. The Alex Falk Trophy, therefore, has been withdrawn from the auction.
 
Please find below the instructions for submitting bids to the auction. Also attached is the updated spreadsheet for the 17 trophies on offer. I would be grateful if you would forward this email and its attachment as soon as possible to your members.
 
With best wishes
 
Barrie
 
Dr Barrie Brown CPAGB
FSLPS Outgoing Chair

Updated_Auction_list_17_September_2023.pdf

[Chris Sawyer]

To members of the photographic community in South London  

The FSLPS Website and email accounts are now closed

I am now able to confirm that the FSLPS website content has been deleted, its autorenewal has been cancelled and all its email accounts have been closed. The final steps in the winding up of the Federation of South London Photographic Societies have therefore been completed.

To close on a more positive note, as the closure process has unfolded, my hope has been that the South London photographic community will at some future point find a way of rekindling the spirit of the Federation in some form in the future. I'm delighted to report, therefore, that very early signs of that beginning to happen are emerging already. I am aware of three of the 11 formerly affiliated clubs having already begun to explore the possibility of launching annual inter-club competitions with each other in the 2024-25 season and beyond. Hopefully, that's just a start.  

My best wishes to you all, for Christmas and the New Year.

Barrie

Dr Barrie Brown CPAGB

Former FSLPS Chair