The following article appeared in the Nov 2017 edition of Mardles
In this final edition of the Mardles magazine the committee of Suffolk Folk would like to take the opportunity to explain our position and reassure the membership about to the future of Suffolk Folk and it's relationship to Mardles.org.
Nothing is changing!
Although the magazine itself is moving to a web-based format it is still under the direction of the Suffolk Folk committee that was elected at the AGM in June 2017 and, so far as we are concerned, anybody who paid a subscription for that year will remain on the database as a member of Suffolk Folk until the AGM 2018 is convened and the situation can be discussed further.
The big difference is that your membership will now cost you nothing, as there is no intention of charging anyone for access to the Mardles.org website and you are not losing any of the other benefits of Suffolk Folk membership: the right to a vote at the AGM and a small reduction for events that have long been affiliated to and supported by Suffolk Folk.
If this doesn't please you and you would like your name removed from the membership database, please contact Mike Rudge (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.). If you are reading this and it sounds quite interesting and exciting, contact him to have your name added. You are very welcome!
Suffolk Folk is very keen to expand it's horizons and be seen as representing the whole of East Anglia. To this end we are joining forces with the Norfolk Folk Association to create Mardles.org which is set to become an umbrella organisation with plenty of room to include representations from Essex and Cambridge. Anyone from these counties who would like to get involved we would love to hear from you. To be clear, we regard ourselves as seperate bodies working together to create a website that is all that the Mardles magazine was plus - well just about anything that you can imagine! Everything is underpinned by our basic and stated aim of ‘promoting traditional and modern folk music, song and dance in Suffolk and contiguous areas’.
We are simply pooling expertise and enthusiasm in order to create more opportunities to promote Folk in our counties which seems a lot more positive than allowing Mardles the magazine to simply disappear.
Setting the website up is our priority during the transition period between now and the end of December when the printed magazine ceases production.
You can visit the site now if you would like to see how it is coming along, but be warned that, at the moment things are changing very quickly and what you see now is very much a prototype and is a long way from reflecting our final vision.
The most important thing to take from this article is to remember to
CANCEL YOUR DIRECT DEBIT or STANDING ORDER and PLEASE DON'T SEND US ANY MONEY!!
The Suffolk Folk Committee, all hope that you will continue to support us.
Jill Parson
Chair, Suffolk Folk. Sept 2017