In the Newsletter sent in Spring 2024 and the AGM held in April 2024 we asked members to come forward with ideas for how you would like the Claimants Unity to serve you and we also asked for volunteers to join the committee and take on the posts of Membership Secretary and Treasurer.
Sadly, there have been no offers from family members regarding the committee posts, which means that they remain unfilled for next year, and we have had no suggestions about how we could move forward as a unity. This leaves us in the difficult position of not having sufficient personnel to manage the running of the Unity. Therefore we, as the Unity Committee, have reached the difficult decision that the Claimants Unity, as a paid membership organisation, should close. We will continue to keep you informed if anything changes regarding this, and we will take this to a final AGM early in 2025.
It is important that we are clear that this does not mean that the issuing of grants will cease as these have always been in the scope and control of the Trustees of Alderman Norman’s Foundation and the decision on grant awards is not the responsibility of the Claimants Unity which has always been a separate but closely linked organisation run by family members for descendants.
The Registrar, who has always been appointed and remunerated by the Foundation, will continue to issue pedigrees and the Trustees will continue to consider grant applications as before. Your access to grants is completely unaffected by the closing of the Claimants Unity.
This does mean that the Claimants Unity Committee will be dissolved and there will no longer be newsletters sent out by email or post. We will no longer organise family events such as the Christmas carol service or family parties and we will hand the organisation of the annual Memorial / Bible service back to the Trust. The memorial service is part of the Will of Alderman John Norman and as such is an obligation for the Trustees to address.
Our aim going forward is to support each other as family members by providing assistance to those looking for information on our shared family heritage. We hope to do this by keeping an active and informative social media presence online, using Facebook and Instagram. We hope that by working with the Trustees we can provide help and support in both keeping up to date on matters relating to the family, and in helping the next generation to remember their heritage, get their pedigree and apply for relevant funding through grant applications. We also hope to be able to share positive stories of other events and projects in the community funded by Alderman Norman’s legacy outside of the family through the various charitable donations which are issued each year.
As we mentioned in the Spring newsletter our Instagram page can be accessed using the QR code at the end of this letter, or by searching for: ‘Aldermannormancu’ on Instagram, and ‘Descendants and Relationships to Alderman John Norman’ on Facebook.
We look forward to seeing as many of you as possible at our AGM in 2025, and if you have questions or suggestions, please do contact us through Instagram or Facebook. You can also contact us via our website https://alderman-normans-claimants-unity.org.uk/enquiries/
Best wishes
Alderman Norman Claimants Unity committee
If you are a claimant and change address, – both Brown & Co. & the Unity should be informed, stating both old and new address together with your Membership Number.