I've had a thought....dangerous and it is possibly a bit controversial, but maybe something we want to consider.

Some facts:

There are certain forum members here (and we all know who they are) who give a great amount of personal time and effort to organising these events, and sometimes at personal financial loss.

The forum events are now fairly diverse in what they offer (from play days through to recitals) and quite numerous.

It is becoming an industry in itself.

So the idea (and shoot me down in flames if you think I am nuts!)
Could this all be done on a more formal basis and we form a "forum events association", which could be registered as charity / association. The benefits are that I believe we could get funding / grants on the basis that these are definitely development events, which would help in paying for venues etc (and we might then be able to get Woodford back on the radar).

Not sure how this would fit with the link to ABRSM, as it would most likely have to be disassociated from them.

Is this worth investigating? Or is it somewhere we just don't want to go?

In so many ways, a good idea Jane, and I'm about to PM you.

I totally agree! Is it safe to ask more events in the North west please?

On topic.... the forum events bring prople together and foster relationships in a fairly unique way I would think that there would be opportunities for funding.

I was thinking along similar lines, but didn't have the courage to suggest it!

I do actually feel a bit bad about never having taken more active steps for a Scottish do, but events were coming so think and fast that I couldn't fit one in! If we had some sort of organisation then we could at least have a time table of events to work around - so many per year.

There are many areas that could say they feel under represented. East Anglia, The West Country. There is and Adult Learners Concert in the Nort West, but not a general one, Scotland, Northern Ireland.

I would love to see a concert in East Anglia - vested interest, but I know I could not organise it on my own. I would require assistance, and I wouldn't want it to clash with any other event.

Your committee idea sounds great Jane.

I do like the charitable status idea, except wouldn't it need some legal and accounting nous to apply for and then administer? And would it have the potential to cause increased pressure on whoever had felt equipped to set it up? I know that a charitable Trust was set up in order to raise funds for our local primary school, and that it got very complicated when all the members of that trust moved on - from observing the forum over the last two years, it seems that there is a fair amount of "moving on" happening here too, though there are a few stalwarts, who, as has already been mentioned, are doing most of the organising thus far.

On a Scottish event - the large number of events in the calendar thus far have put me off too - although there are a few of us in Scotland, we'd almost certainly have to rely on some coming up from doon sooth or oot west to make up numbers; and although they say "if you want to get something done, ask a busy person", I think my own commitments over the next four or five months are likely to be just that bit too heavy and unpredictably so....though I do have access to an expensive but fantastic venue. And YAP and AP have a wedding to organise...

Thanks for the responses and the PMs.

Seems like the idea has some credence but there would be a lot of organising to do.

Maybe this needs to be taken off-line and researched a bit more by those who would be willing to be involved and give their time and expertise to this, just to see if it is possible, before we all become too excited.