As those of you with internet access will realise, it is now over ten years since I set up the website and, until now, your Association has spent little money on making improvements, although in that time technology has moved on at a staggering speed. When it was set up mobile phones were just that. Today, they are also computers! The time has therefore come for a major update. A new website will be created using all the content from the existing website but it will be better presented and will be much more “user friendly”. It will use an off the shelf system, known as WordPress.

Articles from the Magazine will be ”individual” rather than part of the overall Magazine which will enhance the potential for search engines such as “Google” or “Jeeves” and will take enquirers to the Colne-Stour website when, for example, they put in “Munnings”. This is because there is an article on Munnings in the 2017 Magazine. This enhances the CSCA profile, and hopefully will bring in new members and help spread the news of our existence.

In future, it will be possible for new members to join via the

website which will use an interface with an on line facility operated by GoCardless. The Treasurer will be able to monitor new members and any annual payments made on a credit or debit card. The same system will be available for any other payments such as Garden Visits. You may wonder why we are using GoCardless rather than setting up the facility ourselves. The simple answer is that to get such a system approved by the FSA would cost about £1,500 per year.

This upgrade will be a one off cost and all annual maintenance charges will remain the same. However Members must appreciate that the 2017 Accounts are likely to show a deficit, rather than a breakeven position, which is what your committee has tried to achieve year by year.

I would like to find someone who is computer literate to take over running the website from me once it has been upgraded. Can someone please step forward? Contact me by email or telephone. mark@markpadawson.co.uk or telephone 01473 824550

Mark Dawson