We have recently dubbed Charles Otim ‘The Flying African’ (imagine, if you will the Flying Scotsman steam train, rather than the African Queen with Humphrey Bogart and Katherine Hepburn!). The finance wheels are certainly beginning to spin, and there is plenty of steam as we make the new Oracle membership database perform as it should on the membership finance side, and the long process of catching up begins. The consequence is that many members will receive long overdue thank you letters from CMF during January, and we will unravel many long-standing issues in relation to members’ subscriptions. During 2005 we certainly expect to implement a move to direct debit, which will make a significant difference to our handling of regular payments from members, and this move is long overdue. Thank you very much for your patience in what has been a very difficult time for the accounts operation in the London office.
In the 5 years from 1999 to 2003, CMF’s expenditure has increased from £521,000 to £862,000, an increase of over 60%. This has enabled CMF to do ‘immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power’. This is due to the generosity of many members, but CMF has also been the wonderful beneficiary of many very generous legacy bequests, and indeed it has been these legacies (£160,000 over the last 5 years), which have made a significant difference to our overall finances and enabling very significant growth and development in CMF‘s ministry. Might we continue to ask you to consider CMF when you come to reviewing your will? Thank you very much indeed.
Giles Rawlinson
