As 2024 draws to a close, it presents an opportunity to reflect on the highlights and challenges of the year behind us and plan ahead for our goals and ambitions for the year ahead. This is certainly the case here at the Société Jersiaise.
With the historic organisation’s 152nd birthday coming up on 28th January next year, finding ways to modernise and adapt with the times is a major priority. It’s certainly central in SJ President Stuart Fell’s mind as we enter the new year.
I sat down with Stuart to get his personal round-up of his first year in the Presidential post. We spoke about the charity’s main challenges and the ways in which he plans to help steer the organisation through an ongoing process of transformation, whilst staying true to the Société’s roots…
MM: It has been yet another successful year for the Société – what have been your personal highlights?
SF: The first thing I should say, by way of context, is that the Société is going through a period of necessary modernisation and constructive change, and I’m pleased that many members have indicated their support for this.
My most rewarding experiences in 2024 have generally resulted from interactions with other people, both within the organisation and outside it. I welcome the new and stimulating ideas that often spring from conversations. I’m a team player and consensus builder when it comes to dealing with challenges and I’m pleased with the development of our excellent team within the Société – we have new members on our Executive Committee and among our staff and the level of energy and ambition within the organisation is growing.
Meeting many of our members on a regular basis, usually around our lunchtime lecture series, has brought home to me just how important our members are – they are at the heart of our organisation and are the focus of all the work we do. Our lectures this year have been very well attended and this enthusiasm gives great encouragement to our wonderful range of speakers, and to our volunteers and staff.
The passion and commitment shown by the Sections I’ve attended so far this year is also very impressive. Their output makes a very significant contribution to the body across many fields of activity, as a glance at the Annual Bulletin demonstrates.
We’ve been striving for some time to introduce operational changes across the board to make us more efficient and fit for purpose and also to satisfy the requirements of the Jersey Charity Commissioner. This has been demanding work. Resolving these background issues gives us a strong foundation for the future and it is immensely satisfying to see that this work behind the scenes is now bearing fruit.
The outward-looking attitude shown by our Executive Committee is reflected by a recent decision to nominate from our membership a Procureur to serve on the Communauté de la Vingtaine de la Ville de St. Helier, where we hope to bring our collective knowledge and expertise to bear on the enhancement of a large part of the historic town centre.
On a more personal level I’ve been really encouraged by the support and enthusiasm of the members of the Architecture Section, which I chair. There is an interest in broadening our work beyond the study of historic buildings and townscape to include more serious engagement with new development and contemporary architecture, with the aim that these might better reflect and complement the unique character of the Island.
MM: This year has been an important one for cataloguing and digitising records – tell me about the significance of these projects and what your hopes are for this to continue in 2025?
SF: Understanding, cataloguing, and preserving the records and other items in our care is obviously a vital part of our work. We have expert staff, assisted by volunteers, to deliver this objective. But the underlying reason to hold these items is to enable members of the local and wider community to readily access these resources so as to enrich their understanding or to enable deeper study. In today’s world, the expectation is that these resources should be available online.
Following the very positive response to the recent digitisation of our unique collection of historic newspapers, a major objective for 2025 will be to expand this work. There are three major projects that I’d like to move forward, all of which flow from an ongoing strategic review of our collections and how we can make them more accessible:
- The first is an assessment of the collections in the Lord Coutanche Library, leading to the preparation of research frameworks to facilitate and encourage detailed study. Our Millennium Fund, which was set up specifically to provide some financial support towards the cost of publication of appropriate research, could be of assistance here.
- A second project will be a close examination of our cartographic collection, which has been boosted recently by a very generous bequest of over 200 maps of the Channel Islands, with a view to digitising all these items to make them readily accessible. A physical exhibition of a selection of these maps is also planned.
- A third item, in similar vein, would bring to public attention our collection of local printed ephemera, which covers a wide range of items from commercial advertisements, theatre programmes, and other unique documents.
MM: A lot of consideration has also been given to building upgrades this year – tell us about this work and what you still hope to oversee in the coming year?
SF: As well as our invaluable resource of staff and volunteers, the premises we own are absolutely vital in safeguarding the Société’s future. No. 7 Pier Road is central to our operation because it houses our departments: The Lord Coutanche Library, the Photo Archive, and our Field Archaeologist. The building also contains our Members’ Room, which is the home of our increasingly popular series of talks but also accommodates a diverse range of other events, and the Arthur Mourant meeting room, which is also used for a wide range of purposes. As well as facilitating our own work these rooms are available for hire and the resulting income is valuable to us.
No. 7 Pier Road is now over 50 years old, and the renewal of its services infrastructure was long overdue – for example our library was becoming so hot during summer months that it had to be closed. Substantial progress on the comprehensive upgrading of these services has been made during 2024 and should be completed in 2025, providing us with a much more sustainable and efficient building into the foreseeable future.
Our attention in 2025 will be focused on our suite of rooms at La Hougue Bie where our Archaeological and Geology sections are based. This single-storey building was constructed around 100 years ago and unfortunately does not meet the basic standards of thermal insulation and freedom from damp. We hope to remedy these physical shortcomings in 2025 with a programme of interior refurbishment. In parallel with this, we will pursue our vision to achieve the full potential of this accommodation on this fantastic site so as to provide an enhanced study centre and meeting space, so that a broader range of our activities can be brought to a much wider audience.
MM: The Société has now been a key part of Island life for almost 152 years, what are the main things you think will ensure its continued longevity in years to come?
SF: This is the key question that I’ve been considering since joining the Executive Committee five years ago. We face a number of challenges, but the most important one is to ensure a greater level of financial stability for the Société – an issue that has hovered in the background for decades. Without adequate funds we can’t function. We receive no government assistance, the benefit of which is that we free to operate without restraint.
However, this means that in financial terms we have always been very heavily dependent on our membership income and on bequests. But we can’t expect the generosity of Islanders to continue unless we can demonstrate that the unique services we offer and the benefits we deliver to the Island are of very real value. Because the interests and expectations of our Island community are constantly changing, we must ensure that our work remains relevant and that the awareness of what we do reaches the widest possible audience.
Some people regard us as an elitist organisation, but this not the case. Though we undertake, facilitate and publish research at a high level, we take very seriously our obligation to our members to involve them in our work. We will have all these thoughts in mind as we develop new ventures for 2025, and as we intensify our efforts on fundraising.
MM: What would be your main message to the public about how they can get involved and support the Société’s future?
SF: One obvious answer is that we would like to attract new members to participate in our Section activities and enjoy the events that we are planning for next year. We are broadening the scope of our talks and walks, and we invite members to tell us about subjects they want to hear about. We aim to make all our talks available on-line from next year. If anyone has a subject they want to study, we will provide help and support. Because we have a small staff, we are also keen to enlist additional volunteers to assist with our wide-ranging activities and we are immensely grateful to the individuals who already help us in this way.
My overall message at the close of my first year in office as President is this – that the Société has an exciting future, and we hope that members of our Island community will support us and participate in some way on this exhilarating journey.
To support the Société Jersiaise as we embark on another year of preserving and discovering more about Jersey’s history, culture, language and environment – why not consider becoming a member or gifting a membership this Christmas?
As part of your membership, you’ll receive the following benefits:
- Regular newsletters and updates from our Sections
- The opportunity to join any of our 15 Sections to learn with our community
- The Société’s Annual Bulletin publication
- FREE access to all Jersey Heritage sites
- 10% discount on all books sold in our shop
- FREE use of the Lord Coutanche library
Find out more and join today by clicking here.
