We were also pleased to be able to re-establish our Speaker of the Month programme at the South Library; although we are not currently able to offer a regular time slot for these, Grant is endeavouring to hold them as close as possible to the third Wednesday of the month. On 3 December we will hold our annual Art Event at Chambers@241, and on 19 December our Christmas Party will be held at Kate Sheppard House and Garden. We do not normally run events in January but this year we are offering a LocArt visit with Barry Clarke on the 28th. In February you can look forward to our speaker of the month, Dorothee Pauli, and our Summer Trip, which this year is to Akaroa. And in March we are excited to announce a special trip to Auckland to see the fantastic new art gallery – details for expressions of interest for this trip are included in this insert. We have also set a date for next year's AGM, which will be held on Thursday 29 March.

We are now actively seeking our overdue subscriptions and you can easily see if yours is due by checking the expiry date on the back of your Friends card. Membership rates remain at $55 for a single membership and $80 for a couple at the same address. And don't forget that the Gallery Shop is open and the staff there will be happy to see you for your discounted Christmas cards and gifts - personally, I think they have the best cards in Christchurch.

Along with the Gallery staff, we have moved again, this time to a makeshift office on Montreal Street. We have limited resources there and our secretary working only once a month, but we will continue to do our best. I'd like to ask for your forbearance and continued understanding of the difficulties we all work under. Thank you to all of those who have completed their updated details for our database, especially if you have now added an email address this is the quickest and most cost effective way for us to contact our members.

Our section on the Gallery website is also an effective way of keeping tabs on what is happening with the Friends – if you don't have your own computer I am sure a friendly librarian or family member will bring it up online for you when you are visiting.

I hope you all have a fantastic summer break and enjoy your family and friends over the festive season. I look forward to seeing you all in 2012.

Postscript: We were very saddened by the recent death of Austin Deans, who has been a great supporter of the Friends over his long and productive life. We will miss his presence at our functions as will many of you. Our condolences to his son, Paul, and the rest of the Deans family.