|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Today we held a very successful Annual General Meeting. In two weeks time Manchester Concord will be one year old and we wanted to complete the work of establishing it as a members club by reporting on progress to date and holding an election for the committee. An audited set of accounts was presented and accepted by the meeting including an endorsement of the £1000 we donated to Sparkle last year and approval to do the same this year. An election was held and we now have a changed committee with nine people on it. Two members of the previous one had indicated that they did not wish to stand again so we now have four new members to add their enthusiasm and experience. |
|
|
We
all owe a debt of gratitude to Gemma who very significantly helped
to keep the club going while we were in the Hollywood, attending
every week for over 5 years from the start to the finish of each
evening and assiduously collecting the subs from everyone who attended.
She also acted as a friend and guide to many people who came to
the club, spending a long time helping and advising them about problems
they had.
She has now decided not to continue on the committee. We wish her well in the future. |
Gemma |
|
I
would also like to thank Hazel who came back to Concord after a
long gap and agreed to come on the committee to help get us started
again. She has taken an active part in organising the event evenings
and also started organising outings to places like Funny Girls in
Blackpool and the Ladyboys here in Manchester. She also serves as
a moderator on the Forum. She no longer feels she can make the time
for the committee but has agreed to carry on being a moderator and
to organise outings.
|
Hazel |
|
On
Tuesday we had an initial committee meeting with all nine members
attending. It was agreed that I would remain in the chair, Frances
would stay on as Secretary and Elaine as Membership Secretary. Vida
volunteered to take on the job of Treasurer. We discussed the points
raised by Estelle at the AGM and these will all be followed up.
We discussed the possible theme nights we plan to arrange over the
next year and have now decided what they will be. They will all
appear on the Coming Events page shortly. We also plan to hold a
"Partners" night in May. Arrangements for Sparkle are
under discussion and will be announced as soon as possible.
|
|
|
The
evening was well attended but I failed to take many photos. Here
are the people that caught my eye.
|
|
|
Steffie |
Kathy |
Michaela |
 |
On
Saturday I attended a very successful meal out at Villagios organised
by the "Ladies that dine" with 19 people sitting down
to eat. |
 |
|
|
|
Wow!
Didn't you all do us proud. This was our RED
DRESS night and we were awash in a sea of red. We were
really pleased that so many of you made the effort, it makes it
all worthwhile.
It is quite difficult to get a good group picture in the bar because of the layout. We took the picture below and then a bit later on, as an experiment we went outside and took another group picture. It is shown at the end. Here are now several pictures taken throughout the evening of individuals and small groups. |
|
|
General group in the Bar |
Paula, Lisa and Miranda |
Emma and Abi |
|
Brydie |
Caroline and Elaine |
Christine |
|
Hazel |
Lisa and Kate |
Shelley and Mercedes |
|
Mary |
Tina and Frances |
Miranda and Vanessa |
|
Julie |
Pauline |
Rosemary Stella and Fay |
|
Samantha and Estelle |
Sarah Louise |
Sarah, unsure and Ami |
|
Vicky |
Outside the Rem |
Brydie and Michaela |
|
Group from the Angels |
|
|
|
|
This
evening we had the pleasure of the company of Lisa and Zara from
Transfixed who had
come along to offer advice on wigs and make up and also to offer
a complete makeover and photograhy service back at their premises
for £99 per person. If we care to make up a group of 3 or
more at the same time they will offer the same sevice for £50
a head. On wednesday April the first he will be returning with a group from the National Trans police association who are having a conference in Manchester that week. |
|
|
Lexi, Sarah and Sandra |
Lexi,
on the left had brought along her girlfriend Sarah and Sarah's mother
Sandra who was out with them for the first time at this club. It
was very nice to meet such supportive people and I hope we see a
lot more of them. |
Mercedes and Shelley |
|
Lisa |
Lisa
on the left was visiting for the very first time, down from Scotland.
She had found out about the club from seeing the entry on TVchix
that Elaine keeps there every week. Elaine's efforts on TVchix and
the Angels websites are very effective at bringing in new members. Cindi on the right was in town, back from her travels again. She always tries to come along when she is in town and manages to look different every time. It is always good to see her as she enjoys life so much. |
Cindi |
|
Lisa |
Rosemary and Trixie Lisa on the left apparently does not really like having her photo taken but she let me take this and I think it is excellent. Rosemary, Trixie and Jane on the other hand are only too happy to oblige. Jane had just been to have a manicure and her nails painted at Cheadle Health & Beauty so she is recommending them as a place to go for a bit of pampering. |
Jane
See our recommendations page for details. |
|
|
|
This week the new management of the Rembrandt came along and introduced themselves. It has been taken over by the two partners who currently own Churchills pub in Chorlton Street. They are Jolly John and Lee. John will continue to run Churchills and Lee is the new manager of the Rembrandt. I was very pleased with the way Lee came in during the early part of the evening, introduced himself and said that if there was anything that he could do to improve our experience of using this bar then please just ask. He then stayed in the bar for quite a while introducing himself to all the people there and genuinely helping to make everyone feel good about the prospect of the new ownership. A bit later on John came in and introduced himself in the same way and said that he was very happy to continue our use of this bar on wednesday evenings. Several of our members, who also frequent Churchills, have known John for some time and his reputation with them is excellent. A bit later in the evening I was talking to Bob, who has been looking after the bar for a few weeks now and he tells me that John has immediately authorised him to bring up a working Tea/Coffee machine from downstairs so that he can start to serve these drinks on a wednesday evening. This will please several of our members including me. I would also like to say here a very BIG thank you to Mack and all the old staff of the Rembrandt who have now left. They looked after us exceedingly well over the past year and we are sorry that it had to come to such an abrupt end, but that is the way of things in the business world. |
|
|
Dee |
This
evening I was delighted to finally persuade Dee on the left to actually
join Manchester Concord. She has been attending Concord for many
years now, probably longer than me, but has never joined, so welcome
Dee and long may it last. |
Johanna |
|
Johanna
is quite a shy girl but she tells me that she gets enormous pleasure
from just being in the same room as people like ourselves. I fully
understand what she means and am very happy to be able to help people
like her.
We also had a new visitor from the north Manchester area called Susan who does not yet have access to the internet for herself and has no expertise with it. I suggested that she should take an evening class in computer use, so that she could then start to find out how much help and fun there is available for people like ourselves. I also explained how she could then set up a private, free, email address so that she could also interact with others without her family and friends necessarily knowing. She went away with a spring in her step and I think she may just do it. I hope so, because she is missing out without that skill and it is never too late to learn. |
|
|
Stella, Kerry and Fay |
Two
other new people came along and joined this evening, Marlene and
Julie. Neither of them wished to have their photo on the blog yet,
but I am sure that will change as their confidence grows. Next week we will have Lisa and Zara here doing a makeover demonstration along with a professional photographer to take the result. The week after we have our RED DRESS theme night so start looking them out now. |
|
|
|
As
a lot of you will know already, my wife died on the 3rd of February
this year and I have needed a time to get my life back on some sort
of even keel. For a bit more detail about what happened please see
the forum entry under Manchester Concord announcements. Life has
to carry on and that is what I intend to do. This club plays a very
important part in my life so I thank you all for allowing me to
be part of your lives.
I returned to a very busy successful evening where Estelle had arranged to show many of the pictures she has collected from the internet and put together as a very artistic and amusing set. There were so many pictures that she found the easiest way to show them was by putting them into a set of eight numbered folders which were put out on the tables. These could then be viewed at leisure by the people on each table before they were passed on to the next table as needed. So Thank you very much ESTELLE that was a really good idea. We had a lot of laughs. |
Estelle |
|
Marolyn and Astrid |
You
will have seen from the Forum that the Rembrandt Hotel is now changing
hands and the new owner is John who also runs Churchills which has
always been very friendly to our community. So we expect to be able
to continue at the Rem much as before. |
Rachael and Lottie |
|
Tina and Kate |
Tina |
Vanessa and Bella |
|
Louise |
Tina above is fairly new to the club and was looking stunning in her silver sequinned dress with matching shoes, shown on the right. The whole outfit was bought in a shop in Liverpool for which she has promised to send me details as the prices are very reasonable and there is a lot of choice. Louise on the left was here for the first time looking very confident and well turned out. Congratulations, I hope we see a lot more of you now that you have found our community. |
Tina's Shoes
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Elaine |
Our membership secretary Elaine, shown on the left, was having an evening off tonight to attend a birthday celebration for her friend Linda who so generously raised over £120 for us at last years Sparkle event. Here is Elaine all dressed up and ready to go. I met her later in the evening after she returned from the meal in a restaurant down on Deansgate. She thoroughly enjoyed the evening. We were looked after this evening by Bob who has not worked the upstairs bar before so we would like to welcome him and say thank you for looking after us. |
Our new barman Bob |
|
Frances |
Having now finished with the theatricals she was involved with last year it is good to see Fances, our secretary coming along regularly to the club again, especially when she comes making such dramatic entrances wearing a coat like this. But , not to be outdone, Miranda on the right was looking very striking wearing a very expensive pair of tights which she tells me she had managed to pick up in a sale for a fiver. Down from over £20. You do have to keep your eyes open for the bargains. Sally on the left below only came for the first time this evening and quickly got comfortable. Mercedes next to her first came a few weeks ago but was very soon venturing out with her new friends. |
Miranda |
|
Sally and Mercedes |
Fay |
Sarah and Jessica |
|
Fay has been with us for a very long time and always looks relaxed. Sarah tells me that she often goes out shopping dressed in jeans as this image fits in better with normal everyday life. As you can see the image suits her. I couldn't resist taking a photo of Jessica as I really love the tights she is wearing. Dont forget, next week we have the girls from TVcomplete coming when they will demonstrate a complete makeover. Also
Lisa from Transfixed has asked me to say that they are having
an opening weekend on the31st jan and 1st feb. They will be there
from 1-8 pm on the saturday and the sunday for people to come
and have a look around and ask questions. This will be a great
opportunity to see what they have to offer. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Tonight
Lisa was running the Strictly Come Dancing evening at the Shang
- Hi restaurant so I was not sure if we would get many here, but
I needn't have worried, as we still had quite a busy evening.
Hazel came in early to tell me about people possibly coming in
to pay for the trip to Funny Girls before she went off to try
her hand at dancing. I hear that the evening when very well so
I am sure there will be a repeat. I will go along myself if it
arranged on a different evening. |
|
|
Tina |
Estelle Elaine |
Paula |
|
Lucy Licious, Miss May and Fanny Flawless |
Later on in the evening we had a visitor from Darlington Lucy Licious who came in with her two friend Miss May and Fanny Flawless. They were out for an evening on the town and were planning to visit many of the venues in the village. Lucy and Fanny are both Drag Artists and certainly knew how to look the part and attract attention. They would brighten up anywhere they went and added quite a bit of colour to our evening. |
Fanny and Lucy |
|
Brydie |
Jenny and Cindy Brydie
on the left is now becoming quite a regular at the club and seems
to be enjoying life more now. |
Paula |
 |
|
|
|
|
With
the Christmas and new year break now over, we come back wondering
what the new year is going to bring. But no need to worry, even
on a horrid chill January evening well over 30 girls and their friends
still managed to find their way to Manchester to make a night of
it.
|
|
|
Michela |
Julie from Frillies has now opened an establishment in nearby Whitworth street where people can have a full makeover and also stay overnight if they wish. We welcomed Jezz this evening who as an occasional visitor was making use of that service this evening. Michela, on the left, who won the Most Outstanding category at the Christmas party, brightened up the eveing again with this stunning red outfit. We would also like to welcome Joanne who came and had an evening meal with Elaine and myself in Eden and Mercedes who came for the first time this evening. Unfortunately I have no photos of them at present. |
Jezzica |
|
Finally
I was sorry to hear that Susie, who won the Most Seasonal categegory
as Mother Christmas, had a Heart attack on Tuesday and is recovering
in hospital at present. She managed to send me an email from her
hospital bed on thursday so let us hope she is over the worst. We
send her our good wishes for a speedy recovery.
|
|
|
|
|
The Christmas Party |
|
First
of all I would like to apologise for the lateness of this entry.
I contracted an infection soon after the party and eventually got
put on very strong antibiotics right over the christmas/new year
break. This meant that I spent a lot of that period asleep and I
wasn't capable of coping with the complexities of the internet or
being sociable. I now feel a lot better and do intend to be at the
club on wednesday the 7th Jan. I have to take my last pill this
evening so hopfully wont be too sleepy tomorrow.
|
|
|
I
was staggered at the number of people that came to the party, our
guess is around 120, but we cannot be sure. It was certainly busy
but didn't the staff at the Rembrandt do well. The Buffet was superb
and by some magic seemed to be exactly the right amount. Many of
the staff who waited on to serve the meal were supposed to be off
duty but they stayed to help because they were enjoying themselves
so much. A very BIG Thank you to Mac for organising everything and
all the staff who worked so hard to make it a fun evening. Alan
and Chris spent the whole evening at the bar being run off their
feet.
|
Alan and Chris |
|
Marianne in full voice with Alison and her friend behind doing the necessary. |
The Entertainment We had it all this evening, Alison and her Karaoke, Marianne, Vida and Gigi with Val Vamp and the trans sisters all taking their turn to entertain us throughout the evening. Plus many contributions from willing singers having a go at the Karaoke. |
Gigi |
|
Gigi, Val Vamp and Sarah |
Kathy |
Vida |
|
Also during the evening we had arranged a competition so that we could give some prizes for various categories of dress and had asked Liz and Dawn, two real ladies to be the judges for us. The idea was that they would keep their eyes open for suitable outfits for each category during the evening and give me a list of the winners and runners up at around 10:30pm. This was to replace the raffle and intended to encourage greater variety of dress for the evening. Liz and Dawn did not want their photos included on this blog so they are not here, but the club gave them each a bottle of wine as a thank you present |
|
The winner of the "Most Elegant" category was Sarah and the runner up was Kathy. Both shown on the right. The winner of the "Most Seasonal" category was Susie shown below and the runner up was Cheryl but I dont have a photo of her this evening. The "Most outstanding" was Michela and the runner up was Caroline. And Finally they decided the the winner of the "Wackiest outfit" was myself, Mary. I cant think why?
|
Mary and Sarah |
Mary and Kathy |
|
Susie
|
Michela |
Caroline |
|
|
A lot of photos were taken throughout the evening so here are a selection. We dont have everyone so please dont be too disappointed if you cant see yourself here. |
|
|
Miranda |
Elaine and Marolyn |
Ruth and Emma |
|
Milli |
Astrid Cindy, Jenny and Marolyn |
Joanne |
|
Bev, Frances, Michela and Caroline |
J and Davinia |
Samantha and Richard |
|
Susie Christmas |
Lee and Isis |
Billie and Brydie |
|
Lisa and Hazel |
The Room |
Pauline |
|
Lost Property:- When Dawn went to collect her coat and Scarf from the rail down the centre of the room she found that the Scarf was not Cashmere any more. We imagine that someone has picked up the wrong one by mistake but Dawn would appreciate having her own one returned please and she will swap it back for the one she now has. |
|
| Link to previous pages |