The Kew Guild AGM 2026

The day started with Dr. Alan Paton giving members a tour of the digitisation project in the Herbarium. Trustee Wayne Williams attended and said he jumped at the chance to visit the Herbarium again after nearly 20 years.

Wayne said “Dr Paton did a fantastic tour and described how the collection has been meticulously digitalised with some impressive tech. What struck me the most was the way that the herbarium specimens will be used both now and in the future.

DNA and chemical compounds are extracted from the specimens, sometimes centuries old to solve 21st century questions. These have included which species have the most medicinal chemical compounds in the genus Salvia. Another has been to help Ethiopian farmers know where and where not to plant coffee in the future due to climate change or which Coffea species are more suitable to grow in the future.

Who would have imagined that these historic specimens would be used in such a way – certainly not the Victorians. If you haven't yet visited the herbarium, I strongly recommend that you book an appointment now.”

Other members wandered through the gardens, taking in the impressive Henry Moore sculptures – although a couple cheerfully admitted that they weren’t entirely sure what to make of them!

• 36 members and guests attended the meeting – numbers were slightly lower than last year.

• Members paused for one minute to remember those who are no longer with us: Kenneth Burras, Joan Hart, Bob Ivison, Brian Lowe, Brian Nash, Mikel Pagola and Barry Phillips.

• Unfortunately we had trouble with the Teams link this year, despite Martin Staniforth trying his best to get everything to work. We send apologies to those members who tried and failed to join us.

• The Chair, Rob Brett, welcomed two new Trustees to the Kew Guild – Wayne Williams and Mike Maunder.

• The Kew Guild CIO met five times during the year on Teams. All of the meetings were quorate in accordance with the CIO (three or one quarter of trustees).

• The Annual Report and Accounts were distributed with the Notice of the AGM and approved by members at the meeting. We are now on track to reintroduce these to the Journal in 2027. The Reports have been uploaded to the Charity Commission portal way ahead of the October deadline.

• Members asked questions about the cost of running the Guild. Now we have our accounts in electronic format, it will be easier to keep track of this. The finance sub committee has been reinstated with quarterly meetings and this will lead to greater financial oversight and budgeting. This item will be discussed at the next finance meeting.

• The Chair responded that our Trustees are volunteers, but they need help from paid people like the Secretary, Editor and Treasurer, but volunteers are always welcome, and if anyone wanted to join the Board to help the Guild, then they should contact the Secretary.

• Membership is continuing to grow – we have had 89 new members since this time last year; (74 standard and 29 students). The Affiliate membership scheme has now finished, and numbers have reduced from 14 to 1. We have sadly lost two Honorary members this year.

• The annual subscription is to remain at £30 for full members and £15 for students in 2027.

• One member asked the Board about the possibility of having digital membership cards. The Chair responded by saying this may not be possible, and Trustees will discuss this further.

• The same question was asked about the Journal going digital, with members being given the choice of receiving a printed copy, or an online version. The postage cost of the Journal and membership cards is rising year on year, and it has been suggested they both go out in the same envelope. Trustees are looking at having a cardboard membership card for 2027 which is much more sustainable. This will also be discussed in the coming months.

• Deadline for 2026 articles for the Journal is the end of January 2027.

• The Trustees and Officers formally thanked our outgoing archivist, Alice Nelson, who has done a fantastic job in the role. We have a replacement in the wings and SA will follow up in the coming weeks.

• SA asked if any members had any recollection of the Kew Guild jacket which was found and put into the archives by Alice. Nobody present knew anything about this, and SA will try to bring it to the 2027 AGM.

• The Award Scheme paid out a total of £12,237 from the five named Funds and General Funds was available at the meeting to be made as awards. This does not include a 50% increase in General Funds agreed by Trustees 11 March 2025, to be carried forward and ratified annually. Twelve applications had been made, nine were successful after individual discussion. 

• There were no Honorary Fellowship awards this year. 

• Trustees and Officers for the Presidential year 2026-27 were ratified and there were no conflicts of interest declared. 

• Awards: The George Brown Award was presented to Martin and Wendy Staniforth for their continuing commitment to the many individuals whose journeys have been shaped by their encouragement and example.

• The Kew Guild Medal was presented to Chris Kidd for his services to Horticulture.

Rob ran through the results of Prize Day:

o   The Matilda Smith Memorial Prize – Daisy Baggs

o   The George Brown Prize – Daisy Baggs

o   The Kew Guild Individual Study Prize – Laura Oxley

o   The Dummer Memorial Prize – Patricia Stadler

o   The Kew Guild Cup – Daisy Baggs

In addition, the Hart Prizes, in honour of Allan and Joan Hart were awarded to all Kew Specialist Certificate students, Apprentices and Introduction to Horticulture students who have successfully graduated from their courses.

• Retiring Non-Executive President Richard Barley acknowledged the Trustees and Officers, and passed on his thanks for the value of the work that had been done over the past year. Richard gave this thanks and congratulations to the incoming Non-Executive President Mike Maunder and wished him a very successful term of office.

• Rob Brett invited Mike Maunder to accept the President regalia and inaugurated him as Non-Executive President for 2026-27.

• The date of next Annual General Meeting: Saturday 11th September 2027, venue TBC. One member asked if we could hold an AGM again at Wakehurst. This will be discussed.

• To round off the day’s activities, a supper was arranged by Richard Ward and David Taber at Mamma Mia restaurant in Richmond. It was attended by around 20 members and a great evening of stories and recollections followed. David Taber celebrated his 70 years since he started Kew and we send him our warm congratulations.

Special thanks go to Michaela Gates, who kindly took photos during the meeting. All photos (c) Michaela Gates unless otherwise stated.