Page 383 - She's One Crazy Lady!

and wanted to run Crazy Hats. I’m sure they did, for it was a wonderful vocation, but did they really understand what it took to do what we were doing? No. It wouldn’t work.
I talked through my feelings with fellow Trustees, who all understood and agreed and it was later in 2019 that we planted the seed of ‘winding down’ at a full Committee meeting. May I stress, it was only a ‘seed’... but seeds have a tendency to grow...
As anticipated, it did indeed come as a bit of a shock and a disappointment to some. I could empathise with their feelings of disillusionment. None of us like to leave positions where we find so much pleasure – I knew!
For me it was a huge announcement; one that, deep down, I never wanted to make.
As expected, there were exclamations...
“We can’t close. What will people do without us?”
“Surely, there’s someone who can take it on and keep it going.” “Crazy Hats has to go on.”
“I love volunteering. What am I going to do?”
“You can’t stop now when it’s all going so well!”
That was the trouble. We were doing well. Perhaps too well. I listened
and felt for each and every one of them but stressed that it would be difficult to maintain the current workloads, that our physical and mental health had to be seriously considered and, what would happen should I, Marilyn or Linda, become ill/seriously ill? I also stressed there was nothing to stop anyone setting up something similar in the future – an option that could be considered once we had closed, but not under the Crazy Hats name. Nothing would be done in haste. There was no immediate rush. I assured them that when the time felt right the winding down process would be handled as smoothly as possible.
The word ‘retirement’ entered my head – a word I had not given much thought to until now. If we closed I would be retired! Me – Retired? What would I do? There was also Marilyn and Linda to think about. Linda indicated she would need to find another job. Marilyn didn’t want to retire...
Another factor that had to be taken into account was the fact that Gary, our landlord next door told us he would be retiring early in 2020 and we would be having new landlords. This was something we hadn’t anticipated but, like us, Gary wasn’t getting any younger and the recession in the printing world had affected his business. We were told our new landlords would extend our tenancy but only for a further two to three years – which would go by so quickly – and then there was the question of a rent increase. I knew we had to give all this serious consideration.
Many still thought we should continue with our quest to find and secure permanent and bigger premises to create a Breast Cancer Centre that would allow more scope, more space and more support for patients – and rejuvenate the Charity. Believe me, over many years
“
I talked through
my feelings
with fellow
Trustees, who
all understood
and agreed and
it was later in
2019 that we
planted the seed
of ‘winding
down’ at a full
Committee
meeting. May
I stress, it was
only a ‘seed’...
but seeds have
a tendency to
grow... ”
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