Bloavezh mat!
Happy new Year! I am writing this as I finally can talk about a piece of news I have been desperately trying not to blurt out for the last couple of months – We Are Returning to Wales in August.
Courtesy of the tireless efforts of Haesel de Barnslei and helmed by Yannick of Normandy, the August Coronet will be fought in the grounds of Caldicot Castle from 15 th to 19 th August. This is a new site, and thus the event is for five days, and not the usual ten. This is also how Raglan Fair of times past began, so the hope is to start carefully, and see how things develop over the next few years as (fingers crossed) the venue likes us and we bed in the differences the site offers.
Bookings open in March, but we can reveal the dates to help people plan ahead. We have also checked for transportation – Caldicot has its own rail station and is just off the M40. Cardiff and Bristol Airports have air connections to the further regions of the Principality.
Accommodation is camping-only on-site, but there are options offsite, and details will be found on the event website.
Thank you again, Haesel and Yannick.
The New Year brings with it further developments being considered in the Seneschallate. We are a Society of courtesy and respect, with a clear Code of Conduct. However, even with this expectation of behaviour, disagreements and issues can and do arise. Thus, my next order of business is to review how the complaints process works (and doesn’t) when someone breaches this code.
This will take some time as we intend to get this right, in order to ensure fairness, credibility and understanding are central values to this necessary process, while maintaining the authority and the limitations of what is essentially the mediation and disciplinary code of a voluntary social organisation.
Additionally, I am wanting to review how we support those volunteers who are the likely first points of contact for a complaint or needing to resolve an ongoing issue – e.g. event stewards, Seneschals and online moderators.
I welcome initial comments on what we have at the moment, concerns and suggestions – seneschal@insulaedraconis.org
All the best
Guy