The season started with an exhibition in the studios of paintings by Caro Seaward and Anne Shingleton and my sculptures to celebrate my 75th birthday and 25 years of the Centro d'Arte. It looked very good and we had a great party at Chrisie's afterwards.

The studios were revamped for the birthday exhibition with better lighting and furniture for display. We have added a DVD projector to our lecture theatre facilities which projects impressive images at cinema size. My daughter Hannah and I made a DVD of my life and works including a short documentary on the Centre, with a plug for Verrocchio himself, the DVD will be generally available shortly. Caro's work as a painter is now much more visible around the Centre to our continual delight.

All in all I think we can boast of being the best equipped and most beautiful art school of its kind in the country. Evening entertainment is bountiful, what with good food, wine, dancing on the terrace, DVDs and the bars in the village. If you can think of anything else necessary for a great, productive holiday, please let us know!

In the recent climate of financial uncertainty we are worried about the future of the Centre. In order to keep prices down we need to operate on the assumption of filling the majority of courses, something which is becoming increasingly difficult. Word of mouth and editorial comment are always the most effective forms of publicity, so we would be grateful if you could help to keep the Centre going by talking to friends or journalists about us. We can provide brochures for distribution at art groups or artists' meeting places. Please direct people to our web site: www.verrocchio.co.uk

We really appreciate the continuing support of our regular students - it is always good to see familiar faces returning. It would be good to see lots of new faces too. I look back on 25 summers of good times and on all the hundreds of people who have been touched and even changed by this place. It would be a great pity to have to close it. We hope to see you in 2009.

My contribution to the Stop Serota Petition can be seen on YouTube. If you would like to have a copy of my Rembrandt DVD, or my Artistic Autobiography  ring Hannah at (0117) 9423032 (UK Number) or write to Hannah Toomer, 137 Sommerville Road South, BRISTOL BS6 5DT, UK.  Cheques payable to 'Hannah Toomer'.  Cost £8.00 for one DVD or£12.00 for two.  Includes Post and Packing.