STAPLEFORD TWINNING ASSOCIATION
Annual General Meeting
Thursday November 25th 2021, 7.30 pm
Zoom
- Present: Jackie Bow (chair) Tony Hore (treasurer),Chris Bow, Mary Cooper (secretary), Bryan and Carol Davies, Jim and Kathleen Foreman, Jillian Gardner, Louise Graham, Wendy Heap, Tim Jessop, Tony Smith, Jane Steadman,
Apologies for absence: Geoff Gardner, Jeannie and Peter Green, Kate Jessop, Gillian Pett, Anand and Vijaya Pillai, Jo and Tom Robinson, Soraya Taraghi, Patrick Thouroude.
- Minutes of the AGM held on 17th November 2020
Accepted as correct.
- Matters arising
There were no matters arising.
- Chair’s Report (Jackie Bow: 2020/21)
It has been so sad that due to the pandemic there has been no visit but we did have a very uplifting BBQ in Tony Smith’s garden in August, when it was lovely to be together again.
We are looking forward to our pre-Christmas Bring and Share social at Jackie and Chris’s on Dec.3rd for those who are happy to mix.
We were sad to hear of the death of Joan Barnes, a founding and stalwart member of Twinning from the beginning. Jackie has written to Joan’s family on behalf of both the English and French members.
Jackie thanked Mary, Tony S. and his neighbour Caroline for their work in the Villedômer Garden and encouraged some members to help at the workparty on Dec.11th.
As the Twinning weekend was cancelled last year, when it was our turn to host, we are inviting the French to come here in 2022 on the Bank Holiday weekend April 29th –May 2nd. We can use the programme prepared for last year. However, the French will have to apply for passports at a cost of 44€ as they can no longer travel on their Carte d’ Identité and these take 3 months to arrive so this might put some people off and others might not want to travel because of Covid. The French hold their AGM in January and a decision will be made soon after.
Social events – a Zoom quiz, a talk on a French theme or a walk have been suggested.
Finally Jackie announced that she has decided to step down as chair after 15 -16 years on the committee with 11 years as chair.
Matters arising: Kathleen suggested that we could go ahead with the visit on a less formal basis with fewer communal meals etc.
- Treasurer’s Report
Tony presented the accounts. The balance is £3487.79 so we have gained a surplus of £131.50 in spite of not being able to fundraise. The only activity has been on the 100 Club and insurance. The 100 club payments need to be realigned so that all subscriptions coincide with the end of the financial year. At present each subscription starts on the day it was first bought. Hence why the expenditure looks as if it is twice as much as the income. When this happens, we can also discuss how we can raise more from the 100 club.
Tim Jessop suggested that we should decide on our financial objectives at the beginning of each year as this would guide how much we need to raise. Our finances do run on a 2 year cycle, raising money to pay for the biannual visit here by the French. It would be useful to resurrect the document which showed how much we spent on each visit in the past to help us plan future visits. As we don’t get an income from casinos now, we may need to find other methods of fundraising.
100 Club -There are 18 participants. In response to a query from Carol, Tony read out who had won each month during the last year:
April –TH, May -Tony Smith, June -Carol Davies, July -Kathleen Foreman, August -Tony Smith, September -Anand Pillai. It was suggested that this could be put on Facebook and the website and an email sent round each month which might encourage others to join.
- Election of new committee members
The present committee apart from Jackie has agreed to continue. New members are Tony Smith proposed by Tony H and seconded by Mary and Tim Jessop, proposed by Mary and seconded by Bryan. All were in favour of electing this committee.
- AOB
– Social events were discussed. It was suggested that, if people took a lateral flow test before coming, then meetings in person should be possible. However, we could chat on Zoom about our holiday experiences in France, we could ask one of the French to give us a talk eg Jean-Pierre on a musical theme but he would speak in French and translating would not really be possible on Zoom. A joint Zoom meeting with the French was tried at Christmas 2020 between the 2 committees but it was not entirely successful and any such meeting would need to be structured.
– Pavilion Management Committee – Gillian Pett, who is now Chair of the Parish Council, asked whether any member would be prepared to join a committee to help run the Pavilion –a job she has been doing. Any offers should be made to Gillian.
Website- Thanks were expressed to Patrick for maintaining our website but it was suggested that it needs an overhaul. Tim proposed that we first decide what we want to achieve through the website. Jim said that Nick Robinson has set up a platform through which each club in Stapleford could run their own website at no cost. He runs the History Society website in this way and finds it very straightforward to manage. Jim was asked to make some preliminary approaches and to report to the next committee meeting when Tim might head up a group to look into this. At present, we pay a small fee for the domain name.
-Finally, Jackie was thanked for her very long and stalwart service as Chair of the committee and presented with a bouquet.
The meeting closed at 20.30h