Minutes Of The Committee Meeting, held At Earles Retreat on Thursday 27th September 2007 @ 8:00pm...

In Attendance; GD, JM, HE, SM, MS

Apologies; KS, TH, MD, PS, CH

Non-Attendance Recorded; LL, AT, DN

01. GD opened the meeting at 8:07 and thanked everyone for attending; he then gave an outline of this
meetings aims.

02. The minutes of the previous meeting were read and accepted.

03. The Treasurer presented the following figures;
a. Current Account; £3173-68
b. Savings Account; £135-71

04. Resignations & Non-Attendance
a. Resignations
i. PS had tendered a resignation letter with immediate effect.
ii. SM had tendered a resignation letter effective from AGM
iii. LL had tendered her resignation following her standing down from FTC
b. Non-Attendance
i. KS had not attended a meeting since the last AGM
ii. MD had not attended a meeting since the last AGM and had stated that she received no information.
iii. AT had not attended a meeting since the last AGM
iv. DN had ceased attending meetings

05. Group Membership
The committee currently consisted of thirteen members of which three were required to be officers, after a general discussion it was felt that the number of committee members could be reduced to give the group more cohesion. The group remained open to all interested parties however not all would be on the committee.
a. The following have indicated their continuing commitment to the group without conditions attached; CH, TH, JM, MS
b. GD had indicated that he would no longer stand as any officer from the AGM
c. HE had indicated that he would not commit further time beyond that already given but was willing to remain on the committee.

06. Recruitment Of New Members
After a brief discussion a poster campaign coupled with a “word of mouth” drive would be initiated for the AGM.





07. AGM Items.
a. The incumbents of all three officer positions, Chairman, Secretary and Treasurer would stand down at the AGM the Secretary and Treasurer had indicated that they were prepared to be nominated and continue. GD stated that although unwilling to continue as an officer he would act as reserve for the Chairperson nomination. It was felt that CH would make an excellent Chairperson and could she be sounded out. (Post meeting note CH has been contacted and is not willing to act as Chairperson.)
b. More children to be recruited into the group and canvassed for their opinions and ideas.
c. Teenage/student age group to be targeted and invited to contribute.
d. The Group constitution is to be amended in order to make it more specific and tighten up loose items.
e. Tea/coffee to be provided on the night.
f. Advance notice of the AGM is to be circulated in the WB, FP, KCS newsletter, Bowly notice board and website.

08. Time and Venue of Meetings
a. Meetings currently always occur on a Thursday night at 7:30/8:00 pm, given the generally low level of attendance this therefore does not suit everyone, this applies equally to future AGM’s. The Group is failing to recruit and losing existing members through this, various reasons have been put forward including unavailability of childcare.
b. Meetings often run into two hours – large international companies function on shorter meetings – therefore meetings should focus on agenda items and not have the frequent long diversions from topics that currently occur. Apart from the current Chairperson no advance agenda items are ever received, meetings need to be direct and focussed.
c. Meeting times are to be varied and could in future include Saturday morning meetings or times more convenient to those with children.
d. Aside from one meeting some considerable time ago in CH’s house meetings are always held at Earle’s Retreat or the Greenlawns hotel. As indicated in previous correspondence Earle’s Retreat is not available to the Group unless JM is in attendance, this is clearly un-acceptable therefore the Group needs to formalise its arrangements and contacts with Earle’s Retreat, following the AGM the Secretary will write to Earle’s Retreat to formalise an agreement. The Greenlawn’s is a pleasant venue but not central, nor does a public space allow open and frank discussion.
e. In good weather meetings could be held in the Bowly itself, this would be more applicable when discussing fixed topics regarding specific locations within the Bowly.
f. Alternatively we have the offer of some member’s homes or the offer of the new facility adjacent to the Bowly itself.

09. Cycle of Meetings
There was some degree of ambivalence amongst those present along with those non-attendees canvassed;
a. Some felt there were insufficient meetings
b. Some felt the meetings were too far apart
c. Some indicated that meetings were unpublicised
d. Meeting times and venues were changed at short notice.
The general feeling is that the meeting cycle should be formalised, monthly – bi-monthly – quarterly, whatever is decided the dates and venue should be decided in advance and publicised to all concerned. However the cycle of meetings need to be such that the group remains effective.

10. Sub Groups – Do not work, the membership of such groups is not defined and as such become non accountable. Sub Groups dilute the Groups efforts and resources and shift the focus away from the main aim. Individuals were more inclined to act alone rather than trying to report back through an unformalised sub group, CH’s efforts regarding play equipment were offered as an example of what could be achieved by a single focussed committee member. It was therefore felt that following the AGM the new “slimmed down” committee would focus on the Group’s aims.

11. Grant Updates – CH had indicated that the two applications she had been dealing with had been unsuccessful, therefore there are no outstanding grant applications.

12. Toddlers Area – The money available from FTC with an additional £1,000, giving a total of £10,000 is to be spent before March 31st 2008.
a. CH to draw up a list of fixtures and/or equipment that represents the best option to start the Toddlers Area.
b. The Treasurer stated that he believed that the FTC money had to be matched before spending – the consensus from the remainder of those present was that this was not the case. Treasurer to write to FTC for confirmation, the letter to be couched in terms that do not “lead” FTC to raise questions.

13. Funday and/or Winter Warmer – it was agreed that no further events were to be planned for the foreseeable future whilst the group concentrates on fund raising and “self help” Bowly improvements.

14. AOB
Throughout the meeting various diverse points and topics were raised, they have been collated under this heading.
· It is extremely unlikely that unless we spend the money currently allocated to the Bowly by FTC and “ring fenced” before the end of the financial year that we will receive further monies from FTC for the next financial year. This ties in with item number 12 and 12b above, however the decision had been made by the committee that the monies are to be spent before the end of March ’08.
· The existing equipment within the Toddlers Area is unsafe and therefore breaches H&S requirements.
· No progress had been made over the last year, since the swing installation, the perception amongst many residents was that the group had ceased to function.
· The committee’s aims had been too high, members had volunteered with the best of intentions to undertake some of the workload but had failed to deliver. Members undertaking specific tasks require being more accountable, however this requires consistent attendance at meetings.
· More “self help” functions to be undertaken – line painting, raised bed construction, planting, painting etc. Once the AGM is completed a programme of achievable work is to be drawn up and acted upon.
· Any FTC members wishing to attend meetings were to be welcomed, the new constitution would show that they were non-voting members.
· No person, unless willing and actively participating, were to be co-opted onto the committee.
· The Gyllyngvase Beach Café were to be contacted regarding their donation raised through ice cream sales, it was suggested TH could undertake this, maximum publicity to be obtained.
· A lockable notice board, exclusively for the BGCG committee, was to be erected outside the Bowly – MS to investigate.
· Local art students had contacted GD with a view of erecting 8 x 4 ft artwork boards within the Bowly as part of a community project. A decision is to be made once they have been viewed and a suitable location decided.
· SM to undertake the necessary artwork to produce posters advertising the AGM
· Funding for any external fencing repairs, gate repairs etc should be sought through FTC.
· Minutes of committee meetings to be posted on the website, more links to the website to be made, the website to be updated regularly to keep it current.
· PACT Panel, MS will continue to attend the PACT Panel meetings and report back, however the meetings are open to all although not well advertised. The minutes of such meetings were available to view through the secretary.

The meeting finished at 10:14pm with the next meeting being the AGM on Thursday 25th October at 7:30pm, a committee meeting will immediately follow this.


MR Stevens

M.R Stevens
Secretary
The Bowling Green Community Group