Minutes March 2021

Minutes of the committee meeting held via Zoom.

Wednesday 24th March 2021. The meeting started at 7.30 pm.



  1. Welcome and apologies for absence:


PRESENT: David Atkins (chairman) DA, Tom Winn (vice chairman) TW, Marina Richards (treasurer) MR, Jacqui Knight (secretary) JK, Claire Axten Cl.A, Francis Knight FK, Catherine Atkins CA, Paul Badman PB, Tina Della Valle


APOLOGIES: Kay Strain, Gabbie Butler, Sally Wood, Barbara and Peter Fry


  1. Minutes of the meeting held on 24th February 2021:


DA checked that everyone had read the minutes from the previous meeting and asked if they were a true record. Proposed by MR and seconded by TW. Signing of the minutes will take place at a later date.


  1. Matters Arising not on Agenda: None


  1. Chairman’s Report:


Trevor Skinner was a valued and very much liked member of the Street Twinning Committee and passed away on Monday. A few moments of silence were then held to reflect.


  1. Secretary’s Report:


Cllr Simon Carswell has offered to follow up the request for a road named Isny. Cllr Peter Goater has stepped down from the Parish Council and had been dealing with our request up until this point.

Tina Della Valle thanked JK and DA for keeping everyone up to date during the pandemic.


  1. Treasurer’s Report: Nothing to report. Please see the financial report at the end of the minutes.


Current account balance £6544.04

Deposit account balance £8058.78


  1. Membership & Member’s Welfare:


DA said a few words about Trevor, he was very likable and so cheerful and positive. Always came up with ideas and genuinely a good man. DA will send a card on behalf of the association. JK will pass on the messages of condolences which she has received from members to Sheila James. FK asked if we should let France and Germany know. It was agreed that JK will email Sharon in Gravenchon and DA will ask Barbara Fry to let Veronica know in Isny.

JK said that she had received a reply from most members about membership payments. 39 members have donated their payments to the Association out of 62 members.


  1. Visits


Zoom with Gravenchon: JK had received positive feedback and 21 members would like to take part, 12 households. DA will book it once a date has been agreed and will probably be held by Zoom. TW asked if there was a provisional date, DA said not at the moment, but he will look into it. JK will email Sharon with the list of names interested and will ask Sharon if she could suggest some dates. It was agreed by members present at the meeting to arrange this for after Easter. DA gave an update on France including that the curfew is 7pm to 6am with some extra restrictions recently added, non-essential shops closed, and the French are banned from going abroad. Exercise is permitted up to 10k from home and people need certificates if going further or going out during curfew.


Second Zoom with Isny: DA will catch up with Barbara Fry for an update.


  1. Fundraising and Events:


A second Zoom Social? JK reported that she had received no feedback from Members. DA stated that as no one has any ideas we will pass on this for now.


  1. Website & Facebook: JK Nothing to report about Facebook. Peter Fry was not present to comment on the Website, DA said he spoke with Peter before the meeting, and he will be updating it shortly.


  1. Publicity:


Plaque on Twinning tree in Merriman Park:


DA stated that the Association will receive a grant from the Parish Council around April for £1000. It was to go towards looking for new members, but it is not appropriate at the moment as we need to wait until we can link up with schools. We will need to thank the Parish Council when we receive it and at that time will mention that we will not be utilising it until nearer the end of the year.


DA said that the plaque on the Street Twinning tree in Merriman Park is looking worse for wear and it is difficult to read the inscription. He showed a photo of the plaque and then a photo of a plaque on a new tree in Merriman park. The new ones look nice and easy to read. They are made from light aluminium with a wooden backing, and they won’t tarnish. DA said the cost of one of these plaques to replace our old one would be £25. With a show of hands, it was agreed that this is a good idea and DA will look into getting a new one for our tree.

FK reminded the committee that at a previous Committee meeting the plaque outside of Grinters pet shop had been discussed as the wood around it was looking old, at the time it was suggested that this could possibly be repaired. DA asked if members would like to take a look at it and give feedback at next month’s meeting.


  1. Lottery:


Congratulations to the winners of the March lottery draw. The numbers were drawn by Kay Winn and read out by TW during the zoom meeting.


1st Prize no.63 Veronica Brunt £20

2nd Prize no.7 Daniela Della Valle £10

3rd Prize no.20 Claire Axten £5


  1. AOB: TW asked if the committee would be sending flowers to Sheila James along with the card from the association. Tina Della Valle agreed that this would be a lovely gesture. It was agreed by the committee and DA will arrange.


  1. Chairman’s Closing Remarks: DA thanked everyone for attending the meeting and special thanks to Tina for joining us.


Meeting Closed at 8.03pm

Date of next meeting: Wednesday 28th April at 7.30pm

To be held via Zoom.



Minutes February 2021

Minutes of the committee meeting held via Zoom.

Wednesday 24th February 2021. The meeting started at 7.30 pm.


  1. Welcome and apologies for absence: PRESENT: David Atkins (chairman) DA, Tom Winn (vice chairman)TW, Marina Richards (treasurer) MR, Jacqui Knight (secretary) JK, Peter Fry PF, Barbara Fry BF Francis Knight FK, Gabbie Butler, Catherine Atkins. Paul Badman, Kay Strain.


APOLOGIES: Claire Axten, Sally Wood, Trevor Skinner


  1. Minutes of the meeting held on 27th January 2021: DA asked if everyone had read the minutes and asked if they were a true record. Proposed by BF and seconded by FK that they are a true record. Signing of the minutes will take place at a later date.


  1. Matters Arising not on Agenda: None


  1. Chairman’s Report: DA nothing to report


  1. Secretary’s Report: JK Received an email from a lady recently moved to Wells looking for someone to correspond with in French, German or Spanish. She used to belong to a twinning group so it’s great that she found our twinning email. JK responded and sent her details to Shirley Gunter who was happy to forward the ladies details onto her French speaking U3A group and the other U3A language groups.


  1. Treasurer’s Report: MR nothing to report. Please see the financial report at the end of the minutes

Current account balance £6534.04

Deposit account balance £8058.72


  1. Membership & Member’s Welfare: Maureen and John Parfitt informed JK that they will no longer be able to host. JK will continue to send them the minutes up until and including the AGM and then they will become supporters of the association as they would like to be kept informed.

JK reported that 32 have donated their membership payments for this year to the association, 3 will carry over their payment for next year, 2 will wait until the AGM and pay then, no response from 21 members.

JK offered to send a letter to the non-responders as some members might not be checking their emails at the moment. BF suggested that a reminder email be sent to the members that have paid but not responded and this was agreed by the committee. JK will send the emails.

Sheila had sent an email to update everyone on Trevor. He is now home and receiving excellent care from the Palliative Care team. Sheila said that everyone’s thoughts and prayers are much appreciated.


  1. Update on visits 2021: DA reported that it has been agreed with Gravenchon and Isny that due to the present Coronavirus situation there will be no twinning exchanges taking place during 2021. BF stated that Veronica in Isny is very keen for a Zoom social to take place again. JK reported that Sharon in France has said that it will be a great idea to hold a Zoom or similar meeting at some point in the near future, France do not use Zoom so much but she uses it so knows how it works. On the request of Sharon JK is to send an email to the Gravenchon twinners to gauge who would like to take part in an online meeting so as Sharon can liaise with their hosts.

DA reported that Sharon had sent an update from Gravenchon saying that in their general area they have not been too badly affected. They have a curfew of 6pm. They are not allowed to travel outside of their area and it is a complete lockdown at weekends. Their vaccination programme has begun and the government have said that adults wanting the vaccine will be able to have it by the end of August.

DA stated that April half term 2022 could be a possibility to travel to Gravenchon but no plans will be made until nearer the time.


  1. Future Fundraising and Events: JK reported that she had received an email from The Meriman Park Community Group stating that Coronavirus Pandemic restrictions allowing, they intend to go ahead with the 2021 Merriman Park Fun Day on Saturday 4th September 2021. This is great news as it is one of our biggest fundraising events.

DA suggested a Zoom social with the theme of talk about a memorable twinning experience with pictures if possible. JK will send an email to members to see what they think and to see if anyone else has any ideas for a social.


  1. Website & Facebook : JK nothing to report for Facebook. PF stated that last month’s minutes are on the website. DA thanked committee members that had given feedback to the draft for the website page. There are a couple of updates to do so DA will discuss this with PF. FK had suggested to add the links to Gravenchon and Isny’s Web pages. DA is happy to do this and in looking into it he discovered that Gravenchon’s Website displays the link to wrong website and he has informed Sharon.


  1. Publicity: DA nothing to report


  1. Lottery: Congratulations to the winners of the February lottery draw. The numbers were drawn by Kay Winn and read out by TW during the zoom meeting.


1st Prize no.31 Jackie Rawlings

2nd Prize no.83 Avril Berry

3rd Prize no.5 Claire Axten


  1. AOB: TW asked if the draft for the front website page had been agreed by the committee? DA stated that it had been accepted by default as all committee members had been circulated for comments and those who replied were in favour.


  1. Chairman’s Closing Remarks: DA thanked everyone for attending the meeting.


Meeting Closed at 8.00pm

Date of next meeting: Wednesday 24th March at 7.30pm To be held via Zoom.