Minutes of the committee meeting held via Zoom.

Wednesday 26^th August 2020. The meeting started at 7.30 pm.

1.     Welcome and apologies for absence

PRESENT:  David Atkins (chairman) DA, Jacqui Knight (secretary) JK, Peter Fry PF, Barbara Fry BF, Claire Axten Cl.A, Trevor Skinner TS, Francis Knight, Catherine Atkins, Sally Wood, Kay Strain David Brunt

      APOLOGIES: Tom Winn, Marina Richards, Paul Badman and Gabbie Butler

2. Minutes of the meeting held on 22^nd July: DA checked that everyone had read the minutes from the previous meeting and it was agreed that they are a true record. Signing of the minutes will take place at a later date.

3. Matters Arising - not on Agenda: DA suggested that the Twinning Association Reserves be discussed at a later date. This was agreed by the committee.

4.     Chairman’s Report: Nothing to report

5.     Secretary’s Report: Nothing to report

6.     Treasurer’s Report:  Please find attached the Financial Report for Aug

Marina was not present at the meeting and so DA summarised that the only change to the account balance is £35.00 less due to lottery winnings. Marina had sent a message to remind everyone that she will need receipts for any expenses. Please send them to her as soon as possible so as they can be included in the accounts.

 7.     Membership & Member’s Welfare:

JK had written the following to all members when sending out July’s minutes: Since the meeting we have been informed by Sharon Paimpare of the very sad news that Sylvie St Leger has passed away after a yearlong illness. Sylvie and her husband Patrick twinned with Helen and Tim Phillips. Both Sharon and David Atkins have been in touch with Helen and Tim. Sharon wrote in her email "Sylvie was my right hand girl. She helped in organisations of all the visits and was responsible for all the super deco at the dinner dances. She also helped me organise and participate in the street and Catcott primary school exchanges and was present when the English children came to France. She will be greatly missed by all and I have lost a very dear friend." DA has spoken with Sharon and passed on our condolences on behalf of Street Twinning.

JK had also written in this email to members that in response to the card sent by Street Twinning, Hazel Russell had replied. She greatly appreciated the card and she is continuing to gain health. Hazel also said that she and Ivor enjoyed twinning immensely and hopes that visits will continue in the not too distant future. Long may the twinning continue!

 8.     Update on visits 2021:

BF said that the first week in Aug has been pencilled in for the visit from Isny to Street 2021. She had been informed that there will be a road in Isny named after Street.

There then followed a discussion about a road being named in Street after Isny. Cl.A stated that there had been a recent Street Parish Council meeting which discussed extending the Business Park near Sainsburys and that this would be an ideal area to have a road named after Isny. JK reported that she had written to Mendip District Council back in Aug 2018 asking about the possibility of having a road named Isny and then in Jan 2019 contacted Street Parish Council. It was suggested that she writes again this time directly to Cllr. Peter Goater at the Parish Council and she is happy to do so.

DA has spoken with Sharon about dates and will check again with her ready for September’s committee meeting.

9.     Future Fundraising and Events:

JK reported that due to a problem with the Street Twinning Facebook page she hasn’t been able to advertise bric a brac items on Facebook Market place. She has reported it to Facebook and will report back next meeting.

The possibility of a bric a brac stall at Street Market was then discussed. Various ideas were suggested such as self-distancing by placing an extra table between sellers and buyers, wearing masks and placing hand sanitiser on the stall. There was some concern that there would not be enough members volunteering and not many people use cash any more as paying by card is preferred.

It was suggested that the association could buy a card reader and the committee agreed that Street Twinning should buy one ready for future events. It was agreed that there was enough interest in holding a stall and so a stall will be booked in the not too distant future.

TS stated he is hesitant to book a quiz night at the moment as we could possibly not get enough people to attend. It was agreed by the committee that to hold a quiz is sadly too soon at the moment.

JK had asked for suggestions or thoughts about fund raising when she sent out July’s minutes to members but had not received any replies.

10. Annual General Meeting:

Thank you to all members who replied with their views about holding a Zoom or physical AGM. Most had said they were happy with either but some would not be able to or would prefer not to go to a physical meeting.

It was decided that the association must enable anyone who would like to attend the AGM to do so and this would involve combining the two options.

It was decided by the committee to look at a hall that can sit 25 to 30 people with social distancing and to set up a zoom meeting from the hall. It was agreed that the hall would need to have Wi-Fi. There will be costs involved but it was agreed that this is necessary to get the right kind of venue.

BF suggested the meeting to be held during daylight hours and so DA will see what halls will be available on Saturday afternoon of the 31^st October. PF is happy to look at setting up Zoom.

Due to the current Covd-19 guidelines it was decided not to serve refreshments.

DA stated that there will be a proposed change to the constitution with reference to a certain amount of expenditure being cleared between committee meetings by two committee members. Also for the constitution to state that a Street Twinning debit card is held by the treasurer.

11. Website & Facebook : The renewal for the Website Domain is due in the next couple of weeks. Marina was not present at the meeting and so the cost of the renewal is not known.

JK has reported that she is no longer able to sign into the Facebook account due to it not recognising the email and password. Luckily it is linked to her own private Facebook page and so she can access it through that and add posts. She is waiting to hear back from Facebook. 

The Website was discussed and it was agreed that it will be updated shortly.

12. Publicity: Nothing to report.

13. Guidelines for Event Organisation: DA will be looking at risk assessments.

14. Lottery: Congratulations to The August Lottery winners

1^st Prize £20 no.55 David Mozley

2^nd Prize £10 no.34 Alison Rowden

3^rd Prize £5 no.7 Tina Della Valle

Marina will be informed and payments will be paid directly into the winners bank accounts.

15. AOB: JK has the gift of pâté from Gravenchon and reports that they are all still in date with varied use by dates from April to Dec 2021. She is happy to store them until there is such an occasion for the association to use them.

16. Chairman’s Closing Remarks: DA thanked everyone for attending the zoom meeting and thanked Trevor for arranging it. TS is happy to organise the next zoom meeting.

Meeting Closed at 8.40pm

Date of next meeting: Wednesday 23^rd Sept 2020 at 7.30pm

Minutes of the committee meeting held via Zoom.

Wednesday 22^nd July 2020. 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, Trevor Skinner TS, Francis Knight FK, Gabbie Butler GB, Catherine Atkins Ca.A, Sally Wood SW, Kay Strain KS

APOLOGIES: Claire Axten and Paul Badman

2.      Minutes of the meeting held on 26^th February:  DA checked that everyone had read the minutes from the previous meeting and it was agreed that they are a true record. Signing of the minutes will take place at a later date.

3.      Matters Arising not on Agenda: DA will be in contact with the sub committees considering our Reserves and Guidelines for Event Organisation now we are up and running again and he would like to put the two items to bed before the AGM in October.

4.      Chairman’s Report: DA stated that all venues for planned events for 2020 had been contacted and cancelled, incurring no fees. Events cancelled are the Quiz, Merriman park fun day, all committee meetings until further notice at The Mullions and the Bric a Brac stall. No costs incurred for cancelling the visit to France or the visit from Isny. The cancellations for the visits came from our twinning partners and we fully support their decision.

5.      Secretary’s Report: JK had nothing to report

6.      Treasurer’s Report: Please see financial report at the end of the minutes. MR stated that members who had paid for the trip to France have all now received full refunds.

Current account balance £5,404.81   

Deposit account balance £8,058.25

7.      Membership & Member’s Welfare: JK reported that there is no change to membership numbers 60 adults and 6 children.  KS had visited Hazel and Ivor Russel who are ex members and current supporters of Street Twinning. Hazel has been quite poorly recently. DA will send her a card from the Twinning. 

8.      Planning our visits for 2021: It was agreed by the committee to roll everything over to 2021. The committee looked at the school holiday dates for next year and the only overlap for France would be in the summer holidays. JK was asked her opinion as the Knights were the only family due to travel to Gravenchon this year. She stated that it would be nice to visit when the French children are off school but they would be happy to visit France whilst the French children are at school if this makes it easier for everyone, as long as it was during the English school break. The committee agreed that it would be too much to fit in both exchanges in August when all children are off school. Also as Merriman park fun day is one of our biggest fundraisers it would be advisable to keep this date free and not clash with visits.

It was agreed by the committee that DA will contact Sharon in Gravenchon to say that we would like to visit them during April or May in the English half term.

It was agreed by the committee that BF will contact Veronica in Isny and suggest that they visit us from 31^st July when both schools are on holiday.

9.      Future Fundraising and Events: TS has been in touch with the Victoria Club. They are not allowing the main hall to be used yet. Once it is available we could organise a quiz as there is enough room in the hall for social distancing. He has prepared the quiz questions already. He also suggested a sponsored walk. This could take place in a field and do laps with different start times, not as a group but individually raising sponsors.

SW said that she took part in a fun social distance treasure hunt in Street. Participants had a month to complete it. This could raise funds by possibly paying £5 each or per family. People can walk the whole event and perhaps have a cash prize. JK will send out an email to gauge member’s feelings about doing these fundraising ideas and to see if anyone has any further suggestions.

PF suggested a Bric a Brac stall as the Street Market is now open again. It was felt that maybe it is too soon for this at the moment. BF said that they have quite a lot of Bric a Brac and PF suggested selling the really good items on line with photos, collection only. Facebook market place would be an ideal place to do this and he is happy to arrange.

10.  Annual General Meeting: Wed 21^st Oct 2020

It is too early to decide if this takes place physically or by Zoom. DA said that at the Aug Committee meeting it will need to be decided if there will be any changes to anything. This will give us time to make any changes before the AGM takes place.

11.  Website & Facebook: All being kept up to date. PF stated that the Website is under review

12. Publicity: DA said that there has been no progress with contacting schools as planned due to the current situation. Contact will not be made until late Sept at the earliest.

13.  Lottery: Tom and Kay Winn drew the lottery numbers. There are 71 sold numbers.

1^st prize of £20 no.16 Yvette Carver

2^nd prize of £10 no.68 Barbara Fry

3^rd prize of £5 no.19 David Atkins

Congratulations to all.

14.  AOB: No other business

15. Chairman’s Closing Remarks: DA thanked everyone for participating in the Zoom meeting. The next meeting will be arranged for Aug. He thanked Trevor for arranging the meeting. He closed by saying stay positive and we need to maintain and encourage contact with abroad.

Meeting Closed at 8.20pm

Date of next meeting: Wednesday 26^th August 2020 at 7.30 pm

To be arranged probably through Zoom

Signed: …………………………………………………………………

Date …………………………….............................................………

When making a payment online, please put the purpose of your payment in the reference box.

If you are paying by cheque: Please make the cheques payable to Street Twinning Association and on the back of the cheque please can you write the purpose of your payment.

Minutes of the committee meeting held in The Mullions Hotel Breakfast Room.

Wednesday 26^th February 2020. 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, Gabbie Butler, Catherine Atkins, Paul Badman, David Brunt DB, Martyn Butler, Sue Genge, Viv Squire and Helen Phillips.

APOLOGIES: Claire Axten, Trevor Skinner, Francis Knight, Sally Wood and Kay Strain

2.      Minutes of the meeting held on Wednesday 22^nd January:  DA checked that everyone had read the minutes from the previous meeting and signed them as a true record

3.      Matters Arising not on Agenda: DA stated that a copy of the diary dates will be taken to Gravenchon, when we visit in April, so as dates for the exchange in 2021 can be discussed.

4.      Chairman’s Report: Recently the meetings had been very long and DA said that it was mainly due to himself being the new Chairman and there had been a lot to discuss. A reminder that we should all be mindful of time so as meetings don’t go on for too long.

5.      Secretary’s Report: All receipts for membership, lottery and Gravenchon payments have now been sent to members. It was agreed at the November meeting that receipts will now be sent instead of membership cards and for any payments received. If any member has made a payment since the November meeting and has not yet received a receipt, but would like one, please contact JK.    

6.      Treasurer’s Report: Please see the financial report at the end of the minutes

Coach and Ferry to Gravenchon has been booked. MR is currently waiting for the invoice from the coach company.

            Current account balance £8,671.81   

Deposit account balance £8,052.93

7.      Association reserves: DA stated that there is no update on this as yet. The reserves/deposit account has roughly been the same for the last 3yrs but before then there was about £1000 more in the reserves. DB talked about the reasons why the reserves have gone down. We no longer receive the large grant from Clarks and haven’t done for a few years now. We have fewer members which impacts on fund raising events as fewer members, family and friends are attending events. We have lost some of the large fundraisers like the BBQ which used to raise about £400. The association had started to spend more on hosting as it was felt that we had to “keep up with the Joneses” but this has been looked at in recent years and reined in.

8.      Membership & Member’s Welfare:  Sadly the daughter of long standing members Grace and Bernard Squire has passed away. A card of sympathy was sent to Grace and Bernard by DA on behalf of Street Twinning. Sharon along with Marie-José and Hervé who used to twin with them sent a bouquet of flowers and card.

JK reported that we have 64 members, 58 adults and 6 children (since the meeting a further two have paid their membership and so the total is 66)

DA sent a card on behalf of Street Twinning to Sharon Paimpare in France as she has had a second operation. Sharon sent an email saying how lovely it was to receive it when she returned home and is recovering well.

BF said that Reg Alford and Sally Wood have reluctantly decided to no longer travel to Isny with the twinning. This is very sad news as they have both twinned with Isny for many years and even went on their own one year when no one else could go. They both still hope to be involved with the Street Twinning Association and it’s events in this country as much as they can.

9.      Visit to Gravenchon Wed 15^th – Sun 19^th April 2020: An email went out on 20^th Feb with updated information for everyone travelling to Gravenchon. Unfortunately the Methodist Church is not available as planned for the pre-visit meeting but a new venue will be found. DA is hoping to book a venue for Monday 23^rd March as the feedback from members was that people could make this date.

The sewing has started for the gifts for Gravenchon.

The coach driver now has a host and they have hosted the coach drivers in the past and so know where to park the coach etc. and he/she will be well looked after.

Thank you to all the people who have paid their final payments, just a few left to pay.

10. Visit from Isny 2020: Mon 26^th – Sat 31^st Oct: 31 people will be travelling from Isny to Street. There are 12 first timers coming over including a family of 5. Avril Berry has very kindly offered to host the family as we have been unable to find a family for them to twin with. Avril does not mind if a family is found and plans change so if any member knows of a local family who may be interested in hosting in Oct then please still get in touch.

There will be 7 children in total coming over. One traveller is flying over but the rest by coach and so there will be a coach driver to find accommodation for this time. We will need to find a place for the coach to stay and so Stuart Wells will be contacted as Millfield were very helpful when Gravenchon visited last year.

The exchange trip in 2021 has been discussed with Isny and it could possibly be during the Easter Holiday or in the May School holiday. More information will follow shortly.

11. Visit of Isny Town Band: DA is looking at the practicalities of everything. Street Drum and Trumpet Corps, Wells City Band and the COSMIC Wind Band are all on board for the visit. One couple who usually come over with the Isny twinning will not be coming over in October but they will travel over for this event instead. More information to follow as soon as we have it.

12.  Fundraising and Events: In the past there have been German and French evenings which were good fun but not money makers. Other fundraisers in the past were BBQ, cheese and wine, disco. If any member has any good ideas to raise money please get in touch but on the understanding that we need people to own events and help do the prep work.

a)     Community Event – Sat 29^th Feb: Emails have gone out to all members asking for help on the stall and a rota has been sent to the people who offered to help. Viv Squire and Sue Genge offered to help whilst at the meeting and so their names were added to the rota. Thank you in advance to Tom & Kay Winn, Sally Wood, Shirley Gunter, David Brunt, Kay Strain, Reg Alford and Peter & Barbara Fry for volunteering. Francis and Jacqui are happy to set up and take down and fill in if needed.

b)     Bric a brac market stall – Thurs 9^th April: BF & PF hope to be around for this event as they have all the bric a brac. JK will send out an email to all members a couple of weeks before the event to ask for volunteers.

c)      Quiz – Sun 17^th May: Booked

d)     Choir event: Carried forward

e)     Pizza Evening: Sally is looking into this, carried forward as not at tonight’s meeting

f)       Baltonsborough Show – Aug 2020: MR will look into this

13.  Website & Facebook: All being kept up to date

14.  Publicity: JK has sent a report about last year’s visit to Isny to Local Reach. The report also states that they are coming over in Oct and that we are looking for a local family to host in October and she will contact Nub News ASAP.

15.  A Policy Document for the Association: DA nothing to report as yet

16.  Lottery: Congratulation to the winners this month

1^st prize no. 52 David Mozley

2^nd prize no.69 Gabbie Butler

3^rd prize no.5 Sam Richards

Helen Phillips suggested that instead of sending cheques would it be easier to send directly to people’s bank accounts. MR is happy to do this and so if you would be interested in your winnings being paid in this way please forward the relevant bank information to m.richards67@btinternet.com

17.  AOB: A date for the AGM was agreed by the committee for Wed 21^st Oct and is planned to be held in the Crispin Community Centre. TW will book it from 7 – 10pm and the meeting will start at 7.30pm.

Meeting Closed at 8.15pm

Minutes of the committee meeting held in The Mullions Hotel Breakfast Room.

Wednesday 27^th November 2019. The meeting started at 7.30 pm.

1. Welcome, introductions 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, Claire Axten Cl.A, Trevor Skinner TS, Francis Knight FK, Catherine Atkins Ca.A, Paul Badman PB, Sally Wood SW, Kay Strain KS

APOLOGIES: Gabbie Butler

2. Minutes of the meeting held on 25^th September: DA checked that everyone had read the minutes from the previous meeting and signed them as a true record

3. Matters Arising not on Agenda: No matters arising

4. Chairman’s Report:

Reminder of what I said at the AGM:

To be inclusive

To be respectful

To be loyal

To inject energy

To enjoy myself

Looking for “smarter” working to both ease the burden on committee members and those organising events.

Avoid duplication of efforts and so avoid surprises.

Look for members to own events but not necessarily do everything – recent excellent examples such as Cheese & Wine, Bric-a-Brac, Quiz and Christmas Cracker.

We must remember that we are Street Twinning Association and whilst respecting many choose Isny or Gravenchon others choose both and we must be careful not to create “two camps”.

Went on visit to Isny and made one brief and one longer speech in German – room for improvement – more later

Approach from Isny Town Band to make a visit – not with “normal” twinning visit; end of July or September; over a weekend from Fri to Mon; travel by coach; perform with local band(s) in a concert?; up to 40 but not looking for family hosting; spoken with Stuart Baker (Street Drum & Trumpet Corps) in first instance; they will respond in next few weeks; if positive would encourage involvement of Glastonbury and City of Wells bands and if not positive I will approach those bands.

Committee Discussion: Sept possibly cheaper than July for accommodation. Suggestions of local Youth Hotels, Premier Inn and Travel Lodge were made. Street Members could get involved with helping at the concert and possibly selling tickets.

Helped at Bric-a-Brac and Quiz – more later.

Sent a card of condolence to Avril Berry and family from the Association and represented Association with others at Bill Berry’s funeral.

Post Xmas Dinner – visited the Street Inn, King Alfred and the Pipers. Tentative dates of 15th and 29th January available; menus very similar with Pipers a little more expensive; make a selection from menu to keep things simple; suggest a main and a dessert – pre-order main

Committee Discussion: The Pipers has good service and good food. Street Inn has changed hands recently and no one had any reviews. King Alfred is good but limited space. The committee favoured The Pipers as a venue and the 15^th January was a popular date. An email will go out shortly as this event is open to all members. It won’t be a fundraiser it will be a social event.

5. Secretary’s Report:

JK read out a letter received by David Brunt.

Just a few lines to say thank you for the gift which you gave me on my retirement from the position of your chairman. I did not really expect anything after only two years in the position, it was a very kind gesture and extremely generous. Thank you so much. I really appreciate it. I do not know what I will use the vouchers for but I will probably wait until the spring and visit a large garden centre.

Thank you also for your support and friendship I have experienced over the years. I will probably miss the monthly meetings but I will relieve any withdrawal symptoms by continuing to support and help the association in any way I can. You have only to ask.

Once again, thank you for everything.

Sincerely,

David

6. Treasurer’s Report: Please see financial report at the end of the minutes.

Current account balance £5,472.61

Deposit account balance £8,048.87

MR stated that 36 members have paid membership so far.

At the moment the signatories for cheque payments are Marina, David Brunt and Claire Axten. DA requested that Marina enquire about the signatories being changed to MR, DA and JK.

7. Membership & Member’s Welfare:

JK reported that we are expected to have 69 members including 6 children once membership payments have all been received.

A reminder to members that have not yet paid, membership is due by December 23^rd £15 per adult, free to children under 18. Payment details are at the bottom of all minutes.

In 2018 we had 79 members. Sadly we have lost some long standing members due to health and various reasons but we have gained some new members. One of our members, Shirley Gunter, is doing a magnificent job at promoting Street Twinning with her U3A French group and has gained us a couple of new members. We are also aware of other members promoting twinning with their friends and family so thank you. JK has received emails from some potential new members and has sent out all the relevant information.

DA Spoke about the need to forge contacts with schools. This had been discussed at a previous meeting but unfortunately due to other commitments JK is now unable to take on the role of leading this. It is an important task with the need to find more members including families. The Committee were asked to think about helping with this.

If any member would like to be involved with this then please come along to January’s committee meeting when it will be discussed again.

There was a discussion about membership cards. They do act as a form of receipt for membership payments. It was agreed that MR will set up a receipt for membership and event payments which JK can then send to members by email or post to acknowledge payments and no longer use membership cards.

Member’s Welfare: Reg Alford was suddenly taken ill just before the Isny trip which meant he sadly couldn’t go. SW said that he is now out of hospital and back home taking it very gently. A Street Twinning card will be sent.

DA reported that William Berry’s funeral was very well attended with quite a few members from the twinning that went.

8. AGM:

DA and JK have signed a copy of the new constitution that is now held by the secretary. It was thought that the new venue was very good; URC’s heating fans were very noisy. It was agreed that it was a lovely social event with many members staying at the end for tea, coffee and biscuits. In comparison the URC was £25 and the Community room was £30 to hire. The Mullions Breakfast room was suggested as it would be free. Unfortunately with a large pillar in the center of the room it was thought not ideal. With a vote of hands it was agreed that the community room is preferable for next year’s AGM.

9. Visit to Isny 2019: Please see the Isny Report at the end of the minutes.

The committee thanked BF, PF and Cl.A for their organisation. It is a great report and at the bottom there are tips for future organisers.

The Aprons and gifts went down very well, thank you to the sewing group who were Barbara Fry, Claire Axten, Hilary Mozley, Gabbie Butler and Julia Welch.

The feedback from the committee members that went was that the trip was brilliant and they were made to feel extremely welcome. The refreshments on the coach on arrival were gladly received. The dinner and entertainment was fantastic. In October it gets dark quickly and the weather was not great and it was felt that the trip was a day short. It is difficult to suit everyone and we have to consider cost to hosts or the association. It was felt that planning well in advance would help members to book time off work and will give us more opportunity to visit at different times of the year.

10. Visit to Gravenchon 2020:

The numbers for Gravenchon have dropped significantly this year. There are no smaller coaches that will travel to Europe at a cheaper cost. Adults have been quoted £150 and children £75. Based on our current number going and present costs there will be a small shortfall. There will be no extra cost to members, it was agreed by the committee that this shortfall will be absorbed by the association if no one else decides to join the trip. As long as Sharon can find hosts for late comers then there will be no problem with new people deciding to join the trip but there is a deadline of 6^th Jan. If there are members or friends who are thinking about Gravenchon please contact JK before Jan 6th.

It was proposed by TS and seconded by FK and agreed by the committee to go ahead with the booking.

Gravenchon would love to receive something similar to the Isny aprons to use on their Christmas market stall next year. It was proposed by Cl.A that a group make aprons and bunting with N.D de Gravenchon and Street on them or something similar.

Would anyone else like to join this sewing group? Please let JK know before the January meeting. BF and Cl.A said they are not tricky to make and they won’t start making them until the New Year.

DA reminded everyone to always hand in receipts for any costs of fabric or expenditure so as members can be reimbursed. MR is happy to receive receipts by email if people are able to scan them.

JK will continue to liaise with Sharon about hosts etc. and members will be kept updated.

11. Visit from Isny 2020:

BF reported that they had a discussion about future dates when they were over in Isny. She has not heard anything more as yet. Cl.A stated that it would be good to look at dates for 2021 sooner rather than later and it was agreed that forward planning would be a great idea for both Gravenchon and Isny. DA will put it on the Agenda for January and he will look at producing a planner to work out visits

The same committee as before are happy to carry on but BF would like to give other members a chance to help with arrangements and so if any member would like to get more involved please do get in touch.

12. Fundraising:

1. Bric a brac market stall: Thurs 7^th Nov. Thank you to TW for organising this event. We managed to sell most of the items and what’s left is being stored by BF who is happy to hold them until the next stall. Great support from Members and raised £160 which was on a par with other previous bric a brac stalls. It was agreed that we would do separate stalls to the Merriman Park group but would liaise with them so as we aren’t both selling on the same week. Cl.A will look at booking Thurs 9^th April 2020 for our next stall which is in the Easter Holidays.

2. Quiz: Fri 8^th Nov. Thank you to TS and Sheila for organising this event. It raised £95 on the door and £55 on the raffle. It was a brilliant evening and well attended but room for more. TW will look at booking the Victoria Club again possibly on 22nd May 2020. 3 bottles of wine at £1.35 each were used from stock as prizes.

3. Christmas Cracker: Sat 14^th Dec. Thank you to FK for organising this event. Emails will go out shortly asking for volunteers and donations of bottles of wine. DA brought back 48 bottles of wine from France and there are 33 in stock. No more empty wine bottles are needed as Re-wrapping worked well at Merriman Park. Bottle wrapping will take place at FK’s house 7pm on Thurs 12^th Dec. SW will go to the scrap store and get Christmas wrapping paper. DA will see if we can borrow a gazeebo with weights. MR will forward on the instructions to FK ref the pitch and will provide the insurance policy to display at all events, she also has the risk assessment if needed. The target is to raise £300.

4. Choir Event: Carried forward

5. Pizza Evening: Carried forward

6. Baltonsborough Show: Aug 2020: Carried forward

13. Website & Facebook: JK is keeping Facebook up to date. PF will look at removing the old constitution from the Website and also upload any visit reports.

14. Publicity:

DA spoke about a community support working group event which will be held on Sat 29^th Feb at Crispin Hall. It will be similar to the Discover your Community event which we had a stall at back in Oct 2018. Local groups such as Diabetes UK, Health Connections, Salvation Army, Lions, Men Shed and We Hear You will be taking part. It will be set up at 9am and then open from 10-2pm. It was felt that it would be good for twinning to be part of such an event and to be seen as part of the community. The Knight family are happy to co-ordinate this and set it up and will need some volunteers to man the stall. DA will seek for an invite to take part and an email will be circulated to members once our invitation is confirmed.

15. A Policies Document for the Association:

This will explain what we do and the way we do things. Such things would be included such as maintenance of mailing list, risk assessments and polices, twinning gifts, level of reserves that the association has. Child subsidies for trips, dinners and twinning visits and at what age. Fund raising events including organisation and costs. At the moment these kinds of things are reliant on memory rather than stated in a document.

It would be great for sub committees to have info on how to organise things and what has been done in the past including companies used and costings. There is a blue folder which contains this information but it has not been put to use yet, sub committees will be shown this in future. PF said it would be a good thing to display on the Website so as members can have access to it. DA will put something in writing ready for January’s meeting.

16. Lottery: TW Pointed out that members pay for a December draw but we don’t have a December meeting to pull the lottery winners. It was agreed that the December winning numbers would be pulled at tonight’s meeting.

Nov Winners

1^st prize: no.58 David Atkins

2^nd prize: no.43 kay Winn

3^rd prize: no.47 Paul Badman

The numbers were then all put back in the bag.

Dec Winners

1^st prize: no.53 David Atkins

2^nd prize: no.50 Lucy Nurse

3^rd prize: no.15 Veronica Brunt

TW will get the lottery information ready to send out to all members reference next year’s lottery. He has received the certificate from Mendip with the registration of the Street Twinning Association Lottery approved from 1^st Jan to Dec 2020.

17. AOB: JK would like to start using the Street Twinning email address instead of her own personal BT account. This would keep everything separate and prevent anything being missed. This was agreed by the committee. For any correspondence from now about twinning please could everyone send emails to street.twinning@gmail.com and all correspondence to members will be sent from this email address from now on.

Meeting Closed at 9.45pm

Date of next meeting: Wednesday 22^nd January 2020 at 7.30 pm

at The Mullions Hotel breakfast room.

Minutes of the committee meeting held in The Mullions breakfast room.

Wednesday 28th August 2019. The meeting started at 7.30 pm.

1. Welcome, introductions and apologies for absence

PRESENT: David Brunt (chairman) DB, Tom Winn (vice chairman) TW, Jacqui Knight (secretary) JK, Peter Fry PF, Trevor Skinner TS, Francis Knight FK, Gabbie Butler GB, Sally Wood SW, Kay Strain KS, Fiona White, David Mozley and Hilary Mozley.

APOLOGIES: Marina Richards, Paul Badman, Barbara Cowell, Barbara Fry, Claire Axten, Catherine Atkins, David Atkins, Katrina Dumontroty, Rebecca Wells, Simon Carswell.

2. Minutes of the July meeting: A couple of amendments to the July minutes: FK was instructed to buy 4 tables and not 3. Four tables have been delivered and they are perfect for the next twinning stall. KS also represented Street Twinning at Viv Richards’s funeral. DB to sign the amended July minutes as a true record.

3. Matters Arising: The Street Twinning flyer is displayed on the notice board outside Crispin Hall. JK checked Elmhurst School website and Newsletter and there is no mention of Street Twinning following the donation to the school, this is very disappointing. JK will be writing to local schools in the near future as stated in previous minutes with reference to looking for new twinning members and setting up a meeting with the head teachers.

4. Revised Constitution: Tom, Marina and Catherine have been looking at the financial procedures in the constitution. TW reported back that they took a look at the whole constitution and have made some amendments. This was discussed at the meeting in length and some further adjustments were suggested which will be incorporated in the constitution before it is issued. The revised constitution will be sent to all members along with the calling notice issued to members 28days before the AGM. Members are invited to read through the constitution and reply with any queries so as TW and the working group can then deal with any queries before the AGM. It will be an agenda point at the AGM.

5. Treasurers Report: Please see the attached financial report. FK pointed out that it has been a satisfactory fundraising year as we have just met our target of £3,400 for the year.

Current account balance £3,335.75

Deposit account balance £8,044.81

6. Visit to Gravenchon 2020: JK has had some responses, but not many, to her request for a show of interest for the Gravenchon trip next year. An email will shortly go out to all members with a form to fill in with names and ages of children who would like to go. The email will include a rough idea of costs based on our last visit. We need to know numbers so as we can work out prices and look at booking. We will request that forms are returned before the AGM. At this point it does not commit you to going on the trip it is more of a show of interest but we need to have a clearer idea of expected numbers. We will be leaving Street early on Wed 15^th April and returning late on Sun 19^th April. We hope there will be no unforeseen circumstances of change but we will not know this for certain until the coaches and ferries are booked.

Sharon has French families etc. waiting to twin and so if you have never been part of the Gravenchon twinning before or know of someone who would like to join then there is still time.

7. Visit to Isny 2019: A meeting at Barbara and Peter Fry’s house has been arranged for the Isny group. There will be 30 twinners travelling to Isny from Bristol Airport on Mon 28^th Oct and returning from Basel Airport on Fri 1^st Nov.

8. Publicity / recruitment of new members: JK reports that there has been a show of interest from a family of four who are looking to hopefully join the Gravenchon twinning. JK asked the committee if she could update the membership pack to state the new membership fee of £15 a year for members over the age of 18yrs as this was agreed at the last AGM. It was agreed and members are reminded of this change ready for their renewals in October. No charge for under 18’s.

9. Fundraising for 2019:

1. Bric a brac market stall: No date set

2. Merriman Park Fun Day: Saturday 7^th September. There will be the usual water or wine and also a children’s card game with prizes and Street shopping bags to sell.

1. SW offered to source the paper for wrapping the water and wine bottles.

2. DA has bought 48 bottles of wine in France and the Twinning has 15 bottles.

3. TW and Kay offered the use of their house for the wrapping evening on Thurs 5^th Sept at 7pm. Any member is welcome to come along and help with this as it is very time consuming with hopefully 360 bottles to wrap. Please bring sellotape.

4. KS has sticky labels with sad face and do not drink.

5. JK will provide information laminates for the stall with prices, Quiz night and general info including a sign saying “Enjoy the wine but don’t drink the water”.

6. KS has bought some plastic wine carriers and people have been collecting the free cardboard wine carriers for easier transporting on the day. More would be helpful.

7. JK has the wooden wine display boxes from last year’s stall.

8. DB has offered the use of his gazeebo with weights.

9. DB has the float.

10. Members: We are hoping for 300 empty screw top wine bottles. To check we have enough please could members drop their collections off at TW house (16 Seeley Crescent, Street, BA16 0RN) by Wednesday 4^th preferably already filled with water. Please also drop off any donations of bottles of wine. If you do not have transport please contact a committee member and I am sure we can arrange collection from you.

11. JK will send out the rota to the volunteers. We now have 12 volunteers for the stall. Cars are allowed on site from 10am until 12. At the end we will need to transport all the empties off site but keep them as we will need to refill them ready for the Christmas Cracker, cars are not allowed back on site until 4.30pm.

3. Choir: No date set

4. Autumn Quiz: Fri 8^th Nov at the Victoria Club 7.30pm start – TS has organised this event. Committee members were given posters to display around Street and the local area. JK offered to do the raffle and has raffle books. Please contact JK if you would like to donate a raffle prize and need it collecting, or if you would like to donate you can take it on the night if you are taking part. £2.50 per person with teams of up to 4 people. Booking is preferred so to book please contact Trevor Skinner 01749 689199 or 07739 817136.

5. Pizza fundraiser: Fiona White spoke about a fundraiser that she had been involved with. They bought pizzas and made puddings. People would bring their own alcohol. Easy fundraiser and a nice sociable event. Roughly £10 a ticket. Would need to find a venue though, maybe at a member’s home?

6. Baltonsborough Show – Aug 2020

10. Website & Facebook: All being kept up to date

11. Lottery winners this month:

1^st Prize no.12 Francesco Della Valle £20

2^nd Prize no.40 Gill Davey £10

3^rd Prize no.8 Tina Della Valle £5

12. AOB: None

Date of next meeting: Wednesday 25^th September at 7.30 pm

in The Mullions breakfast room.

Minutes of the committee meeting held in the Victoria Club Skittle Alley.
Wednesday 22nd May 2019.
The meeting started at 7.30 pm.

1. Welcome, introductions and apologies for absence
   PRESENT: David Brunt (chairman) DB, Marina Richards MR, Jacqui Knight JK, Tom Winn TW, Peter Fry PF, Barbara Fry BF, Trevor Skinner TS, Francis Knight FK, Kay Strain KS, Gabbie Butler GB, Catherine Atkins Ca.A, David Atkins DA, Barbara Cowell BC, Rebecca Wells RW, Sally Wood SW, Paul Badman PB
   APOLOGIES: Claire Axten Cl.A, Katrina Dumontrotty KD
   
2. Minutes of the April meeting:
   DB checked that everyone had read the minutes from the previous meeting and signed them as a true record
3. Matters Arising:
   a) New venue for meetings as from June: Upstairs Parish room £8.50per hour but no lift. Strode Theatre £30per hour and not suitable during holidays as extra cost. Members houses discussed but not favoured. United Reform Church £15 for 3hrs and 10% off if 5 sessions booked. Mullions Hotel breakfast room is free if some bought drinks. It was agreed that TS would book the Mullions for the 4th Wednesday of the month from 7.30pm.
   b) Investiture: A very enjoyable evening and Nina Swift mentioned how wonderful Street Twinning is in her speech.
   c) Twinning Greeting Card: KS showed a draft A5 size folded card with the possibility of Street Twinning and logo on the front and blank inside costing 10-15p per copy. JK was keen for the email, website and Facebook address to be included and SW suggested a collage of 3 photos. KS agreed to get some quotes for different designs.
   
4. Treasurers Report: Current account £3,389.11. Reserve account £8,040.76
   MR stated that a BACS payment of £1000 had been paid into the account but she does not know who it is from.
   Cheese and Wine Report: Please see attached report. Profit £373.67
   A well-attended event with lots of wine and food including many different cheeses. Thank you to Tina and Tony for their great hospitality and also to Gabbie and Martyn Butler for providing the games. TW said what a lovely evening it had been and was very happy to see Hazel and Ivor Russel at the event. It was agreed that JK will keep a Supporters email list so as non-members can be informed of any future fundraising events. If anyone knows of any non-members who would like to support such events please contact Jacqui with their email address so as they can be added to the list.
   
5. Record of wine:
   DB has stock of 12 red and 3 white wine for future events
   
6. Visit to Gravenchon: Wed 15th April to Sun 19th April 2020 (provisional until booked)
   KD contacted Brittany Ferries reference sailing from Portsmouth to Caen. They don’t have pricing yet and we can’t book until late Aug/Sept. A discussion followed about other possible crossings. Key points were time of travel and availability of day time cabins. An overnight crossing and a Dover to Calais crossing was not favoured. Other possible options of New Haven to Dieppe and Portsmouth to Le Harve were discussed and so JK will contact KD to see if she would be happy to look into these other options. MR had contacted some coach companies for quotes:
   Taylors Coaches 55 seater executive coach £3,450.00 (£3,300.00 last year), Bakers Coaches £2,250.00, SMC coach hire £3,000.00 Coach and Ferry travel carried over to the next meeting.
   
7. Visit to Isny:
   Mon 28th Oct to Fri 1st Nov 2019 (booked) nothing further to report.
   Since the meeting it has been confirmed that the new family travelling to Isny now have a host family.
   
8. Publicity / recruitment of new members:
   FK said it is important to follow up with people who show interest in the twinning. He mentioned a parish councillor who had attended a previous meeting as a potential new member. DA offered to contact him.
   Since the meeting we are in the June edition of Local Reach.
   
9. Fundraising for 2019:
   a) Quiz: Fri 8TH Nov at the Victoria Club. More details will follow nearer the time.
   b) Bric a brac market stall: Val Appleby asked if we would help do a stall on Thurs 23rd May and split the profit 50/50. JK, FK, DB, GB volunteered.
   c) Strawberry Tea: Sunday 23rd June from 3pm at Avril and William Berry’s in Street. Cake and raffle prize donations please but no strawberry and cream cakes. Tickets are available from any committee member £7 adult £4 child (aged 5-14) Raffle and possibly a game of boule. Please take own chairs and picnic table if needed. Payments by BACS or cash/cheque to DB.
   d) Choir: DA is working on this idea. Carried over.
   
10. Website / Facebook /Twitter:
    All being kept up to date
    
11. Congratulations to the May lottery winners
    1st no. 56 Sandy Baird £20
    2nd no. 8 Tina Della Valle £10
    3rd no.14 Martyn Butler £5
    
12. AOB
    RW asked if there could be a thank you letter sent to Millfield Security for allowing us to park the French Coach at Millfield during their stay. DB is happy to do this along with sending a thank you to Tina and Tony for hosting the Cheese and Wine.