Minutes May 2021

Posted on June 12, 2021 by Peter Fry

Minutes of the committee meeting held via Zoom.

Wednesday 26^th May 2021. The meeting started at 7.30 pm.

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, Catherine Atkins CA, Kay Strain KS

APOLOGIES: Claire Axten, Gabbie Butler, Sally Wood and Paul Badman

Minutes of the meeting held on 28^th April 2021: 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.

Matters Arising not on Agenda: None

Chairman’s Report: Nothing to report

Secretary’s Report: Sharon had sent a video to JK to share on the Twinning Website. Unfortunately we did not get permission to include 3 photos of Brookside school children and so the video will need to be edited and the music resynced. Patrice who created the video is not available to edit it. JK asked is anyone knew how to do this.

DA will ask his son who may be able to do this for us.

Treasurer’s Report: MR stated that the financial report now reflects the membership payments being carried over. We have received the Parish Council grant of £1000. DA has acknowledged receipt with a reply to the Parish Council that Autumn will be the earliest we can use it to promote Twinning. When we are fully up and running again DA said the committee will be looking at the amount the association has in its reserves.

Please see the financial report at the end of the minutes.

Current account balance £7434.79

Deposit account balance £8058.92

Membership & Member’s Welfare: FK informed the committee that whilst in Merriman Park he had seen a bench in memory of William Berry. It is in a lovely position near to the twinning tree.

Visits:

Zoom with Gravenchon: Many members have said how much they enjoyed the evening. Sharon has given feedback from France that everyone thought it went really well, they enjoyed it and look forward to doing another one in the Autumn. JK has put photos of the event on Facebook.

Second Zoom with Isny: No reply from Veronica yet

FK reported that he had read information on GOV.UK about the proposed new rules for travelling to Europe. These include proof of accommodation, if you’re staying in a hotel then that’s easy but if it is at a private residence, such as when we twin, the host family need to apply for a statement from their local government stating their intention to host us – they then send a copy to us for us to show officials as we enter France. The proposed cost to them is 30 euros per family. The same will apply for going to Germany at a cost of 29 Euros per family.

Our passports will need to have at least 6 months of validity left for travel.

From mid to late 2022 we will also need to apply for an ETIAS. This is an EU wide initiative which is basically pre-checking individuals travelling to the EU for possible criminal records and terrorist activities! The cost to us will be 7 euros (under 18’s and over 70’s free) and an ETIAS will last 3 years or up to when your passport expires.

Up until Oct 2021 the French will be able to continue to use their identity cards to travel to England but after that they may need to get a passport.

Not all of this has been finalised yet but DA agreed that we will need to make sure that everyone travelling has the correct documentation and there will be extra administration for the mini committees when organising travel.

Fundraising and Events:

Pitch at Street’s Thursday Market – 29^thJuly requested. TW checked that this is in the school holidays which DA confirmed that it is. BF said that she knew of a village bric a brac that had been advertised on social media. There were suggestions of holding a bric a brac in a larger space where other people could also have stalls and would enable more money to be raised. A couple villages have held similar events where the gardens doing a stall are plotted on a map. To be discussed again.

Website & Facebook: JK stated that Germany have recently celebrated Mother and Fathers Days which she posted on Facebook. This had lots of likes from both sides of the water. Mother’s Day in France will be on 30^th May and JK will do a post for this.

PF has posted the minutes onto the Website and has archived older minutes. He hasn’t looked into possibly increasing the storage limit yet.

Publicity:

Update - Various plaques and items with Street Parish Council

DA suggested that it would be nice to have a get together in Merriman Park when the new plaque is set up by the tree.

The Parish Council have agreed for the twinning plaque outside of Grinters pet shop to be put onto the outside wall of the parish rooms. DA and PF will arrange this.

The Parish Council would like to put Reg Alfords Isny print in the Parish rooms. JK will contact Reg.

The twinning gifts are in a cabinet up the stairs in the newly furbished parish rooms.

The tapestry from the old library is hanging in one of the meeting rooms.

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

1^st Prize no.26 David Atkins

2^nd Prize no.48 Martin Butler

3^rd Prize no.14 Claire Brunt

AOB: None

Chairman’s Closing Remarks: DA asked for the committees thoughts on having a face to face committee meeting in June. TW thought it was a little early and MR and PF agreed. DA will arrange the June committee zoom meeting with the hope to meet up in July but this will be reviewed again at the next meeting.

DA closed the meeting by thanking everyone for attending.

Meeting Closed at 8.06pm

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

To be held via Zoom.

Minutes April 2021

Posted on May 10, 2021 by Peter Fry

Minutes of the committee meeting held via Zoom.

Wednesday 28^th April 2021. The meeting started at 7.30 pm.

Welcome and apologies for absence:

APOLOGIES: Gabbie Butler, Paul Badman and Kay Strain

Minutes of the meeting held on 24^th March 2021:

DA checked that everyone had read the minutes from the previous meeting and it was agreed by a show of hands that they are a true record. Signing of the minutes will take place at a later date.

Matters Arising not on Agenda: None

Chairman’s Report:

DA stated that it was felt that the association gave Trevor Skinner an appropriate send off and thanked all the members that attended. He sent a sympathy card and flowers on behalf of the association. Thank you to both BF and JK for contacting Isny and Gravenchon about Trevor’s passing.

Secretary’s Report: None

Treasurer’s Report:

The financial report was circulated before the meeting and it is attached to the end of the minutes. TW questioned the inclusion of the £50 payment to the accountant on the recent financial report. MR clarified that is was paid in Oct 2020 and so it will show in the 2021 expenditure.

FW asked if the membership fees should be split as some are donations and some will be carried over to next year’s membership fees. DA said this was a valid point from an accounting perspective. Some of the total isn’t this year’s income but will come into next year’s accounting. DA and MR will look at this and adjust the figures so it shows a true picture

Current account balance £6469.79

Deposit account balance £8058.85

Membership & Member’s Welfare:

David Brunt stated that membership appears to be lower than it used to be, still have the age old problem of local people not knowing we exist or what we do. He acknowledged that there is not much we can do at this current time but he felt there is no definitive description of what we do or stand for as an organisation. DA responded by saying that when we applied for the Parish Council grant it was partly so as we can produce a leaflet to give to people and schools but this will be done when the environment is suitable i.e. not during the pandemic. The website is currently being updated and does state what we do and why we exist but people do need to know we exist so as they look at the website. We are due to get the grant by the end of April and then we can move ahead with publicity.

Visits:

Zoom with Gravenchon: Both DA and JK are talking with Sharon to arrange this. Some have decided not to take part but people are still encouraged to join and listen with no pressure to talk. JK will wait for an update from Sharon before sending out an email to confirm families so as possible dates can be looked at.

Second Zoom with Isny: after we know what the Gravenchon Zoom date is then BF will contact Isny to arrange a date for the Isny Zoom.

Fundraising and Events:

Request pitch at Thursday Market in July? TW asked if there is any bric a brac? BF said yes there is and she proposed that we wait until the summer holidays as even though the market is picking up it isn’t busy at the moment. It was agreed that DA will send an email to ask for a pitch in a few months’ time.

Once things have calmed down DA suggested a get together, perhaps a picnic in the park so as people can meet up and socialise again in the fresh air. SW agreed this was a good idea.

David Brunt asked for update on Merriman Park. DA confirmed that it will go ahead as long as nothing changes in the upcoming months as to the pandemic. David Brunt proposed we have our stall there again and this was agreed.

Website & Facebook :

PF stated that he and DA have looked at the website and tidied it up. PF realised that we are well over our allowance of storage so we can either reduce or archive some items or pay for more space. There is now a Minute Archive section to click on which takes you to a link in google drive and some minutes have been moved over. If people become happy to click on the link then perhaps some photos can be moved there as well as it would be a shame to remove them as it is fun to reminisce. He asked if we could all take a look and give feedback to see if easy to use. DA thanked PF for what he has done and stated that he had taken a look and it is easy to use.

All the links are now updated and correct with the Gravenchon and Isny Websites.

JK stated that recently on the twinning Facebook page there was a memory from 4yrs ago when our tree was planted. She reposted it along with an updated photo of the tree and said that the tree looks very healthy with lots of buds on it.

Publicity:

Plaque by tree in Merriman Park: DA has not ordered this yet but has the stake ready to attach it which cost the association £5.

Plaque on wall of Grinters in High Street: DA took a look at it and photos were circulated. PF has offered help to refurbish it whether it can be done in situ or whether it needs to come off the wall, there won’t be any costs involved.

SW went to see the plaque and said that she had forgotten it was there as it is not in a very prominent position and easy to miss on the side of the building. David Brunt stated that originally it was on the front of Living Homes but when they refurbished they didn’t want it there and Grinters was the only place available and kind enough to allow it to be attached to their wall. It was suggested that the council offices could now be an option. DA offered to ask a parish councillor and David Brunt reminded us to thank Grinters for accommodating it for this time.

DA asked if anyone had known what had happened to the tiles that were made in Gravenchon and presented on a plaque to the Parish Council during their last visit to Street. DA offered to also ask about this and to find out what possible plans there are for them.

Lottery:

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

1^st Prize no.23 Peter Fry

2^nd Prize no.57 Danniela Della Valle

3^rd Prize no.4 Gill Davey

TW stated that he has emailed Kay Strain about the possibility of her taking over the lottery but had not heard back from Kay as yet.

AOB:

Reg Alford has said that he has a framed print 20x14in of the 18^th century Isny original presented to him when he travelled to Isny. He wonders if Street Twinning would like it, maybe to display with the other items given to the Parish Council or auction or raffle it. SW stated that she was given a similar one as a personal gift like Reg.

TW asked if the Parish Council still have all the items that were given to them by the twinning towns? DA suggested that perhaps it would be an idea to possibly offer the print to the parish council. He offered to ask about the print and the gifts when he speaks with the Parish Council about the plaque. This was agreed by the committee. David Brunt mentioned that a large tapestry from Gravenchon used to hang in the old library and wondered what had happened to it. He said that it was given to the Council many years ago and before his time with the association. DA is happy to ask about this as well.

Chairman’s Closing Remarks: DA thanked everyone for attending the meeting and for continuing to support the association. The May meeting might be the last virtual meeting and then DA is hoping that perhaps we might be able to meet in person.

Meeting Closed at 8.22pm

Date of next meeting: Wednesday 26^th May 2021 at 7.30pm

To be held via Zoom.

Minutes January 2021

Posted on February 14, 2021 by Peter Fry

Minutes of the committee meeting held via Zoom.

Wednesday 27^th January 2021. The meeting started at 7.30 pm.

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, Claire Axten Cl.A, Francis Knight FK, Catherine Atkins CA, Sally Wood SW, and Simon Carswell.

APOLOGIES: Trevor Skinner, Gabbie Butler and Kay Strain.

Minutes of the meeting held on 25^th November 2020: 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.

Matters Arising not on Agenda: None

Chairman’s Report: The “Guidelines for event organisation” were circulated to committee members before the meeting. We will hopefully be able to put them to the test later in the year. Thank you to everyone who joined the zoom social on Wed 13^th Jan. It was lovely to see people there that aren’t committee members and to share some lock down stories and connect with each other again.

Secretary’s Report: Nothing to report

Treasurer’s Report: Nothing to report. DA will be banking the cheques. Please see the financial report at the end of the minutes.

Current account balance £6493.04

Deposit account balance £8058.72

Membership & Member’s Welfare: Sheila James had informed members of the committee that Trevor Skinner is unwell in hospital. SW informed the committee that Christine in Germany had contacted her to let us know that Jürgen is unwell. The committee send our best wishes to them all.

37 members have paid their membership so far and this includes a family with 2 under 18’s. This brings our total of membership to 39. This compares to 61 paid members last year plus 6 under 18’s.

The Well’s family are not re-joining twinning this year but they haven’t ruled out re-joining in the future. Doreen Nicolls has decided to step down from twinning after many, many years as a member. Susan Mackenzie has also decided to leave twinning, she had recently joined twinning and unfortunately never got to visit Gravenchon as she was due to visit for the first time in 2020, we wish them all well.

A discussion followed about membership payments and the views of the committee were;

Some members may have reduced income or other factors as to why they have not paid this year. There are still some outgoing costs but there is nothing happening for our members at the moment so why pay? It would be better to keep members rather than asking them to pay during these difficult times and then them deciding to leave. The Association values its members support and some members may wish to donate their membership fee to the association and pay again next year. Refunds were discussed. Payments could be carried over.

Cl.A proposed and TW agreed for JK to send out an email to all members to inform them of the decisions made by the committee;

All Members will be asked whether they would like to donate their membership payment this year to the association. Members who have paid can chose to donate or carry it forward to cover next year’s membership. Members who have not yet paid and do not wish to make a donation will still be seen as members and can wait until membership is due again in October 2021. There will be no refunds of membership already paid.

Update on visits 2021: Many members have emailed the twinning association giving their support to the decisions that have been made by Street, Gravenchon and Isny to postpone any trips and organisation until the current situation is clearer.

To ND de Gravenchon: DA has had discussions with Sharon and Dede and it was agreed to hold off deciding any dates for the moment. Discussions will continue. An update on France is that there has been a national curfew but schools are still open.
From Isny: They had February as a cut off time to make travel plans. The lockdown in Germany has been extended to mid-February and schools are closed. People are currently not allowed to travel from Germany for holidays.

BF will ask if Isny will still be looking at making a decision in February as we don’t want them to make the decision that they are happy to travel over but we have not yet contacted our members to see if they can host.

Future Fundraising and Events: It was agreed by all who took part in the zoom social evening that it was a very pleasant evening. It was suggested to advertise it more next time to try to encourage more non committee members to take part.

It was suggested that we hold another international zoom event as the Isny one had gone so well. DA has previously discussed this with Sharon in Gravenchon and it is work in progress to try and arrange this. Isny are keen for another zoom social to take place.

It was suggested that we organise something other than a zoom quiz and any ideas would be gratefully received.

We will look towards another zoom meeting in Feb or early March.

Website & Facebook: Nothing to report for Facebook.

JK stated that due to her request to email the monthly minutes to a family who recently left twinning, but who would like to stay in the loop, being declined last month by the committee it raised the question are we happy for the minutes to be on the Website for the general public to read? She expressed concern that there may be details that could be seen as inappropriate for public knowledge, especially member’s welfare. A discussion followed with the following thoughts;

With the minutes being on the Website anyone can access them, this enables supporters, such as the family JK mentioned, to see what’s happening each month i.e. fundraising events etc. without having to be sent the minutes by email. The minutes show intention for future visits enabling people to see when and where we are thinking of doing twinning exchanges. It is somewhere to look back at the minutes and forms a historical record. PF stated that at the moment he doesn’t include the financial figures and offered to redact any sensitive and personal information in the minutes before putting them on the Website. The minutes show that something is going on each month even through lockdown. If the minutes weren’t shown on the Website then it would be someone’s responsibility to update the Website each month which would be time consuming.

It was questioned whether or not the financial details should be included on the Website minutes. Views on this were;

It is a way of protection for the Association to be open about its finances.

The need for Street Twinning to have a Website was then discussed. Views on this were;

Not everyone has Facebook and if someone were to put Street and the word twinning into google or a similar search engine it would bring up our Website for anyone who is interested in Twinning. It gives transparency of the group and gives contact details and shows the group is still active.

It was agreed by a show of hands to continue with the Website and to continue putting the minutes onto it. To empower PF to edit the minutes when appropriate and put the financial statement of the AGM onto the Website and the monthly bank balances.

DA will propose a draft of a new statement for the front page of the Website.

Publicity: DA sent a press release to the Basis magazine for the February/May addition.

Lottery: TW will continue with the lottery until meetings resume as normal, then Kay Strain will take over. Response this year has been very good and thanks to everyone who has bought numbers. Last year 70 numbers were sold and this year 88, there are only 90 tiles so almost a full house!

It was agreed by the committee at this stage not to increase the prizes. It is a slow year for fundraising and it was agreed that the profit will be seen as fundraising for the association.

It was asked why people have not been informed of their numbers or received any kind of receipt. JK offered as membership secretary to send out individual receipts if TW gave her the information as she has all the members’ emails. She does not have emails for non-members though and MR asked if non-members win how does she pays them as she has no contact details for them. It was suggested that on the lottery form non-members could give the name of their contact within the twinning. TW assured the committee that payments do get to the right people as he knows who the contacts are.

It was agreed that when JK sends out the minutes in the email she will state that if people would like to know their lottery numbers or numbers for their friends and family, to please contact TW directly tom.winn@virgin.net.

It was suggested that in the future an email address would be helpful for anyone buying a lottery number. It was suggested that any changes wait until Kay takes it over.

Congratulations to the winners of the January lottery draw. During the zoom meeting winning numbers were drawn by Kay Winn and read out by TW.

1^st Prize no.71 Ben Atkins

2^nd Prize no.79 Shirley Gunter

3^rd Prize no.17 Kay Winn

AOB: None

Chairman’s Closing Remarks: DA thanked everyone for attending the zoom meeting and special thanks to Simon Carswell who is one of the Street Parish Council contacts to Street Twinning.

Meeting Closed at 8.59pm

Date of next meeting: Wednesday 24^th February at 7.30pm

To be held via Zoom.

Minutes November 2020

Posted on December 16, 2020 by Peter Fry

Minutes of the committee meeting held via Zoom.

Wednesday 25th November 2020. The meeting started at 7.30pm.

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, Kay Strain KS, Paul Badman PB

APOLOGIES: Sally Wood and Claire Axten

2. Minutes of the meeting held on 23^rd September 2020: TW proposed that the minutes were correct and seconded by TS. All agreed and the minutes will be signed at a later date.

3. Matters arising not on Agenda - Guidelines for Event Organisation: This will not include risk assessments for foreign travel as our insurance only covers the UK. DA will re issue the guidelines and it will become a working document.

4. Chairman’s Report: DA thanked everyone who made the AGM happen and also thanked everyone who participated.

5. Secretary’s Report: JK sent an email to Cllr. Goater to follow up the request for a road named after Isny. In the email it stated that there had been a suggestion from a member for the road to be around trees and to be named an Avenue. Cllr. Goater replied that he will keep reminding developers on all major building developments going through planning permissions but informed us that there has been a delay.

6. Treasurer’s Report: Please see the financial report at the end of the minutes. MR thanked members for their membership and lottery payments. JK has handed over all the cheques to MR and KS offered to collect the cheques and bank them which was agreed by the committee. A reminder that when making a BACS payments please change the reference so as it states what the payment is for.

Current and deposit account balances were provided.

7. Membership & Member’s Welfare: JK thanked the members who have sent in their membership forms. Sadly Susan Mackenzie, one of our new members who had hoped to visit Gravenchon this year, will not be re-joining Twinning. The Wells family have also said that they will not be re-joining this year. It was agreed to put the Wells family on the supporters list and keep them in the loop with the hope that they may return.

35 members have renewed their membership (including two children) and receipts have been sent for all membership payments received.

8. Visits in 2021:

GRAVENCHON: The visit was discussed and it was felt by many committee members that the proposed dates of Wed 5^th to Sunday 9^th of April 2021 would be too soon to travel abroad. It was agreed that DA will contact Sharon in France and suggest the 2^nd option of the later date Wed 2^nd to Sunday 6^th June. This later date would give members more time to make a decision as planning wouldn’t need to start until possibly April. Travel at this time of year may be more expensive than the proposed April date but we would possibly have more members happy to travel. France will not be reviewing its lock down until Jan 20^th including their restaurants and bars and so this later date will also give the French Twinning committee more time for making arrangements for hosting.

DA suggested a Zoom meeting with Gravenchon as the Isny meeting had gone so well. He will suggest this to Sharon.

ISNY: BF, TS and Wolfgang had dealt with the technical side of the zoom meeting very well. Wolfgang had given some lessons on zoom as many of their members hadn’t used it before. He suggested that a half yearly zoom meeting between visits would be good as it had gone so well. BF had received some lovely thank you emails from Isny for the greeting cards that were sent to all the families that had been due to travel over to England this year.

The Isny committee have informed us that they will need to make a decision in February as to whether they travel to England next year. This seems very early but hopefully we will all have good news by then in regards to the virus. With this in mind it was agreed that we will need to be contacting our members late January or early February to see who would like to host so as Isny can start making plans. BF will send JK the information about hosting Isny so as all members can be contacted. The proposed visit will take place during the first week in August but exact dates have not been agreed as yet.

Veronica, in Isny, has said that the plans for a road to be named after Street are going ahead.

9. Fundraising and Events: DA informed the committee that he had cancelled the bric a brac stall for the 3^rd Dec at the Street Market. It was agreed by the committee that it would be too soon to hold one this year and it will be re arranged for next year.

10. Website & Facebook: PF has updated the website with the AGM minutes and JK has posted on Facebook the lottery results and photos from the AGM and the zoom meeting with Isny.

11. Publicity: Claire Axten had suggested an article for Basis and DA has started a draft for the January addition. JK will send him the photos from the Isny zoom meeting.

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

1^st Prize no.29 Milly Baily

2^nd Prize no.58 Kay Winn

3^rd Prize no.34 Alison Rowton

TW reported that 8 people have bought 28 tickets so far. There is a need for more lottery tickets to be sold to enable the prize money to stay the same. KS offered to take over the lottery as TW had previously stated that he would like to stand down. DA thanked KS for stepping forward.

A reminder that all correspondence for the lottery needs to be sent to Tom until Kay officially takes over. He needs to have signed copies of the lottery forms so as there is evidence for the numbers sold. The wording on the form will be changed ready for next time so as this is clearly stated.

As there is no committee meeting in December it was decided that Tom and Kay Winn will draw the numbers on 23^rd Dec. TW will then email the results to JK so as she can send out the results to all the Twinning members.

13. AOB:

FK reminded committee members to use WhatsApp as it is easier to follow the thread of a conversation rather than using email.

MR suggested a Christmas Zoom Quiz as there will be no Christmas meal this year. FK said that he had taken part in zoom quizzes during lock down and people had shared the load of thinking up quiz questions which had worked very well. TS said he has a quiz ready and it was suggested that five rounds of five questions would be long enough for a zoom meeting. This would be open to all members. It was felt by the majority of the committee that it shouldn’t be a fund raiser but more of a friendly get together at Christmas or in the New Year. The committee will use WhatsApp to arrange a date and then the members will be invited and given the Zoom details. CA suggested that a different theme other than Christmas would be appropriate if it is in the New Year.

GB and KS, who had not been able to attend the AGM, stated that they are both happy to continue as committee members. There are a total of 14 committee members.

14. Chairman’s Closing Remarks: DA thanked everyone for attending the meeting and TS or arranging Zoom. There won’t be another meeting until next year and so season’s greetings to all and have a safe New Year.

Meeting Closed at 8.25pm

Date of next meeting: Wednesday 27th January 2021 at 7.30pm

To be held via Zoom.

Minutes of the AGM – October 2020

Posted on November 21, 2020 by Peter Fry

Minutes of the Annual General Meeting held via Zoom.

Saturday 31^st October 2020. The meeting started at 2.30 pm.

1. PRESENT: David (DA) and Catherine Atkins, Tom Winn, Marina Richards, Jacqui and Francis Knight, Peter and Barbara Fry, Claire Axten, Trevor Skinner, Sally Wood, David and Veronica Brunt, David and Hilary Mozley, Yvette Carver, Shirley Gunter, Gill Davey, Avril Berry and Mark Lewis.

APOLOGIES: Paul Badman, Tina and Tony Della Valle, Kay Winn and Jenny Lewis. Kay Strain sent a message during the meeting which was not picked up until after, stating she couldn’t hear us so unfortunately had to leave the meeting.

2. Minutes and any matters arising of last AGM held on 23^rd October 2019:

DA welcomed everyone to the meeting and checked that they had read the minutes from the previous AGM and that they were a true record. Trevor proposed that the minutes were correct and Tom seconded. A unanimous wave of hands from members present showed we were all in agreement. No matters arising.

3. Chairman’s Report: (A copy of the report was sent to all members in the week of the meeting)

David checked that everyone had received a copy of his report. In summary he said that the cancelled trips were very disappointing and even though Covid has still not been resolved, the future is bright and our lives will change into an alternative routine. People will be looking for new safe ways to travel which may encourage new members to twinning. We had sadly not been able to do our usual fundraising stalls this summer but we had raised £1200 last year. He thanked everyone for giving him the opportunity to be chairman, it was a sometimes difficult year with new challenges but he has enjoyed it.

Barbara Fry proposed the acceptance of the report and Marina Richards seconded. Agreed with a wave of hands from members.

4. Treasurer’s report and presentation and acceptance of the annual accounts: (A copy of the accounts was sent to all members in the week of the meeting)

Marina presented the accounts for the financial year to 31^st August 2020 as checked by the accountant.

Current account balance £5,349.81

Reserve account balance £8,058.38

Sally proposed to agree the accounts and Catherine seconded and a wave of hands showed the members present were in agreement.

Marina proposed for membership to stay at £15, seconded by David Brunt and a wave of hands carried the motion.

DA thanked Marina for all her help especially after going through such a personally tough year.

5. Changes to the Constitution: (The proposal was sent to all members along with the 1^st and 2^nd calling notices)

The committee proposed the following additions to item 7. MONEY AND ASSETS:

Sub-section n Discretionary Payments – Total unbudgeted expenditure of up to £100.00 in any month between Committee Meetings can be authorized by two of the Chairman, Secretary and Treasurer.

Sub-section o Direct Debit Card – The Treasurer is authorized to hold a Debit Card on behalf of and in the name of the Association to undertake payment of any approved expenditure.

Discretionary payments motion was seconded by David Mozley and carried by a wave of hands from members present.

Direct Debit Card motion was seconded by Gill Davey and carried by a wave of hands from members present.

Please find attached the updated Constitution.

6. Voting to elect the Chairman:

DA asked if any members would like to request a ballot. No requests were received and so the voting by show of hands would proceed.

Once David had left the room Tom congratulated David Atkins on a good chairmanship over the past year and proposed to re-elect David as Chairman. Jacqui reported that no other nominations or votes against had been received by post of email and that the nominations she had received were in favour of David being re-elected.

Trevor seconded and the motion was carried by a wave of hands.

David re-entered the zoom meeting and was congratulated by Tom on being re-elected. David thanked the members and gave special thanks to Tom and appreciated his help and advice over the year.

David Atkins re-elected as Chairman

7. Voting to elect Vice Chairman, Treasurer and Secretary:

Jacqui reported that no other nominations or votes against had been received by post of email and that the nominations she had received were in favour of the current Vice Chairman, Treasurer and Secretary being re-elected.

Before the vote took place the current Vice Chairman Tom Winn said that he felt he should stand down due to his health but with the present situation and there not being much to do he feels happy to stay in the position until someone stands forward.

The candidates left the room and a vote was carried out by a show of hands. The motion was carried and the three candidates re-entered the zoom meeting and congratulated on their re-election and they thanked everyone.

Tom Winn re-elected as Vice Chairman

Marina Richards re-elected as treasurer

Jacqui Knight re-elected as secretary

8. Members are invited to volunteer to serve on the management committee with a target of at least 10 members:

Members volunteering to serve on the committee for the coming year are:

Francis Knight, Claire Axten, Sally Wood, Barbara and Peter Fry, Catherine Atkins, Paul Badman and Trevor Skinner.

Previous Committee members Gabbie Butler and Kay Strain who were not at the meeting will be approached to see if they would like to continue.

Anyone else who would like to join is very welcome; please contact either David or Jacqui.

9. Lottery:

Tom stated that the lottery is one of the few fundraisers still able to go ahead and asks members to encourage family and friends to join. The lottery licence renewal is now due. It was agreed that Tom will pay the £20 and Marina will reimburse. Tom is happy to continue lottery for the time being until someone steps forward. Please let David, Tom or Jacqui know if you would be happy to step in.

October Lottery Winners:

1^st no.13 Sandy Baird £20

2^nd no.55 David Mozley £10

3^rd no.49 Lily Della Valle £5

10. AOB:

Gill Davey asked if there were any possible dates for visits or hosting next year. David stated that the plan is to visit Gravenchon from 7^th to 11^th April and host Isny during the week commencing the 2^nd August. The agreement with both France and Germany was to maintain the same pattern of visits as we would have done this year. No organising will start for Gravenchon until the beginning of next year. Isny has a deadline of the end of February to start organising. There is no pressure for members to take part and we will do everything we can to delay payments of any kind.

Peter Fry thanked Jacqui for her help in keeping everyone updated and keeping the links going.

Sally Wood asked when people can pay for lottery. Tom answered by saying an invitation letter will go out shortly and the first new draw will take place at the January Committee meeting. There is no rush but Tom would like replies back before Christmas so as numbers can be allocated in plenty of time before the first draw.

Mark Lewis asked about the Road which has been requested to be named after Isny. Jacqui said that she has received a very positive email from Cllr. Peter Goater and they are waiting for planning permission to go ahead for a possible new housing estate in Street and an extension to the current Business Park by Sainsbury’s. Mark proposed that it would be a nice idea if the road had trees along or near it and if it could be called an avenue as this would be very fitting for Isny. Jacqui is happy to contact Cllr. Goater with this proposal.

DA thanked Trevor for hosting the zoom meeting and thanked Peter and Jacqui for helping to circulate the information for tonight’s AGM. He thanked everyone for attending.

Meeting Closed at 3.15pm

Date of next meeting: November 25^th 2020 at 7.30pm

To be held via Zoom

Minutes September 2020

Posted on October 5, 2020 by Peter Fry

Minutes of the committee meeting held via Zoom.

Wednesday 23^rd September 2020. The meeting started at 7.30 pm.

Welcome and apologies for absence:

PRESENT: David Atkins (chairman) DA, Tom Winn (vice chairman) TW, Jacqui Knight (secretary) JK, Peter Fry PF, Barbara Fry BF, Claire Axten Cl.A, Trevor Skinner TS, Francis Knight, Gabbie Butler, Catherine Atkins, Sally Wood

APOLOGIES: Marina Richards, Paul Badman and Kay Strain

Minutes of the meeting held on 26^th August 2020:

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.

Matters Arising not on Agenda:

DA will continue to look at, along with other members of the committee, guidelines for event organisation.

Chairman’s Report: Nothing to report

Secretary’s Report:

JK reported that she wrote to Cllr. Goater and had a very positive response about the request for a road in Street to be named Isny. Cllr. Goater had put the request forward to the retail/business park developer. He said they aren’t against the idea but the issue is that most of the proposed next phase of the development would be in Walton not Street. It is still going through the planning process and so we will wait and see. If the business park cannot do it then there is a possibility of a proposed new housing estate in Street which may or may not go ahead and so this could possibly be an option.

It was asked if we had twinning members living in Walton but at this present time we don’t.

Committee members had no opposition to the road being in Walton but it would be preferable to be in Street. It was agreed to leave it in the Parish Councils hands and JK will reply to Cllr. Goater’s email accordingly.

Treasurer’s Report:

Please see the financial report at the end of the minutes.

In Marina’s absence JK reported that she had received an email from the Assistant Clerk stating that Street Parish Council has agreed to award Street Twinning a grant of £1000 which will be paid in April 2021. This is great news for the association and DA has sent an email to thank them.

Current account balance £YYYY.YY

Deposit account balance £XXXX.XX

Membership & Member’s Welfare:

DA proposed that we hold off contacting schools about organising a meeting with head teachers for the promotion of Street Twinning. It was agreed that in the current climate it was not appropriate to contact schools and this will be put on hold.

Update on visits 2021:

BF has spoken with Isny and they have discussed a possible Zoom meeting between Street and Isny to take place late October around the time of the cancelled visit. This was thought as a good idea by the committee but could be a bit difficult to plan and would possibly need to be an extended Zoom meeting. It would be lovely to see faces from both sides. BF and PF will contact Veronica and see if they can set this up, TS is happy to organise the Zoom.

It was suggested that cards are sent to the Isny families that would have hosted in October. DA is happy for the Street Twinning cards to be used for this purpose.

It was decided that it was too soon to make a decision as to whether to go ahead with the visit to Isny in 2021. It was agreed to leave the date pencilled in. Next year a decision will need to be made as to how long they can leave it before booking any travel and to be aware of any cancellation fees that may incur. At this point members of both sides would be contacted to see who are happy to travel and host.

DA has been informed by Sharon that Gravenchon Twinning are having their committee meeting next week and they are emailing their members to see who would be interested in hosting in 2021. They will get back to us ASAP. DA suggested that we keep to the same travel company of Bakers coaches as they were very good and helpful to us when we had to cancel earlier this year.

Future Fundraising and Events:

DA contacted Street Market organisers with the proposed dates of 26^th Nov and 3^rd Dec for Street Twinning to hold a Bric a Brac stall. No response has been received as yet. It was agreed to hold off on any organising until a date is set.

Annual General Meeting:

DA has checked the recent government rules on gatherings and we are still able to hold an AGM in suitable conditions. For the moment it is still planned to go ahead. It was agreed that there will need to be a trial run of the AGM from Crispin Hall to make sure that Zoom works effectively. Any problems can then be smoothed out before the day. Crispin Hall are relaxed about us doing a dummy run and DA,TS, PF and JK offered to help once a date is arranged for this.

DA stated that he will be proposing an amendment to the constitution for discretionary payments and to state that a debit card is held by the treasurer for the association.

It will be proposed that membership will remain at £15 and this will form part of the treasurer’s report.

DA stated that he would be happy to continue as Chairman if voted in and the same for JK as secretary, Marina wasn’t present at the meeting to comment.

TW would like to give notice that he would like to stand down from Vice Chairman. TW has now indicated that he is willing to stand for vice chairman unless anyone else comes forward and providing it is not for long.

PF has drafted the notices to go out to members.

Website & Facebook : Nothing to report

Publicity:

Cl.A reported that Dean at the BASIS contacted her to ask for any reports of local events. She proposed that a report is submitted as to how Street Twinning is dealing with the current situation and about our upcoming AGM. This could include how we have not been able to host or visit our twin towns but that we are still keeping in touch with France and Germany and our fellow Twinners, sending cards and also using Zoom to enable committee meetings to go ahead. This would go into the Nov/Dec BASIS and DA is happy to write a report.

Lottery:

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

1^st Prize no.66 Peter Fry

2^nd Prize no.26 Cameron Richards

3^rd Prize no.18 David Brunt

AOB:

TS is on the committee that supports Oxfam and stated that they are trying to find ways to raise money. They will be holding quizzes with cash prizes. It was agreed that their flyer could be included in the minutes, please see below.

Chairman’s Closing Remarks: DA thanked everyone for attending the meeting and TS or arranging Zoom.

Meeting Closed at 8.20pm

Date of next meeting: The AGM on Saturday 31^st October at 2.30pm

To be held at: Crispin Hall and via Zoom.

Minutes August 2020

Posted on September 17, 2020 by Peter Fry

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^stOctober. 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 July 2020

Posted on August 9, 2020 by Peter Fry

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.

Bank	Account Name	Sort Code	Account Number
NatWest	Street Twinning Association	60-21-01	51087715

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 February 2020

Posted on March 11, 2020 by Peter Fry

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 January 2020

Posted on February 7, 2020 by Peter Fry

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

Wednesday 22^nd January 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, Claire Axten Cl.A, Trevor Skinner TS, Francis Knight FK, Gabbie Butler GB, Catherine Atkins Ca.A, Paul Badman PB, Sally Wood SW and Viv Squire VS

APOLOGIES: Kay Strain and Sue Genge

2. Minutes of the meeting held on 27^th November: DA checked that everyone had read the minutes from the previous meeting and signed them as a true record.

BF received feedback from the Diment family to say that Zoe has done very well in her German mock exam. They would like to thank everyone for giving her support and encouragement to speak German whilst in Isny.

3. Matters Arising not on Agenda: No matters arising

4. Chairman’s Report: DA showed the committee a newspaper clipping from Isny.

The photos were taken at the communal dinner in Isny. It shows the aprons, Christmas trees and bunting which were made by members and presented to the Isny committee. There is also a write up about the visit.

The meal at The Pipers Inn on Wed 15^th January was a very enjoyable social event. It was lovely to have so many members attend.

DA showed the committee the Street Twinning card which can be sent as a thank you etc.

5. Secretary’s Report: JK reported that she has heard from Jenny, the Assistant to the Street Parish Council, about the request to have a road named after Isny. It may take some time for this to happen but the wheels are in motion.

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

Current account balance £6,810.31

Deposit account balance £8,051.56

£750 received in membership payments since Sept. JK will contact the last few members that have not yet paid.

£228 received in lottery payments so far. More paid in at the meeting.

Forms have been submitted to the bank to update signatures for cheques.

MR has drafted a receipt which will be forwarded to JK so as it can be emailed to members once payments have been received.

7. Membership & Member’s Welfare:

Membership: JK reported that we have 52 paid members and 6 under 18’s. There are 10 members who we are still expecting payments from which would bring our total twinning membership to 68.

A discussion followed, there has to be a benefit to paying membership. It was agreed by the committee that the following membership guide lines should be followed:

a) If a member does not pay membership then they are no longer a member of Street Twinning. If they would like to be kept in the loop as a supporter then JK will place them on the supporters emailing list and they will be sent information about fundraising and social events but not the agenda’s or minutes of meetings.

b) There may be opportunities for supporters to attend twinning dinners etc. but the cost to supporters will not include subsidies from the association which members may receive. The rate for supporters needs to be higher than membership as otherwise no benefit to being a member.

c) Anyone can attend the AGM but only members can vote.

We would like to welcome our new members who are all travelling to Gravenchon; Yvette Carver, Simon Richards, Susan Mackenzie and Pat Hollocombe. Shirley Gunter who twins with Isny is now also twinning with Gravenchon.

We have sadly lost a few long-term members for various reasons and we wish them all well. These include the Norton-Ashley family, Bill and Bobbie Lockyer, Yvonne and Denys Jones, Hazel and Ivor Russell, Grace Squire, Paul and Veronica Richards, Katrina Dumontroty and Mark Lisle.

Elizabeth and Jim Lidgate have been in touch. They have not been able to twin in recent times due to ill health but they are still very keen to keep in touch with twinning. Along with some of the others they have been added to the supporters emailing list.

Member’s Welfare: Sharon in France is going into hospital shortly and we wish her a speedy recovery DA will send a card to wish her well. SW reported that Reg is recovering well from his recent ill health and has gone back to the choir; we wish him a continued good recovery.

Contacting schools in a bid to find new members and promoting twinning. DA is happy to work on this but not on his own. What other groups or associations would be good to approach? U3A had been a good source of new members in recent times.

Discover your community event will take place on Sat 29^th Feb. Street Twinning has a pitch and it will be from 10am – 2pm in Crispin Hall. JK and FK volunteered to lead the stall and will be organising a rota very soon. SW and BF volunteered.

8. Visit to Gravenchon 2020: Wed 15^th – Sun 19^th April. The coach will be booked tomorrow by DA. Bakers coaches are booking the ferry.

An email will be sent to everyone travelling to Gravenchon as soon as we have updated information. We will soon be able to inform people of times, where to park their cars and the cost of cabins for the people who have booked them. The balance for Gravenchon is due to be paid by the end of February.

There are 31 members travelling to Gravenchon including 4 members that are travelling independently. Due to the number of travellers going up there is no longer a shortfall as stated in last month’s minutes. This is great news.

Cl.A is happy to organise a sewing group, an email will be sent shortly asking for volunteers to help make aprons, bunting and bottle top Christmas trees which will be the gifts to Gravenchon.

Pre-visit get together: The committee discussed venues and were happy with the suggestion from VS about using the Methodist Church at £10 an hour for the get together. DA will contact VS with proposed dates.

9. Visit from Isny 2020: BF reported that there had been two dates proposed to Isny for this year’s exchange, Aug and Oct half term as both English and German children are on school holidays. Isny were not keen on Aug. The visit will take place during half term week at the end of Oct. Dates will be confirmed ASAP. If anyone would like to be involved with Isny please let us know as there maybe people in Isny that would like to visit that aren’t linked yet.

DA discussed a budget for the exchange. There is potential for transport costs to and from the airport which makes the costings different from Gravenchon. BF explained that it is very expensive to fly from Munich to Bristol which is why they fly into Heathrow. They are looking at flying from Basel to Bristol but will be a more expensive coach journey for them. It is expensive for them to collect us from Basel when we travel to them and so likewise we cover the cost of travelling to and from Heathrow. How long they are here will depend on flights. VS stated that she enjoyed doing lots of group activities whilst over in Germany and it would be nice to do this when they visit us. It was proposed by DA and agreed by the committee that the budget for the 2020 Isny exchange will be £55 per head plus any travel costs to/from airports. The budget won’t be rigid but something to work with.

10. Visit of Isny Town Band: Street Drum and Trumpet core are on side. There might be interest from the Wells City Band. They may come over for the last weekend of Sept or in Oct for 2 or 3 nights. Youth Hostels and the Premier Inn have been looked at for accommodation but the Street Youth Hostel is too small. Members could host but not a necessity. One combined concert in Street probably on a Saturday and will involve Street Twinning members in some way. Millfield are very keen to support the local community and there are two theatres on their grounds and there is also Crispin Hall as an option. DA will go back to them with his findings.

11. Fundraising:

a) Christmas Cracker: Please see report from FK at the end of the minutes. Whilst preparing for the Cracker it was discovered that the large Street Twinning banner has been misplaced. The search is on! The smaller banner was used instead.

b) Bric a Brac market stall: Thurs 9^th April Cl.A confirmed that the stall has been booked. To be discussed again at the Feb meeting.

c) Quiz: Sun 17^th May TS stated that it was moved from the original date as Fri was fully booked. Provisionally booked at the Victoria Club.

d) Choir event: If the visit from the Isny band comes together this may be put back.

e) Pizza evening: SW had been to one before held by an operatic group and it had made a lot of money. It was a great evening and so SW will look into seeing if it is a possibility.

f) Baltonsborough Show: Aug 2020 Possible human fruit machine or play your cards right, MR will find out more about it and what kind of stalls are usually there. A decision will be made at the Feb meeting.

DA suggested a social event in the summer, not a fundraiser. Skittles, croquet or boules were suggested. To be discussed again.

12. Website & Facebook: PF asked if there could be anything else that could go on the website to update it. Any suggestions? Facebook all up to date.

13. Publicity: JK apologised for not putting a report in Basis, Local Reach or Mendip Times about the trip to Isny. It was agreed that it is not too late. It was also suggested to get in touch with Street Nub News which is on Facebook and the Internet. JK is happy to do this and will also send in a report about Gravenchon once we return.

DA spoke about Glastonbury FM and the idea of an interview on the community show; perhaps arrange an interview with one of the twinners from Isny and/or Gravenchon.

14. A Policy Document for the Association: The committee agreed to go ahead with the policy. TS, MR and BF/PF have volunteered to meet with DA to work on this.

Blue folder: DA brought this in for committee members to look through. It has some information in it but needs more. BF is happy to gather info about last year’s Isny exchange and JK will gather info about last year’s Gravenchon exchange.

Information to include in the blue folder: Contacts for events i.e. halls and caterers plus coach and entertainer contacts and a little report on if they were good or not plus financial summaries and reports.

The Twining Document still has its place for new members and will be updated.

15. Forward Planning of visits and activities: BF will approach members with reference to the 2021 visit and the time where holidays link with Isny. The School holiday spreadsheet shows when School holidays link with Isny and Gravenchon and this information was sent to all members by email on 19^th Jan. French holidays are not the same time as ours during the usual exchange dates in 2021and this will need to be looked at further.

Association Reserves: Members of the committee stated that membership may decrease and travel costs may increase and the reserves safeguard the future of the association. There used to be more money in the reserves as we had more grants and spent less on exchanges. Ideas for the use of the reserves were subsidising children, family grants to help first timers to visit abroad. It has to be fair and not just for families i.e. members on pensions may struggle with hosting costs as well. Organising mini buses to ease the pressure for people with only one car or who don’t drive, also helping the local community i.e. local schools with their twinning. DA stated we need to arrive at a minimum figure that should be left in reserve and he will produce an idea for reserves, what the amount should be and what it is used for.

16. Lottery: It was decided that even though as it stands less people have joined the lottery there will still be 3 cash prizes.

1^st no.52 David Mozley £20

2^nd no.41 David Atkins £10

3^rd no.3 Trevor Skinner £5

If anyone would like a lottery form please contact Tom Winn. You only pay for the months left in the year and so if you join now in time for the February draw you only need to pay £11 per number, 5 numbers maximum per person.

DA thanked TW for continuing to run the lottery.

17. AOB: DA thanked Viv for attending the meeting.

Meeting Closed at 9.35pm

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

at The Mullions Hotel breakfast room.

Twinned with Notre-Dame-de-Gravenchon & Isny im Allgäu

Category Archives: Meetings & Minutes

Minutes May 2021

Minutes April 2021

Minutes January 2021

Minutes November 2020

Minutes of the AGM – October 2020

Minutes September 2020

Minutes August 2020

Minutes July 2020

Minutes February 2020

Minutes January 2020