Minutes of the committee meeting held via Zoom.

Wednesday 28^e Avril 2021. La réunion a commencé à 7.30 pm.

1. Welcome and apologies for absence:

ACTUELLE: David Atkins (chairman) DA, Tom Winn (vice chairman)TW, Marina Richards (treasurer) MR, Jacqui Chevalier (secrétaire) JK, Peter Fry PF, Barbara Fry BF, Francis Knight FK, Catherine Atkins CA, Sally Bois SW and David Brunt

EXCUSES: Gabbie Butler, Paul Badman and Kay Strain

2. Minutes of the meeting held on 24^e Mars 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.

3. Matters Arising not on Agenda: None

4. 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 et JK for contacting Isny and Gravenchon about Trevor’s passing.

5. Secretary’s Report: None

6. 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 et 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

7. 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.

8. Visits:

Zoom with Gravenchon: Both DA et 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.

9. 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.

10. Site & 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.

11. 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.

12. Loterie:

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^e 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.

13. AOB:

Reg Alford has said that he has a framed print 20x14in of the 18^e 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.

14. 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^e Mai 2021 at 7.30pm

To be held via Zoom.

Minutes of the committee meeting held via Zoom.

Wednesday 27^e Janvier 2021. La réunion a commencé à 7.30 pm.

1. Welcome and apologies for absence:

ACTUELLE: David Atkins (chairman) DA, Tom Winn (vice chairman)TW, Marina Richards (treasurer) MR, Jacqui Chevalier (secrétaire) JK, Peter Fry PF, Barbara Fry BF, Claire Axten Cl.A, Francis Knight FK, Catherine Atkins CA, Sally Bois SW, and Simon Carswell.

EXCUSES: Trevor Skinner, Gabbie Butler and Kay Strain.

2. Minutes of the meeting held on 25^e Novembre 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.

3. Matters Arising not on Agenda: None

4. 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^e 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.

5. Secretary’s Report: Nothing to report

6. 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

7. 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.

8. 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.

1. 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.

2. 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.

9. 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.

10. Site & 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.

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

12. Loterie: 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^e Prize no.79 Shirley Gunter

3^RD Prize no.17 Kay Winn

13. AOB: None

14. 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^e Février at 7.30pm

To be held via Zoom.

Minutes of the Annual General Meeting held via Zoom.

Saturday 31^st Octobre 2020. La réunion a commencé à 2.30 pm.

 

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

 

EXCUSES: 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 Octobre 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 Août 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 et 2^e 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 Président

 

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 Chevalier re-elected as secrétaire

 

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 Bois, 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.      Loterie:

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^e 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^e à 11^e April and host Isny during the week commencing the 2^e Août. 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 de la prochaine réunion: Novembre 25^e 2020 at 7.30pm

To be held via Zoom