Minutes April 2022

Minutes of the committee meeting held via Zoom.

Monday 25th April 2022

The meeting started at 7.30pm.


  1. Welcome and apologies for absence:


PRESENT: David Atkins (chairman) DA, Barbara Fry (vice chairman) BF, Jacqui Knight (secretary) JK, Peter Fry PF, Francis Knight FK, Catherine Atkins CA, Kay Strain KS, David Mozley DM


APOLOGIES:


  1. Minutes of the meeting held on 23rd March 2022: 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.


  1. Matters Arising not on Agenda: None


  1. Chairman’s Report: DA will be speaking with the Parish Council this week about the plaque.


  1. Secretary’s Report: Nothing to report


  1. Treasurer’s Report: Marina not present at the meeting. Please see the financial report at the end of the minutes.

Current account balance £-----

Deposit account balance £-----


Report of Finance Review: Difficult to budget for the next couple of years as there is only one exchange this year which puts next years exchanges out of sync. Historically we have hosted one country and travelled to the other in the same year. Isny is not able to travel over this year and so potentially we could be hosting both countries next year. DA said that this will need to be a joint discussion with the three host towns as to how to move forward. The committee agreed that it is not ideal to host twice one year and then travel twice the following year. DA will construct an email for Gravenchon and Isny reference the pattern of exchanges going forward.

The committee were all happy to go forward with the recommendations from the financial review meeting as outlined the e-mail and attachment sent to committee members on 24th April 2022.


  1. Membership & Member’s Welfare: JK stated that we have 53 members including 6 children.


Spring Newsletter to Members: DA and JK will liaise about this.


  1. Visits:


Zoom Meetings with France & Germany: BF said that Isny would like to do a zoom and are suggesting May. Isny would like to organise it and will then liaise with DA.

JK reported that Sharon would like to delay the zoom until later in the year. She is very much involved with the Ukrainian refugees arriving in Gravenchon and also she said it would be nice to wait until we know who is travelling over to Gravenchon this year so as to try and include them in the zoom.


Gravenchon trip Wed 26th to Sun 30th October 2022: From previous costings there is no significant difference in hiring a small or large coach to travel to Gravenchon. JK has received a list of hosts available from Sharon. There is no immediate rush to make bookings at this moment, but we now need to have an idea of numbers travelling. Emails will be sent out very shortly to all members. JK to ask if planning to travel with the group or using own transport and also Sharon needs to know if people are fully vaccinated against Covid. CA will contact Bakers coaches to get an idea of availability. We planned to use them back in 2020 and they were very helpful and had also booked the ferry for us.


  1. Fundraising and Events:


  1. Bric-a-Brac Stall at Street weekly market: Carry forward

  2. Vicfest on 2nd July at Victoria Club: Carry forward – to include in the spring news letter

  3. Summer Social: DA has spoken with Avril and will feed back that the 6th Aug is preferable.

  4. Merriman Park Fun Day Saturday 3rd Sept: The association has received an invitation to have a stall. The committee agreed that 2 pitches worked well last year. FK is happy to take responsibility for this event and JK will reply to the email to secure a pitch and to specify size 6x3meters (two pitches but as one)


  1. Website & Facebook: Nothing to report


  1. Publicity: DA will look at creating a booklet to promote exchanges.


  1. Lottery: Congratulations to the winners of the April lottery draw. The numbers were drawn by KS during the zoom meeting. JK will forward the winning names to Marina


1st Prize no.71 David Brunt

2nd Prize no.45 Cameron Richards

3rd Prize no. 57 Francesco Della Valle


  1. AOB: The committee decided to continue with Zoom for the next meeting. DA said that soon we will have more to discuss and then it would be possible to meet face to face.


  1. Chairman’s Closing Remarks: DA thanked everyone for their support and good to see everyone looking so well.



Meeting Closed at 8.23pm

Date of next meeting: Wednesday 25th May 2022 at 7.30pm

To be held via Zoom.