Minutes of Meeting of The Sharrington Gardeners’ Meeting 03 Feb 2016

Members in attendance:Francoise Allenby (MFA), Adrian Allenby(AA),Robin Birkitt (RB),Marilyn Cook (MC),Averil Cooper (AC),Roger Dubbins (RD), David Forrest (DF), Ann Garwood (AG),Jo Fitzalan Howard (JFH), Rory Kenny (RK), Bob McQuaid (BMc), PhillippaMcQuaid (PMc), Sue Page(SP),Pippa Long (PiL), Perry Long (PL) and Clare Winkley(CW).

Absent Members:Ann Abrams (AnA),Bobbie Coe (BC), Annie Douglas (AD), Kerry Harris (KH), Diana Teal-Howes(DTH),Debbie Hyslop (DH), Sonia Oberding (SO),Michael Kimmins(MK),Paula Moore (PM),Eunice Morgan (EM),Teresa Parfitt(TP),Cheryle Redman(SR), Betty Rivett (BR) and Brenda Young (BY).

Welcome : RD welcomed everyone. He announced that our membership had grown to 36 in the last year and that we averaged between 50-60% attendance at each meeting ; of particular note is that 25% of our membership is from outside the village.

Agenda:

(1) Report on Activities in 2015.

(2) Finance Report.

(3) Election of New Committee.

(4) Annual Subscriptions.

(5) 2016 Programme.

(6) AOB.

Chairman’s Report on 2015Activities

Our programme followed the model of 2014 with;5 talks from outside speakers,one garden visit, 2 visits to members’ gardens, a stroll round Sharrington gardens (notwithstanding the efforts of the weather!) and finally a workshop to end off the year.

In March Christine Miskin led us through the veritable minefield of steps that are necessary to make a garden ready for the public. In April Simon Harropgave a most informative talk on The Wild Flowers of North Norfolk and in May our old friend Trevor Harrison from South Creake Nurseries gave us expert guidance on how to plant a garden for a continuous show of autumnal colour.

After the Summer break when members visited the amazing garden at Corpusty Mill our Autumn season of talks began with Oliver Locke from Fakenham Garden Centre focusing on Autumn foliage,colour and scent. In November Nigel Middleton from theHawk and Owl Trust talked to us about the recent history of these birds in East Anglia and in particular about The Farmland Bird of Prey initiative. Finally, with Christmas approaching,it was once again time for Simon White to lead us in a wreath- making workshop.

Although, for understandable reasons, not everyone was able to attend all of our meetings/events, we were generally pleased with the level of support and this ensured that 2015 was a successful year.RD completed his report by thanking the Committee for all their support in the course of the year and gave a special thanks to Bob McQuaid for his tremendous efforts on the poster front. He also thanked everyone who supported the Sharrington Christmas Fayre so tremendously.

Financial Report AA stated that we are currently £685.57 in credit (includes £40 float) and that this is considered by the Committee to be a very healthy position. He had produced 2 hand-outs (An Income/Expenditure Statement for the year ended 31 Dec2015 and An Income Breakdown for the same period) copies of these handouts are available on request from AA by any of our absent members. In his report AA drew attention to the fact that the ‘surplus’ figure on our activities was £215.48.

After a brief discussion AA explained the desirability of having an audit of the annual account in order that they might be formally ‘signed- off’ and asked for 2 volunteers to carry put this task: RK and PMc duly volunteered and agreed to liaise with AA in order that the task might be completed within the next 4 weeks.

Election of New Committee

RD announced that AnA ,DF and he were standing down from the Committee and that AA and RB had agreed to stand again. Additionally SP has kindly agreed to be the Committee member to represent the non-village members and MFA has agreed to fill the post of Chairperson. RK has also agreed to be an ‘associate’ member of the Committee and will volunteer his services on an ad hoc basis. On this basis a vote was taken on the proposed membership of the new Committee and the new members were unanimously endorsed.

Annual Subscriptions

After a brief discussion it was agreed that the current rates of £5 for the annual subscription and £3 for most meetings remained appropriate and adequate. It is recognised that the Bob Flowerdew Meeting in November willbe anexception but it is nevertheless hoped that with an audience of 80 (the hall capacity) and a ‘flat’ charge for the eveningof £10 (incl refreshments) that we should be able to cover our costs.

Alcohol Licence. At this point RD briefed the meeting on developments concerning the consumption of alcohol in the Village Hall. He explained that a recent letter sent to the NNDC Environmental Enforcement Officer had been passed to the Licensing Enforcement Officer and, as a result of a dialogue with this sympathetic and helpful lady, as well as an informal enquiry with a legal expert in these matters,it transpires that the Village Hall has no alternative but to apply for an appropriate licence - the cost of which will be approximately £100 for the first year and £70 thereafter.This might in due course mean that some costs will have to be ‘passed on’ but it was generally felt that these would not be prohibitive. The Village Hall Committee decided in principal to apply for a licence. The application is likely to take 2-3 months to process which means that no costs may be levied for alcohol at any events in that period. RD concluded the discussion by stating that, in light of this, he had donated the wine for this evening from his own cellar!

2016 Programme.

RD produced a draft of ‘ The Sharrington Gardeners 2016 Programme’(copy attached) which has had input from both outgoing and incoming Committee members. One of the priorities will be to decide upon a venue for the June garden visit. In discussion it was generally agreed that the location should not be too far away (AA drew attention to the fact that there were a number of accessible gardens in the NGS booklet) and that a Wed afternoon was favoured by most members. It was also pointed out that car sharing had worked well in the past. As far as the Jul/Aug meetings were concerned it was agreed that MFA and the new Committee would consider holding a social event and report back.

AOB

At this stage of the proceedingsRD formally handed over the Chair to MFA who led the subsequent discussion.

MFA said that she would like very much reintroduce table plant sales and this was enthusiastically endorsed. Other ideas included sharing having an item on the monthly agenda covering ‘What to do in the garden’; members sharing experiences of where they have been; and even sharing experiences online!

Bulk Bulb Orderswere considered to be something worth pursuing as costs could be drastically reduced ( The Parker Catalogue was worth looking at for ideas).

Possible Re-Naming of Sharrington Gardeners. During the discussion about ideas to attract new members it was pointed out that as 25% of our members were already from outside Sharrington it might now be appropriate to change the name of the group. In discussion the name ‘Sharrington& District Gardening Group was agreed.

Way Ahead.It was also agreed that it might be a good idea to give a higher priority to the PR/ marketing side with the possibility of even having a committee member co-ordinating this aspect of things.

Presentations AARB concluded the meeting with vote of thanks to Roger and David for theirefforts on the Committee and presented them each with a much appreciated gift.

Next Meeting Wed 09 Mar 16 at 7pm – Shelagh Ashe Talk

DF