MINUTES OF THE 16th ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING of THE FRIENDS OF MORSTON CHURCH

HELD AT THE VILLAGE HALL, QUAY LANE, MORSTON ON SAT 23rd JUNE 2018 AT 6.30 pm

 

Committee Present

Dr. Peter Tibbetts, Chairman

Mrs. Carole Bean, Deputy-Chairman

Mr. Rob Metcalfe, Treasurer

Mrs. Sandra Morris,

Dr. Antonia Hardcastle

Mr. Joc Wingfield

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‘Friends’ and Members Present

Mrs. G. Bullard

Mrs. V. Wilson

Mrs. G. Kay

Mrs. M. Athill

Mr R. Longley

Rev. I. Whittle

 

1.Apologies. These were received from: Committee Member Mrs S. Harrison and also from Mr & Mrs D. Carnwath, Mrs. J. Tibbetts, Mrs. H. Todd, Mr & Mrs D. Pell, Mrs. Ann Wootten, Mrs Sara Wingfield and Mr Sam Bullard.

 

2.Minutes of 15th AGM. Held at Morston Village Hall on Saturday 17th June 2017 at 6.30 pm. Proposed as correct by Dr Tibbetts, seconded by Mr Metcalfe, they were unanimously approved and were signed by the Chairman as a True Record.

 

3.Matters Arising.  The Chairman announced that the PCC had again proposed Mr Wingfield as their representative on the FMC Committee. Approved unanimously.

 

4.Annual Appointments/Reappointments.  Mr Joc Wingfield proposed the re-election of Dr Peter Tibbetts, Mrs. Carole Bean, Dr. Antonia Hardcastle and Mrs Susy Harrison to the Committee. This was seconded by Mr Rob Metcalfe. (Mr Rob Metcalfe and Mrs. Sandra Morris were re-elected and elected, respectively, in 2017). The appointments were approved unanimously.

 

5.Committee vote for Chairman and Secretary. Dr Tibbetts was nominated for the combined position of Chairman and Secretary. This was proposed by Mr Joc Wingfield and seconded by Dr Antonia Hardcastle. The appointment was approved unanimously.

 

6.Committee vote for Deputy-Chairman and Treasurer. The Chairman proposed Mrs Carole Bean to be re-elected as Deputy-Chairman (seconded by Mr Joc Wingfield) and Mr Rob Metcalfe to be re-elected as Treasurer (seconded by Mr Joc Wingfield). The appointments were approved unanimously.

 

7.Treasurer’s Report. (FY 2017-2018). Mr Metcalfe presented the accounts and stated that the FMC’s income was slightly lower than last year.  This was due largely to a decrease in the ‘Friends’ subscriptions. The usual expenditure was similar to last year, but with a slight increase in the Book Sale costs due to advertising and new bannering. The balance of income over expenditure was therefore down by about £1,000 at just over £16,500. The balance in the Current Account is, consequently, up to just over £95,500.

 

The treasurer pointed out that we had received the first tranche of contributions (nearly £200) from ‘EasyFundraising.com’, which are paid into our account quarterly in arrears.

 

8.Chairman’s Report (including the Architectural Adviser’s Report). The Chairman read out the Architectural Adviser’s report. This stated that a recent meeting had been held with the architect, the contractor and the bat expert. Before work starts, it needs to be determined whether the bats in the church are part of a maternity roost. If this is not the case, then the roof can start to be dismantled in late summer but may be delayed if a maternity roost is present. Whatever happens the drainage work and probably the new path (from the Langham Road) will be started in mid-July. It is hoped that we have sufficient funds for the following:

 

•overhauling rainwater goods

•relaying the drains

•treatment of timberwork of the chancel roof

•releading the chancel roof

•releading the South aisle roof

 

The altar will be moved to the nave so that services can be conducted while work is carried out on the chancel.

 

The Chairman thanked Mr David Carnwath for his report.  The Chairman also thanked all the committee for their hard work at events throughout the year and, in particular, Joc Wingfield for continuing to organise both the Quiz night and the Shovell Dinner. He congratulated the many helpers at the spectacularly good Book Sale, which raised just over £14,200. In particular, he thanked Sue Smith, who gave up the best part of two weeks to help and Lady Jane Barson and once again, sent a special “Thank you” to the many helpers at the Book Sale and particularly to Lady Jane and Tony Barson, who, despite having experienced the event last year, volunteered once again to be the mainstay of the catering department! The food and drink did incredibly well, raising £2395 for the cause. The plant sale raised over £400, and the Chairman thanked Susy Harrison, Sara Wingfield and Mally Bullard for organising this and manning the stall and Margaret Smith for producing so many plants.  The Chairman thanked Rob and Sally Metcalfe for allowing us, once again, to use Morston Barn and for all their time and effort that they put in all year round in collecting, sorting and pricing books.

 

The Chairman also noted that no new ‘Friends’ had been recruited in the past year. Although this was discussed at last year’s AGM, there has been no action on this front. It is hoped that some work will be done this year to rectify this.

 

9. 2018-2019 Special Events.  Mr Wingfield has organised the 2018 Shovell Dinner for Sat 13th October (Dr Simon Harris on “Admiral Sir Cloudesley Shovell”). Tickets at £40.00.

The 2019 Quiz was agreed to be on Sat 2nd Feb. 

The 2019 Shovell Dinner will be on Sat. 12th October 2019. 

Mr Metcalfe announced that the Book Sale would be on 4th – 6th May 2019.

Mrs Sandra Morris will be organising an “Impromptu Shakespeare” evening (possibly in Gill Kay’s walled garden) in late July 2019 (exact date to be confirmed).

The 2019 AGM will be on Saturday 22nd June.

 

10.Fundraising. The Chairman stated that the new on-line fundraising scheme “Easy Fundraising” had been successful but was still in its early stages. 15 people have signed up to contribute to the ‘Friends’ through “Easy Fundraising”, but we hope to increase this number by promoting the scheme at our events. The scheme has currently raised £326.35 for the ‘Friends’ since we started in September 2017.

 

11.Governance.  General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR).  The Chairman introduced the topic and Rob Metcalfe explained that we believe that we can cover this on a ‘Legitimate Interest’ basis. People who have joined the Friends of Morston Church have done so because they are specifically interested in the maintenance of All Saints Church and those who have attended ‘Friends’ events are interested in those events. Therefore, as a small charity using data only to contact members and supporters, we are not required to register with the Information Commissioner's Office. We do, however, have a privacy and data policy, a link to which will be posted on our web site. In the next January letter, the ‘Friends’ will be asked to let us know if they would like their data to be removed from our files

 

12.AOB.  None

 

Peter Tibbetts

Chairman