Sarratt Horticultural Society 

Minutes of the Annual General Meeting Held in Sarratt Village Hall 

18 th October 2023 

Present: 35+ members and the committee. Chair: Jennifer Haynes, who welcomed everyone. 

1. Apologies: Ted & Joan North, Joan Horwood, Rita Musk, Carol Chorley, Ian McClelland 

2. Minutes of AGM 2022: Taken as read, approved and signed. Proposed: Kate Soothill and Seconded: Graham Peiser Matters Arising: None 

3. Society Secretary’s Report (Sandra Turner) Just to thank the committee for making my life easier and the membership. Hopefully we keep you up to date with Shows, outings and news through our emails. Looking at the statistics most of the members open and hopefully read what we have to say. We will be putting together our 2024 Schedule shortly so any thoughts and opinions please let me know. Thanks all. 

4. Treasurer’s Report (John Gill): Financial Report by the Treasurer for the year ending September 30th 2023. 

The society showed a surplus for the year of £446 compared with the prior year surplus of £131. Subscriptions for the year amounted to £605 which together with the income received from the programme advert and the Coronation stall alongside the small surpluses from each show brought total Income for the Society to £1,036 compared to the prior year £854. 

Total expenditure for the year, which included subscriptions, memberships and sundry administration costs, amounted to £589, down on the prior year expenditure of £723. These costs include the costs of the 2022 AGM which fall into the current year. 

With no significant one-off costs in the year this left the Society with a healthy surplus for the year of £446. 

The overall financial position remains sufficient with closing funds at September 30 th 2023 amounting to £4,146, the bulk of which is retained by the HSBC bank with the remainder held in cash. Attached is the Statement of Account for the Society for the financial year. 

Further information on income and expenditure is available on request. 

Questions: • David Butler - £700 cash which seems high – Response - Just had a Show of which some will be banked. We tend to hold £200 cash. 

• Steven Booth - £4k of funds is a lot for a Society to hold Response - we would welcome suggestions and will talk at committee and reach out to members. 

• Margaret Stratford – check to see if any Trophies need replacing – Response - Jennifer Haynes responded that we believed most were in good condition but would review to see if there were any that needed replacing. 

Accounts circulated and accepted 

5. Show Secretary’s Report (Steven Booth) – I am pleased to report that we were able to have two successful shows this year. Whilst Covid feels like a thing of the past, the weather appears to be becoming less predictable and more varied. Our Spring Show was a little earlier than usual following a cold winter which delayed the flowering time of the Spring bulbs and we had fewer daffodils and tulips than usual. The Autumn Show followed a hot Spring and wet summer where many flowers bloomed earlier than usual. 

But one constant thing is the number of people who contribute to make the shows a success. There are many people across the village who put entries into the shows which are of the highest standard and then there are those who give their time (and delicious cakes) to help put on an excellent show. So, a big ‘thank you’ to you all for your efforts which make us all so grateful to live in Sarratt and have some fun at the Shows. 

The Spring Show had a good number of adult entrants (42) with a further 8 children submitting their entries giving a total of 269 exhibits. This compares favourably with the previous year where there were 197 entries. 

The Autumn Show had fewer entries than recent years. There were 33 adult entrants with only 3 children entering to give a total of 214 entries. The previous year had 247 entries. I believe part of the reason for the low entries was weather related and it would be heartening if we could increase the number of child entries in the future. 

6. Membership Secretary’s Report (Audrey Hammett) – We currently have 215 members, slightly up on last year and including a few new members. Please do mention Horti to anyone you meet who is new to the village, I am always happy to drop off a membership form. 

Many thanks to all the Committee members who collected subscriptions door to door in January. There will again be a box for subscriptions in the shop in January and it helps Committee greatly if members can drop their subscriptions in there (envelopes are with the box so you can provide your contact details) - we will then deliver your Schedule as soon as they are printed. 

7. Chairman’s Report (Jennifer Haynes) – We are a very long-standing Society going back to 1888. There have been quite a few changes over the 135 years since the Society was formed. Changes in venue, the number of Committee members, the different classes of flowers and vegetables. But we are still going forward and hope to continue this tradition with your help. If It has been an exciting year for Sarratt Horticultural Society. We have run two Shows . We have been to HIGHGROVE, the King’s Gloucestershire residence, with such interesting and beautiful gardens. It is a very special visit, restricted to 26 people in a tour. They only have a few groups a day and only for three or four months of the year. The small group who were able to go enjoyed the day finishing with lunch/tea in a lovely conservatory laid up with the special HIGHGROVE China. 

 We had a table at the Coronation celebration and made a good profit some of which went towards the Coronation Memorial that the Parish Council are commissioning. 

Our other exciting news is that Gardeners Question Time is coming to Sarratt Village Hall on Tuesday 21st November. Members will receive an email at the end of this week, for priority tickets, for one week, before we open up the allocation to the wider village. It should be an interesting evening and you will be able to listen to the recordings over two weeks as we will be recording two shows, back-to-back. GQT is on Radio 4 on Fridays at 3 pm and Sundays at 2pm. And of course on BBC Sounds at any time! 

I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Committee for their support and hard work at the Shows, especially Our Secretary Sandra Turner, without whom communication would be very sparse. If you think you could help us and would like to join our Committee, please speak to myself or Sandra later in the evening. We can only support the Shows with help and commitment. The committee is a couple of people short at the moment. It is hard work twice a year but good fun and we only hold three Committee meetings a year. You do not need to be a wonderful gardener just interested in gardening and someone who would like to be involved with possibly the oldest village organisation outside of the Church! 

8. Election of Officers (following 2-year term) and Committee. 

a) Society Secretary: Sandra Turner Proposed: Flo Garvey Seconded: Audrey Hammett 

b) Membership Secretary: Audrey Hammett Proposed: Margaret Seconded: Treasurer: John Gill

 c) Committee elected on Block – show of hands 

• resignation Barbie Knight 

• New committee member – Emma Dickins 

Proposed: Cathy Vines Seconded: Audrey Hammett

 9. 2024 dates 

a. Spring – 6 th April 2024
b. Autumn – 14th September 2024
c. AGM – 16th October 2024 

10. Any Other Business

 The business of the AGM closed 8.25pm, with a talk afterwards by Chris Day with a talk on Sustainable Gardening, followed by Cheese & Wine 

Sarratt Horticultural Society

Minutes of the Annual General Meeting Held in Sarratt Village Hall

19th October 2022

Present:  50+members and the committee.   Chair: Jennifer Haynes, who welcomed everyone.

1.       Apologies: Brian Luckhaus Joan Horwood,

2.       Minutes of AGM 2021:  Taken as read, approved and signed. Proposed: Kate Soothill and Seconded: Audrey Hammett

 Matters Arising:   None

3.   Society Secretary’s Report (Sandra Turner) As always a quick report from me as my life is made so much easier by the work from the officers and committee.  I am the person who writes the minutes and sends the emails to try and keep you the members updated with everything we are doing or other interesting articles or events in the village.  We will be putting together our 2023 Schedule shortly so any thoughts and opinions please let me know. Thanks all.

4.   Treasurer’s Report (John Gill): Financial Report by the Treasurer for the year ending September 30th 2022.  The society showed a surplus for the year of £131 compared with the prior year deficit of £46.

Subscriptions were brought back in for this year and as a result the Society had a total income of £854. The bulk of this came from subscriptions/donations together with the advertisement income and a contribution form the Spring show. The Autumn show showed a very small deficit as did the Wisley trip.

 Total expenditure for the year, which included subscriptions, memberships and sundry administration costs, amounted to £723, now that the programmes were re-introduced, and including the expenses for the 2021 AGM which amounted to £184.

With no significant one off costs in the year this left the Society with a surplus for the year of £131 being the first year of surplus for a number of years. The overall financial position remains sufficient with closing funds at September 30th 2022 amounting to £3,700, the bulk of which is retained by the HSBC bank with the remainder held in cash.

Attached is the Statement of Account for the Society for the financial year. Further information on income and expenditure is available on request.

Accounts circulated and accepted

5.       Show Secretary’s Report (Steven Booth) – I would like to start my report with a big ‘thank you’ to all those volunteers that make our shows happen.  It’s a large number of people that are needed to set the shows in motion with at least 20 helpers from the Committee and volunteers within the village.  And then there are four judges who assess the gardening efforts, cookery, floral art and arts & crafts.  The judges give their time freely and this year we have recruited two new judges to widen the panel who assess our entries.

 

Recent years have been far from ordinary.  But it was rather nice to get back to having our two planned shows this year.  However, each show had its challenges. At the beginning of the year, we were just getting back to normality after further covid restrictions.  And in September, we had endured the warmest summer that most of us can remember.  So, with this backdrop, we held two great shows that were enjoyed enormously by the people of Sarratt.

 

The Spring Show was the first for 3 years.  Entry numbers were on the low side with 33 entrants (plus two children) displaying 197 entries.  However, it was very similar to some recent years.

 

The Autumn Show had 38 entrants (plus two children) displaying 247 entries. Again, this is lower than some years but similar to many recent times.  Given the very hot and dry summer we had in Sarratt, this is exceptionally good as many plants did not survive the drought.  In fact, the main judge commented that our Show was spectacular when compared with others he’d seen.

 

So, in summary, many thanks to all the entrants and volunteers that allowed us to have these wonderful shows.

 

7. Membership Secretary’s Report (Audrey Hammett) – We currently have 211 members, only slightly down from pre-pandemic numbers. This includes 15 new members. Please do mention Horti to anyone you meet who is new to the village, I am always happy to drop off a membership form.

Many thanks to all the Committee members who collected subscriptions door to door in January. There will be a box for subscriptions in the shop each January and it helps Committee greatly if members can drop their subscriptions in there - we will then deliver your Schedule as soon as they are printed.

We are increasingly relying on email to send newsletters and updates. This greatly reduces workload and printing/postage costs. If you have not already provided an email, please do send one so we can update our list.

 

8.       Chairman’s Report (Jennifer Haynes) – We are sad to report the death in March of Merle Liddy, who was a Committee member for over 20 years. Merle could always be found in the kitchen at Shows and her Committee lunches were legendary. She was a stalwart of our Society and is greatly missed.

We have managed two Shows this year that Steven has reported on. The extreme heat in July and August this year made gardening a challenge. It has been interesting to see the changes in the growing cycles of certain plants and I for one have learnt which plants will survive in dry conditions and which have given up.

We ran our Pop Up Plant Stall at the end of May in Jane Fielder’s garden. We took only donations for the plants and made almost £350 which we divided between the Village Hall and Sarratt Care. Many thanks to Jane for loaning us her garden.

A group of members visited two private gardens this summer, Peterley in Prestwood, a large garden with a small Arboretum and herbaceous borders. Those members that joined our visit found it very interesting. The second garden was to Edwin Rye’s at Wendover. Always a very entertaining visit with some beautiful planting and plants for sale.

At the end of September a small group of members visited Wisley. This was our once a year free visit to a RHS Garden. We struggled to fill a large coach and ended up having a small 20 seater, which unfortunately worked out to be more expensive. However, those that made the trip enjoyed their day and the weather was good too.

We are hoping to join forces with Chipperfield Horticultural Society next year with one or two outings and talks. We have been talking to Chipperfield and sharing information of Show Judges etc. On that note we are also invited to join in Bovingdon Horti’s Bulk Buying of Compost etc.at the beginning of the year. This works out to be quite a saving and some of our members who have taken advantage of this offer over the past few years. I’m hoping they will be running this again in 2023. We will let you know when we hear.

8. Election of Officers (following 2-year term) and Committee.

a)   Chairman:  Jennifer Haynes

Proposed:  Cathy Vines Seconded: Flo Garvey

b)  Vice Chairman: Kate Soothill

Proposed: Ginny McNamara Seconded: Philip Beausire

c)   Show Secretary: Steven Booth

Proposed:   Graham Peiser   Seconded: Ted North

d)  Treasurer: John Gill

Proposed:  Muir Stratford Seconded: Kate Soothill

e)  Committee elected on Block – resignation – Diane Quayle

Proposed: Sarah Atkins Seconded: Jono Holmes

 

9.       2023 dates

·         Spring – 25th March 2023

·         Autumn – 9th Sept 2023

·         AGM – 18th October 2023

 

10.   Any Other Business

Graham Peiser – thanks to the officer of the Society.

 

The business of the AGM closed at 8.20pm, with a talk afterwards by Sue Clarke and Flo Garvey on bees and pollinating plants, followed by Cheese & Wine.

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Previous AGMs 

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Minutes of the 2021 Annual General Meeting Held in Sarratt Village Hall on the 13th October 2021

Minutes of the 2019 Annual General Meeting Held in Sarratt Village Hall on the 16th October 2019

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