AGM – AGENDA
Village Hall – 8pm - Wednesday 13th October 2021
1. Apologies
2. Correspondence
3. Minutes of AGM 2020
4. Matters Arising
5. Society Secretary’s Report
6. Treasurer’s Report
7. Show Secretary’s Report
8. Membership Secretary’s Report
9. Chairman’s Report
10. Election of Officers and Committee
1. Society Secretary
2. Membership Secretary
i. Resignation of Muir Stratford
ii. Election of Audrey Hammet
3. Committee –
Philip Beausire, Joan Horwood Barbie Knight, Brian Luckhaus,
Ian McLelland, Graham Peiser, Diane Quayle, Jenny Roberts
11. 2022 Dates
· Spring – 2nd April 2022
· Autumn – 3rd Sept 2022
· AGM – 19th October 2022
1. Any Other Business
Jennifer Haynes announced that sadly Merle Liddy had decided to stand down after 27 years of service to the Horti, many thanks were given for her time on the committee and she was presented with a gift of a wooden and engraved bowl.
Sarratt Horticultural Society
Date
for your diary - 2021 AGM - 13th October 2021
Minutes
of the 2020 Annual General Meeting Held in Sarratt Village Hall
14th October 2020
Present: Some 9 members and the committee.
Chair: Jennifer Haynes, who welcomed everyone.
1. Apologies: Rita Musk, Sandra Turner, Diane Quayle, John Rickard, Steven Booth, Jennifer Peiser, Colin Plummer, Carol
Chorley, Philip Beausire
2. Correspondence: None.
3. Minutes of AGM 2019: Taken as read, approved
and signed.
Proposed: Merle Liddy Seconded: Graham Peiser
4. Matters Arising: No matters arising.
5. Society Secretary’s Report (Sandra Turner) –
A difficult year as our other officers will indicate in their reports. However,
we have been able to communicate with our members with updates on any
activities run by the society or externally. The new website was an added bonus
with thanks to David Butler for being generous with his time to set this up for
us and Steven Booth is now resident expert. If you have anything you want to
share with the members then please email us at on sarratthorti@gmail.com and we can let the members know. We
recommend that your regularly go to the website. www.sarratthorti.co.uk .
A quick reminder that we will not be collecting subscriptions next year.
6. Treasurer’s Report (John Gill): Financial
Report by the Treasurer for the year ending September 30th 2020.
The society showed a deficit for the year of £526 compared with the prior year deficit of £47.
Subscription and donation income was down slightly on the prior year at £618. Income from the programme advertisement
amounted to £100 and the society raised £236 of income through the pop up stall in support of the Village Hall. There was no income relating to the shows or annual trips given these were all cancelled as a result of the restrictions inplace.
Overall the Society generated total income of £954
Total expenditure for the year, which included
subscriptions, memberships and sundry administration costs, amounted to £1,480
which was ahead of the prior year primarily due to the purchasing of new boards
for the shows, costs and expenses incurred for the new website and the donation
of the pop up stall income to the Village Hall, all of which were one-off in
nature. The expenses for the 2019 AGM amounted to £135.
This left the Society with a deficit for the
year of £526. Despite this the overall financial position remains sufficient
with closing funds at September 30th 2020 amounting to £3,615, the bulk of
which is retained by the HSBC bank with the remainder held in cash.
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The Statement of Account for the Society for the
financial year were circulated. Further information on income and expenditure
is available on request.
Jennifer Haynes mentioned that we took £93 for
the 1st pop up stall which was given directly to Sarratt Care. It was noted
that this should have gone via John Gill so that it was properly noted in the
accounts. He will make a note of it in the records. £236 was for the 2nd pop up
stall.
Graham thanked the Horti for their donation on
behalf of Sarratt Care.
John Gill said that we will lose some income
next year but although we will have a deficit it is nothing to be concerned
about.
Accounts circulated and accepted
Proposed – Ian McClelland; Seconded – Brian Luckhaus
7. Show Secretary’s Report (Steven Booth) - Two
shows were planned for this year. Sadly, the Covid-19 pandemic caused them both
to be cancelled. The Spring Show was at the start of the lock-down period when
there was no access to any facilities and group gatherings were banned.
The Autumn Show was planned for a period when
small numbers would have been allowed in the Village Hall but it was
impractical to hold the show in a safe manner.
Given the nice weather we had during the summer
and the amount of time people had spent in the garden and pursuing hobbies this
year, I feel confident we would have had a fantastic show. But sadly, it was
not to be.
The 2020 Schedule will be adopted for 2021 (and
members are asked to note the show dates for next year are 27th March and 4th
September).
8. Membership Secretary’s Report (Muir
Stratford) – In this strange and unusual year, I can report our membership
number to be 205, lower than last year but with no Shows or main events, it has
not been possible to track those members missed in January. There has been no
incentive for new members to join, although I have continued to present
membership forms and newsletters to new residents where known.
We have managed to produce 2 newsletters during
the year and I must thank our deliverers of these as well as our January
subscription collectors.
Thank you also to all our committee members
whose help is always available when needed.
Let us hope that we may return to some normality
and 2 Shows next year.
9. Chairman’s Report (Jennifer Haynes) – This
year, the first time in 132 years of our Society, we have had to cancel the
Spring and Autumn Shows, due to the Covid 19 Pandemic. Social distancing made
it impossible to continue. When the Spring Show in April had to be cancelled,
we didn’t think that we wouldn’t have an Autumn Show either. An unprecedented
situation.
We did however have two pop up plant sales, the
generous donations going to village charities, by courtesy of Jane Fielder, who
lent her garden at the side of a busy footpath. The summer
3
passed with most of our members growing their
own vegetables and gardens looking beautiful with members having more time to
tend them. Our outing to RHS Hyde Hall was cancelled too.
A visit was arranged to the White House gardens
in Chandlers Cross by kind invitation of Mr and Mrs Khan at the end of July. 25
members were shown round the gardens in three groups, social distancing of
course. It was a very hot day and Mr and Mrs Khan provided welcome
refreshments. We thanked Mr. Khan for a very enjoyable and interesting
afternoon.
Sandra Turner, our hard-working Secretary, has
sent out many emails and notifications to members during this period. We have
tried to keep in touch with members.
We took this quiet period to launch our Sarratt
Horti website and we have David Butler to thank for building this website. I
hope all members will visit the website - www.sarratthorti.co.uk. The website
is being kept up to date with photos and news items.
I would like to thank the Committee for their
support during this year. It has certainly been a quiet one for the Society.
I hope that 2021 will give some normality and
our Spring and Autumn Shows will take place as they have over the past 132
years.
10. Election of Officers (following 2-year term)
and Committee.
a) Chairman: Jennifer Haynes
Proposed: Muir Stratford Seconded: Graham Peiser
b) Show Secretary: Steven Booth
Proposed: Ian McClelland Seconded: John Gill
c) Treasurer: John Gill
Proposed: Jennifer Haynes Seconded: Merle Liddy
Jennifer Haynes announced that sadly Merle Liddy
had decided to stand down after 27 years of service to the Horti, many thanks
were given for her time on the committee and she was presented with a gift of a
wooden and engraved bowl.
Audrey Hammet has agreed to come onto the
committee
Proposed: Kate Soothill Seconded: Graham Peiser
11. 2021 dates
• Spring Show: Saturday 27th March 2021
• Autumn Show: Saturday 4th September 2021
• AGM: Wednesday 13th October 2021
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12. Any other business
Jennifer Haynes thanked Jenny Roberts for
sorting out the Village Hall for tonight’s AGM. Brian Luckhaus thanked Jennifer
Haynes for her efforts to keep things ticking along in what has been a strange
year.
Muir Stratford passed on Colin Plummer’s thanks
to the Horti for the money raised for the village hall.
There is a possible intermittent problem getting
into the website which Jennifer Haynes will mention to David Butler. There
doesn’t seem to be a problem if you put the website into Google. Graham Peiser
asked if there was a link to the horti website from the village website.
Apparently there is under ‘profile’.
The business of the AGM closed at 8.28pm -
unfortunately with Covid restrictions no cheese and wine were able to be served afterwards.
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Minutes of the Annual General Meeting Held in Sarratt Village Hall
16th October 2019
Present: Some 30 members and friends. Chair: Jennifer Haynes, who welcomed everyone.
1. Apologies: Steven Booth, Carol Chorley
2. Correspondence: None.
3. Minutes of AGM 2017: Taken as read, approved and signed.
Proposed: Kate Soothill, seconded: Merle Liddy
4. Matters Arising: No matters arising.
5. Society Secretary’s Report (Sandra Turner) – Another active year with a committee well organised to run the shows, trading stall and outings. Making my life much easier.
This year we have upgraded the schedule using a friendly printer to keep the costs down, but we are always looking for advertisers to help with the cost – if anyone knows of a company or individual who may want to advertise then please let us know.
We also continue to find opportunities for events and garden centre discounts for our members and we will continue to do this.
6. Treasurer’s Report (John Gill): Accounts circulated and accepted
Proposed – Anne Dorritt; Seconded – Graham Peiser
7. Financial Report by the Treasurer for the year ending September 30th 2019. The society showed a small deficit for the year of £47 compared with the prior year deficit of £49.
Subscription and donation income was down slightly on the prior year at £659. Other income from village markets and the programme advertisement amounted to £125. The two successful spring and autumn shows generated a combined net surplus of £111 and there was a small surplus from the society trip of £8.
Overall the Society generated total income of £912.
Expenditure for the year, which included subscriptions, memberships and sundry administration costs, amounted to £757 which was down on the prior year. The expenses for the AGM amounted to £203.
Overall total expenditure for the year amounted to £959.
This left the Society with a small deficit for the year of £47. Overall the financial position remains robust with closing funds at September 30th 2019 amounting to £4,150.50, 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.
8. Show Secretary’s Report (Steven Booth) This year, the society held its two shows as usual: in Spring and Autumn. This year, the weather has been relatively kind to us leading to a good crop of entries for each show.
The Spring show had 298 entries which represented a 50% increase over the previous year. The 45 entrants gave us a show of high quality.
The Autumn show had 289 entries (from 59 entrants). Following a cooler and wetter summer than last year this represented a significant increase. Again, the quality was high, with the lead judge commenting that it was on a par with the larger regional shows.
However, the shows are not just about the numbers. They are a time for the people of Sarratt to show their skills and talk to others who share their interests. A large number of people come to view the exhibits, have a drink with friends and perhaps a flutter on the raffle. The editorial comment in Spotlight exclaimed "it seemed as if the whole village was there!"
The shows thrive and survive thanks to the army of volunteers that make it happen. As a Society and a village, we are so lucky that people give their time so freely. The judges do their bit behind the scenes. The committee members and many others from the village make sure the hall is ready for the exhibits; the teas, coffee and cakes are ready for serving; the raffle is ready to be drawn and the prizes are waiting to be awarded. I would like to express my sincere thanks to all who have helped make the shows a success this year. Thank you.
9. Membership Secretary’s Report (Muir Stratford) –Our membership number for this year is 217, which is round about our usual membership figure but we are always seeing new members to boost our numbers. This includes 10 new members. I think the number of members we do have is excellent for a village of our size and the two shows are always very well supported. I try to ensure that newcomers to the village are aware of the Society and welcome information regarding new members.
As usual, I must thank all the subscription collectors, who also deliver the Summer newsletter; it is not always the best weather for collecting subscriptions early in the new year.
Our 2 newsletters are always well received and information about the Society is well publicised on the Sarratt Village website and in Spotlight as well as the shop. I am always seeking items for inclusion in the newsletters and contributions and/or suggestions from members are always most welcome. Through the good offices of our Society Secretary, we now use email as much as we can to communicate with members and we currently hold over 130 email addresses. If we do not have yours yet, please let us have your details so you can be kept fully informed about the Society.
My grateful thanks go to all the members of the Committee for their contribution which makes my job as Membership Secretary quite easy.
10. Chairman’s Report (Jennifer Haynes) – It has been another successful year for Sarratt Horticultural Society. We saw two excellent Shows with a record number of entrants for the Autumn Show and we are so pleased to see new members entering.
This year we organised a trip to RHS Wisley for 50 members. Everyone enjoyed it despite the terrible weather that did in fact get better as the day went on. The new Welcome Centre at Wisley was very nice, with a lovely shop and café. There will be some photos of our day at Wisley on the Slide Show later.
As we are an RHS affiliated society we can have one free trip a year to an RHS garden. This keeps the cost of the trip down and we only have to pay for the transport. It is for our members to enjoy.
We also organised an evening visit to Church Gardens in Harefield, a restored 17th century walled garden. The members that attended were very complimentary about the Gardens and the superb guided tour given by Kay McHugh, the owner and Head Gardener.
Horticultural Shows in general, are on the decline, but it seems here in Sarratt, it is the complete opposite. It is very gratifying to see so many people enjoying the shows and having the interest to exhibit too. Any feedback from the Shows would be gratefully received. Please speak to anyone on the Committee and let them have your thoughts. Whilst I am on the subject of the Committee, I would like to thank them all for their commitment and hard work before, during and after the Shows. In my opinion we are a great team! Well done all of you!
Finally, with an apology to Strictly – ‘KEEP GARDENING!!’
11. Election of Officers (following 2-year term) and Committee.
a) Vice - Chairman: Kate Soothill
Proposed: Graham Peiser Seconded: Margaret Stratford
b) Society Secretary: Sandra Turner
Proposed: Muir Stratford Seconded: John Rickard
c) Membership Secretary: Muir Stratford
Proposed: Ian McClelland Seconded: Barbie Knight
The Committee were re-elected en bloc
12. 2020 dates
· Spring Show: Saturday 4th April 2020
· Autumn Show: Saturday 5th September 2020
· AGM: Wednesday 14th October 2020
13. Any other business
Thanks, were given by Colin Plummer by the Village Hall Committee for the funds raised from the Horti Trading Stall at the village markets throughout the year.
The business of the AGM closed at 8.22pm followed cheese and wine and members able to view a slide show of recent shows and outings.
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