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Minutes of Annual General Meeting
4th Feb 2011

Present: Martin Calvert (Chair), Adrian Coltman, Joan & Mervyn Clayton, Adam & Carol Bull, Paul Ellis, Dorothy Carter, Mike Betteridge, Peter Foulston, Steve Clavering, Claire Standage, Geoff Gilbert, Trevor & Diane Kitto, Steven ????.

  1. Apologies for Absence
  2. Minutes of the last AGM 21-01-2010
  3. Matters Arising
  4. Chair's Report 2010
  5. Treasurer's Report 2010
  1. Merchandise Sales & Web Site Report 2010
  2. Election of Officers
  3. Volunteer Report
  4. AOB
  5. Dates of Next Meetings

1. Apologies for Absence

Steven Johns.

2. Minutes of the last AGM 21-01-2010

Agreed as a true record.

3. Matters Arising

None.

4. Chair's Report 2010 (Martin Calvert)

Firstly a big thank you to everybody for supporting the Group's activities and a special thanks to the Core Group, who all bring different strengths to FGVW, for continuing the sterling work.

Feb 4: Community and Civic Pride Awards. We get 1st prize in the Large Project Category.

Feb 13: 4 tons of stone shifted on path work.

Mar 7: Managers from Wetherspoons attend to thin beech saplings in the wood next to Bracken Edge. The Jetty was finally finished off with drainage and more stone.

Apr 11: The refurbishment of Mrs Hood's steps commences. These steps next to Gledhow Lane needed extra ones inserting to make them user friendly and a new handrail added.

Apr 14: The lake is drained maliciously overnight resulting in the Swans eventually losing their nest with eggs and only one brood of ducklings appearing in 2010. Most certainly as a result of the actions of one person.

May 16: Mrs Hood's steps are finished off.

Jun 19: 11th FunDay takes place on a cold and windy day. A success without breaking many records. Many thanks to the FunDay army of volunteers and the ranger support from Steve, Emma and Elaine.

Jul 3: Handrail on Mrs Hood's steps re-inforced after vandalism. Wild Flowers planted in the meadow.

Sep 5: Bath House receives its annual clean thanks to Avril's generosity in providing electricity and water. We saw a kingfisher perched on a nearby fence. The kingfisher had been using the Bath House as a food source.

Sep 12: Bath House Open Day. Another 354 visitors on a lovely day. Thanks to the helpers on the day.

Oct: Started thinking about the Carriageway.

Oct 17: Decking put across Paul's stream behind the big house on Little Switzerland whilst Paul did some more digging out of his stream.

Oct Half Term: Impromptu Action Morning to cover Mrs Hood's steps with top dust to finish them off.

Late Oct: Four Volunteers spend a morning in Avril's garden clearing brambles etc. in payment for the free water and electricity.

Late Oct: Meadow cut by Council using strimmers. A few days later, meadow hay raked in another impromptu Action Afternoon. Much hay raked. Could have been more if it had been cut more effectively.

Nov: FGVW purchased an Allen Scythe for use in cutting the meadow more effectively than strimming. Anthony Rouse is going to strip and re-build the engine.

Nov 11: BTCV steps on Gledhow Lane to Allerton Grange Way re-furbished, more ditch digging and spreading of chippings.

Nov: Joan starts to raise the subject of the effectiveness of the CSOs. Yorkshire Water agrees to attend a Core Group Meeting.

Nov/Dec: New FGVW Christmas cards are unleashed on the public. Nobody is safe from Joan and Dianne's brilliant sales abilities. The cards are a big success with major sales at Allerton Medical Centre, the Oakwood and the Three Hulats Farmers Markets and St Mathew's Fairs. Many thanks to all the sellers and especially to Adam and Carol for the design and hours of packaging.

Dec: After receiving approval for our scheme to lift the crowns of trees surrounding the meadow, John Mudd does an excellent job. We await the wild flowers keenly this year. Permission is needed for major tree work in a Conservation Area.

Dec 7: Volunteer Thank You Event attended by Steve Johns and Claire Standage. Thank you to them.

Dec 12: Carriageway restoration commences with the aim of making it accessible for vehicle access and to feature the stone sets on either side. Stream diverted for the first time. A bigger job than we anticipated!

Jan 16: Carriageway restoration continues. Stream diversion no. 2. Underground pipe carrying stream dug out and re-positioned and inner edge dug out. Future work to include re-positioning of the bench which was unfortunately planted in the middle of the carriageway a few years ago, stream diversion no.3, outer edge to dig out, and removal of more ash trees. Also planning to make a shallow pond next to the stream.

Feb 4: Meeting with Community Spaces Facilitator to progress the project to install gateways from the Lincombe Drive and Brackenwood Drive into the Woods. Work hopefully to be carried out in summer 2011 and October 2011.

Feb 4: AGM and here we are. A couple of further thank yous to Steve and Julian from Potternewton for picking up the rubbish we collect, to Graham and Maria from the Three Hulats for their support.

We look forward to another busy year.

5. Treasurer's Report 2010 (Paul Ellis)

Balance at 31.12.2010 = £ 8,486
Balance at 31.12.2009 = £ 10,568

We ended 2010 in a healthy financial position with available funds of £8,486 held across the HSBC account and the EBS deposit account.

All expenditure was funded from the HSBC current account with the deposit account left untouched. The HSBC account no longer attracts interest.

Income from grants comprised less than 10% of overall receipts. Of particular note is the role merchandise sales have played during the year, particularly the new Christmas cards.

The expenditure figures show that the Action Mornings properly remain the focus of our activity. The category Tools includes sums paid out for ancillary costs, and it is assumed that the value of any equipment is immediately written off.

For the first time this year, the accounts are presented as Receipts and Payments accounts. This is based on a format devised by the Charities Commission and is a recommended, though not obligatory, format for charities with an income of less than £250,000 per annum, that are not companies, and are not required to submit to audit. While we are not a charity, this seems to reflect the nature and scale of our activities.

The accounts for 2011 will of course contain comparative figures with 2010.

This can form the basis of our reporting and be developed in future years. The breakdown of receipts and payments is meant to reflect the prime activities of the organisation in question, and lead to understanding of the shape of our activity. I would welcome comments from members as to any changes that they consider would enhance the presentation of the accounts.

It should be noted that FGVW also holds merchandise stock at cost of £1012.08. The Receipts and Payments format for accounts does not require this to be considered as a Current Asset and account for write-offs etc.

Tracking Income and Expenditure this way should help with our budgeting. Certainly the figures show that we can maintain strong level of activity in 2011, despite the likelihood that availability of grants will be constrained by the state of the public finances.

My thanks to Adam for comprehensive reports to back up his activity and to Martin for assiduous supply of receipts.

6. Merchandise Sales & Web Site Report 2010 (Adam Bull)

Web Site Report for 2010

Unfortunately, no web site visitor statistics are available for 2010. For technical and security reasons, the FGVW web site was moved to different servers twice during the year and access to statistics from the hosting company was lost.

As of January 2011 I have installed Google Analytics code to the web site, so statistics will be available from now on even if the web site is moved.

Web Site Statistics
Total number of pages in the web site (HTML) = 319
Total number of images used (JPEG & GIF) = 1,681
Total number of 360 degree QuickTime panoramas (MOV) = 18
Total number of audio files (MP3) = 2
Total number of miscellaneous files = 19
Total number of files = 2,039
Total file size (MB) = 96

E-Mail Mailing List
Number of people on the e-mail mailing list = 331 (Up 46 from last year).

Merchandise Report for 2010

Total income during 2010 = £2,239.00

Total income to date = £6,023.10
Total development costs to date = £52.93
Total production costs to date = £3,731.45
Total profit to date = £2,238.72

All development and production costs have been covered, which means that takings from the sale of all remaining stock represent 100% profit.

7. Election of Officers

No new nominations were received so the Group agreed to waive the 3 year restriction on length of time in the role.

The following officers were re-elected:

  • Chair - Martin Calvert
  • Vice Chair - Adrian Coltman
  • Treasurer - Paul Ellis
  • Secretary - Carol Bull

8. Volunteer Report

Joan said that the average number of volunteers was unchanged form last year, although there were less children attending.

On average an Action Morning was attended by 26.33 volunteers with the highest numbers on Sunday with an average of 29.14.

There were less on average on Saturdays at 16.7. Between 13 and 45 volunteers were at each of the Action Mornings, resulting in around 600-700 man hours over the year.

The Chair thanked Joan for her hard work at being volunteer co-ordinator, Health & Safety risk assessor and for welcoming volunteers to the Action Mornings.

9. AOB

  • Save Our Forests Petition
    Adam informed the Group about an online petition to try and stop the Government from selling off forests. He agreed to e-mail round to Members.

  • Continuing Support
    Peter thanked the Group for allowing him to continue to contribute now that he has moved out of the area.

  • Thanks from Steve Clavering
    Steve thanked the Group on behalf of the Council. He was very impressed with Joan's Health & Safety reports and records. Steve was full of praise for the Group and hoped it could be a flagship Group when he was training and co-ordinating other volunteer groups.

  • Thanks to Mike
    The Chair thanked Mike for photographing the Group's events.

  • Combined Sewage Overflows (CSOs)
    Joan updated the Group on what was happening with the CSOs (Combined Sewage Overflows). She has been trying since July to co-ordinate Yorkshire Water, Highways Commission and the people responsible for looking at flooding in the area. One of the CSOs now has a metal cage rather than a grid which should help to prevent sewage overflowing down Gledhow Valley. The cage should take longer to block and it is estimated that this should only happen once every 4-5 years. The debris in the beck was cleaned just before Christmas but more work is needed to stop it getting in in the first place. Joan has been in contact with Yorkshire Water and they have agreed to do a site visit starting at Joan's house on 14 February at 2pm. Joan is also going to arrange for Yorkshire Water to attend one of our monthly meetings.

  • Gledhow Valley Road Pavements
    Trevor raised the issue of the state of the pavements going down either side of Gledhow Valley Road. Adrian agreed to contact the Highways Agency regarding the state of the road and pavements.

  • Action Morning Data Change
    Martin changed the date of the March Action Morning to Sunday 10 April to avoid Easter and half term holidays.

  • Brackenwoods Work
    Martin updated the Group with a site meeting he had with Groundworks earlier today. They discussed the work to be done on the Brackenwoods entrances. They walked through the plans and discussed where the benches and notice boards should be. The Grant should go ahead and the tender is currently being agreed.

  • Thanks to Diane
    Martin presented Diane Kitto with a certificate and thanked her for all her hard work selling Christmas cards on behalf of the Group.

10. Dates of Next Meetings

  • Action Morning - Sun 13 Feb 2011
  • Core Group Meeting - Thu 17 Mar 2011 (Gledhow Sports & Social Club)
  • Action Morning - Sat 19 Mar 2011
  • Core Group Meeting - Thu 7 Apr 2011 (Gledhow Sports & Social Club)
  • Action Morning - Sun 10 Apr 2011
  • Action Morning - Sun 22 May 2011
  • Family FunDay - Sat 11 Jun 2011

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