Sedgemoor Gardens Club

Remember the November Monthly Competition

Single bloom or stem

Houseplant

2 sprays of berries or autumn foliage

 3 dessert apples

 3 carrots or potatoes or 2 Exhibitors choice 

                                                    SEDGEMOOR GARDENS CLUB  

                                     Minutes of the AGM held in All Saints Village Hall  

                                           Tuesday 12th September 2023 at 7.30 pm  

Our evening began with a very interesting talk given by Helen Toon on Bradbury Flowers. She spoke about the British Flower Market and where we stood in relation to the worldwide market. She gave us encouragement to look for the British flag when purchasing flowers from shops, to aid our flower industry and support the British growers.               

 The AGM began at  8.20 approx.   

Peter, in the absence of our chairman David Geach. welcomed the members to the meeting. 

Apologies:  David and Anne Geach, Barbara Elliott, Linda Biffin  

 Present:   Club Officials:  Peter Goodenough, Sylvia Goodenough, Jean White, John Tipping, Joan Tipping, Mary Bromby Club Members:  17 other club members attended.  

Minutes of the last AGM:

Matters Arising:  A question had been raised regarding the slight delay in forwarding  a copy of last years minutes and a copy of the constitution to the members, Peter apologised for this and explained the reason behind the delay. His response was accepted as a satisfactory answer. The minutes of the 2022 AGM were read, and agreed by the members present. Proposed: Neil Burrows         Seconded: Carol Birchby 

Revision to the Constitution:    In view of the current situation regarding the clubs outgoing payments, there is a need to be able to pay direct into bank accounts by the Bankers Automated Clearing System (BACS), as opposed to sending a cheque. There is a need to amend the wording on our constitution to reflect this change. Peter explained the changes of the wording to members in greater detail, in order to clarify how this would work. Members were happy with these changes and voted to agree them all. Proposer: Jill Wallace       Seconded: Linda Dodimead There were two other minor wording changes and these were also voted and agreed by members. Proposer: Bob Paton        Seconded: Andy Gay 

Chairmans  Report:   In the absence of the chairman, the report was read by the secretary, Jean.

 In Brief – Firstly David gave his and Anne’s apologies for not being able to attend as they were away on a much needed holiday. He went on to welcome old and new members and thanked them for attending. A brief account of some of the various talks were given along with helpful hints and ideas which could be tried and experienced by him and all of us. He reminded us of a memorable saying given to us during the talk about ‘Gardening Folklore’ - ‘if you can sit on the soil with your trousers down or even go naked, then its safe to sow your seed’ Next -  he mentioned our coach trips to Exbury, being a lengthy coach trip, and Forde Abbey and Gardens being a bit too close, as many of us had already been to visit there. Hopefully, our planned trip next year to Castle Drogo, will be somewhere in between. The local garden visit to the Curry Woods Conservation Trust was well attended and gave a good insight to Eco gardening, which we are encouraged to try for ourselves. The daffodil festival gave us a wonderful display of your flowers and produce and was a great success. Thanks to you all for taking part. Next ,he went on to thank the committee for its usual steadfastness, dedication and sterling work over the past 12 months or more. Thanks were given to each committee member individually for their respective roles, and for all those who helped and provided food for the Christmas buffet, also, to Sylvia for her organising of the Daffodil Festival. Thanks were also bestowed on Peter, our President, for keeping us on the straight and narrow. Finally, thanks were given to you all for attending meetings and outings and generally helping when needed. Without your core support the Club would not exist. Thank you all of you. No issues or questions were put forward. NB. This is to be read in conjunction with the full chairman's and secretary’s report. 

Treasurer’s Report 

In Brief- Mary presented the treasurer’s report and gave a comprehensive talk through the details. She had problems with her printer and apologised for the poor quality and some being coloured and some only black and white. She explained, last year only the net result for the Daffodil Festival and the Christmas Buffet were reported, whereas this year the total income and expenses are listed separately, which makes it more difficult to compare them. The net amounts are shown in parenthesis beside each of these items to assist with the comparison. Mary will continue to use this method next year. Mary went on to explain about the cancelled cheque payment for the hire of Long Sutton Village Hall, which had to be paid back into the daffodil festival section of the accounts and subsequently inflated the net amount. Both the Daffodil Festival and Christmas Buffet were very successful events, having a positive effect on our income. Expenses – The anticipated increase in the Hall Rental, did not happen and has remained the same as last year. John has done an excellent job with finding speakers and keeping their costs at a steady figure.   Our ongoing fixed expenses are approximately £1000.00, and we currently have £2827.46 in our bank account, so as we have a sound financial position the membership subscriptions will remain unchanged at £15.00 single £25.00 for a couple. No Issues were put forward. NB: to be read in conjunction with the full schedule of accounts. 

Programme Secretary’s Report John gave a comprehensive run down of the speakers arranged for the year, giving a brief description about each one. These are listed in the Membership Card. The club coach outing for 2023 will be on 11^th June and the venue will be Castle Drogo. Our discount evening will be Brimsmore on 14^th May. The evening visit in July has yet to be arranged. John asked members for any suggestions for speakers or for club visits.   

Show Secretary Report:   

In Brief-   Sylvia began – for the benefit of anyone unfamiliar with the club year -  by explaining when, where and why our Daffodil Festival is held in Long Sutton Village Hall, and how it is transformed into a sensory delight with all the exhibits. Entries in 2023 were slightly down but so were club members. Of our 38 members, 22 entered at least one exhibit from the total of 132 entries. 9 members entered 5 or more classes, which was great. A few classes had no entries, and haven’t for a while, so we plan to change a couple of these. Class 36 will change from home-made chutney to be for either home-made wine or sloe gin. 34 & 35, for Jam and marmalade, will be combined into one for home-made preserves. Some classes change each year so Sylvia asked for suggestions for these from the members e.g. photography, floral art, small container for floral arrangement, craft etc. Our cake recipe is provided by our judge Naomi. The bulbs you are collecting today are for the competition class 44 in next March's Show. The schedule for the 2024 Show will be available in December, and also on the website at the end of November. If you haven’t before, make 2024 the year you participate in the clubs show. NB. To be read in conjunction with the full Show Secretary Report 

Website:    Joan pointed out the website address is shown on the Membership Cards. As It is sponsored by the Gold Club there is information regarding other clubs talks which may be of interest to some. It is a good advertising platform as it reaches a wider audience. Joan asked for topics from members to put on the website and encouraged everyone to take a look. 

Election of New Committee Members and those who are willing to stand again.   

It was unanimously agreed to re-elect those committee members at the end of their term of office. These being Jean White and David Geach. No new members came forward for election. Proposer:  Bob Paton    Seconded: Linda Dodimead

Presentation of Prizes for Monthly Competitions:   Jean thanked members for taking part in the monthly competitions for last year. She explained the committee had agreed to offer a choice of prize, this being either the £5,00 garden voucher of £5.00 discount off our annual coach trip.   

The winners names were read out by the secretary and prizes presented by the President, 

Single Bloom – Jean White     -   £5.00 Discount 

Flower          - Joan Tipping   -   £5.00 Discount

 Houseplant    - Janette Gay    -   £5.00 Voucher 

Vegetable     - John Tipping    -  £5.00 Voucher 

Fruit            -  Carol Birchby   -  £5.00 Discount 

Plug Plant     - Peter Goodenough  - £5.00 Discount

 Any Other Business:   None 

Meeting closed 8.50pm approx.

 Date of Next Committee Meeting – Tuesday November 7th 2023 @ Beechfield Farm 

Refreshments. With a demonstration of flowers bouquets by Helen which were given to some lucky members.

TREASURER'S REPORT 2024

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