AGM Minutes 2022

Note:  This below is the latest AGM Minutes approved by members.   The 2023 AGM Minutes will not be approved until the November 2024 AGM 

HALLING GARDENING SOCIETY

MINUTES OF THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING HELD ON 8 NOVEMBER 2021

WELCOME:
The President welcomed everybody to the 40 h Annual General Meeting of Halling Gardening Society. 22 adults were in attendance.
A silence was observed in remembrance of Colin Martin, a founder member of Halling Gardening Society, who had sadly died in 2020.

APOLOGIES:
Apologies were received from:
Debbie Glanfield
Sophie Glanfield
Carole Nunn

MINUTES:
The minutes of the 2019 AGM were available to all present and were accepted as a true record of proceedings. The 2020 AGM was not held due to Covid restrictions. Proposed: Barbara Hopkins Seconded: David Hopkins

MATTERS ARISING:
No matters were raised.

CHILDRENS AWARD PRESENTATION
These awards were presented by the President.

TREASURER'S REPORT:
The Treasurer reported that Nationwide had given notice that club accounts would no longer be available. A new account with Nat West has been opened but the Treasurer is experiencing problems in closing the Nationwide account and transferring the balance to the Nat West account. Discussions with Nationwide are ongoing. There has been little financial activity in the last 2 years due to Covid restrictions. However, there had been a good response to the Autumn Show 2021 and some money had been raised. The
subscriptions for 2021 had been waived. The Treasurer’s report was accepted. 

Proposed: Matt Wells Seconded: Joy Oliver
The President thanked the Treasurer for preparing the accounts.

THE PRESIDENT’S ADDRESS:
It’s a great pleasure to be able to hold the 40th AGM of Halling Gardening Society. Your Committee has been meeting regularly, both virtually and in person when restrictions permitted. The decision to reintroduce the Autumn Show in 2021 proved to be a great success
after the forced cancellations of the previous three shows. The Autumn Show 2021 was well supported by members with some 240 exhibits. The colours and displays in the hall were outstanding. There were new exhibitors with some impressive exhibits. However, we do need to encourage more new members to join us. We hope to have new judges in place for 2022. Thanks go to David Hopkins and Brian Catchpole who tidied up the trophies, and to Pat Catchpole, Barbara Hopkins and Barbara Mead, who polished them ready for
this AGM. Matt Wells held a very successful “open garden” afternoon. Philip Badman has worked hard on the Society webpage and Facebook entries. The financial stability of the Society is sound as we have already heard from Pat Catchpole, our Treasurer. In our discussion after the break, we would like to hear your ideas for the Society’s future activities. It is encouraging to see how much work has gone on behind the scenes during lockdown and I would like to thank the Committee on your behalf. Your committee members are:
Pat Catchpole, Phil Badman, Matt Wells, David and Barbara Hopkins and Barbara Mead, with an extra special thank you to Pat whose hard work binds us together. I give a special thank you to all club members for their ongoing support.
Chris Beaney, President

PRESENTATION OF CUPS AND TROPHIES:
The President continued with the presentation of cups and trophies and prize money. Individual members were congratulated on their achievements.

NOMINATIONS FOR COMMITTEE:
Thanks were given to the existing committee members. Nominations for new committee members were sought and the President asked for members to think about this during the refreshment break.

REFRESHMENTS:
A quiz was held during the refreshment period. Wine, cheese and biscuits were available. Thanks to Matt Wells for organising this and to David and Barbara Hopkins for arranging tea and the other wonderful nibbles, especially the home baked sausage rolls.

ELECTION OF NEW COMMITTEE MEMBERS
Nigel Dyer expressed an interest in joining the Committee but said that he would like to see how it runs before deciding. It was agreed that he should attend the next meeting on 6th December. The current committee members all agreed to be nominated again.
The re-election of Phil Badman, Pat Catchpole, David Hopkins, Barbara Hopkins, Barbara Mead and Matt Wells was agreed.

Proposed: Alison Dyer Seconded: Jenny Beaney

.
ANY OTHER BUSINESS:
None

QUESTION TIME:
Alison Dyer – the right type of publicity is needed to attract new members. It seems that the focus of the Society is on competition rather than sharing gardening information, improvement etc. She suggested that we should be more of a self-help group rather than a competitive group. Chris Beaney agreed that now is a good time to encourage others but how best to achieve this. We
already have a Facebook page and website. Alison suggested that the Simply Halling Facebook page is a good vehicle to encourage non-members. Phil Badman reminded attendees that the Society and events are already advertised across 9 local villages, also encompassing the new housing developments, such as St Andrews Park, St Peter’s Village and Holborough Lakes. Phil Badman outlined the opportunities to work with Medway Council and Halling Parish Council for planting up verges in the village plus installing and maintaining plant troughs. These would be good ways to engage with more local people and hopefully attract new members. A straw poll of attendees showed that there was good support for these opportunities. A summary of this discussion is that the Society does need to engage with the general public and that there needs to be further discussion and generation of ideas. Jill Morton suggested a talk about wildlife and the environment as this is very topical, and might more easily attract the general public including children. The Wild About Gardens presentation had taken place early in 2019, and was very well received. Matt Wells suggested such a talk before the Spring Show focussing on water gardens and wildlife ponds. David Hopkins suggested an Open Gardens Day. Cuxton hope to organise one in 2022. Could Halling aim for this as well. It was a suggestion made by Jenny Beaney in 2019 but there had
been little support from members. However, many people became interested in gardening during lockdown so there could be more support for 2022.

RAFFLE
The raffle was drawn.
The President thanked everybody for attending and the meeting closed at 9.30pm.