Annual General Meeting '24

We held the meeting on possibly the hottest day of the year but despite that we had a good attendance from our local organizations and were able to meet Chris Meech FCA who very kindly reviews our accounts every year and Cllr Sally Cameron who is the newly appointed Parish Council representative for our organization.

 

As an organization we have almost no overheads, to date no staff costs. Our treasurer report on our overall good financial health, the investments have increased by some £9000 over the year and most of our activities are self-financing.

 

The maintenance tax and insurance for the minibus is our main expense and ACL makes it available to the Day Centre on 3 days a week. The proportion of the costs of running the minibus for them is the equivalent to a donation from us of £2,325.84 a year. This year the minibus has been used to bring and return members of our Cuppa Club and for regular outings and a monthly shopping trip to Petersfield. This has become more important as all the banks have shut in Liphook. We also lend it to other orgainzations and to local families who need wheelchair mobility for outings. We are keen to increase that usage.

 

This year Penny Leigh and volunteers have run the Cuppa Club ,an afternoon meeting for frail elderly, outings to place of interest for the less frail, these are so popular that often the minibus leads a convoy of volunteer driven cars containing guests. This regular programme has been extended to include the free monthly shopping trip to Petersfield on Wednesdays to enable people to access their banks and savings and visit a wider collection of shops. The Befriending Service desperately needs more befrienders and we could do with some more volunteer drivers.

 

The Christmas Lunch was a sellout and for 2024 the lunch will be on December 2nd 2024 at the Chicken & Hen in Upper Froyle. There will be a Cream Tea with music in the Millennium Centre on October 20th.

 

We had a large presence at the Picnic on the Green and served lunch and drinks to over 20 users and volunteers, this was supported by donations and the help of furniture from the Church Centre, an awning from the Day Centre and much needed on the day, some spikes and a mallet from the river Wey Trust to keep the awning in place. The trusty minibus collected and returned the furniture and awning. The Library of Things at London libraries let us a picnic set for 18 which was very helpful. Cold chicken and ham, an asparagus quiche, chocolate mousse and cream and fresh fruit salad was the menu with Pimms wine and soft drinks.

 

The Day Centre in the village, a social day centre; reported that they had had a complete change of staff after Christmas and now have a new manager called Natalie who is proving both efficient and popular with their clients. Gill Sneddon’s husband has taken over the catering and Jeanette Kirby reported that the food was much improved, costs had gone down and waste almost eliminated. Egg and honey sales were making a good contribution to running costs.

 

The meeting heard reports from a number of smaller organizations, Hard of Hearing who hold a regular monthly clinic, Seniors on the Go who arrange regular outings and this year went to the Bentley Museum, the Napoleonic Fort and to the Weald & Downland Museum. Carers Support provides regular meetings for carers who support family and friends. Voluntary Care provide transport to hospital and other appointments have received legacies enabling them to run without asking for contributions from users. The Laundry Service has become more useful with the closing of the launderette.

 

The Chairman paid tribute to her fellow trustees, our events manager Penny Leigh, our technical wizard Charlie and our volunteers including Bill and Teresa, who drive, accompany, make cakes and help us in so many ways to fulfil our mission to enrich the lives of seniors in the Parish.

Susan Garnett