FRIENDS OF ST CYRS CHURCH STINCHCOMBE
MINUTES OF FOURTH ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING HELD ON MONDAY 14TH DECEMBER 2009 IN THE CHURCH.

Present:  Russ Holloway ( Chairman) David Leggate (Vice Chairman) Jack Sant (Treasurer) Jill Holloway (Secretary) Richard Bartlam, Graham Brown, Charlie Oakhill and Angela Tocknell (Committee)
The Reverend Jennifer Doores, Jude Oakhill, Cherry Brown, The Reverend Sheila Fisher, Chris Cooke, Pippa Leggate, Hugh St John Mildmay, Crystal Mildmay, Ken  & Joan Jelfs, Maeve Aldridge, Bob Tocknell, Michael Hill, Laura Hutchins , Cynthia Bailey, Paul Abram and Cerian Jones.

Apologies were received from John Pinch, Rex Wood, Jane Bartlam, Hilary Pride, Clare Cooke and Ian Whittle.

Minutes of the Third Annual General Meeting  held on December 1st 2008 were read and approved.

Matters arising : none.

Chairman’s Report was given as follows.
We have had another successful year. The committee has met 6 times with a 95% attendance rate.
Our funds continue to grow, which is a good job because we have had the estimate for repairs to the roof. Charlie Oakhill has been beavering away trying to obtain grants.
We again put on a concert,”Proms with a Difference “ using the Dursley RFC Marquee and raised even more money than in 2008. Although the musical entertainment was excellent , it was felt by many that a more traditional Last Night of the Proms would be more appropriate.
The Tea Towel Competition was a great success and we are indebted to Richard  for dreaming it up and then running it in such an efficient manner. Thanks are also due to Mike Henton for judging and for obtaining the main prize and also to all our sponsors.
John Pinch has once again used his multitude of talents for our benefit by finishing the work at the rear of the Church and by making and fitting the removable hand rails.
Simon Cooke and Dave Gabb made an excellent job of resetting the uneven paving to the main door, though we will need to replace two slabs which have weathered badly.
My thanks go to all the committee members who work so hard for us.
To Jack for sorting out anything to do with money so effectively and finding ways through the red tape, to Charlie for the unenviable task of applying for grants  and Graham for his work on publicity and finally to Jill for her work as secretary and keeping me more or less on the straight and narrow.

Treasurer’s report:
Jack reported an income of £7908, which is an increase on last year, mainly due to the tea towel competition and increased proms profit. We have donated £15000 to the roof fund and spent £200 on the paths. By the end of the year we will have approximately £6500 in hand and will be able to make further donations to the roof fund as necessary. Projected income for the coming year is  £6000
It was proposed by Laura and seconded by Angela that we approve the accounts.  Agreed.

Charlie then reported on his grant raising efforts. Many months of letter writing and form filling had produced £300 donation from Renishaws and a £500 grant from the All Churches Trust. He was feeling very discouraged until last week when he received £8000 from Gloucestershire Historic Churches Trust. An application is in to the Landfill Trust but it seems that we may be half a mile outside its area of operation! This is being followed up.

Election of Officers: It was proposed by Angela and seconded by Laura that the existing officers be re-elected for another year. Agreed

Election of Committee: It was proposed by Cherry and seconded by Chris that the current committee members  be asked to continue for another year.  Agreed.

Projects:
1. The Last Night of the Proms will return to its traditional form on Sunday 13th June 2010, with the Wotton Silver Band.
2. On Saturday September 18th there will be a performance by world class opera singers Robin Leggate and Dame Ann Murray in the Church followed by a meal in Church Farm Barn.
3. Roof Appeal. Work will begin in late Spring 2010 .There is still a shortfall of £6000-£8000 but money raising efforts are continuing  and Joan &Ken Jelfs are still selling sponsorship of Roof Tiles. Graham remarked that it was very encouraging how well we had done in a short time in a small village.

Laura proposed a vote of thanks to the committee for all their hard work

The next AGM will be in December 2010  ( to be confirmed nearer the time)

The next committee meeting will be on Tuesday 12th January.

Mulled wine and mince pies were enjoyed by all after the meeting.