Presented at the Dry Drayton School and Village Association AGM, February 25th 2010
Welcome to this Annual General Meeting and thank you all very much for coming. Last year we battled through snow to get here, so at least the weather is marginally better tonight! I hope you will stay and enjoy the refreshments provided at the end of the meeting.
I said last year that 2008 had been a year of consolidation for the S&VA and I’m very pleased to report that 2009 has built on the firm foundations established in 2008 and has proved to be an eventful and very successful year for the S&VA. As Roger will report in more detail, this year resulted in a very healthy surplus, substantially exceeding our original forecast. With a net income of £2703, we are in the privileged position of being able to plan confidently for expenditure and funding support in the year ahead.
My report will focus on S&VA activity over the year, but of course there has also been a wealth of activity within village organisations affiliated to the S&VA, many of which are represented here tonight.Events in 2009 again included a very successful Feast Week which raised over £2000 for the S&VA, as well as healthy sums for other groups running stalls and events during the week. We benefitted from a week of wonderful sun and bumper numbers took part in all the events, including the S&VA’s Fun Run, Saturday breakfast, Games Night, Bingo and Fete Day, as well as the “Real Ale Tasting” authentically situated in the marquee cum beer tent. The Fete kicked off with a very well supported “Dry Drayton at the Movies” fancy dress parade with entries ranging from Star Wars’ Bath Vader to a box of popcorn. This led into the traditional sideshows, raffle, barbecue and cream teas, as well as various dancing displays and the extremely popular pony rides. Even an ill-timed village power failure could not dampen spirits (although it did cause the bouncy castle to slowly subside) and in true Dry Drayton spirit a generator was found and the PA system sprang back into life. Many thanks to the great team who made it all happen and to all who supported the week.
The Thursday Village coffee mornings have continued to draw people together and at the same time produce a tidy sum for all host organisations. Many thanks are due to the various hosts. Volunteers are always needed to lend a hand from time to time and Lois Clark and Anne Deane would love to hear from you.
Freaky Friday Youth Club has settled into a new phase, and after last year’s financial concerns I am very pleased to report that it is now on far more of an even keel, thanks in no small part to the enterprise of the members themselves in running various fundraising events. Congratulations to them and to Scottie Hawkes, Jean Harding and the team of leaders who I believe strongly deserve the continued support of the S&VA and the village.Mara, Janet, Lorna and team once again staged a fabulous revue – The Roaring Noughties was a sell-out both nights and brought together performers of all ages to brighten up a dull November. Many thanks to everyone involved.
The marquee team was hard at it again proving a major source of 2009′s income and particular thanks are owed to Robbie Hawkes, Neil Harris and supporting crew. The revamped marquee held up well and we may look to acquire a newer version, now that we have had to retire the older marquee. Please do spare a few hours when the season comes round and join the marquee team. The second hand clothing collections in conjunction with the Bag2School organisation have continued to be not only a good fundraiser but also an excellent incentive to clear out our wardrobes, and we plan two further collections in 2010. It is remarkable how much we manage to accumulate each time!
In December we enjoyed a festive shopping evening with mulled wine and mince pies, as well as a Christmas Raffle with prizes kindly contributed by local donors. Together with Christmas plant basket sales our Christmas events raised a wonderful £800 – and with the raffle contributing over half of that amount I should like to flag that the vast majority of raffle tickets were sold through the school thanks to the generosity of parents, friends and staff.
Sylvia Pryer has done a stalwart job with the Newsletter, ably abetted by various others whose help is most appreciated (not least my husband whose IT skills are regularly called on in relation to formatting the adverts!). The Lorimers and the Newsletter delivery team have kept the village in touch through the year and I know that their distribution of additional community items for the S&VA, Village Plan and other village organisations has been very much appreciated but we should not take this for granted. We are looking at revising some of the longer rounds this year and additional occasional deliverers would be most welcome.
2009 saw some big changes in School, with the Head Teacher Margaret Prosser retiring at the end of the summer term and Kate Dorrell being welcomed as Acting Head in September. The S&VA was involved with various events to mark Margaret’s retirement, including the School’s farewell tea and a very convivial dinner at the newly-opened Black Horse with friends and colleagues past and present, including the School’s two Zambian exchange school guests. Margaret has thanked the S&VA most warmly for her retirement gifts and leaving events and we thank her for her years of contribution to school and community life and wish her well in her new venture into gardening.
Having just heard Kate’s in-depth report, I am sure you will join me in congratulating the staff, governors, pupils, parents and everyone involved, on the school’s many achievements in 2009 and we look forward to participating in plans for 2010. Reports so far are certainly enthusiastic about the new initiatives that are being introduced. I am delighted to report that Kate has just been officially appointed Head Teacher on a permanent basis and I am sure you will also join me in wishing her and her new staff a very happy and successful time at the School.
As Kate mentioned, 2009 saw new restrictions on school access during school hours in response to requirements for safeguarding of children – a necessary evil today and I am sure we will all get used to the changes. Roll numbers have continued to increase and we are conscious that the school has a number of plans that we would like to support in 2010. Key to maintaining school numbers is the mutually beneficial relationship between Pre-School, School and After School and I hope that parental, local and S&VA support continues to ensure that this thrives appropriately.
Overall our expenditure was once again broadly split between the School and the Village and we were pleased to be able to increase our budgeted donation to the School in recognition of Kate’s arrival and the opportunity to support her in new initiatives. We were particularly pleased to be able to contribute towards a Christmas tree and educational presents for the pupils – what a shame the snow put paid to the last day of term and the scheduled opening! We did receive some lovely hand made thank-yous in the New Year, however.
I hope 2010 will prove another bumper fundraising year, but I am conscious that the onus falls most often on the usual suspects. It is imperative that others get involved from both the School and Village side and I hope that School parents will continue to become more involved in supporting the “parent association” function of the S&VA. As regards the forthcoming year’s activities, fundraising plans include a fun-packed Feast Week, second hand clothing collections, seed catalogue orders, sales of Village merchandise, marquee hire, a revue and a variety of other possible events ranging from a talent night, to an S&VA cook book of popular local recipes! Please do let any of the Committee know if you are willing to join in with the S&VA’s activities in any way. In terms of planned expenditure in 2010, the aim is to continue to support the School and our usual village expenses, with any special projects to be considered as they arise.
The surplus now at our disposal is designed to cover a year’s shortfall as well as donations to future projects in the school and village, Little Owl building maintenance and possible marquee replacement. The S&VA is part of the working group examining potential actions following on from the Village Plan and we expect to be involved in appropriate projects emerging from that exercise, in particular continuing to explore the potential for recreation facilities, as well as taking stock again of the arrangements regarding the Little Owl portacabins and their remaining useful life. More detail on our 2010 budget and activities will be available at the first termly meeting of the year to be held as usual in the School hall at 8pm on Monday, March 22nd. Please do come along to these once termly meetings, so that you can keep abreast of the S&VA’s activities and hear extremely informative School reports by the head teacher.
In a moment the Committee will stand down and the election of the new Committee will take place. Committee members Lois Clark and Phillip Stephenson are both stepping down this year and I would like to thank them both most warmly for their involvement over the years. There are, therefore, vacancies on the Committee for 2010 and we would be very pleased to welcome newcomers – the only requirement is a willingness to get stuck in and be proactive in what the S&VA does. Please do put yourself forward if you are interested in standing and, if not tonight, do feel free to discuss joining with any of the Committee during the year. As mentioned in the newsletter, we are also keen to recruit someone to be responsible for general publicity (such as advertising S&VA events around the village and in the newsletter etc) and someone to take over newsletter advertising. These do not need to be Committee roles, so do please contact me if you are interested.
Before I finish I would like to thank everyone who has supported the S&VA in 2009 – your contribution is invaluable and essential to the success of the S&VA. Thank you especially to all our families and significant others without whose back-up it would not be possible to support the S&VA to the same degree. May I particularly thank my Committee very much for all their sterling work, especially Rob Howard, who after several years of wonderful service has finally managed to step down as Secretary (but not, I am delighted to say, from the Committee itself). I am very pleased that Georgina Mason is willing to step into his shoes as Secretary and look forward to working with Neil, Rob, Roger, Georgina, Jenny Hack (all re-elected) and Claire Willis (co-opted at the subsequent termly) in what I intend to be my final year as Chairman. 2010 promises to be another successful and exciting year for the S&VA and with the support of village residents and groups, school parents, staff and pupils we look forward to continuing to build on last year’s success.
Thank you.
Fleur Clegg (Chairman)
