I have had correspondence with the membership & the Parish Council.

The main item was the problem with the lack of a water supply to the allotments during the drought. This was finally resolved by the repair of several leaks & the removal of a water meter which was previously unknown to both the Parish Council & the water board. It must be noted that the allotments are at the end of the water supply chain coming after such places as the bowling green & the cricket square. Inevitably there will be times when the pressure is low.

I have attended the Parish Council Facilities meetings where the allotments were an agenda item. This year on our recommendation there was only one allotment inspection. At the facilities meeting on Tuesday 20th of November the groundsman stated he found it difficult to manage with only one inspection. I have agreed to go back to three inspections provided these were at sensible intervals, taking growing conditions into account. I have also raised the matter of allotments being handed over in an overgrown state.

The Parish Council have taken advice on the number & position of beehives. The number has been reduced to ten in total & will be positioned in the cemetery along the fence by the railway. They have confirmed there will be enough forage for the bees & the pond by the village hall is a suitable water supply. The proposed charge is £10 per hive per annum.
I have attended the allotment inspections.

A total of 58 members joined or renewed for the 2018 season, the same number as 2017.

The 58 members included 2 who took advantage of our special deal and joined during September – December 2017. (Four new members have joined so far for the 2019 season since September 2018). Reconciliation between the number of application forms filled in or updated and the number of membership cards issued, showed just 1 discrepancy – 70 were printed, and 11 remained at the end of the season.

Once again can I emphasise that shop volunteers need to remain vigilant in ensuring that customers hold a current membership card before finalising sales if we are to improve on our current membership levels.

For the first time, at least in recent history, sales sheets have been made available to the trading secretary during the currency of the Society’s trading activities. This has enabled a spreadsheet to be constructed, in real time, of the sales and purchases of individual lines in our inventory. This has informed decisions regarding whether to replace stock and in what quantities. The data have also been used to ensure the selling price is kept in line with increases in purchase price to maintain profit margins, resulting in 6 versions of the sales sheet during the year; year-end stock levels indicated on the spreadsheet have been used to show any major discrepancies at year-end stocktake.
The value of sales, as indicated on the sheets, have been collated and these values have been used on the draft profit & loss sheet. They indicate a £242 profit on a turnover of £1420. The sheet also indicates some no sale days during the year, usually associated with bad weather.
We held a Spring Sale where some popular lines were reduced, from the usual mark-up of 15%’ to 10% and other lines were sold at a lower profit margin, or even, in one instance at loss to get rid of it. It is unlikely that the sale will be repeated this year because of large price increases in some lines, such as compost, 8’ canes and other bulk materials, although chemicals appear to have stabilised. The suppliers’ strategy appears to be the familiar combination of price increases and pack size reductions.

Thanks to Philip Ward and Chris Hall for their help with the stocktake, and to Tony Terry for his help on Shed Tidy day.

Plant Sale 12 May         Richard and Maurice to co-ordinate arrangements
Social Sunday              No firm decision
Harvest Home Dinner     Provisionally 25 October
Annual General Meeting 24 November, 10:30

Following the resignation of our former treasurer on 15 November last, Les Orvis has been co-opted to produce a draft profit and loss account. He is also willing to take on the role of treasurer.

In discussion with Mr Orvis it is proposed that in the interests of good governance the following divisions of duties are adopted:
The treasurer will continue to receive and pay invoices and be an account signatory.
The trading secretary will retain the shop bags, take responsibility for tallying the sales sheets, cashing up and banking the takings at regular intervals. The sales sheets will be annotated with the counterfoil number to which they relate before being scanned and copied to the treasurer.
The paper sales sheets will be retained until the year end accounts have been accepted and the scanned copies will be retained for seven years. The trading secretary will not be an account signatory.

These proposals were put to the vote and accepted unanimously.

Summary of Accounts

There were no contributions to the website by the membership during the year. Once again, only two members did not provide an email address this year, demonstrating the importance of the global lists as a means of disseminating information.

General Data Protection Regulation 2018

http://www.obags.uk/general_data_protection.html

My thanks to Steve Layland for his guidance on GDPR.

In recent years plant contributions to the sale have been reducing and consequently our income from this venture has reduced. Tony Stoney has been our main donator for many years, devoting a great deal of time, effort and cash to the cause, for which we are very grateful. Tony has decided to reduce his commitments to the society and he is standing down from the committee and will no longer be the mainstay of plant contributions. Other members also put a lot of effort into the organization and running of the sale, for diminishing returns. The proposal therefore: is now an appropriate time to wrap up the plant sale?

Following a lengthy discussion the proposal was put to the vote and it was unanimously decided to continue with the plant sale.

Various offers of help were given, particularly around giving the event greater awareness locally and amongst the local population.

Stocktake

Plant Sale

Sutton’s Commission

Subscriptions

AGM Notes for 2007 & 2008

AGM Notes for 2009

AGM Minutes for 2010

AGM Minutes for 2011

AGM Minutes for 2012

AGM Minutes for 2013

AGM Minutes for 2016

AGM Minutes for 2015

AGM Minutes for 2014

AGM Minutes for 2017

Chair
   
Vice Chairman
Secretary
Treasurer

Trading Secretary
Asst Trading Sec
Publicity
Membership Sec
Webmaster
Council Rep
Committee Member
Committee Member
Committee Member

Tracy proposed setting up an OBAGS Facebook page to publicise the society’s activities amongst the local populace with a view to raising our profile, increase membership and encourage interest in the plant sale. Some opposition to social media was voiced, but it was generally considered to be a good idea and Tracy’s proposal was endorsed.