Unlike previous years, we decided to make the 101st AGM a social occasion, so kept formalities and speeches to a minimum.
Setting a less formal tone, I enjoyed describing my Committee colleagues with the joke: “You couldn’t find a more different group of people – and believe me, I’ve tried!” More seriously, I then paid tribute to them for their selfless devotion to serving the community.
I’ll spare you the details of the formalities (you can read them online in the members only section), but to summarise: all Committee members were re-elected unanimously (I tried to vote against my re-election as Chairman but was forced to recuse myself), Katja Schneekloth-Odinet (our new PR Officer) was elected, as was our new President, Paul Lynch, and two Vice Presidents, Noreen Jones and John Todd. John introduced himself to the members (he’s a local Councillor and he and his wife are gardening enthusiasts) and became our 300th member. (Welcome and thanks, John!)
The Treasurer commented on our financial position, noting our membership income remained steady despite the new flat rate, we received £2,762.50 in donations towards the new roof, £2,061.80 from events and £1,700 for advertising. He thanked those who ticked the Gift Aid box, which allowed us to reclaim £829.64. As ever, clever buying by our Trading Hut team helped keep costs down (for both the Society and members) while showing a good surplus.
The rent-free period for our plot has now expired, so increased costs mean we need to consider other sources of income and we hope to be able to make our Hut available for rent to outside groups for their events in the year ahead once redecoration has been completed.
Our Trading Hut Co-ordinators asked for more volunteers for the Trading Rota (a mere 6 mornings per year, so c’mon, it ain’t onerous), the Greenhouse and for the Plant Sale on 13 May, so please put your names forward.
Sue Bennett suggested tours of our allotments, which I think is a great idea, both for our members and, after that, for the general public, too, so it’s something we’ll look into arranging. Any volunteers?
Katja told us the Canadian TV producer of ‘Moosemeat and Marmalade’ is looking to film on Chiswick allotments, so please volunteer for that, too, if you fancy a bit of international stardom!
The highlight for me was the caption competition Mike Flinders organised for the AGM, with the winner receiving free ‘Tea for 2’ at the Summer Show. My entry (“I can’t believe I came all this way just to see one tree”) won by a landslide in the popular vote, so my wife, Sue, and I look forward to enjoying the prize – although being a member of the Catering Committee, she noted she’d end up making her own tea anyway!
The ‘after-show party’ was a great success and I hope more of you will be able to join us for another one next year!