FONP AGM

Minutes 21 November 2022 7pm

The Hope

Present

Lorien Mowat, Toni Scott, Judith Wase, Tanna Swann (on Facetime), Katie and Tim Turner, Paul and Ellie Im, Grace Meadows, Lucy.

Apologies

Rachel Bowden-Waterson, Pat Critchley, Olga and many more…..

1) Successes over the past year

A) About 800 new trees are now thriving. About 300 more are to be planted. Less mowing needs to be done.

B) One last plot is available in the community garden. Members should publicise this.

C) Toni was formally thanked for her work organising a very successful dog show. About £800 was raised though amounts haven’t yet been finalised. Judith was thanked for her work providing the food.

D) 6 benches and one bin are to be installed this week.

E) Over £3,400 is in our bank account. £300 was donated by Nat West as compensation for their incompetence followed by a further £100. For each AGM a summary of income and expenditure plus current balance should be presented. These can be circulated with the minutes.

2) Composition of the Committee

A core of 3 people is needed – Chair, Deputy Chair (which includes secretary) and Treasurer.

Teams can then offer support in various areas.

Lorien and Tanna were formally thanked for their dedication as Chair and Secretary / Deputy Chair over the last year. Lorien was nominated by Paul to fulfil the role of chair for at least another year. This was seconded by Ellie. Lorien accepted the role and will check the FONP constitution for the maximum number of years that a Chair can hold the position. Lucy pointed out that the constitution can be changed with everyone’s agreement.

Lorien nominated Tanna as Deputy Chair which was seconded and accepted.

Lorien nominated Katie as Treasurer which was seconded by Toni and accepted by Katie. Lorien will sort out a mandate with the bank. The previous temporary Treasurer, Rita Chambers, and Vice Chair, Rachel Bowden-Waterson, have both stepped down.

3) Teams

Lorien asked for volunteers to fill roles in:

Media (primarily Facebook, website updating and WhatsApp)

Marketing and PR

Community Garden

Events

Fundraising

Someone called Louise contacted FONP offering help so could possibly fulfil a support role in media or marketing.

Olga is already fulfilling a support role for the community garden. Lorien has submitted a funding bid and received funds for the community garden. A third raised bed is going to be built using 40 scaffold boards. She has put in bids for more funding and has more ideas for extending the garden for growing projects where the pergola used to stand. She also has ideas for bringing in experts and speakers, for example on the orchard area.

It was agreed that young parents should ideally be involved in teams especially in liaison with local schools. Grace volunteered to create a database for school liaison to include all the local schools and a named responsible contact for each. Lorien suggested the idea of children “adopting” a bench.

Toni agreed to continue to take on liaison with the Lambeth Events Team.

4) Next Event

Friday 16 December was proposed for the Xmas tree decorating event in the park. Local schools are to be invited to make Xmas tree decorations as well as decorations for the railings around the playground. Lanyards left over from the dog show could be used to create decorations from card which are already threaded with string. Paper decorations will also be welcome. Live music is to be investigated. Toni agreed to contact the local traditional brass band who played at the FOGH Oktoberfest and to find out from Lambeth Events if a TEN application is required for serving alcohol. Tim will find out from Athraa if she is planning to serve alcohol at the Hungry Hippo Cafe for the Xmas event. Stem Montessori can be invited to take part. Athraa is proposing morning opening times of 7:30-8:45 for school children. If successful afternoon times can also be trialled. The lease for the Hungry Hippo expires in June / July 2025.

5) Miscellaneous / AOB

Lucy has planted spring bulbs in the beds around the cafe. Others are to be encouraged to do more planting. Lucy added that bluebell bulbs can still be planted as late as January or February. Schools can be invited to do planting via FaceBook and the website.

Ellie has made contact with woodcarvers via City & Guilds. Funded projects could focus on creative ventures using large pieces of dead wood. Health & Safety concerns would exclude school aged students from being targeted for wood carving or pyrography.

“Forest Bathing” to be added to the FaceBook page.

Meeting ended at 8:20