ACT MINUTES - 22nd April 2008
Acklington Community Team Meeting - Village Hall - April 22nd 2008, beginning at 7pm

Present:

John Davison, June Davison, William Rowntree, Alison Sharpe, Sharon Thorpe, Isobel Lillie and Lorna Budge.

Apologies:

Violet Currie, David Currie, Louise Hall, Barbara King and Bob Smailes.

Minutes of the previous meeting:

The minutes were read and agreed.

Matters Arising:

John reported that the Grant awarded to ACT in respect of communications needs to be spent and accounted for by July.
£500. Has been paid to Brett in respect of the Village Web site construction.
£372.00 has been used to purchase a projector and screen for use by groups in the Village Hall. John has agreed to store these.
£28. Was used to pay for the Web site domain. This will be an annual charge
£78.60 used for printing of Welcome to the Village booklets.
John is going to enquire whether some of the grant can be used for annual costs and maintenance of the Web site. He will also purchase consumables including paper and ink to use in conjunction with the Web site. Other suggestions included a training day for members of ACT to enable them to update Web site.

Feedback From April's Events:

Spring Cleaning was very successful. Alison reported that there was in the region of 30 people attending throughout the morning. Alnwick District Council collected 19 bags of rubbish from the Village Hall after the event. John and the Committee thanked Alison for her work organizing refreshments and liaising with ADC. Photographs of various litter pickers were placed on the Web site by John on the same day.

Open Village Day – The Committee extended thanks to all those who opened their gardens for this event. They were David and Margaret Hammond, Isobel Lillie and Lennie Welch, Louise and Chris Pickering, Violet and David Currie and Ken and Margaret Denholm. Thanks also to Acklington Art Group, Acklington Prisons Art dept and Charles Evans for their contribution to a very successful and enjoyable day. Positives of the day:- Good Attendance perhaps due to the fact that nothing else was advertised locally for that day. Fewer gardens opened than at previous event which meant having time to visit them all. There was a good variety of other things to interest people, including excellent refreshments in the Village Hall. There appeared to be a good mixture of Villagers and people from outside Acklington who were passing through the Village and spotted some of the advertising. Art display and organ requests in the Church resulted in a good atmosphere.  Negatives of the day:- It was generally accepted that better advertising in the Village, perhaps large boards with clear details on them put up a few days before events would be a good idea. Isobel will ask Lennie if he has anything appropriate that could be used for this purpose.

Community Get Together - John reported that the Judges for the Village of the Year competition were impressed with the obvious community spirit. It was a very informative day with all the different groups and business displays. John extended thanks to everyone who had been involved with the day. ACT passed their thanks onto John for all his time and effort spent on this event.

Treasurers Report:

In Violet's absence, Sharon reported that:

The Squirrel Coffee Morning made a profit of £ 213
 
The Village Open Day raised £445.91
This figure was comprised from Ticket sales £189.00
Tombola £41.76
Raffle 1 £40.00
Northumbrian Tartan Raffle £16.50
Cakes and Refreshments £135.65
Pickering’s Planters £20.00
Chris Boulby Commission £3.00
Total £445.91
Hall rent £20.00
PROFIT£425.91

The Community Get Together raised £65.61
Donations for refreshments £58.86
Chris Boulby commission £5.00
Balance of raffle 2 £21.75
Total £85.61
Less payment to Pipers £20.00
PROFIT £65.61

Photocopier service charge is due. Photocopier is fairly well used by local groups however it was agreed that it might be beneficial to re-advertise the fact that it is available to use at a small charge.

Sports Club Report:

Nothing new to report due to extended Easter holidays. Most of the consent forms in respect of photographs being placed on the website have been returned by parents and guardians.

Spring Table Top Sale - Preparations:

Table top sale Tables booked are:
Church_ cake stall
Sports Club
Toddlers group
Serena Coulter_ cards
Joyce Snaith
Village Hall Committee _ Bric-a-Brac
ACT_ Plants
Tombola
Raffle.
Donations of plants needed for stall. Acklington Prison has donated bedding plants and various planters and pots. Plants will need to be priced. Sharon thought Steven Thorpe would help with this. Alison also suggested asking Bob Smailes and Brian Barrass to help.
Tombola- Sharon suggested asking Sarah Thorpe and Rebecca Coulson to run this as they have done on previous occasions.
Refreshments_ Alison will ask Audrey Lamb and Moira Peden if they would be willing to run this for us as they did on the open Village day.
It was agreed to meet up at the Village Hall 6pm on Sunday 4th May to set up tables.
Posters will be put up in surrounding areas. There will also be a leaflet drop. Included on these will be requests for donations to stalls. Alison agreed to have her telephone number put on leaflets.
John said he would produce leaflets and posters.
Sharon to purchase raffle tickets, tea and coffee.
It was agreed to try and put up 2 advertising boards within the Village. One at the crossroads and one outside the Village Hall. Sharon and Isobel will liaise on this.

Future Events:

Quiz night 20 September 2008
Pantomime 13 December 2008
Possible Ceildh date to be decided at the next meeting

Any other Business:

Sharon asked who was responsible for watering the new planters in the village. Sharon, Isobel and Alison volunteered to take on this task. They will ask for help if they need it.

Date of Next Meeting:

17th June at 7pm.