HOME-START BEXLEY

MINUTES OF THE 13^th ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

 Held at The Pop-in Parlour

(Rear of 7 Hadlow Road)

on Wednesday 6^th October 2004 at 1.30pm

1.              Present

        Officers and members of the Management Committee:-

        Carol Blissett (Chair)

        Phillip Blissett (Treasurer)

        Natalie Reynolds (Social Services Representative)

        Pat Pitcher (Committee Member)

        Paula King (Health Representative)

        Wendy Perfect (Committee Member)

         IN ATTENDANCE

        Lisa Pitcher (Home-Start Bexley Manager)

        Angie Waite (Home-Start Bexley Administrator)

        Shaheen Westcombe (Bexley Council)

        Sue Davey (Volunteer)

        Rita Bolton (Volunteer)

           APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

        Apologies were received from a total of 21 people.  A list is attached to these minutes.

2.              TO APPROVE THE MINUTES OF THE TWELTH AGM HELD ON THURSDAY   2^nd  OCTOBER  2003

       The minutes were approved.

3.              MATTERS ARISING

        None.

 4.             PRESENTATION AND ADOPTION OF THE ANNUAL REPORT FOR 2003 – 2004

       All present read the report.  It was very well received by all concerned.  The report was adopted.

5.              REPORTS

        Chair’s Report

This has been my first year as Home-Start Bexley Chair.  I would like to start by thanking Pat Chrisfield for her work as Chair and her continued involvement with the Management Committee.

At last Home-Start Bexley has moved to new accommodation in Hadlow Road, Sidcup.  This in itself caused a lot of extra work and worry to Lisa and Angie, and I would like to thank them for their perseverance during that time.  Thanks is also due to Bob, Angie’s husband for the many jobs he undertook with regard to the move.

This year has been an enjoyable but steep learning curve for myself as Chair and I would like to thank Lisa for her support and guidance.

Home-Start Bexley underwent a Review by our Regional Consultant this year.  In most areas the Report was very favourable.  In particular our volunteers work with families was recognised as very good.

       Manager’s Report

A challenging year for Home-Start Bexley with our ‘big move’ in January 2004 to Hadlow Road, Sidcup.  Pat, Angie and I seemed to spend most of January with mops, dusters and buckets of bleach!  The offices we now inhabit had been left derelict for a year and were damp and unwelcoming.  After a lot of hard work, although not perfect, we have created a pleasant working environment.

We have received our increased funding from Bexley Social Services, as of March 2004, and this is agreed until April 2007. This gives Home-Start Bexley a degree of stability.

The Drop-in continues successfully.  We have been low on numbers, but referrers are now referring for places at the Drop-in.  A day on the Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway and Dymchurch to the beach was a great success for the Drop-in users.  The weather was not very kind but the children seemed to ignore their blue lips and goose-bumps and paddled happily in the sea and made sandcastles!

Funding for Home-Start families to be included in the Family Holiday Association Scheme has finished, but we are still involved with the project, and were invited to a reception in London to thank everyone involved.  Pat Chrisfield and I attended the event and had a wonderful time.  Pat now expects all Home-Start meetings to be held on the same scale!

Home-Start Bexley is currently working towards gaining the ‘Investors in People’ Kite mark.  We have completed the preliminary work and are waiting for our first assessment.  We hope this will assist in securing future funding.

Plans for the coming year are to run a Volunteer Preparation Course in September/October 2004, and apply again to the Community Fund for funding for a Co-ordinator’s post for the Cray area of Bexley.

I would like to thank:

The Committee, for their continued support and dedication.

The Volunteers, whose commitment to Home-Start allows us to continue our service.

Our Funders, Bexley Social Services for their continued financial support.

A special thank you to Angie for her support in the office, and to her husband Bob for all his hard work in making our office livable!

And last, but not least, to Norma Broszek for continuing to prepare our salaries.

6.             PRESENTATION AND ADOPTION OF THE ACCOUNTS FOR 2003 – 2004

      The Treasurer presented the accounts.  There was still a deficit but Bexley Council has agreed to increase
      funding.  The £13,000 under-spend from Lottery Funding has been paid back to the Community Fund. The
      meeting adopted the Annual Accounts.

       Proposed:  Lisa Pitcher                                     Seconded: Carol Blissett

      Wendy Perfect asked why we had to pay back the Lottery money. Lisa explained that it was an under-
      spend on salaries and as such could not be spent on anything else and so had to be paid back.

     Wendy also asked about Drop-in numbers – Lisa explained that she could not give a specific number as
      the number of mums attending the Drop-in tended to fluctuate.  However it did vary between 2 and 6 on
      average.

7.            APPOINTMENT OF AUDITOR

It was Agreed that James Mealings, 29 Fairby Road, Lee, London, SE12 8JP continue as Auditor.

      Proposed by: Carol Blissett                              Seconded by: Pat Pitcher

 8.            ELECTION OF THE MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE AND OFFICERS

        It was Agreed that all the current members of the Management Committee be re-elected.

       Proposed by: Sue Davey                                  Seconded by: Rita Bolton

 9.             ANY OTHER BUSINESS

  The Treasurer, Phillip Blissett explained about Home-Start Bexley changing their status to a Company
  limited by guarantee.  There were no questions raised from the floor and when asked to vote, the
  procedure was accepted unanimously. 

10.          VOTE OF THANKS AND CLOSING REMARKS

       Lisa Pitcher thanked the committee and volunteers for their continued hard work.  Lisa then presented
       tokens of appreciation to members of the committee.

        The A.G.M. closed at 2pm.

 LIST OF APOLOGIES

British Red Cross Bexley

Debbie Bowler - Home-Start North West Kent

Janet Smith - Bexley Voluntary Service Council

Joan Morris - Mencap Bexley

Maria Burton - Bexley Council