enhancing our community meeting notes
	MINUTES OF A MEETING OF THE STEERING GROUP SATURDAY 11 FEBRUARY 2006 IN THE VILLAGE HALL AT 10.00 AM PRESENT: James Lilwall, Chairman, David & Janet Cockburn, Gillian Horner, Alex Kirby, Marietta Menzies, Graham Swain, Nicholas Ward. IN ATTENDANCE: Veronica Savage of Norfolk Village Halls Association APOLOGIES: Jayne Bown, Dave & Fel Roberts, Piers Wallace. Minutes of the Last Meetings The Minutes of the meetings on 20 October and 3 December were gone through and agreed. Matters Arising The Chairman reported that we have been granted £500 from the Parish precept. Veronica Savage The chairman welcomed VS to the meeting and updated her on what had happened in the last year. She had received the draft questionnaires and reported that she thought the contents are good and that they look professional and are commendable. She knows it adds time to the process to prepare documents to this level but because competition for money is so great we do need to “stand out” and “grab attention”. Big money is only available through lottery streams. DEFRA is re-forming its schemes on a match funding basis which we would be unable to achieve. Therefore we have to apply for lottery money but they are receiving very many proposals. Applications are no longer being looked at in Cambridge on a regional level but will be looked at in Newcastle. The Chairman asked if we would have an opportunity to present it personally, but VS said she thought not. So the quality of the presentation of a Business Case is essential and the focus needs to be on the written detail of the Case. There is going to be a Community Halls’ Fund which will be a national programme covering village halls and community centres so our case must stand out. This is to be run for 3 years. VS recommended that someone keeps an eye on the lottery fund website and suggested that it would be useful if someone could attend one of the launches that will take place. They are introducing a two-stage application process. The first stage is for a short Expression of Interest form, which goes to Birmingham to assess if it is a logical proposal. They then issue the form for the main application, which is likely to be 48 pages long. The Chairman went on to tell VS that Bawdeswell Heath has now been included in our project and we are looking to provide a footpath to it. So our overall Business Case will be increased to include this. The Chairman reiterated that we are interested in what people are doing outside the village. VS said also look at what the Government is promoting at a particular time and to tie-in with that. VS said she has been speaking with Norfolk Support Partnerships about the things they are doing to encourage people to become active and has been looking at options for cycle routes and stop off points at village halls. All community projects need to plan with what is popular in mind. For instance there has been an explosion in ballroom dancing. VS said once our survey is completed it is important to use the Parish magazine to keep the community up to date with what is happening. GS said he would like to see better facilities for the children and asked if there was any special funding for that. VS said there are different streams of funding for children’s play areas through the district councils. She recommended that we ‘make noises’ to Breckland Council. We would have to make a strong and clear case. The Chairman said once we have prepared the full Business Case we could then look for the appropriate funders. VS reminded us that funders are looking for the sustainability of the projects they grant money. GS asked about the £4,000 grant that Little Ellingham received for their feasibility study. VS replied that kind of grant is no longer available from Awards for All. The Chairman asked that everyone ‘keep their eyes’ open to be aware of grants. VS went on to tell us about the Village Halls conference to be held on 18 March at Yaxham Village Hall. People from Wellbourne are going to talk about their hall. They have a very active art community and that group provides many bookings. JC asked about match funding and VS answered that seeing local fund raising impresses funders. The Little Ellingham buy a brick scheme was well received. Part of the Business Case will be that we have been working with the Norfolk Village Halls Association and the district council. JC will book the necessary places at the conference. The Chairman thanked VS for giving up time on a Saturday morning to attend the meeting and she left. Website The Chairman said he looked at the new website yesterday and was very impressed. DC thanked AK for all her work and said they were having a few problems with links. He went on to say that Robin Taylor wonders if we would like to have our own website. This would cost £16.44 per year including VAT and you have to pay for 2 years in advance. It was agreed that this should be done. It was also agreed that the questionnaire and crib sheet should be included on the website. Community Survey Everyone agreed on the final draft questionnaire. The Chairman has a price of 8p per double side sheet or 4p for a single side sheet for the printing. DC volunteered to get a price from the Reeve’s Tale printer. It was agreed to have printed 800 adult questionnaires, 100 x 5-10 year olds and 200 x 11-17 year olds. The Project will be launched in the April edition of the Reeve’s Tale. We will have the front page and a double page in the centre. The survey will be conducted during April. It was agreed that the school would start completing their forms the week after Easter (18 April). There was some discussion on how the information will be collated onto a spreadsheet. DC said it would be good to show the information in 3 ways – statistically, graphically and narrative. The Chairman asked DC to prepare a dummy presentation. GH agreed to lend DC the school projector and screen for this purpose. The Chairman will co-ordinate the Reeve’s Tale content with Robin Taylor and asked for an article to be prepared about the project by JC and MM to include – fields, heath, hall, travel plans, school, social events, hall hiring, etc. This to be drafted for the next meeting. The Chairman is keen to get a structure established for the Project Plan and asked AK to prepare a Gantt chart, which will set out the key things. He went on to say that he has the latest electoral role to assign the roads that individuals will survey. Meeting Dates 10.00 am Saturday 11 March 2006, in the village hall. (Jean Hanks from Little Ellingham will join the meeting at 11.00 am.) 10.00 am Saturday 22 April 2006, in the village hall 5.00 pm Tuesday 23 May 2006 in the school to review the presentation of the results of the survey. 10.00 am Saturday 24 June 2006 in the village hall Any Other Business The Village Fete is to be held on Sunday 25 June and it is recommended that we have a stand about the Project. AK suggested that this should be linked to an activity to gain attention. All asked to consider ideas. GH reported that a Dutch School is visiting Bawdeswell School on 25 May and the proposal is to have a join concert with choirs from both schools in the village hall. Unfortunately the hall is booked that evening so it was suggested that this be held in the Church. The Chairman will speak to Robin Taylor about this. The meeting closed at 11.55 am. Back to top
Contact us via email info@ProjectBawdeswell.org.uk or write to:- The Secretary, Project Bawdeswell, High Windows, Meadow Loke, Bawdeswell, NR20 4TG