Topic: Brand new committee

[cornykev]

Hi all, tomorrow we've been called to a meeting on the lottie, the council geezer has sent a letter requesting the meeting for one and all to discuss any items of concern on the lottie site, there has been complaint's about the area where the council compost has been tipped, too far for some to barrow apparently.
The area was selected by the Secretary and agreed to be the best place by everyone who was about that week and the weekend, so a group of us cut down, strimmed, chopped weeds, bushes, trees etc and was burnt, except for the poles I collected for wigwams.
The person who has complained about the compost had come running to our sec the morning that our sec and myself were to burn the debris and promply told him that he had helped with the clearing of the area, so the site sec said he needed help with the fire and the complaintee soon disappeared.
Also several want this meeting to start a committee, there has never been one since I started 5 years ago, apparently the committee died off and were never replaced so the site sec was the only one left on it and he reports directly to the allotmentreview officer.
Some also want to start the shop up again.
 :-\      ;D ;D ;D

[elvis2003]

great news,sounds like things are happening for the best,GO KEV!

[kt.]

I'd go for forming a committee.  Things usually run a lot smoother most of the time.  The complainant would also have the opportunity to stand as a committee member if they are so concerned about stuff, providing they get enough votes of course. 

[cornykev]

Hi and thanks for your replies, the complaintee has been telling the plotters up his end of the lottie how he will run it when he's elected, ???  the council compost has been delivered and been dropped up the other end of the site, but the problem is that two plots either side =4 plots, have no way of entering their plot other than going up somebody elses path and cutting across other plots to get there. The meetings at 11o clock so I'll tell you how we get on later.     ;D ;D ;D

[Borlotti]

We had the same trouble with compost, people complained that it wasn't near their plot.  Poor old Sec. who organised it got fed up with the moaning.  Now we have one lot delivered near the gates and the other one next to my allotment ( ;D ;D ;D).  Sometimes you can't win.  Watch out Kev or you will be on the Committee and get all the moans.  I was the only one that said thank you to the Sec for organising the compost.  We have compost races, some people are so greedy and not sure that the Council compost is that good, weeds still grow in it.  Will be interested to hear how you get on.  Seriously I do think a Committee is a good idea, so people can view their different ideas.  I would love to see our allotment shop re-opened but not sure I want to do it or take the responsibility for it, too old, but suppose I have the time.

[cornykev]

Well it's official Corny's on the committee, I was voted on as treasurer, out of 42 plot holders only 19 turned up, the site sec stood down but stayed on the committee, and a new one elected, then me and then a chairperson and 4 others to join us on the committee.
We discussed the council compost and decided to drop in two places, the council bloke said he had spoke to plot holders up the other end and they had no problem having their plots blocked in.  :-\
Money that was going to be spent on gates and fencing has been put on hold until Sept by the council, :(  so other items like tree cutting and shrubbery being cut back, maintenance to the toilets have been put on hold too.
The shop is going to open again  ??? I'm not sure on that one, I still think people will go else where because it's cheaper, there's not many on our site and most do there own thing. 
The one point we did make to the council bloke was to get a new lock even if we bought our own, all the council sites in Enfield have the same lock so other site holders were coming and going onto different sites, he said we couldn't just buy our own it had to be a council one so he would try to get a council one that was different to other sites, he has given it a month to sort it out.
 ;D ;D ;D

[Borlotti]

You mean to say that I can come on your site, with my key, and steal all your strawberries.  Bit late now, got anything good to nick.  ;D ;D ;D ;D

[Borlotti]

Please explain, a treasurer takes money, but surely you are on a Council allotment and the money goes to the Council.  Perhaps you are going to be running the shop.  Congratulations, you will now get a good share of the moans.

[cornykev]

Hi  there moan moan moan, sorry I'm only the treasurer, he then passes them on to other committee members.    ;)    ;D ;D ;D

[Unwashed]

You do well to volunteer Kev, and treasurer is the most demanding role too.  I like the idea of a site shop as somewhere to hang out - as long as it sells tea!

[cornykev]

What type of things should I be doing now Simon as I have no experience in this field, I can't see much money going through the shop and the council deal with the rents and deposits for keys, plots and sheds.      ???     ;D ;D ;D

[Unwashed]

I've only done treasurer for a bit so I don't really know, but your first priority is to make sure everything to do with the money is straight and in order.  Bank every penny that comes in, write receipts and keep copies, and keep receipts for everything that gets spent.  Study your constitution and see what it says about the money.  If committee members can claim back expenses don't pay out on the nod, scrutinise every item.  It pays to be a right caution tight-wad because if there's any complaint it will stop at you and you need to be able to demonstrate that your system is robust.  Traceability is a good thing - you want to be able to say what every receipt and payments was for.  It's a good idea to have the books audited once a years as well.

After that, it's everything else to do with money.  So if you need money for a project find out how to raise it, find out if you need to pay tax for any shop profit (you don't pay tax on membership fees), that kind of thing.

If you're not running the shop you'll be closely involved because costs and profit are your interest.

You might also get involved with getting the shop insured, it depends who out of you and the secretary want to do it really.

All good fun.

[Kea]

Can be a bit of a nightmare even with small amounts of money.......I've got other committee members collecting in subs and sometimes I'm not getting passed the money quickly or I don't know who has paid because I've been passed the money but the secretary has got the membership form, I'm passing on new members to the NSALG in two's and three's only to find someone had another 2/3 they hadn't passed on meanwhile it's costing me another stamp (we haven't been taking small expenses out of funds as we don't have much we don't run the site the Town council does).

[1066]

well done you for getting involved Kev!

re the shop do you guys organise the cheap seeds from Kings Seeds? If not it might be a good start

1066  :)

[fuchsia]

Hi Corneykev

Well done on becoming treasurer and getting a committee set up. I managed to do it about 3 years ago and things are going great. We have 5 officers - Chairman, vice chair, treasurer,vice treasurer and secretary (me). + 6 general members.
Our shop manager is also the treasurer which helps where the money is concerned. We have an allotment account with the HSBC. Any cheques written on this account needs 2 signatures, the people that can sign are treasurer, chairman and secretary.
Our AGM is always in January and thats when we collect the subs, this is £4.00 for the year. This consists of £2.00 NSALG membership, £1.00 public liability (through NSALG) and £1.00 for the membership of the site and to use the shop. NSALG membership needs to be paid by April along with insurance. Last year I had 96% of members pay. I only do it once a year so cutting down extra work.
We offer coffee, tea and homemade cake on a Sunday morning in the shop which raises quite a bit of money for allotment funds along with sales of seedling veg plants and of course all stock needed for an allotment.
In our area we have 4 other allotment sites so we have teamed up with them and bulk purchase items needed for stock which makes our prices more competitive especially where compost and fertilisers are concerned.
Seeds are best purchased through either Kings, Tuckers or Fothergills. All do some type of scheme for allotments or bulk purchase with a chance to make money for your funds.
Our committee in the last 3 years have achieved, free manure on site from local stables into a purpose built bay made from sleepers, a new roof on the allotment shop, slabs for the front of the shop and 4 picnic tables and umbrellas, we have bought a small marquee which we used this year for our annual BBQ for nearly 100 plotholders and we have purchased 2 portaloos also this year. Along with the general maintenance of our site.
We have around £3,500 in our allotment account which has been raised on site through various social activities, skittles evenings,winter warmer event at xmas, BBQ etc.
Ours is a council site but run through our committee and we have 91 plot holders.
As for paying people any monies, this has to be agreed through the committee and people are only paid by cheque so as to create a paper trail. Depending on your constitution, you may have to produce books at the end of your financial year so you need to keep every receipt and invoice.
I wish you well and hope I have been of some help. It is worth it. If you need help with getting things going you can always contact your local ARI mentor who will help you with advice on setting up, committees, fund raising and applying for grants.
www. farmgarden.org.uk/ari

[cornykev]

Cheers for that.    ;D ;D ;D