A huge thank you to everyone for your support and kind donations!! It is wonderful that the group is in a good position financially that we can afford to continue to fundraise for other charities, especially those which benefit children and families.

These are the charities we have helped this year:

Red Nose Day 2011 £30.51 (March)
Marie Curie Cancer Research £21.91 (June)
OC Support £70.97 (September)
Jeans for Genes £45.45 (October)
Poppy Appeal £15.50 (November)
BBC Children in Need £17.25 (November)

See here for details!

Tuesday 27^th July 2011

Methodist Hall, Cheddington

Present:  Sarah Sykes, Eloise Clark, Nina Tomlin, Barbra Ruperto, Catherine Glover, Elke Hegarty, Suzanne Ambrose, Vicki Elsdon, Becky Potten, Claire Wright

Apologies for absence: Jo Lipscombe, Judy Boyes, Sonya Aris, Chris Kelly, Gemma Eaglesham

Minutes of 2010 AGM:  Approved

Joint Chairperson’s Report: Attached

Treasurer’s Report: The financial report was reviewed and approved.

Election of New Committee:  New posts were agreed as follows;

Eloise Clark, Joint Chair

Vicki Elsdon, Secretary

Claire Wright, Treasurer

Sonya Aris, Publicity

Elke Hegarty, Website

Nina Tomlin, Refreshments

Suzanne Ambrose, Crafts

Members; Becky Potten, Jo Lipscombe, Judy Boyes, Gemma Eaglesham

Any Other Business:  There were no matters arising

JOINT CHAIRPERSON’S REPORT 2010-11

PRESENTED AT AGM 27^TH JULY 2011

Chris and I were Chairpersons of the Toddler Group from September through to the start of February, when I (Sarah) went on “maternity leave” and Chris decided to take a step back from the group as her son was preparing for school. In that period, the group continued to do well, building on the success of the previous year. We started the year with a weekend family photo session, which was fully booked and earned us almost £100 in commission. In the build up to Christmas we had regular traders coming to the group, selling products which brought in valuable commission. We used the money to invest in more trikes for the group which have been a great success.

The Christmas party fortunately went ahead first time, and many commented on the lovely atmosphere. The raffle was well supported in terms of prizes and the tickets sold well.

As always, numbers at the group have been good but not always reflected in the willingness of people to sign up for the Rota, and so much of the week to week running comes down to the committee, and we would like to thank you all for that. Chris and I have enjoyed being part of the Toddler group for several years now, and feel that it is an important service for new and experienced Mums and their children. We hope that it continues to thrive!

Sarah Sykes & Chris Kelly

Chair report from March – July 2011

First of all the committee would like to say a huge thank you to Chris and Sarah for running the group and contributing to its ongoing success.

We didn’t have a chairperson for the second part of the year and so we have all been running it collectively.  Whilst this did work out, it became clear that the group does need someone to chair, even if it’s just to look after all the paperwork! I have volunteered to take on this position and look forward to our “re-launch party” in September and running the group with new and old committee members!

Which brings us to the changes within the committee. There are been a number of new little additions and we congratulate Sarah and Sonya on their babies number 3! Catherine Glover, who did a great job organizing the weekly crafts, and Barbra Ruperto, our great secretary, will be leaving us. A big, big thank you to you both for your hard work and support.

We are thrilled to welcome some familiar faces who have been attending the group for some time and have agreed to join the committee; Suzanne Ambrose, Claire Wright, Vicki Elsdon, Judy Boyes and Becky Potten. Claire has bravely offered to take over from me as treasurer and I have no doubt she’ll do a great job. Suzanne (who is an Art Teacher) has also offered to organise the crafts so the children are in for a treat.

Special thanks also to the rest of the committee for staying on:

• Elke for maintaining our successful website and for sending out the weekly emails,
• Sonya for continuing to do the group’s publicity and updating Facebook with the groups events and news,
• Jo for getting amazing Christmas raffle prizes, and
• Nina for taking charge of the snacks each week.

I look forward to running the group with you all.

Having read through past chair notes for the last few years, they always mention the difficulty in having a rota of regular volunteers to help open and close each week. Inevitably it falls to the committee and same few mums each week. We do just about manage but on the odd occasion when illness/holidays clash there have been times when 1-2 people have struggled on their own. Maybe this year we’ll come up with a new solution…..thinking caps on!

The group’s finances have been very healthy and so with £3,000 in the bank we agreed to spend a significant amount on new toys and some equipment especially to develop a safe baby/crawler area. Without this investment the group’s net profit would have been £866! We spent £380 before Christmas (on the 3 seater trikes) and a further £1,200 in June (as well as a few other toys/equipment expenses) and so made a loss of £800. However our bank balance still stands at £1,677 and the group remains financially strong.

Our entrance income is down from last year so with some advertising, new toys and the party in September we hope to encourage more people to attend and boost our weekly registers. Our commission from sellers at the group was significantly up and we received £364. We hope the popularity of this continues this for the next year.

We also donated nearly £200 to various charities over the year which has not only been fun, (as they all involved cakes!) but is also good to show we are in a position where we can support other charities, many which benefit children such as Comic Relief, Children in Need and Jeans for Genes.

All in all a great year, here’s to 2011/12!

Eloise Clark (July 2011)

“Photography by Carrie” will be joining us again on FRIDAY 6th MAY – our first session back after Easter.  All photographic prints ordered will be available in time for  & make great gifts for Father’s Day (19 June).

Carrie takes amazing relaxed, contemporary photographs & has a fantastic rapport with the children.  For examples of her work, please visit her website     www.photographybycarrie.co.uk

Please speak to any of the committee or Contact Us to pre-book your 15 minute slot.  Your booking will be subject to a £5 sitting fee.

A big Thank You to Rhea for the Gruffalo cake plus all our other cake making volunteers.