20230808 102638 pond record photo
 
20230711 111228 oak - sprouting

A quick email to confirm details of the Friends' AGM, where we hope as many people as possible will join us to enjoy hearing about Brandy Hole Copse and to understand how the Friends is currently placed. Put simply:
* there is much to look forward to/opportunities to support conservation and biodiversity at the Copse;
* the Friends has great heritage, goodwill and solid foundations, but needs participation if it is to continue to function into 2024 and beyond.

Please come. Please RSVP to let us know you're coming (we can plan better with some idea of numbers to expect). This AGM, your attendance and support, will help inform decisions on what happens next.

Friends of Brandy Hole Copse ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

Date: Thursday 5th October

Time: arrive from 7.15pm for a 7.30pm start

At: St Paul's Church Parish Centre, Churchside (off the Northgate gyratory) PO19 6FT

Practicalities:
* Please note that the church has choir practice starting about 7pm, hence our suggested arrival time. Parking is likely to be busy, so Northgate car park may be the best bet, if you need to drive (charges apply up to 8.00pm, cost is £1.00 for the hour).

We are currently working on practicalities (from setting up to making teas and coffees, drafting Agendas and reports, preparing display materials, clearing up after), but here's a rough idea of what we hope you can expect:

▪ Attendance sign-in from 7.15pm, a brief chance to mingle and look at displays, hot drinks if there's someone to serve them (the kitchen facilities are fab!).
▪ Business starts at 7.30pm, In the absence of an elected Chairman, I'll bring us up-to-speed with a Not-the-Chair's Report and Treasurer Mel will report on finances. We'll be as brief as we can.
▪ Oliver Gammon, Environment Officer at Chichester District Council will offer "a fresh look at the Copse - its wildlife, condition and context" - what he's found since he joined CDC late last year and hopes/opportunities for the future.
▪ "Open forum" (a term I pinched from a previous AGM) - the chance to chat, to ask questions, to share our experiences of the Copse. Maybe this is the time for hot drinks (or more hot drinks)? How this works will very much depend on who attends.
▪ Election of Committee Members, assuming we have sufficient volunteers willing to stand. (Please note only paid-up Friends may vote. Our Constitution defines a paid-up Friend as "someone who has subscribed to the Friends in the year preceding the AGM.".)
▪ Close somewhere between 8.30 - 9.00pm, depending on participation.
▪ Attendance sign-in from 7.15pm, a brief chance to mingle and look at displays, hot drinks if there's someone to serve them (the kitchen facilities are fab!).
▪ Business starts at 7.30pm, In the absence of an elected Chairman, I'll bring us up-to-speed with a Not-the-Chair's Report and Treasurer Mel will report on finances. We'll be as brief as we can.
▪ Oliver Gammon, Environment Officer at Chichester District Council will offer "a fresh look at the Copse - its wildlife, condition and context" - what he's found since he joined CDC late last year and hopes/opportunities for the future.
▪ "Open forum" (a term I pinched from a previous AGM) - the chance to chat, to ask questions, to share our experiences of the Copse. Maybe this is the time for hot drinks (or more hot drinks)? How this works will very much depend on who attends.
▪ Election of Committee Members, assuming we have sufficient volunteers willing to stand. (Please note only paid-up Friends may vote. Our Constitution defines a paid-up Friend as "someone who has subscribed to the Friends in the year preceding the AGM.".)
▪ Close somewhere between 8.30 - 9.00pm, depending on participation.

If you'd like to offer help in any way, including for on the night, there's a form on our website here which gives an idea of the myriad ways in which many hands can make light work. Or drop me an email, or pick up the 'phone (07788 140698).

Finally, I need to acknowledge the hole left by the death of our last elected Chairman, Andrew Berriman, on 31st July. Andrew had a deep affection for the Copse and put significant time and effort into its cause over many years, including helping to initiate weekly Green Gym working parties with The Conservation Volunteers and sustaining them by working with Oliver's predecessor, Jen, at CDC. When he stepped away in September 2022, after the death of Friends' Secretary Vincent Porter, he described it as "necessary" and put starkly the difficulties of trying to Chair an organisation with little participatory support. Trying to pick-up the thread of the Friends from where Andrew left off, I am so grateful for the records he passed on; including the last instalment: ever-conscientious, he invited me to pick up his lever arch file of papers on 11th July, when he told me he was already under the care of St Wilfrid's Hospice at home.

I really do hope that, between us, we can find a way to breathe new energy into the Friends of Brandy Hole Copse and it starts with our AGM. If we have the will, we can find a way - do let me know if you can come.

With best wishes,

Paula Chatfield
Co-Opted Committee Member, Friends of Brandy Hole Copse

email fobhc@treesinchi.org (please note that this is an incoming email address only - replies will come from my personal email which is paula@parklands-chichester.org )
tel. 07788 140698
www.treesinchi.org/brandy-hole-copse

P.S. I aim to send out a reminder of the next CDC-led working party (laurel bashing on Tuesday 17th October) after the AGM, together with a short report on our 12th September ponds survey.
 

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