It has not been possible to hold the Grayshott Gardeners 2020 AGM as planned on November 11th 2020 due to COVID19. Consequently, the Minutes of the 2019 AGM have not yet been approved by the membership The AGM 2020 Chairman’s Report, the Treasurer’s Report, the Accounts as at 30.09.2020 and a list of current Committee members have been emailed to members of Grayshott Gardeners.
The Chairman’s Report and a summary of the Society’s financiasl situation are reproduced below, followed by a link to the Minutes of the 2019 AGM.
GG AGM Chairman’s 2020 Report:
Dear Members,
This is my first yearly report and I am so sad not to be giving it to you all in person. As all Covid 19 restrictions don’t allow for physical attendance of groups, we are sending all the AGM information to you by email.
We have had an unusual and different year but the wonderful weather in April, May and June enabled us to get lots of jobs done during lockdown. Even some sitting in the sun without feeling guilty and thinking we should be doing this, that or the other! However, we did have three lectures at the start of the year before Lockdown.
The January lecture was given by Sarah Squire, who’s family business is Squires Garden Centres. She was a delightful speaker who gave us a very interesting insight into the ups and downs of running their business from 1935 to the present day. In February, David Haselgrove gave us a wonderful talk on Plants and Places in Patagonia and Peru transporting us to the amazing sights of snow-covered mountains to grasslands through fantastic slides and great knowledge of his subject. Finally, just two days before restrictions came into place David Hurrion delighted us with beautiful slides showing a wide range of flowers and plants from all over the world.
Gordon Rae organised the Potato Competition in July, with judging and prize presentation all within Covid regulations in his front garden. The winner was Mary Herbert, and Mavis Hallt presented the Mike Hallt Cup to her to keep until next year’s Summer Show.
Then, to keep us all involved, it was time for the Photographic Competition. We had 35 beautiful entries which were judged by Kathleen Bird, past Chairman of Ludshott Photographic Club. Cash prizes were awarded and the winners and runners up can be seen on our Website, which Anke keeps updated for us all to enjoy.
In the circumstances, we rolled over our Members’ Subscriptions from 2020 to 2021 (which means you enjoyed three free lectures) but we do sincerely hope we will be back in the Hall as soon as possible.
In the meantime, Sue Wheeler, our Programmes coordinator, along with John Price, Helen Deighan and Anke Morris, have been working hard at putting on trial Zoom Lectures for us all to enjoy. Please join in and support this Club’s initiative.
I would like to thank my very capable and hard-working Committee for all their help and support in this very strange year. All have been involved in the working of the Club but it would take too many pages to mention everyone. Anne Butler has been working hard on next year’s Handbook, with input from several of our team, including Rosario, our Secretary, who has to deal with all sorts of different items landing on her desk . We are hoping to deliver/post all Handbooks to you before Christmas, so you can start planning for next year’s Shows. (Don’t forget to bring on plants for our Plant Sale next spring.)
We wish we were all together, as usual, for our annual Cheese and Wine after this year’s AGM in November but hope we can move on to safer times before too long, and we can all meet together again.
Stay safe, fellow Members, and continue to enjoy your gardens and good health.
Anne Waddell
Chairman
From the AGM Treasurer’s Report 2020:
The current paid Membership stands at 171 plus 8 Life Members. Grayshott Gardeners is financially sound with an adequate amount of cash reserves and is ideally placed financially toweather the COVID pandemic.