Volunteers meeting notes Wed 12th (Thank you Katja for the minutes)
9 participants: Bob, Cathy, Diane, Douglas, Edward, Julia, Katja, Lucy and Pete
March 2014 13:30 – 14:15
Topic 1: Money
Big Lottery Fund has to be spend by end of March and will be to good use (Pete gave an update: including cable to the eco build, a new shed, additional tank to store water – delivered this week).
We spend ~150£ for seeds this year for us and for selling plants.
New funding coming in: 4500£ from John James Foundation, 2000£ from Quartet grant
What do we need to buy? Boards for pizza dough making and rolling out (chopping boards), Salad spinner, maybe roses for watering cans
Fundraising & other income: selling compost (460£ this year so far, Pete thinks 750£ is possible), selling plants/flowers on the gate, Waitrose community matters
Topic 2: upcoming events
The Golden Buds green toddler group is running well every Tuesday and the kids have lots of fun.
5th April 2014 our normal Saturday open: International as we are we will have Easter egg decoration with wax batik from East Germany using natural colouring such as onion peel (will also give some eggs omelette) and a Spanish feast with roasted onions.
6. April 2014 10am-2pm: Pete and Lucy are offering a fabulous workshop about gardening and aim to answer every question that comes up with their lots of experience, 25£ including a garden soup.
Spread the word of mouth and distribute some posters at places where people new to gardening might see them. It is worth it.
Kids adventure days on two days over Easter break, topic: Robin Hood – steal from the rich and give to the poor. Lots of exciting ideas. Kids will love it. See newsletter later about details.
10. May 2014 Spring fair, no raffle, plat selling, will have a rota so that volunteers can go around and not sitting in one job the whole time, need lots of volunteers to make it fun, see newsletter closer to time
Topic 3: Eco build
All going well with planning done. Work starts 1st week April
looking for people to commit 2 days a week for April and May as apprentice (lots of skills to be gained). -> Diane asks if only one day commitment is possible would that be possible as well? Lucy will ask the builder.
Topic 4: Volunteer numbers
We are very lucky with steadily growing numbers of volunteers (~15 in the past now ~25) with many coming regularly on the Wednesdays. However, question was raised what are we doing if it get’s too crowded. Many don’t see that happening yet, but we don’t want anyone quietly going away, because of lack of suitable work or the right place. Pete and Lucy emphasised again that we welcome anyone on Wednesdays and the first Saturday of the month just to be here in this lovely lively community garden with no obligations. There are lots of things to do, if you want to, but it’s always okay just to enjoy the garden. Consent, that we don’t want that to change at the moment (e.g. by limiting the number of people or any other restrictions), but will discuss it again if we see a problem.
Topic 5: Co-coordinators
We discussed last time to volunteer to release Lucy from being the only coordinator of jobs on a volunteer’s day. Co-coordinator roles start officially on 1st and go around with Lucy to create the job list, if you want to become a co-coordinator for the day. Ask her a lot of questions about how the job needs to be done, so that you can pass the instructions on to people who want to do it. There is no pressure, because Lucy will be around in April/May for the eco build and is always happy to help.