MINUTES OF THE ASHURST RECREATION GROUND TRUST AGM HELD ON
THURSDAY 24th NOVEMBER AT 7.00PM HELD AT ASHURST VILLAGE HALL
Trustees Present: Cllr Fischel - Chairman
Cllrs Russell, Hammond, Hedley, Jesse, Knight and Nicholson
Also Present: David Fischel - Chairman of Ashurst Cricket Club
Luke Pickett - Ashurst United Football Club
Daniel Pickett – Ashurst United Football Club
In attendance: Emily Simpson – Clerk
Three members of the public were present.
The Chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting.
None received as all councillors were present.
2. Declaration of Members’ Interests
None for this meeting.
3. To Approve the Minutes of the Meeting of Thursday 2nd December 2021
The minutes were agreed and signed by the Chairman as a true record of the meeting.
4. Update on actions since the last AGM
5. Accounts
The previous Clerk completed the Annual Return for the Charity Commission for 2021/22. The income for the year was £5,250 and expenditure £2,809.80.
Income was received from West Sussex County Council on behalf of Ashurst Primary School, Partridge Green Football Club and Ashurst Parish Council for the financial year 2021/22.
The principal item of expenditure once again was the grass cutting at £1,612.80, water, electricity which came to £115.65, and the play equipment inspections (including annual inspection) which totalled £417.60. The deer fence totalled £380.25.
In this financial year the electricity has been billed at £4 per month as the Trust has been in credit.
6. Reports from:
a) Primary School - See Appendix 1 attached.
b) Football Club
c) Cricket Club – See Appendix 2 attached.
d) Tree Warden – see Appendix 3 attached.
Football Club
The Football club representatives reported that the season had gone well so far and that they had not yet lost a match in the League. They advised they were in Division 3 as they are a new team. They expected to face some difficult teams but were looking forward to the season ahead. In terms of players, they had 16+ available every week which was a fantastic amount. They also reported that 5 of their players were local who they had met in Ashurst. They reported that they really enjoyed playing at the Recreation Ground and said that the drainage had been excellent on the pitch. They had played 7 games out of a total of 18 league games. They expected to finish the season in March/April time. They also confirmed that the changing rooms were adequate, but the showers may need looking at for next season, if possible. They thanked the Trustees again for allowing them to play at the Recreation Ground. Lastly, the representatives commented that the contract looked fine, they just wanted to confirm a point on grass cutting which the Chair said she would look into with them.
Cricket Club
See Appendix 2.
Tree Warden
See Appendix 3.
7. Update of Ground and Buildings
The Chairman advised that the Trustees had recently met up on the Recreation Ground in order to inspect both the Ground and the Buildings.
8. Questions from the floor
There were none.
9. Any other business
No other matters were raised.
10. Date of the next Recreation Ground AGM: Thursday 14th or 21st September 2023
Action points:
Cut back black thorn – confirm with tree warden when is best to do this
Finalise contract with Football Club
Councillors Russell and Hammond agreed to fix the fence around the oak tree
The Chairman of the Trustees closed the meeting at 7.26PM
Signed: ____________________________ Dated: _____________________________
Appendix 1. Primary School
Thank you for giving us the opportunity to contribute to tonight's meeting even though we are not able to be there in person. We have really enjoyed continuing to develop our links with the church, the parish and the locality. We have been able to bring the school and community together at our Leaver’s Service in July and New Beginnings service at the start of this term. Our friends who provide 'Open the Book' have been able to come into school already this term and we really welcome this opportunity to meet with members of the community in a different way. Our 'Growing Partnerships' agreement with the local Parishes has been finalised and we meet regularly to discuss how the school and the community can support and work together for the common good.
We are looking forward to a fundraising event on Saturday 12th December at St Andrew’s Church in Steyning. The wonderful Southdowns Concert Band will be performing and our children and families will be taking part- we are hoping to sing a Christmas carol with lyrics by our Worship Warriors! We would be delighted if any of you would be able to join us.
We are, as always, grateful for the opportunity afforded to us by the Parish Council and the residents of Ashurst to use the recreation ground. We are pleased to report that the school is continuing to enjoy our time on the field using it for in-school sports provision as well as for after school sports clubs. The children love to be on the field for playtimes as it affords them a wonderful amount of space. We were fortunate to have the use of it for our celebration of our late Queen’s Platinum Jubilee last term, it was a truly memorable occasion and enabled us to continue the school’s long history of celebrating key national events. We are looking forward to celebrating King Charles III coronation when the time comes!
It was lovely to be able to have a proper sport's day last term and be able to welcome spectators too. The recreation ground is a wonderful space and the children have a greater connection with it following the tree planting; they often spend time locating ‘their’ trees and doing a little gentle weeding.
Next year Ashurst CE Aided Primary School will celebrate its sesquicentennial anniversary- 150 years! We plan to hold an event to celebrate this remarkable occasion and hope to let you know more details.
We at school hope that this good partnership between our school and the Parish Council will be able to continue long into the future.
with kind regards
Mrs S Smith
on behalf of everyone at Ashurst CE Aided Primary School
Appendix 2. Cricket Club
I am pleased to report that cricket returned to Ashurst in 2022.
We played two games , with one narrow loss in the last over and one comfortable victory .
Encouragingly we succeeded in fielding 11 players , nearly all with local connections , on each occasion.
We also provided a venue for Steyning ladies cricket team for one of their matches.
So hopefully the two lost years of COVID lockdowns and the year before that (2019) when we struggled to field a side are behind us.
The square was maintained over the last few years despite no cricket and the pitches were fine in 2022 , with rabbit damage a bit of a nuisance but still manageable.
Our plan for 2023 is to increase to 4 or 5 games against suitable opposition , a level of activity we think manageable ,and encourage Steyning Ladies to play more regularly at Ashurst.
We would like to thank the trustees for letting us use the ground which provides a picturesque destination for village cricket.
Also thanks to Rowley Gregg and family for producing splendid teas for the two games as well as finding some extra players .
And to former captain , Steve Duffett, who provided the opposition for the first game to get cricket going again.
David Fischel
Chairman
Appendix 3. Tree Warden