Stonnall and Lynn Playing Fields Association
CHAIRMAN: Malcolm Beilby SECRETARY: Cllr Gail Nicholls TREASURER: Cllr Sheila Beilby rel: 01543 452845 Tel: 01543 376629 Tel: 01573 452845
2019 Annual Parish Meeting.
The summer of 2018 was exceptionally good and allowed the residents of Stonnall to enjoy the facilities on the Stonnall Playing Field.
According to the Deeds it is 45 years since the Playing Field was created for the benefit of the villagers and visitors. In that time the field has matured and the children’s play area has been regularly updated.
Shenstone Parish Council are the Custodian Trustees of the field and the Management Committee on behalf of the Association is grateful for the financial support given to allow us to maintain the grounds.
In the year 2018 to 2019, the Council continued to cover the cost of the regular grass and hedge cutting and ditching done by the team from Lichfield District Council. In addition we can claim up to £500 a year for general maintenance on the field, although, going forward, some of this will probably be done by the Council’s new lengths man, Steven Crane.
With £1000 of Parish Council Grant Funding, together with £2,000 from the Lottery Fund and other accumulated reserves, the Committee was able to purchase a cantilever basket swing. This was installed just before the main summer holiday and proved very popular with the older children through the long hot summer. This new piece of equipment has the added advantage in that it can also be used by disabled children, when helped by adults.
Boot Camp, no longer use the playing field, but the two teams playing for Stonnall Juniors, regularly use the field for training and league matches. The Juniors are now teams under 13 and under 15 and their fees help the Association to fund new equipment.
When visiting the park, I am always pleased at the number of people you meet, walking the dog or just enjoying this wonderful amenity we have in the village. I and the Association are also proud of what we are achieving.
Thank you.
Malcolm Beilby
Chairman, Stonnall Playing Fields Association.
Stonnall Village Hall
SPC Annual Parish Meeting 2019
In order to encourage bookings by both regular hirers and for weekend functions, it is essential for the Management Committee to ensure the hall is clean and well maintained.
2018 has been a busy year for maintenance at the hall, but by the response from the users it has been worthwhile.
At the start of the year, the floor was professionally re-polished and as there are several regular dancing groups, this was very much appreciated. A Grant Fund from the Parish Council of £750 helped towards the replacement of the stage curtains, which were well past their sell by date.
In 2017, the Committee asked the Parish Council for a grant of
£1,000 towards refurbishing the antiquated kitchen and water heater, but did not take it up as Age UK were a regular hirer for 3 days a week, and it was impossible to find a suitable length of time to get the work done. However in June last year they gave notice as they required 5 days a week, which the hall could not provide. This enabled the Committee to get the work done in August and the Parish Council, kindly agreed to the belated grant funding.
The Management Committee is very grateful for the continued support of the Parish Council, both with Grant funding and for also covering the cost of the rates and insurance. Stonnall Village Hall is a community venue, much valued by the residents and visitors. In November 2018, the hall was filled to capacity for Stonnall Remembers, when villagers enjoyed a hot supper and music from 1918 to 2018. In March this year, the villagers and friends enjoyed a performance of the Full Monty to raise funds for a prostate cancer charity. This was followed a week later by the Stonnall players annual show.
A big “Thank you”
Councillor Sheila Beilby
Chair, Stonnall Village Hall
Stonnall Youth and Community Association – Chairman’s Report for the year
2018/2019
We have had a busy year
On the maintenance front, we have had all of the fixed electrical circuits checked; this has to be carried out every five years. We had the portable appliances checked in June last year and they will be re-tested again in June this year; it is an annual check to ensure that they are safe to use. We also purchased new fridge and carried out general maintenance work including the lowering of the tea bar so that anyone under six feet tall would be able to collect their cup of tea without the risk of scalding themselves. Work was also carried out in the Gentlemen’s conveniences to re-secure the toilet; I’m told someone nearly fell off it when it became loose. We were assisted in both of these tasks by village tradesmen, who refused payment for their work
In January 2019, the floor was sanded and treated with Hard Wax Oil and it was discovered that it was a maple floor fit for dancing on. We also had new coir mats fitted at both entrances to help protect the floor from scuffs and water damage This cost £2,500 in total for which we received two grants each for £l ,000 from the Shenstone Parish Council Community Fund and We Love Lichfield Fund.
Our Building Contingency Fund currently stands at a total of £8,000. We have put aside £2,500 for the drains, £l ,000 for a new kitchen boiler, £l ,500 for hot water in the kitchen and toilets, and reserved £3,000 to cover potential structural repairs to the Toilet Block extension.
The idea of forming a film club was mulled over for most of last year and eventually we took the plunge. Our sub-committee put in a great deal of investigatory work into types of equipment needed and visited other Film Clubs, in the area to see how they were set up before we decided to go ahead. It cost just over £l ,500 for the projector, speakers, stands, cables and the licence. We had already received grants totaling£850 from The Police Mutual and We Love Lichfield in the previous year, towards this and it is already proving a great success with well over 40 people attending the first two showings. It is so popular that people send their apologies when they can’t come
In closing I would like to say that the current committee, managing the Youth and Community Centre are, without any doubt, the most professional, hard working and supportive committee I have ever had the pleasure of working with. They are a credit to our community
That concludes my report for the year.
D.C.J. Morrison
Chair
Stonnall Youth and Community Association
LITTLE ASTON RECREATION GROUND ASSOCIATION
ANNUAL PARISH MEETING
MAY 8TII 2019
CHAIRMAN’S REPORT
It has been an interesting and busy year at the recreation ground. Much has been achieved as a result of our committee’s hard work and efforts along with other volunteers who have helped us throughout the period.
We begin each year with a visit from LARGA’s Easter Bunny and last December we were also visited again by Father Christmas and his Elves. Both events bought fun and joy to children visiting the park. A positive spin off has been the establishment of a small knitting group to knit gifts for the children visiting the park at Christmas and Easter time.
Another very successful Party in the Park took place in July 2018 and this ever-popular annual event is to be held again on July 1 3 th this year. The local community, including several businesses within the locality are involved in making this a success. My thanks to Mark Watkins who heads up the committed and resourceful team that plan and manage this very popular event that also provides a major source of our income. Last year ‘vve purchased new playground equipment with the funds raised and were able to carry out several important maintenance tasks.
A few years ago, we established a Trustee Information Pack which contains the key guidance documents issued by the Charity Commission along with LARGA ‘s own policies and procedures. This I,vas further updated during the year to include role descriptions for all Trustees of our charity, policy and procedures in accordance with the Data Protection Directive and, more recently, new financial planning and control procedures.
Several essential maintenance tasks have been high on our list of priorities throughout the year. In particular, we have carried out much needed groundworks in the children’s play area. We have also organised tree pruning and removal during the winter months and work is in hand to resurface some pathway areas that are prone to flooding. The committee have also approved expenditure to install a second water supply to assist volunteer gardeners with watering during periods of drought.
We have undertaken many horticultural developments during the past year to further improve the landscape. This has been possible as a result of the work of our grounds man, David Milburn, and our team of hardworking and enthusiastic volunteer gardeners. They have Inaintained the grounds and its borders to a very high standard.
The landscape of the recreation ground is still in its infancy but continues to mature and improve each year. New areas have been planned and/or further developed during the year including additions to the small pinetum, wildflower areas and further planting of the hedgerows with native shrubs and flora. We have also planted a further 10,000 crocuses, 3,000 snowdrops, 1,000 daffodils and 500 native bluebells. The benefits of this planting are now beginning to show with lovely displays of flowers marking the seasons.
There was no rain in Little Aston throughout most of the summer months last year. In order to keep saplings alive planted during the last two years it was necessary to organise watering parties often three times every week. We are very grateful for the tremendous efforts of our volunteer gardeners and other volunteers in helping with this important task.
The committee are continuing to seek grant funding to develop a sensory garden that will further enhance the environment and provide a specialist facility for both able bodied and people with disabilities of all ages to enjoy. This will likely be a ‘match’ funding arrangement and the trustees are fully prepared to provide up to 20% of the costs if so required. Accordingly, a sum of money will be ring-fenced within our budget to provide the Charity’s contribution towards the project.
During the period it was decided to suspend the ‘Gift a Tree’ scheme to enable us to monitor the development of the landscape over the next few years. Looking back over ten years it has been a very successful scheme enabling us to plant over 200 trees to further improve the landscape.
We have continued our monthly working parties throughout the year, and these have been task focused, productive and enjoyable. There is a great team spirit and newcomers or those who join us for the day are always welcomed with open arms. During the year we have been very grateful for the help and assistance provided by our local ‘Rapid Relief Team’ who have provided volunteers to help us with a number of tasks. We have also been helped by a young student working at the recreation ground to achieve her Duck of Edinburgh award and another student working with us as part of her gap year. We very much want to support and encourage such local youngsters to join the team and are developing plans to do so. They are the filture.
Communicating with our visitors is ilnportant and our quarterly newsletter that is now in its fifth year continues to be popular and also appears online. The committee’s responsible social media policy has been further developed and has taken on a very professional profile. We have also novv• developed a new \vebsite for the charity that provides comprehensive information about the history of the recreation ground ‘s development and the range of current facilities. It also provides information about how our trustees now manage the charity.
At the end of the year sve began negotiations to establish a long-term lease agreement with Shenstone Parish Council. If successfully concluded, this will enable our charity to apply for larger grants to carry out ilnportant maintenance tasks such as renewing the pathways around the recreation ground.
We are indebted to the Parish Council for their continuing support and in including us on their ground’s maintenance contracts and other financial support. We also value their support in our Management Agreement exchanged with them at the beginning of the last Financial Year and in more recent discussions to agree a longer term lease.
There have been and will remain ongoing challenges in continuing to maintain and develop a clean, safe and stimulating environment for our many visitors. However, in tackling these issues, we have been fortunate to have an established, hardworking and resourceful committee. We would like to offer and record our thanks to them all. We would also like to record our thanks to the local residents who open and close the entrance gate every morning and at the close of play. They do a fantastic job.
All in all, it has been another successful team efTort throughout the year to further develop and ilnprove the recreation ground.
Presented on behalf of Phil Berry
Chairman — Little Aston Recreation Ground Association
Report from Little Aston Bowling Club for the Shenstone Parish Council Annual Meeting on 8th May 2019
Little Aston Bowling Club is a crown green bowling club situated adjacent to Little Aston Village Hall in Little Aston Lane, Sutton Coldfield. The club has approximately 75 members of both sexes covering a broad age range. It is known by its members as “The Friendly Club”. The club plays friendly games against other local bowling clubs and has internal club leagues and friendly match days. We pride ourselves on being welcoming to new members. Details can be found on our website.
Currently many local clubs are seeing their memberships falling but Little Aston has a good retention level and we put this down to our friendly status and the high quality of our green. We have invested substantially in maintaining and improving our green in recent years with a major investment 3 years ago being the installation of a new automatic watering system. This has provided substantial benefits in the condition of the playing surface which was particularly apparent during the exceptionally dry summer of 2018.
The green was laid down some 90 years ago when the club was formed and subsequently we have noticed the crown in the centre of the green slowly reducing over recent years. Hence our project for 2019 is to renovate and increase the crown which has been made possible by a combination of the generous grant from Shenstone Parish Council and members donations. This work will be undertaken in October following the end of our playing season. We are confident that following this work we will be able to provide for our members and visitors a playing surface that will be the envy of many clubs in the area.
Once again thank you to the Councillors for awarding us this generous grant.
Roger Walker
Hon. Treasurer
THE LITTLE ASTON VLLAGE HALL
Little Aston Lane, Little Aston, Sutton Coldfield, B74 3UF Registered Charity Number: 1091921
Chairman’s Report to the 2019 AGM
Over the last year, the Hall has continued to see a steady increase in the number of bookings for family occasions and for other types of occasional activities. More importantly, the Hall has seen an increase in the number of regular user activities both within the Main Hall and the Committee Room. This has significantly increased the number of individuals within the community who have benefited from the presence of the Hall.
The increased floor area within the Main Hall; the improved appearance and lighting; the greatly improved acoustics; the responsive and effective heating system and the flexibility associated with the fold out stage have been instrumental in attracting many of these additional users.
The Management Committee welcomes comments and feedback from everyone who uses the Hall. These comments and feedback have shaped the projects that have been carried out during the year and those which are being planned.
The Tennis Club has been active in upgrading its facilities. In particular the all-weather clay surface on the lower Court has been well used, particularly during the very wet spring when the other courts were unplayable.
As always, the Bowling Green and its surrounds are a real asset to the community. Club membership is high with large attendances most weekends and evenings during the season. The two dead trees at the road boundary have been removed and I am pleased to note that the Club are proposing to re-shape the crown on the green during the coming winter period.
Pre-School has continued to flourish with lots of young families becoming involved. Ofsted’s requirements for equipment that has to be provided have put a lot of pressure on the storage arranganents at the Hall, but the conversion of the former outside toilet has eased the storage issues considerably. Also, the old storage shed at the front of the Hall has been refurbished.
As part of the Ofsted requirements, plans have been prepared for a complete upgrade to the play area at the bottom of the car park. The floor area will be levelled and resurfaced with more appropriate and safer surfacing and new fixed equipment will be installed together with new security fencing. Additional storage will also be installed for the mobile equipment. Some grants towards the cost of this project have been received and other grant applications are in progress. Hopefully, these applications will be successful and construction will take place during the summer holiday period in readiness for the start of the Autumn Term.
It is intended that the play area will be available to all, subject to proper supervision, be that local families or the families of people who are using the other facilities at the site. Hopefully this will assist the parents of young families to feel able to participate within the
Chairman: Dr R G Paxton, 8 Little Aston Lane, Little Aston, Sutton Coldfield, B74 3UF Treasurer: Mr Gavin Cle,nent 557 Lichfield Road, Four Oaks Sutton Coldfield B74 4EG
other activities that are available at the site without having to leave one of them behind to look after the children.
Unfortunately, we were unable to find someone who would take on the role of Booking Secretary. My wife, Lis, has kindly agreed to carry out the role on a temporary basis whilst the search continues for a permanent replacement. It is likely that this will have to become a paid role and that will obviously have repercussions as regards the running costs for the Hall.
This report cannot be concluded without thanking the Booking Secretary, Lis, the Treasurer, Gavin and all of the Committee members and helpers for their continuing support and for all of the people involved with the meeting and greeting for the occasional users.
Thank You
Chairman: Dr R G Paxton, 8 Little Aston Lane, Little Aston, Sutton Coldfield, B74 31JF Treasurer: Mr Gavin Clement 557 Lichfield Road, Four Oaks Sutton Coldfield B74 4EG
Shenstone Cares Annual Report for Shenstone Parish Council May 2019.
Shenstone Cares continues to provide transport and escorts for many elderly residents of the village with weekly shopping trips, pub lunches and days out. This week 15 of our members are enjoying a hopefully lovely week’s holiday at
Merton House in Ross and Wye and future trips planned include Sudbury Hall & Hoar Park Farm. Our newsletter every month details all of the activities and dates as well as highlighting our members birthdays so we have no excuse for forgetting to get a card.
We are always looking to add to our volunteers as both escorts and drivers so do contact us if you would like to help.
Our thanks go to Council who have again supported us this year with an invaluable grant of £1000 towards the cost of running our minibus, without which we would not be able to operate, so a big thank you from the Trustees, Committee and members of Shenstone Cares.
Shenstone Village Hall
The Management Committee are pleased to repott another good year with plans afoot for a kitchen refurbishment including new flooring, new wall cladding, new cooker, new dishwasher, venting out the cooker hood, new drinks water boiler, commercial fridge, and a serving hatch through into the lounge. We have some funding already and are busy applying for grants for the rest.
We would like to thank the Council for the community grant of
£l 000 received in February which will be used for re-covering the chairs in the lounge.
Friday Friends
Weekly, around 12 of our members take advantage of the transport service provided to take them to Friday Friends and home again. Without this transport they would miss out on the opportunity to meet with friends, socialise & enjoy the much needed companionship. Therefore, we are extremely grateful to the Council for their continued support and the £l 000 community grant towards our ongoing transport costs. Thank you.
TRINITY METHODIST CHURCH
Shenstone
Report to the
2019 ANNUAL PARISH MEETING
On behalf of the Church Council I should like to express thanks for the generous support of the Chairman and the Council itself during the past year. The Parish Clerk •was quick to help when we had an unfortunate situation with a large tree falling across the carriageway and we are very grateful for the quick response in calling for relevant services to attend.
- We have also been extremely grateful for the grant of £2,000 that the Parish Council has made towards alleviating the damp problems in the church and community rooms
- The facilities at the Methodist Church are a valuable asset to the local community. The community rooms have regular bookings for groups serving all ages and a variety of interests. It is estimated that around 650 people attend activities each month. This heavy usage means that the maintenance of the facilities is an ongoing task and cost for the church, and the practical support of the Parish Council is invaluable in sustaining the premises for community use.
- An important annual ceremony — the Remembrance Sunday service and parade — is co-ordinated from the Methodist Church, and has been enhanced in recent years by the provision of amplification at the War Memorial and the preparation of the memorial grounds for the event. We would like to record thanks for the part played by the Parish Council for this fruitful collaboration. Several hundred villagers attend the ceremony each year.
- The past few years has seen the establishment of an annual Christmas Tree Service at the Methodist Church, when the many groups associated with the church provide a Christmas tree decorated with symbols representing their activities and contribution to the community life of the village. The trees remain illuminated throughout the Festive Season, adding to the festive atmosphere and as a complement to the lights in Main Street provided by the Parish Council. A Christmas tree representing the Parish Council is displayed in the church, and again this support and collaboration is appreciated.
Keith Goldsworthy Church Treasurer.
1 st May 2019