Minutes of Healthy Living & Wellbeing Group AGM

MINUTES OF HEALTHY LIVING & WELLBEING GROUP AGM

15th JANUARY 2019

ApologiesRos Hearn, Jacqueline Pester, Alison Prestt, Wendy Bristow, Finella Whitehorn, Derek Greatorex & Jenny Charlton.

Present:      Elaine Cawthraw, Fran Edwards, Keith Lambert, Eddy Stephenson, Mary Hampson, Kate Benham, Roos Allsop, Ann Meyrick & Andy Davies

Minutes: The minutes of the previous AGM held on January 9th2018 were accepted as a true record. Proposed by E. Cawthraw and seconded by A. Davies. There were no matters arising from these other than those already on the agenda for this meeting.

Appointment of Honorary Auditor:Mr M Pester was approved as auditor of HLG accounts. Proposed by K. Lambert and seconded by E. Cawthraw.

Financial Report for year ending 30th November 2018:

TREASURERS REPORT 23 NOVEMBER 2017 TO 30 NOVEMBER 2018

Unfortunately, I am unable to attend this AGM as I’m on holiday.

There has been little change in the accounts. We will need to raise funds for the Trim Trail and the Apparatus we hope to purchase. Perhaps we should start a Fundraising Committee, also put onto the Bishopsteignton Website all our achievements over the last few years. People do tend to forget what we have actually attained, and our future aims, this will help focus their minds.

Martin Pester has very kindly Audited the accounts for the Charity Commission and has agreed to continue in the future years as an Honorary Auditor. To which I say thank you.

Co-operative Bank Community Directplus Account

Income:  £492.00

Expenditure  £198.00

Transfer (Monies held before registering as a charity)     £1544.00

Total: £1,838.00

Jenny Charlton

Chairman’s Annual Report  15 January 2019. ( Eddy Stephenson)

When I looked back at last year’s report to this meeting I thought if I changed a few words and phrases no-one would notice. You may be relieved to hear that I shelved that thought!

I think it would be fair to say that 2018 has been a year of consolidation with our existing activities continuing without too many problems and some new initiatives that are mainly still in embryo.

The year started well with three session of Defibrillator/CPR training by Lewis Myers. Thirty five villagers responded to the adverts and attended although disappointingly there were one or two no-shows. Lewis is ready to run further session but this year there will be a charge of £10 per person plus £2 per person for room hire.  Bishopsteignton WI and St. John’s Church have both indicated that they would like courses.

Carewatch has continued its role to provide a much appreciated facility in our Village supporting anyone who needs help in the areas detailed in the leaflet. Jacqueline Pester has been an excellent administrator ably assisted by Ros Hearn. Ros has decided to step down from HLG but will continue supporting Jacqueline when required. Our sincere thanks go to Ros who was responsible for much of the initial research on Care Watch and worked with the police to ensure we met compliance matters.

Fran has again taken a massive role under the Carewatch banner, many thanks to her for all her contributions.

The Memory Cafe has gone from strength to strength. Mary will report next.

Alison stepped down from her role as Dementia Friendly Champion during the year having made a tremendous start to establishing Bishopsteignton as a Dementia Friendly Village. We were able to welcome Finella Whitehorn as our new Dementia Friendly Champion and I know she is booked on a course in the near future.

The launch of a Village Trim Trail has been slow however things are beginning to move forward with progress on a Table Tennis Table at The Lawns well under way. A grant application has been submitted to Sport England to assist with the costs. We are working on a series of ‘graded walks’ within the village developed by Roger Avery. Roos will be providing some statistics that will enable users to define the benefits achieved.

The Emergency Plan for our village has now been approved. Funding is being sought to enable purchase of various items of equipment that would be essential if an event occurred. The snow of last winter provided an opportunity to test the plan which emerged victorious thanks to a concerted village effort. HLG is strongly represented on BERT providing a close overlap and awareness of areas of mutual interest.

Already we have a programme of “seated yoga” in place for 2019 with eight sessions booked for April & May. A new facility that will provide a conduit to Bereavement Counselling is in the pipeline and I know Volunteering in Health and Carlie will have some input to that programme.

This brings me to publicity. How many times have you referred to HLG or BERT and received a blank look? BERT will be soon be issuing an information sheet that will include a reference to HLG. That’s a start! We need to up our profile and I will welcome thoughts and offers of help do this.

As I have said before, this group holds no hidden agendas and exists for the benefit of the residents of Bishopsteignton. My personal thanks and appreciation to everyone who has worked with and supported me in leading its aims in 2018.

Secretary’s report:

Bishopsteignton Memory Cafe continues to meet once a month and has a steady core of clients plus some new ones so our numbers remain healthy. As before, our sessions this year have covered a variety of areas including games, school-day reminiscences, craft workshops and singing. 33 of us sat down to Christmas Lunch in December at the Cockhaven following entertainment provide by a large choir of pupils of various ages from the Primary School. Once again this was one of the highlights of the year.

We have also had a couple of outings, one to Buckfast Abbey thanks to the generosity of Dart Vale Rotary who paid for this. It was a lovely afternoon allowing time to walk around the grounds, the Abbey and the gift shop before enjoying a cream tea in the restaurant. We also had a trip to China Blue in Totnes where some of our number revealed hidden artistic talents in decorating plates. Both trips were thoroughly enjoyed by those who went on them.

A new venture this past year has been an additional monthly session called “Singing for Memory”. This has given us a chance to sing songs that people remember, some from many years ago and some more recent. It isn’t a choir and those attending do not have to be expert singers but simply enjoy singing. It is amazing to see people who have definite memory problems singing along to songs without any difficulty in remembering the words. Although I (unwillingly) took the lead in this at first it has now been handed over to the skilful hands of Liz MacNamara & Finella Whitehorn who are doing an excellent job.

There was a scare at the end of 2018 when it looked as if we would lose our accommodation due to proposed building works at Cockhaven. Fortunately for us these works have been postponed for at least 12 months so we can continue with our plans for the coming year. However, it did make us realise how lucky we are to have the use of Cockhaven because we were finding it difficult to think of alternative venues that meet our needs so well – central to the village, easy access to all, ample parking and enough room for all clients and our activities.

Finally, the Memory Cafe would not be the success it is without the excellent and dedicated volunteers who help in so many ways. My thanks go to all of them for their hard work and support.

Appointment of Secretary and Treasurer as Trustees of HLG.

This proposal was approved. Proposed by K. Lambert and seconded by E. Cawthraw.

There was unanimous thanks to Eddy Stephenson for all hi work over the year.

AOB:

  1. Keith Lambert offered a second hand phone to CareWatch to replace the existing one. It was agreed that if should not prove suitable HLG would fund the purchase of a new one.
  2. There was an update on the progress of the Trim Trail. Glendinning’s quote of £1,500 for the concrete table tennis table is to be accepted as is the quote from BGS for the groundworks and installation of the table for about £2,000. A grant application is to be made to Sport England to help towards these costs. The collating of the graded walks is also under way. K. Lambert is also to consult Ken Cassidy to ensure the proposed table tennis table will meet the requirements of table tennis players.
  • Fran Edwards will be holding a coffee morning in aid of Motor Neurone Disease on 23rdFebruary at the Ring of Bells from 10 – 12.
  1. Andy Davies reported that Volunteering in Health is recruiting a mental health worker who would probably be available to speak to individuals and groups within this area. He also reported that the proposed co-location of surgeries in Teignmouth is now awaiting an announcement from NHS concerning the Brunswick Street location.
  2. Elaine Cawthraw raised the issue of the proposed closure of Teignmouth hospital. She reported that Bishopsteignton Parish Council had voted unanimously to support the Save Teignmouth Hospital campaign. HLG agreed to back this movement and will encourage people to write in showing their support.

The meeting closed at 8.35

Next HLG meeting Tuesday 26th February at Methodist Church at 7.30 pm

Next year’s AGM Tuesday 14th January 2020.