2024 Annual Parish Meeting

ALLINGTON PARISH MEETING

 

Minutes of the Annual Parish Meeting held in the Village Hall

Wednesday 10 April 2024

 

Present Cllr Marsh

Cllr Lowes

Cllr Marvin

Janet Morton (clerk)

 

Groups and Societies represented at the meeting.

 

Carpet Bowls, Allington Craft Club, Allington On-Line, Playing Field Fundraisers 

Village Hall Management Committee, Allington News, Holy Trinity Church PCC

Allington Gardens Residents Association, Friday Yoga, Allington Craft Club

Allington Social Club, New Age Kurling, Viking Squares, Allington WI

 

DC Rob Leadenham & 31 villagers attended

 

CHAIR’S INTRODUCTION

The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting.

Some housekeeping; this is not a Parish Council Meeting and so there will be no business and no decisions will be made tonight.

A few notes of thanks:

Thank you to all of you for attending tonight’s meeting whether or you are making a presentation or you are an interested village parishioner. We appreciate the time that you are giving and you are very welcome.

I must mention Stuart Ashley, who has been the most diligent Playing Fields Caretaker for the past 14 years or so. So Stuart, Thank You for all you have done for the village and on retiring we are going to find it difficult to find someone to fill your shoes. 

We will be advertising for his successor in due course.

A note of thanks to Janet Moreton who is retiring as Parish Clerk after 5 years. On behalf of the Parish Council, I would like to take this opportunity to thank Janet for her service to the Council and the Village.

Finally, I would like to thank the Hempstead family who continue to be a great asset to the village, maintaining all the grass areas and hedges.

 

APOLOGIES

Cllr John Plummer, Cllr Claire Storer & Cllr Sally Reynolds

Allington Morris, Allington Petanque, Allington Twinning Association

Biking Vikings, Pilates (Jullian Withington),

Save a Life Sessions & Danserye.

 

MINUTES OF THE LAST ANNUAL PARISH MEETING ON 19 APRIL 2023

The minutes were confirmed and signed as a true record.

 

CHAIR’S REPORT

Playing Field Car Park – this has been extended and significant amount of additional stone has been added to the car park surface following so much rain.

The Multi Use Games Area or MUGA – this is an important and valuable piece of equipment which gets plenty of use, but also need to be kept in a fit a safe state for those requiring to use it.  The base must not be allowed to become over saturated and the sides have hade to be extended upwards and replaced. The sides are to stop footballs etc flying out onto the Children’s Play area NOT for climbing practice for bored teenagers. 

The Fundraisers must be thanked for they continued vital financial support to the Parish Council, enabling us to make the playing fields and village the huge asset that it is. Their dedication and hard work is greatly appreciated.

The Queens Jubilee trees have been planted along Marston Lane and tree surgeons were employed to complete the work of trimming and removing the dead wood across the village.

Two new Defibrillators have been installed in the village, one in the Red Telephone Box and one up at the Playing Field, on the side of the Pavilion. That makes four around the village and if anyone is dubious about how to use them, please contact Mike Mould, Dave Smedley or any member of the Parish Council. It doesn’t take a few minutes to settle your nerves and perhaps be able to save someone’s life.

There are six additional 30mph signs placed around the village to hopefully encourage the reduction of speed. We have also set up a Community Speed Watch Group, equipment has been purchased, volunteers gathered, training done and you will see around the village soon – so watch out!

We had some success as a village in the Best Kept Village competition, but it has now become the Village In Bloom. To protect and improve the look of the Village Green, we have ordered 4 large self watering planters which Petal has agreed to fill. Thank you, Sue.

 

We will have a Q & A session after all the village organisations have presented.

So please save your questions until then and we will do our best to answer them before the meeting ends.

 

Reports From Clubs & Societies

 

CARPET BOWLS

The Club meet on two Sundays a month during the winter (September to April/May).  We have now finished for this season, but for more information please contact initially Shirley Barnaby on email chrisshirleybarnaby@gmail.com. Thank you.

 

ALLINGTON ON-LINE

Has been producing the village website since 2010 when people thought they needed to inform everyone of what is going on.  New side now advertising events, people need to send the information to John Slater to be added.  Has gone down due to the Facebook site which he set up about 9 years ago.  He is working on regenerating the online site and is looking for information to be added ie walks, cycle routes, local history, old photos of interest and suggestions of other ideas ie listing houses for local agents for which there would be a charge.  The new site will be called Allington.uk

 

ALLINGTON MORRIS

Allington Morris have continued in the village tradition, with dance outs at the Welby to mark start and end of the season and pub nights in the local area joined by members of Lincoln and Mickleberrow Morris. We marked our 35th anniversary by dancing with them and New Saint George outside the pub, which was a jolly occasion, with masked dances, lots of music and Allington Morris Cupcakes for dancers and audience alike!

Our Practice season, now coming to a close, has started strongly and we have 10 dancers with 4 musicians when everyone is available. We start our Dancing season as usual outside the Welby on Wednesday 1st May. If you think that you might be interested in dancing or joining the musicians, new members are always welcome. In fact we have a new recruit from just 2 weeks ago, so please have a word or get in touch through the Allingtononline webpage or Facebook page.

 

FRIDAY YOGA

Friday 10-11am contact Jane Anderson for further information.

 

ALLINGTON CRAFT AFTERNOON

Our group of crafters continues to grow, with a wide variety of projects being undertaken. As ever, the afternoon is much about conversation a crafting!

New members are always welcome on Monday afternoons, when you can learn something new, seek advice or pass on your expertise.

 

ALLINGTON SOCIAL CLUB

Friday afternoon sees a nucleus of people who come along to not only chat and enjoy refreshments, but also play cards and board games.

A warm welcome awaits anybody who would like to join us.

.

NEW AGE KURLING

Kurling is proving to be a popular pastime with numbers remaining high. Anyone wishing to learn a new game for all abilities is always welcome. We are in the Village Hall from 

2-4.30pm on Tuesdays and contact Heather Nuttall if you are interested.

The group enjoys subsidised outings or meals twice a year. Also evening matches have been played against Grantham Kesteven Rotary Club which everyone enjoyed.

 

ALLINGTON NEWS

Most of you will be aware of the Allington News as it is delivered bi-monthly, free of charge to every household in Allington and Sedgebrook.

The next issue will be the 250th. This is a testament to the hard work and dedication of all the people who have been involved over the last 40 years. Quite amazing really! We would love to ensure that it can continue for at least another 40 years.

What you may not be aware is that it was started in 1983 by Marion Strange who approached Geoff Horsfall with an idea of launching a village newspaper…and so it was born.

We have a great team of approx. 12 people, led by Pam Plumber, who meet regularly to gather input from many different sources which hope our readers find both interesting and informative.  It also involves proof reading and preparing the paper for printing.

We are always looking for articles and everyone is welcome to contribute. Please use email: allingtonnews@outlook.com to send articles.

The only way to provide this service is selling limited advertising and the 200 Club.

You may ask What is the 200 Club?

It’s 200 tickets in a monthly Draw at a cost to you of £1 per ticket - £12/year on 01.01

You may have more than 1 ticket due to availability Contact Julie Scott for info. Details in the paper. (or any member of the committee)

One Draw per Month

Top Prize £35 & 6 prizes per month – winners published in paper.

 

TAI CHI

Tuesday 10-11am, contact Rebecca Peacock on rebtpeacock@gmail.com for information.

 

CHURCH COFFE MORNING

The 4 “C’s” – Church, Coffee, Cake & Chat.

The Church fundraising Coffee Mornings are held on the 1st Monday of every month.

They started 2 1/2years ago to help raise funds for the Church Path, Toilet and Servery and up to now they have raised just over £5000.

They welcome 35-45 people at their events each month between 10am-12noon for tea of coffee and home-made cakes.  They also run a small raffle.

They are blessed to be supported by people from the whole village and also some who used to live here and return to visit old friends and have a good catchup each month.

We also support the Village Hall Coffee Mornings and Cafes (depending on the time of year), but is nice to be able to have 2 Coffee Mornings to enjoy each month in the village at present!

 

PLAYING FIELD FUND RAISERS

The Allington Playing Field is not a municipal space, but owned by the village.

Over the years the Fundraisers have raised funds for CAPITAL PROJECTS to improve the facilities for the village which may otherwise not have been possible.

The MAINTENANCE costs are managed by the Parish Council.

The Fundraisers raise around £7-8000 per year and projects are agreed between them and the PC, but always with the best intention for the village. 

There are 3 main annual events (plus the odd Coronation thrown in!)

1. The Allington Big Weekend – a 3-day Event with a Bar, Food & Entertainment not to mention the Stalls & Car Show…venue APF

2. Bonfire Night – Best value for money! Professional Firework Display, Bar, Food…venue APF

3. The Allington Village Christmas Tree Lighting – Start of the festive season in the village, Tree on the end of the Green, Mulled Wine, Mince Pies…venue TWA

If you are new (or not) to the village and are interested, do join us. I can be hard work, but great fun. 

There are other events eg Comedy Nights on an ad hoc basis also but everyone seems to enjoy themselves so come alone, have fun and raise funds for your village too.

 

(AGRA) GRAA 

Heather Nuttall took over as Chair in June 2023 following the resignation of the previous Chair and approached Judith Baron to take over as Secretary after that position also became vacant.

Heather Spring had become Treasurer in March 2023. Her starting point, however, was a bucket of cash, access to the bank account, but no accounts had been done and no records of anything after the AGM of 2021.

There were several anomalies against the Constitution which has been remedied

As the Residents Association had declined, it was decided to re-brand it. Instead of being called AGRA which appeared unfriendly, it was decided to call it The Gardens, which many already call it anyway. This was confirmed at the last AGM with the Association renamed The Gardens Resident’s Association, Allington, henceforth. 

Treasurer Heather soon realised that we have a strong and enthusiastic Committee, so kept a strict eye on the finances and the GRAA now has developed a budget.

Judith also produces and distributes a bi-monthly newsletter called “Down the Gardens” with information and updates for all residents.

Our planned Coronation Event had to be postponed due to inclement weather, but when held in August raised £150 for the Lincs & Notts Air Ambulance and a similar amount for the Gardens.

Other events organised have been a Quiz in October (postponed for a week due to Storm Babet but a success once here, if a little tricky!), a trip to East Bridgeford Garden Centre and a Carol Service on the Green with the switching on of our Christmas Lights.

The previous Committee had been offered a large shed by the Management of the Gardens site to replace 2 leaky storage units on the Green. This, however required a costly concrete base to be laid first. The new Committee wanted to address this but did not have the required funds. The Village Hall Committee and Parish Council were approached asking for a donation towards this problem. The VH held a café and donated £350 from that and the PC donated £400. Thanks to these donations the base was able to be laid just before Christmas, we then had to wait for the shed to be transported and placed onto the base.  It has now been done and a floor has now been constructed by 2 members of The Gardens only 2 weeks ago and racking has been purchased. Very soon I will be able to empty my garage of The Gardens items and park my car!!

The AGM was held at the end of November. The Committee had wondered how it might proceed considering the previous two years of negative history. However, after explaining all the problems there had been and the auditor speaking out about the present accounts going in the right direction, the meeting was very positive and were very happy with the present Committee. 3 more Committee members were elected to bring us up to full quota and we also have a further 2 co-opted members. We are very grateful for all the help we have had from other residents with donations and hands on help.

More fundraising events have been organised for the upcoming year.

The Gardens is moving from strength to strength and are now having lots of support and an increase in membership. The links to the main village are increasing which is a good thing. Anyone is welcome at out events. Thanks go to our hardworking Committee.

 

ALLINGTON PETANQUE

We are based up at the playing fields and continue to flourish with another successful year on the improved and extended pistes which have attracted an increasing number of players.

The Allington Petanque League was held from May to September with seven teams, from all over the village. There were two new teams last year which is testament to the growing popularity of the game within the village.

The Presentation Night was held in Village Hall on 29th November. The winning Dragons team were presented with the League Trophy. There were over 30 players in attendance who enjoyed the evenings food and entertainment.

Allington pétanque also organise introductory practice sessions on Thursday and Sunday at 3pm, where everyone is welcome.

The popularity of the game within Allington has extended beyond the village boundaries. The Foston Explorer Scouts group have shown an interest and hope to visit us this summer. Also, last summer, members of the Ruffec pétanque club in France, kindly donated a number od trophies to Allington pétanque. So there will be a new competion this year which hopefully will attract even more players from the village.

With the introduction of the league, a greater number of people have become involved. Allington Petanque started out with the intention of getting everybody playing or at least aware of the facilities on the playing fields. The playing fields and pétanque area are available for the whole village and the more people involved will vindicate the outlay of this Parish Council.

 

HOLY TRINITY CHURCH

There is still no regular Church vicar as no-one seems to want to come and live in the area and look after 7 churches. The church is thriving and the wonderful retired vicar Stella still helps with services. A large legacy was used to do the church path, fundraising is continuing for phase 2 this will be to install a toilet and kitchen area within the church.

 

 

TWINNING ASSOCIATION

Tuffe have recently started to send us their newsletter which will be put in various places around the village for people to read. I f anyone is interested in receiving one regularly please get in touch.

The schools in Allington and Tuffe were put in touch, so hopefully they are going to start corresponding with each other. I have not had an update, but hope this happens soon.

One lady in the village asked if there was a possibility of having a pen pal from Tuffe. Someone was found and they are now enjoying corresponding with each other. There was a request by a lady from Tuffe for a pen pal from the village, but unfortunately, I have not found anyone who would like to correspond with her. If anyone is interested please get in touch.

I have recently had news that Theresa and Paul Tanner are resigning from the Twinning Association after being involved from the beginning. I would like to thank them both for everything that they have done over the years. We will need a new treasurer so if anyone is interested, please let me know.

Many thanks, Sue Ashby.

 

BIKING VIKINGS

This was a bit of an unusual year, sadly with the passing of Guy’s mother, Victoria, there ride wasn’t able to take place in October ‘23 as usual. “Pudsey’s Revenge” is rescheduled for the weekend of 18th/19th May with 23 cyclists booked to take part.

We’ll be riding back from Pudsey (Nr Leeds) back via the Trans Pennine trail with an overnight at Worksop before riding back through Clumber Park and Newark – just under 100 miles! It would be great to see everyone back at the Welby Arms at about 4pm on Sunday 19th May.

We’ve around £98.000 raised for BBC Children In Need so hopefully this year’s ride will help us clear the £100,000 mark.

Hopefully this year will be a bit of a celebration – open to ideas… After this there’s likely to be a break and think about change in format/charity etc.

 

PILATES

Allington Pilates continues to run on a Monday evening 7-8pm in term time only. Our sessions run as a bookable course and we’re currently fully booked with 18 regular participants. We do have a waiting list for those that would like to join us as places become available.

 

VIKING SQUARES

Tuesdays 7-10pm contact Judy Grummitt for further information.

They recently had a very successful Square Dance Ho-Down! in the Village Hall. 

 

VILLAGE HALL MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE

It’s been another eventful year at the Village Hall with range of regular daily activities taking place every day of the week and most weekends. This brings income but also causes wear and tear on an old building.

Along with the rise in costs we had an expensive year as we had to replace/update several items unexpectedly.  These include a child’s toilet which was broken, hot water tank need replacing, the fire alarm system had to be extended to include the boiler house, disability ramps and handrails upgrades.

For the smooth running of the hall and to maintain the availability of the service to the village we have had to take the decision to increase to rents from 1st May 2024, but this will not cover the cost of roof repairs that are upcoming and the drain repairs that are desperate.

If it wasn’t for the very kind legacy from Mary Thompson (which we have plans for and so do not want to dip into) we would be frankly nearly flat broke. We are looking into grants for the drains issue, but once sorted it has to be put out there that we are a Community Building. We are part of the Village and as such wish that more of the community would think about using us as a facility for them and use us and/or come to our functions.

At present our fundraising has been through many events including Cafes, Coffee Mornings, Village Quiz, Table Top Sales, Christmas Fayre etc 

Future events include a BBQ to celebrate the 80th Anniversary of D-Day on 8th June along with entertainment, a concert by the Winter Singers in the autumn along with another Quiz and a Race Night. For more information contact Jackie Willis or any member of the VH committee.

A plea from the committee for some more members, please. At present we are a crew of mostly older members and wish for an influx of younger blood! If anyone is interested our AGM is on Wed 29th May (not 22nd as previously advertised) and we welcome anyone along who is interested.

Mank thanks. DS.

 

ALLINGTON WOMENS INSTITUTE

We have a high standard of speakers. There was Keith Hanson who is a retired Yeoman of the Guard and worked at the Tower of London for a number of years, he spoke about Kings and Queens from 1066, to Lincolnshire Blood Bike Services who transport vital supplies up and down the A1 and then there were amusing stories a from retired vicar, Rev. Canon Alan Haydock.

We planted Spring Pots, visited Easten Walled Garden, entered the Lady Denman Cup Competition receiving comments on the range and quality of the writing, visited the local hostelry for meals and spent a lovely afternoon in a local member’s garden enjoying tea and homemade cake (we have to check they are up to standard!)

Membership is increasing and financially we are sound. We have published articles in local magazines incl. A. News, Lincs South Federation News and WI Life.

We held a very successful joint Musical Evening venture with the Village Hall of the Ladies Choir “InVoice” from Grantham and JD from Allington Gardens who sang and played the guitar. It sold out!

We plan to support village events, whenever possible, working as a team which has proved successful for us at the Allington WI.

Visitors are always welcome (£5) and meetings are on the 1st Wednesday of the month. Come along to discover for yourself what Allington WI is about – there is always cake!

 

SEATED YOGA

Yoga is done on a weekly basis and has been slow to grow but is expanding.  The yoga is adaptable to all levels from beginners to advanced.  Yoga is excellent for respiratory diseases and long covid.  The exercises assist you to open up your lungs and keep you away from the doctor.  It is amazing.

 

GRANTHAM DANSERYE (Email submission)

Grantham Danserye meets in the hall every 3rd Saturday afternoon of the month for dance classes and rehearsals. We have taken part in several events this year including providing a Medieval Dance Workshop and dance displays at the Medieval Music and the Dales Festival at Bolton Castle, Yorkshire. We proved Tudor court and dance displays as support for Tracy Borman, a historian, when she gave a lecture near Lincoln. We ran a Regency Tea Dance for Oundle Fringe Festival and a Dance session for the public at Folkingham Georgian Festival. We have also provided talks and historical dance displays for several WI’s and other organisations so are available to do more if requested. New members are always welcome. Contact Lynne or Mike Spicer at: granthamdanserye@gmail.com

We very much appreciate being able to be able to use the village hall as it is so well equipped and lovingly maintained. We couldn’t wish for a better venue.

 

SAVE A LIFE SESSIONS

What would people do if someone stopped breathing? In the UK, 77% of people either don’t know of are unsure of how to perform CPR.

Save an Adult’s Life Workshops teach local communities what to do in an emergency and equip them with the skills to help adults who have stopped breathing, are choking or have suffered a heart attack and how to use an AED/Defibrillator.

These sessions have been delivered with the support of LeisureSK, but the idea did originate over a pint at the Welby!

We’ve held 4 sessions in Allington so far with a total of 48 residents taking up the opportunity to learn these skills – the programme has been rolled out across South Kesteven with a total of 19 sessions and 175 people taking part.

Our next sessions will be taking place in September, October and November. We’ll take bookings from Parish Councils for these sessions from July. Anyone looking to attend please get in touch with Mike Mould, David Smedley or the Parish Council.

 

DISTRICT COUNCILLOR ROB LEADENHAM

Rob said it was a breath of fresh air coming to listen to all the groups within the village.  He noted that the common theme was lack of funding.  There is plenty of funding money available for groups with bank accounts having at least 2 signatories.  Rob can introduce you to Victoria at SKDC who can assist you in finding the right fund to apply for.  He is here to help you in any way possible to improve the community.

 

After the presentations everyone circulated and had refreshments.