Dorchester Deanery Children's Group - Meeting Minutes

Minutes of meeting held on Monday, 11th April 2005 at ‘Lydia’s’, 14, James Road, Dorchester

Present: Allen Knott (Chairperson), Lydia Hampshire, Phyllis Brown, Chris Brown, Gillian McCourtie, Rich Cox, Lauretta Kerridge

Apologies: Revd. Philip Lambert, Sarah Godfrey (Charminster), Beth Buchan (Synod Rep).

Matters Arising:
‘O Taste & See’: The deadline for return of application forms for ‘O Taste & See’ had been set as Thursday, 14th April. Lauretta reported that, to date, only two people had expressing an interest in the day. A number of replies had been received from group reps explaining that the children they worked with were much younger than the age group ‘O Taste & See’ had been designed for. Gill informed the group that there were a few young people in Martinstown who were interested in coming along although not all replies had been received.

It was agreed by all present that even if a few more applications came through from Martinstown, numbers would still be insufficient to make a day on the scale of ‘O Taste & See’ viable. Therefore, the decision was unanimous, that, unless in excess of twenty applications were received by Thursday, it would be best to cancel the event.

It was agreed amongst those present, that Lauretta would contact them on Thursday, and in the case of cancellation being necessary, the following people would be notified by members of the group: Bishop Tim, Janet Delaney, Paul & Jan Taylor, Deanery Reps, Village Hall Bookings’ Secretary, Revd. Rosemary Bassett and helpers from Martinstown, Mr. Slade (Village Green Booking), John Callum, Ed Hince, the Fish & Chip shop.

Profits from ‘And Another Thing!’: Discussion then followed as to how the remaining proceeds from the sale of Allen’s poetry book should best be used if ‘O Taste & See’ did not go ahead. It was agreed that the group did not want to keep money in a bank account when it could be used to benefit young people in the Deanery. After some discussion around this, it was suggested that those who were eligible to attend ‘O Taste & See’ could be given a Bible, inscribed from the group as being a ‘present for Pentecost’. ‘A gift from Dorchester Deanery Children’s Group’ was considered a good idea however, it was questioned whether many of the young people would already have Bibles and which versions would be preferable. Christian books could be given but it would be difficult to tailor these to individual tastes. It was therefore proposed that book vouchers be given, perhaps in conjunction with Herrings’ Christian Bookshop. The young people could then exchange their voucher for a book of their choice. It was agreed that this would be an excellent plan. Allen would speak with John Herring and Lydia would visit Herrings’ Bookshop in order to discuss the possibilities of this further. Vouchers could be valid for two months and be to the value of £10. Lydia could design the vouchers and Rich would laminate them if necessary. Lauretta would liaise with Deanery reps. regarding the number of vouchers needed by each parish.

Date of next meeting:
Annual General Meeting - Tuesday, 24th May, 2005 7.30 p.m. at St. Peter’s Church Hall, Dorchester.
Lydia would book St. Peter’s Church Hall for the AGM which, hall permitting, could be held on 24th April. Lauretta would send invitations to the Reps and to members of the Clergy.

The group thanks the Hampshire household for the refreshments (hot chocolate and crumble).