Dorchester Deanery Children's Group - Meeting Minutes

Minutes of meeting held on Monday, 14th March, 2005 at ‘Allen’s’, 8, Augustan Close, Dorchester.

Present: Allen Knott (Chairperson), Phyllis Brown, Chris Brown, Lydia Hampshire, Lauretta Kerridge

Welcome: Allen warmly welcomed everyone to the meeting.

Apologies: These had been received from Jan Taylor, Revd. Philip Lambert, Rich Cox, Wendy Fobister
Revd.Rosemary Bassett, Gill McCourtie and Jane Pryce.

Correspondence:
- The group had received a letter from Janet Delaney asking for volunteers to help with children’s activities at the Great Dorset Steam Fair. The days when helpers are needed are Wednesday 31st August – Saturday 3rd September. Anyone able to help on one or more of these days can either let Lauretta know or ring Janet at the Diocesan Office on 01722 411977.
- Confirmation had been received from St. John Ambulance who are able to provide First Aid cover for ‘O Taste & See’. The group would provide lunch for the St. John Ambulance volunteers.
- Jane Pryce (Broadmayne Rep.) had emailed to thank the group for offering to send information on ‘O Taste & See’ but also to say that the Broadmayne children were much younger than 10. It was agreed that the age limits on the day wouldn’t be too rigid if there were children who fell just outside of them. Further, very young children would still be welcome to the afternoon service.
- Revd. Richard Betts had confirmed the booking of Friday, 9th December, 6 -7 p.m. for ‘Carols On The Green’. Geraldine Moxom (St. George’s Hall Booking Secretary) had also agreed to the hall kitchen being used.

Matters Arising:
• Newsletter: Allen’s second newsletter had been sent to the majority of PCCs in the Deanery raising awareness of the group and promoting the forthcoming Taster Day in the parishes. It was decided that for the Parish of Dorchester, these should be distributed to each Church. Allen would therefore take a newsletter to St. George’s, Lauretta would send one to St. Mary’s, and Lydia would give a copy to Janet Cooper for St. Peter’s.

• ‘O taste and see’ - Church Taster Day, Martinstown, Saturday, 14th May, 2005:
* Mailing: The group were grateful to Lydia for making copies of the poster and the letters. An information package would be mailed to each Deanery rep. This would comprise of an explanatory letter, several copies of an application form for families, a Church Reply form and one or more posters. Forms were to be returned by 10th April. The next group meeting would be held shortly after this; any parishes who had not replied could be telephoned to see if they had children who were interested. It was agreed that Allen would also give some invitations to Penny Fennell (for the Salvation Army) and Lydia would take some for the United Church.

* Update on workshops:
- Stained Glass Windows: It was agreed that John Callum be given a gift of £50 from the group to cover his overheads.
- Music: Allen had previously recommended Ed Hince as an excellent leader for this. It was now confirmed that Ed would lead the music workshop at ‘O Taste & See’.
- Craft: Paul Taylor would be involved in the craft workshop which Jan Taylor had kindly agreed to lead. Louise Batt from Godmanstone had also said she could help with this workshop and Lauretta had therefore given Louise’s phone number to Jan. Jan had asked about themes and it was felt that ‘Christianity’ or ‘Pentecost’ might provide a good starting point. In response to a query about a budget for craft resources, the group decided that although there were no real restrictions on finance, £50 would be comparable to that given for Stained Glass Window making.

* Registration: It was decided that using the badge machine would take too long. Lydia therefore offered to make the necessary arrangements for the children’s names to be put onto sticky labels.

* Service: Allen would put together the service which would include elements from all the morning workshops. An organist would be needed and this was discussed. It was also suggested that members of the Clergy may find it easier to ‘drop in’ during the day rather than be tied to attending between 2.30 and 3.30 p.m. for the service and an invitation could be sent to all Clergy.

* Catering: Phyllis would provide squash, tea and coffee in the middle of the morning and at lunchtime. She would also purchase four ‘squidgy’ bottles of tomato ketchup and salt & vinegar to go with the chips. It was noted that the group would need to know in advance of the children’s menu preferences so that these could be told to ‘Case & Brewer’ fish & chip shop prior to the day. The group therefore agreed that a ‘Food Order’ slip be drawn up and sent to all reps with the information pack. Each child/adult leader would be given the choice of cod & chips, burger & chips, veggie burger & chips or chips only. Phyllis would purchase apples (gala variety) for everybody.

* Misc.:
- Heating: Lauretta would find out about heating the hall should this be necessary.
- Marshalling: Chris would take responsibility for Health and Safety on the day. Of particular concern was the marshalling of the young people between the church and the hall.

• Chairperson’s Resignation: Following ‘O Taste & See’, Allen would be stepping down as Chairperson due to other commitments. The group would be sorry to see him leave but were grateful to Allen for agreeing to ‘MC’ ‘Carols on the Green’ in December.

Date of next meeting:
This would take place on Monday, 11th April, 7.30 p.m.* at Lydia’s, 14, James Road, Dorchester.

Close: Phyllis closed the meeting with prayer.

The group thanked Allen for his kind hospitality and complimented him both on his sherry and his long stemmed sherry glasses.

* Lydia recommended a prompt arrival to the next meeting for all those wanting hot chocolate with marshmallows…