Dorchester Deanery Children's Group - Meeting Minutes

Minutes of meeting held on Tuesday, 21st September, 2004
at ‘Allen’s’, 8, Augustan Close, Dorchester

Present: Allen Knott (Chairperson), Lydia Hampshire, Paul Taylor, Phyllis Brown, Chris Brown, Richard Cox, Lauretta Kerridge

Welcome: Allen welcomed everyone to the meeting and introduced the new Archdeacon of Sherborne, Ven. Paul Taylor, to the group.

Apologies: These had been received from Wendy Fobister (Charminster), Richard Kay (Piddle Valley) and Jean Coates (Owermoigne).

Minutes: These were agreed as being a correct record.

Finance: Chris reported that the total in the current account stood at £1,454.97 of which £1,170 was profit from poetry book sales.

Matters Arising:
 ‘And Another Thing!’ – Sale of Allen’s Poetry Book: There would no longer be an evening to present the proceeds to those who had applied to the fund, however it was unanimously agreed that the monies would be distributed thus:
*Charminster £100 for a special outing
*Martinstown £50 to set up a Sunday Morning Breakfast Club
*Moreton £75 for resource material for a new Bible Class
*St. George’s Dorchester £100 for chime bars and percussion instruments
*St. Peter’s Dorchester £100 for a TV/Video unit
*Watercombe £100 for musical instruments

In addition, for all their help and support in promoting and producing the book, it was agreed a further £75 be given to All Saints School, Wyke Regis towards purchasing of Christian books for the School Library.

Chris would write out cheques to the relevant beneficiaries and Lauretta would send these together with a covering letter to the respective incumbents. After the distribution, approximately £900 would be remaining in the account. £30 of this would be sent to the Watercombe benefice to help with transport to the ‘Mad for Chocolate’ Cathedral event for young people.

There was a possibility that ‘And Another Thing!’ could be retitled as ‘Poems from Salisbury Cathedral’ and sold in the Cathedral shop.

 Dorchester Fun Day: There had been many excellent reports of the Fun Day held at Sandringham fields in August. It was agreed that the group show their appreciation in a letter to the organisers.

 ‘You Can Come Too!’ Family Picnic: It was agreed that this event had been successful and it was felt that all who attended enjoyed the afternoon. A proposed date for the next Deanery Children’s Group Family Picnic was Sunday, 10th July, 2005 with the provisional venue of Sunninghill School.

 Carols on the Green; Friday, 10th December, 2004: Durnovaria Silver Band had been booked and St. John Ambulance would be in attendance. The Loyal Order of Moose would serve soup and the Police would arrange for the stretch of road in front of St. George’s and the Green to be shut off to vehicles. Lydia would liase with the Handbell ringers regarding the event. Chris and Lydia would co-ordinate a ‘leaflet drop’ in the Fordington area which would take place on the Friday before (3rd December). Anyone able to help deliver flyers advertising the event to houses around the Green would be welcome. It was noted that new hymn sheets would also be needed this year.

 Deanery Children’s Group Newsletters: In response to there being a lack of information about the Group in parishes around the Deanery, Allen had put together a newsletter which had been sent to all PCC Secretaries. The newsletter gave background about the group, past activities and future events which are planned. (Anyone wishing to see the newsletter should contact Lauretta). It was agreed that a copy be sent to Beth Buchan as Synod Rep.

It was noted that Dorchester Deanery Synod had recently set up a children’s working party; the purpose being to find out what is going on for children around the deanery and report back to Synod. The meeting agreed with the suggestion that it make contact with the Synod working party. Lauretta would speak with Debs Smith who was known to be one of the Synod committee members. Paul Taylor offered to promote the work of the Children’s Group around the Archdeaconry.

 Church Taster Day: As previously discussed, it was proposed to hold an exciting day for young people in the early part of 2005. This would provide something of a ‘taster’ of Church activities and ideas for included bell ringing, stained glass, singing and organ playing and would culminate with a service at the end of the afternoon. A provisional date for this was Saturday, 14th May 2005. Martinstown would act a good base for the majority of the day’s activities. Allen had been given approval for this by Winterbourne Valley Team Rector, Rosemary Bassett, however the availability of the Martinstown Village Hall and the Church on May 14th would need to be ascertained. Allen would contact Bishop Tim as to his availability on the day. Paul Taylor was happy to attend and offered to help with art activities. The most important asset for the day was felt to be in human resources and the volunteers who were able to help with the event. It was suggested that Trevor Bassett be approached with a view to instructing in bell ringing. Any young people who play musical instruments could be invited to bring these along for use in a music workshop and as part of the service. Child protection issues would need to be paramount and there was much that needed to be taken into consideration. It was therefore agreed that a small sub-committee meet in November to begin the preparations.

A.O.B.:
- Allen and Lauretta had attended the Young Sarum Team’s Resources Show in June and as a result held information on the new Scripture Union resource ‘Light for a new generation’. There were also leaflets on starting a ‘Church Lads and Church Girls Company’ and on ‘Treats’ (The Resources Equipment and Toy Store) based in Poundbury. These would be circulated with the minutes.

- The group thanked Paul Taylor for attending and for his valued contribution to the meeting.

Close: The Archdeacon closed the meeting with prayer.

Date of next meeting: Tuesday, 7th December, 2004; 7.30 p.m. for 7.45 p.m. at ‘Allen’s’.

Thanks to Allen for his hospitality
And for reading his poetry!


* The booking of Martinstown church and village hall for Saturday, 14th May, 2005 has now been confirmed.

* Also enclosed with the minutes is a photocopiable children’s activity leaflet relating to Women’s World Day of Prayer to be held on Friday, 4th March, 2005.