CROFTON CHILDREN’S PLAY AREAS ASSOCIATION

Minutes of the meeting on Monday 21^st July 2003

Attendees: Robert Baker, Paula Baker, Joan Helme, Christine Sinclair,

Arthur Ripley, Julian Ellis, Sean Skidmoor & Helen Tate

Apologies: Sharon Gallagher

1. The minutes for the last meeting dated 16^th June 2003 were agreed.

2. Matters arising:
• There is to be a meeting next week to draw up and discuss the plans for a skatepark. Julian will check if planning permission is required, as it will be on an existing play area.
• The skatepark is to be done first as a ‘sweetener’ for the older children, in the hope that it will reduce vandalism.
• The skatepark is to include benches & bins to encourage sociable behaviour but no shelters as these often attract drunks. Julian will check that WMDC will empty the bins.
• We have received a letter from the Parish Council inviting us to attend their next meeting on Tuesday 16^th September. It was decided two members would go, taking a copy of the accounts. We are to ask for a pledge for 11% of our grant bid of £25,000, which we will need to match the funding for this first stage of three. This first stage is the completion of an extreme sports park and an enhancement of the current BMX track.
• It was suggested we send a letter to WMDC to see if they can possibly help cover our shortfall, stating that we are working with the local community in this venture, particularly the youngsters and schools (who are actually helping to produce designs) and a skate expert (Sean).
• The meeting organised for the completion of the grant proposal forms has been brought forward to 5.15pm on Tuesday 29^th in the Walnut Tree.
• Julian suggested holding a bucket collection in the local supermarkets.
• Helen suggested using left over prizes from gala at St. Luke’s August Family Fun Afternoon (Sharlston), as it is only £5 for a stall towards the church. The Splat the Rat game would be good as there isn’t one and it is always popular.
• Shaun offered to try the company he works for, Morrison’s buyers, to see if they will donate anything.

3. Crofton Gala:

· We were very proud to have won 3^rd prize in the procession fancy dress, gaining £10 for our cause and extra exposure.

· We took £64.00 on the day, which was disappointing, as it was only half of last year’s total. Once the cost of the tee shirts was taken out we broke even, although the tee shirts are obviously re-usable.

· Robert requested permission to buy a bottle of whiskey for Helen’s Dad, Brian Perkins, as a thank you for his efforts in the production of our tee shirts.

4. Raffle:
• We have been very kindly given some Thompson Travel vouchers (worth up to £200).
• The cost of tickets was decided as £1.00 each, to cut down on printing costs.
• The raffle needs to be done as quickly as possible as the vouchers need to be used by May ’04.
• We need to get a licence from WMDC to allow us to sell raffle tickets. This lasts for a year, so needs to be bought as late as possible.

5. Date of Next Meeting:
• The next meeting of Crofton Children’s Play Areas Association will be held on Monday 8^th September 2003 in Shay Lane Primary School.

6. A.O.B.: None