## **FRIENDS OF CHaT PARKS** . # **(Reg. Charity no: 1166255 ) Minutes of the 17th Annual General Meeting 29 July 2026 at 7.00 pm** **Present:** 13 members of the Group and one visitor - **1 Welcome:** The Chairman welcomed everyone to this the 17th Annual Meeting of the Group - **2 Apologies** have been received from Janet Deighton, Kevin Trickett, Brian Ward, Deborah Archer, Peter and Linda Breeze, Richard Brown, David Pickersgill, Mike O’Donnell, Brenda Ashurst and Geoff Wood. - **3 Minutes of AGM 2025:** these were agreed as a correct record. - **4 Matters arising:** There were no matters other than those covered by the Agenda ## **5 Chairman’s Report:** I will try to be brief so as to allow time for a talk on Lowe Hill castle ## **A successful year** The biggest project we undertook last year was the cleaning and repainting of the tennis courts. It was very expensive, but the courts now look in first class condition. We are getting more people using the courts and our aim of keeping prices down is encouraging more users to “have a go”. The games will be open seven days a week during the school holidays. Another project is the work on the lake, including the improvements at the outlet end. The leaks have been repaired, and most of the smell of rotting vegetation has gone. Much of the muddy area has now been surfaced and the area is cleaned regularly. The Secret Garden is one of the best parts of the Park. It has required a great deal of maintenance work, which is permanently on-going, by a very small group of volunteers Car Boot Sales have been successful. These are the way we raise money for the bedding plants every year. This is another area where volunteers take on a great deal of work It is one of our aims to encourage events in the Park. We have managed to get some events reestablished, including the fireworks and the Classic Vehicle Gathering. We do not want to manage these events, but we support and encourage others to run them. ## **Looking Forward** The increased number of visitors to the Park has led to a degree of vandalism and anti-social behaviour. We have kept in good contact with the police and PCSOs and encouraged them to visit the Park often. The issue is often raised at local PACT meetings. Another priority is the refurbishment of the conservatory. The seals around the glass panes have perished and require replacement. We must look at the need for care and maintenance of the building and the plants once it is re-opened. One issue is the nature of the plants, they may need to be better able to cope with cold because the cost of heating is continually rising. The Rose Garden is to be redesigned. The current design with many small beds requires extensive maintenance. It is proposed to have fewer, larger beds. The plan is to re-order one quarter each year for four years. It is also proposed to remove the memorial plaques in the beds. This must be done sensitively and will take some time to complete. We can look at other ways of remembering people, plaques on the wall, a memorial book. I have previously mentioned the need for volunteers, and I will repeat the request. Often the ideas for projects outpace the available help. We have been rather stretched this year and we are always looking to increase our numbers. I want to finish by once again thanking all the Committee and volunteers for their work’ Everyone on the Games of Thornes and the gardens. Jean for being our Social Media manager Margaret for keeping the books ## **7 Finance Report** The accounts for 2025 were circulated to the meeting and Margaret asked for any questions. It was explained that the Restricted Fund for Tennis has arisen from a grant from Wakefield Council to encourage wider participation in the sport. Margaret said that the accounts had been examined by John McCarthy and he had not charged for his work. Agreed to ask John to examine this year’s accounts. The approved figures will be uploaded to the Charity Commission website. ## **8 Committee Membership** In accordance with our Constitution, one third of the Committee stood down. The three longest-serving members are Ian Deighton, Joe Brandi and Peter Stokes. All three were re-elected along with the rest of the Committee. The Committee now comprises nine members; Ian Deighton, Margaret Kershaw, Jean Reeve, Peter Stokes, Merewyn Sayers, Brian Else, Brenda Ashurst, Joe Brandi and Chris Welch. ## **The formal Annual General Meeting finished at 7.50 pm** ## **Friends of CHaT Parks Accounts - 2025 - Financial Activity** ## **Unrestricted funds** |**Unrestricted funds**|||||| |---|---|---|---|---|---| |**Income**|||**Expenditure**||| |Membership|£652.41||Aviary|£390.00|| |Donations|£2,831.25||Secret Garden|£1,664.28|| |Honey|£990.00||Ofce Costs|£687.04|| |Car Boot Sales|£4,788.00||Bedding Plants|£3,916.18|| |Flowers & Sales|£1,146.31||Honey|£701.25|| |Miscellaneous|£655.20||Vouchers|£240.00|| |Teddy Stall|£214.00||misc|£190.00|| |Cashback|£20.71||||| ||£11,297.88||||£7,788.75| |**Restricted fund - Tennis**|||||| |**Income**|nil||**Expenditure**||| ||||Coaching Fees|nil|| |**Restricted Fund- Ticket**|**Ofce**||||| |**Income**|||**Expenditure**||| |Receipts|£9,724.96||Costs|£2,744.29|| ||£9,724.96||||£2,744.29| |**TOTAL**||**£21,022.84**|||**£10,533.04**| |**Friends of CHaT Parks Accounts - 2025**||**- Account**|**Balances**||| ||**Unrestricted Fund**||**Restricted Fund- **|**Tennis**|**Restricted Fund- Ticket**| |Opening Balance|£24,813.65||£5,671.20||£20,603.95| |Operational Balance|£3,509.13||||£6,980.67| |Closing balance|£28,322.78||£5,671.20||£27,584.62| |Cash in hand Dec 31|£64.23||||Closing balance on bank acco| |July 29 2026|||||| Balance £3,509.13 nil £6,980.67 **###** ## **t Ofce** ## **Total** £51,088.80 £10,489.80 £61,578.60 ount £61,578.60