Old Buckenham 2000 Trust AGM

One year of the OB2000T
These notes have been produced by the blog editor from the chairman’s information given at the Annual General Meeting held on Wednesday 11 June.
It has been a turbulent year for the Trust with a mixture of frustrations and successes.
The frustrations? Since the last AGM in March 2013 the Trust had to suspend all grant awards due to unforeseen circumstances. However the Trust is now as confident as it can be that this situation has been resolved and will soon be able offer the chance for village organisations to apply for funding.
Also during this period from March 2013, three trustees have resigned because of other commitments and heavy work loads.
The successes? Saturday 6 July 2013 saw the Old Buckenham Summer Ball raising funds for the Trust. This proved to be an excellent evening – well organised and thoroughly enjoyable with plenty of positive feedback. A small profit was made from the evening but all agreed that fund-raising had not been the main driver for this function – rather it was to provide a nice event for the village. The Ball was organised by a sub committee of volunteers from within the village and the Trust is extremely grateful for all their hard work.
On Saturday 31 August the Trust ran the barbecue at the Village Fete and a small profit was made.
The Trust presented a ‘Carols on the Green’ evening on Friday 20 December. This was a ‘free of charge’ event as a way of thanking the village for their continued support to the Trust. The evening was well received by all who attended.
Then on Sunday 22 December there was the annual Sainsbury’s collection for St Martins Housing Trust. This raised a staggering amount of money, the total of £1051 is the largest ever.
The launch of the Old Buckenham 2000 Trust 2014 Village Calendar proved to be a success. It is hoped to create another one for 2015.
Finally, thanks go to all those who have supported the Trust over the past year. Thanks to the Trustees for their dedication and hard work. Thanks also go to the Ox and Plough who organised quizzes and donated proceeds to the Trust, and to the anonymous Winter Fuel donation. This is all very much appreciated and with continued help and support the Trust are confident that they can look forward to a successful year. 
A little history. The Old Buckenham 2000 Trust was created in 2002 as a means of distributing funds raised from the Old Buckenham Country Fayre. The original committee consisted of eleven members who were Brian Parish (chairman), Val Parish, Bob Babel, Richard Allbury, Trevor Crook, Steve Knight, Chris Knight, Colin Sapsford, Joanne Page , Jeremy Walker and David Smithson. Three of this original committee are still Trust members. However this AGM sees the departure two of them, Brian and Steve. Brian was the Trust Chairman for eleven years. During the time that Brian and Steve served on the committee the Trust has donated approximately £25,000 to 18 organisations for 45 different projects.
Don’t get the impression that it has always been about the money. Many social events have taken place - race nights, golf days, Santa runs, summer balls - to name just a few. On behalf of the Trust and indirectly the village, the current chairman David Hannah said a huge vote of thanks was due to both Brian and Steve for their dedication, help, support and last but not least their humour.
Election of Executive Committee. All members resigned and with the exception of Brian Parish and Steve Knight all expressed an interest in continuing. They were re-elected en-bloc. Meg Batchelor expressed an interest in becoming a member and was duly elected.
Election of officers. The following were elected for 2014/15: Chairperson Celia Clarke, Vice-chairman David Hannah, Treasurer Terri Hammond and Secretary Trevor Crook. The committee members are Meg Batchelor, Jenny Devaux and Sarah Dye.