AGM Report
Annual General Meeting Report
Thank you very much to everyone who came to our Annual General Meeting (AGM) - it was an absolutely fabulous turnout!
Please find below a copy of the Chairperson's report, the Treasurer's report, and the names of our committee for 2021.
Chairperson's Report - Alex Miller
We are very lucky to have a dedicated hard working committee who strives to ensure the very best for our garden – all while growing great veggies.
My fellow committee members who have volunteered their time and devotion to our lovely garden for 2020/2021 were Beau (design expert and vice chair), Christina (secretary), Luke (treasurer), Des (plot representative), Amy (membership coordinator) and Michelle (general wizz and motivator). I want to make a special mention to our outgoing committee members… Thank you so much to Des, for all that he has done as our plot holder representative. You can usually find Des at the garden pretty much all days of the week and his dedication has seen numerous projects finished to perfection. Christina, our secretary has also stepped down from her role this year to pursue a career in Melbourne, she has been an important part of our management team and all things organisation and legal and will be missed.
I want to take this opportunity to take a moment to really engage with what we have created in such a short amount of time. Just think as little as two years ago there was nowhere near as much life, biodiversity, greenery and people where we are sitting right now. And we’ve created a space where every decision and action is made with a conscious effort to try and do better for ourselves, our community and our environment.
I also want to bring things back to WHY are we doing this. Sure we have a lot of fun… but we also have a commitment to returning the land (Kaurna country) to a productive community space/resource, and a commitment to sharing our learning, sharing our food, inspiring others in the community to garden and prepare to leave this garden in the best possible state for future communities. When we act here, we do so with purpose, and we’re guided by the principles of sustainability, diversity, community and inclusion, compassion, permaculture and thinking local.
Reflecting on the year that’s been...
2020 was undoubtedly a year of challenges for all of us. Throughout lockdowns the garden remained open, offering an open space for community go-ers to find some peace and connection with nature. There have been numerous stories of our members and community enjoying the space and treasuring their time here.
But yes, there were a few bumps in the road….
Autumn open day and plant sale were postponed…
We experienced a significant amount of theft over just a few months. After taking measures such as contacting the police, the council, extending the fence height and locking the gates at night time we are happy to report that the theft eventually stopped.
And many of our educational workshops were postponed, too.
Ultimately, there were so many more positives….
We started our weekly catch-ups on Wednesday mornings and Saturday afternoons
Started our new member orientation sessions
Established our compost crew and gardening group
Luke and I organised a mobile plant sale with the all the beautiful plants grown by Paul – we sold out in the first couple of hours and delivered to people all across our community. Together we raised $198.00
It’s been a year of building…We finished our compost bay systems and built the worm farm, Mark and Michelle made our seed library, our beautiful greenhouse (special thanks to everyone who dedicated multiple weekends to build and paint this masterpiece)
We were awarded a grant through Grants SA and the Department of Human Services. This grant has and will continue to assist us in further developing our sensory garden and in doing so extend social connections and services for the community. The development will look like more plants (of course!), a water feature, bird feeders, information signs, textured paths and easy mobility paths, artwork, seating areas and more…
Spring Open Day – We estimate that around 400 people came throughout the morning and we raised a whopping $2000+ that will help support us at the garden. Thank you to everyone who made the day so special and dedicated time and effort on the day. Some highlights included: the bbq, Adelaide Combi Van coffee, bake sale, plant sale, a talk with Wormboy, an art workshop with Sue Norman, a wicking bed workshop with Sally, amazing raffle prizes, so many people picnicking and amazing tunes from Caitlin and Gary.
Our Christmas catch-up, which was a fabulous evening dedicated to conjuring a bit of magic during the silly season
Over the past few months, we have been busy with Purple Orange, a social profit organisation on a mission to create a world where people who live with disability have a fair go at what life has to offer. Some of our community garden members have now set up gardens for two community members that otherwise wouldn't have been able to join us at the garden!
A photoshoot with SA Urban Food Network and we will have a story featured on their website and social media platforms
Looking forward….
I hope this year can bring more growth and learning for all of us
We will have a stronger focus on educational workshops (now that we can finally organise these events unlike last year)
We will also take the opportunity to better define the guiding principles and rules of the garden
I also wanted to highlight that we are a very small committee with limited resources, volunteering our time, and so I encourage you all to consider what role, time and/or skills that you might be able to offer the garden. I think we all have big hopes and dreams for the garden and it’s going to be a combined effort to see all our potential come to fruition. If you have any ideas about groups or projects please always remember to get in touch with the committee and we will assist you in leading your project.
Thank you everyone for your support and dedication to this garden and I wish everyone the best for the coming year…
Treasurer's Report - Luke Vial
Thank you all for having me as the treasurer of North Brighton Community Garden for the past year. I am very keen to continue with this despite a large amount of time spent looking at excel spreadsheets.
I will keep this brief. In this report I have supplied our income and expenditure split up into categories for last financial year (2019/2020) and this financial year up until now, as well as our current balance sheet showing our current and fixed assets.
Income last financial year was $4900, which primarily came from memberships (general and plot holders), fundraising and donations. Income this financial year so far totals $14,100. The majority of this came from the $9873 grant for our sensory garden, access paths and pergola space awarded to the garden by SA Grants, and the rest from members and the community’s amazing effort in the Spring Open Day.
Expenditure last financial year was $39,500. This mainly came from spending most of the initial startup $50,000 grant received in early 2019. Expenditure so far this financial year totals $11,950, which was spending the remainder of the start-up grant, some of the more recent grant and some was spent on general garden upkeep.
The garden currently has approximately $9,700 in the bank. About $6000 of this needs to be spent specifically on projects written under the SA Grants grant.
Income going forward: money coming in from memberships is fantastic and really helps with upkeep for the garden and small projects, however it isn’t quite enough so we will continue our efforts to fundraise for the garden from open days and garden workshops in the future. For larger projects for the garden the committee will continue applying for applicable grants – if anyone hears of any grants that would be applicable to the garden please email them through to us.
Expenditure going forward: in the next few months the garden will need to wrap up spending of the Coming to Your Senses SA Grants grant ($6000 left), which will primarily go on further development of the sensory garden, pathing through the orchard area and development of the pergola space including a bricked-up BBQ. Garden upkeep expenses will happen as usual going forward. Smaller projects will have funds allocated to them by decision from the committee.
If you, a member of the garden, would like to see and take charge of a small project within the garden please let the committee know and we will be able to see whether funds for it are possible. I would love to see community members getting involved and taking charge of their own project ideas within the garden.
2021 Committee election
Chairperson - Alex
Vice-Chairperson - Beau
Secretary - Sharon (Christina, outgoing)
Treasurer - Luke
Membership Coordinator - Ed and Lisa (Amy, outgoing)
Plot Holder Representative - Gloria (Des, outgoing)
Events Coordinator - Barb F.
General Members - Michelle, Margi and Josh
Thank you for taking the time to read over these reports. All the very best to you all for the year ahead, I look forward to seeing what the year has in store for us at the community garden.
Alex
Chairperson
North Brighton Community Garden