Category: Uncategorized

At our General Meeting last night 7 members were present. They were Simon Turner, Suzanne Jones, Anthony Loukes, Sophie Earl, Julian Sansom, Judy Sumner; and Jonathan Hornett, who was appointed as chair for this meeting. He introduced the following agenda items:

1. Constitution
2. Committee and Officers
3. Bank Account
4. Activities
5. One Wellingborough Plus

Constitution:

Members went through to the proposed constitution discussing the following points:

• Name of the organisation
• Objectives and aims of the organisation
• Powers
• Membership
• Equal opportunities
• Management Committee
• Named Officers
• Meetings
• Finance
• Amendments to the constitution
• Dissolution

All members confirmed that all points in the constitution were what they had agreed. The constitution was proposed by Judy and seconded by Simon and we voted to formally adopt the proposed constitution. There was a unanimous vote in favour and we formally adopted this as our constitution. We are now officially a constituted group!

Committee and Officers

Members discussed how the committee will work, and then we nominated and elected a committee and officers. Each committee member was officially nominated by another member and then seconded by a different member; then were voted in by the majority of members present as follows:

Suzanne Jones – Committee Member, nominated by Jonathan, seconded by Simon, voted in unanimously.

Jonathan Hornett – Secretary, nominated by Julian, seconded by Suzanne, voted in unanimously.

Simon Turner – Treasurer, nominated by Judy, seconded by Julian, voted in unanimously.

Judy Sumner – Membership Secretary, nominated by Anthony, seconded by Simon, voted in unanimously.

Sophie Earl-Martin – Media Secretary, nominated by Suzanne, seconded by Julian, voted in unanimously.

Julian Sansom – Business Secretary, nominated by Simon, seconded by Suzanne, voted in unanimously.

We now have an elected committee of 6 members!

Bank Account

We then needed to formally agree to set up a bank account and at which bank.  This had been fully researched before the meeting by Jonathan Hornett and had been previously discussed with the above nominated officers.  Jonathan Hornett has accounts at Natwest and proposed them as our bank, this was seconded by Simon. The committee and members present voted on this and unanimously decided to apply for a bank account at NatWest. It was also agreed that the officers that would have access to this bank account would be Jonathan and Simon, and that a minimum of two officers would have to approve payments.

Activities:

Our activities, including social media, were then discussed, and the following was shared at the meeting:

• Facebook Group now has 420 members! Nextdoor Group has 42.
• NEW Twitter and Instagram accounts and a Facebook Page set up!
• NEW website and emails set up at wellingboroughecogroup.org.uk
• Litter Pick, generally last Saturday of each month, next 1^st Saturday of December due to lockdown. At November’s litter pick 17 of us tidied Hemmingwell, collecting 35 bags of litter, 4 wheels, a scooter, bin of greenhouse glass, a jukebox and a portable stereo!
• Repair Café, we had one planned at Glamis Hall on Saturday 14^th November, but this has been cancelled due to the lockdown. Next one planned for January…
• Community Allotment now has a gravel on parking area. Working parties of two to be worked out.

One Wellingborough Plus:

We agreed at our last meeting to jointly manage One Wellingborough Plus’s Community Resilience Actions, and to accept funding for our new projects. These will include our community allotment, plus swap shops, a repair club (to work alongside our Repair Cafes) and a volunteer time bank.

Jonathan Hornett drew up an action plan for these activities and presented it with Judy Sumner to a One Wellingborough Plus meeting. This was shared with our meeting and discussed. The majority of the spending is at our community allotment, there has also been money allocated for leaflets and posters for the Swap Shop and Repair Café Club.

Views, Summary and End of Meeting:

Members shared their views on this meeting and were in agreement that it had been very productive. We have constituted the group, set up a committee and discussed our activities, including our involvement as part of the One Wellingborough plus project. The chair of the meeting, Jonathan, thanked everyone who attended, and agreed to write the minutes and announce that we have formally constituted.

Notes:

The Constitution can be found on our website at wellingboroughecogroup.org.uk/eco/constitution/

The Committee and Officers have a page at wellingboroughecogroup.org.uk/eco/committee/

Thursday 19^th November

Welcome to Wellingborough Eco Group!

– Everyone says who they are and why they are here.

– Introduce Wellingborough Eco Group

– Agree a chair for this meeting
– Introduce our agenda items:

1. Constitution
2. Committee and Officers
3. Bank Account
4. Activities
5. One Wellingborough Plus

Constitution:

To formally adopt our constitution tonight.

– To refer to the proposed constitution and agree the following points:

• Name of the organisation
• Aims of the organisation (sometimes known as ‘objectives’)
• Powers
• Membership
• Equal opportunities
• Management Committee
• Named Officers
• Meetings
• Finance
• Amendments to the constitution
• Dissolution

Committee and Officers

To nominate and elect a committee and officers. Each committee member needs to be officially nominated by another member and seconded, then voted in by the majority of members present at this meeting. Please refer to ‘Officer Nominations’ on our blog and to this section of our constitution.

The officers nominated to roles are:

Jonathan Hornett – Secretary, who shall be responsible for the taking of minutes and the distribution of all papers

Simon Turner – Treasurer, who shall be responsible for maintaining accounts

Judy Sumner – Membership Secretary, who will be responsible for administering the membership

Sophie Earl-Martin – Media Secretary, who will manage our social media groups and other media outlets

Julian Sansom – Business Secretary, who will liaise with local companies and organisations.

Bank Account

We need to formally agree to setting up a bank account and at which bank.  This has been fully researched by Jonathan Hornett and discussed with the above nominated officers.  Most banks are not opening bank accounts due to Covid-19 that are suitable for us, unless you already have an account with them.  Jonathan Hornett does have accounts at Natwest and has proposed them as our bank.

Activities:

– Facebook Group now has 420 members! Nextdoor Group has 42.

– NEW Twitter and Instagram accounts and a Facebook Page set up!

– NEW website and emails set up at wellingboroughecogroup.org.uk

– Litter Pick, generally last Saturday of each month, next 1^st Saturday of December due to lockdown. At November’s litter pick 17 of us tidied Hemmingwell, collecting 35 bags of litter, 4 wheels, a scooter, bin of greenhouse glass, a jukebox and a portable stereo!

– Repair Café, we had one planned at Glamis Hall on Saturday 14^th November, but this has been cancelled due to the lockdown. Next one planned for January…

– Community Allotment now has a gravel on parking area. Working parties of two to be worked out.

One Wellingborough Plus:

We agreed at our last meeting to jointly manage One Wellingborough Plus’s Community Resilience Actions, and to accept funding for our new projects. These will include our community allotment, plus swap shops, a repair club (to work alongside our Repair Cafes) and a volunteer time bank.

Jonathan Hornett drew up an action plan for these activities and presented it with Judy Sumner to a One Wellingborough Plus meeting. The majority of the spending is at our community allotment, there has also been money allocated for leaflets and posters for the Swap Shop and Repair Café Club.

Your Views, Summary and End of Meeting:

– Everyone to talk about what they feel they have achieved from this meeting.

– Thank you all, together we will achieve a cleaner and more environmentally friendly future for Wellingborough and beyond!

We unofficially have five members who have been nominated to form the committee and to become officers of our group. They will be formally proposed and appointed at our General Meeting on Thursday evening. Members will have the opportunity to nominate them or other members, and to propose, second and vote officers in.

The committee will be expected to work on behalf of all members and will represent their views. Registered members will own and control the group, and as stakeholders are personally responsible for its activities including any liabilities. The committee will manage the group’s day to day operations, as appointed by the members.

The committee will consist of registered members who will be officers with a named responsibility and committee members without specific responsibility. The committee will communicate via email or other electronic services. Registered members will receive updates from the committee via email if they opt in to receive them, everyone will get updates via social media posts.

The structure of the committee will be flat and collaborative with each role supported by one or two other officers. There will be no formal Chairperson or leader, the meetings will be chaired on a rotating basis.

The officers nominated to roles are:

Jonathan Hornett – Secretary, who shall be responsible for the taking of minutes and the distribution of all papers

Simon Turner – Treasurer, who shall be responsible for maintaining accounts

Judy Sumner – Membership Secretary, who will be responsible for administering the membership

Sophie Earl-Martin – Media Secretary, who will manage our social media groups and other media outlets

Julian Sansom – Business Secretary, who will liaise with local companies and organisations.

In the event of an officer standing down during the year a replacement will be elected by the next General Meeting of members. Officers and committee members can be nominated two weeks before a General Meeting via email with the invite to the meeting and appointed at General Meetings.

General Meeting to Formally Adopt Our New Constitution

To formally adopt our new constitution, and to elect our committee members and officers, we will be having a meeting on Thursday 19th November at 7:30pm. All members are invited to attend.

Please join our Zoom Meeting at:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89959901252?pwd=ZnVOZjJsT0NNU2Z1YXNYZzdPQ2FOUT09

Meeting ID: 899 5990 1252
Passcode: 585528

If you have any questions or feedback about our constitution, officers or group activities, please let us know with a comment or email to wellingboroughecogroup@outlook.com

See you on Thursday evening!

We hope that you have had a chance to have a look at our new constitution, to formally adopt it, we will be having a meeting on Thursday 19th November at 7:30pm

Please join our Zoom Meeting at: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89959901252?pwd=ZnVOZjJsT0NNU2Z1YXNYZzdPQ2FOUT09

Meeting ID: 899 5990 1252

Passcode: 585528

If you have any questions or feedback about our constitution or group activities, please let me know with a comment or email to wellingboroughecogroup@outlook.com

See you on Thursday evening!

As you know, we are now an independent group that has lots of activities planned. For this to be facilitated, we need an organised structure and a team of members to manage the group on behalf of all members. We also need official paperwork to be able to open a bank account and to receive donations and grants. To these ends, a handful of members have been working on a constitution for the group.

The constitution is a change to the group, because it makes the group official and accountable, but without legal status. The constitution sets out how the group is run and what it wants to do. It states the groups objectives, activities and powers; and how membership works, including equal opportunities. It also states how the group holds meetings and how it will be managed.

Key changes are that we will be now asking you to register as a member, and that we will be having a committee with set officers. Whilst there is no requirement to register as a member, registering as a member supports the group officially and it’s free. Registered members will receive a membership number and will collectively control the group, as they will have voting rights at General Meetings and can stand for the committee.

Members of our social media groups who do not register, will continue to be unregistered members of our group. Social media members will have the same access to all of our meetings as registered members, but are less accountable, so will not have the same rights as registered members. The group will continue to be open to everyone; members, social media members and anyone else can participate in our activities and support us.

Please do read the draft constitution for the group, which is available via this link. If you have any comments or suggested amendments, please comment below or email wellingboroughecogroup@outlook.com

Thank you for your continued support,

Jonathan, Judy, Simon, Sophie and Julian

Thursday 5^th November

Welcome to Wellingborough Eco Group!

– Everyone says who they are and why they are here.

– Introduce Wellingborough Eco Group – Wellingborough Eco Group has been set up to help improve our borough’s environment, to reduce, reuse and recycle items that would otherwise end up in landfill, and to help local people reduce their carbon footprints. Wellingborough Eco Group is all about you and what we can all do environmentally locally in a friendly and positive way. This group is open to everyone and aims to work with local councillors, businesses and community organisations. We host various activities including Repair Cafes, Green Drinks and our monthly Two Hour Tidy Ups.

– Introduce our agenda items:

1. Constitution
2. Activities
3. One Wellingborough Plus

Constitution:

To decide on tonight, including nominating officers –To refer to the guidance on our website that sets out a list of the following points to discuss:

1. Name of the organisation
2. Aims of the organisation (sometimes known as ‘objectives’)
3. Powers
4. Membership
5. Equal opportunities
6. Management Committee
7. Named Officers
8. Meetings
9. Finance
10. Dissolution
11. Amendments to the constitution

An example of a recently constituted local group similar to ours can be seen at http://saveourstreettrees.org/sost-constitution/

Activities:

– Facebook Group now has over 400 members! Nextdoor Group has almost 40 too.

– Litter Pick, generally last Saturday of each month, next 1^st Saturday of December due to lockdown. At November’s litter pick 17 of us tidied Hemmingwell, collecting 35 bags of litter, 4 wheels, a scooter, bin of greenhouse glass, a jukebox and a portable stereo!

– Repair Café, we had one planned at Glamis Hall on Saturday 14^th November, but this has been cancelled due to the lockdown. Next one planned for January…

– Community Allotment, 3 of us, Jonathan, Judy and Simon, spent two hours looking at options and uses of the site. Simon has now drawn up a 3D plan based on what we have decided (see picture). Working parties of two to be worked out, starting from Sunday.

One Wellingborough Plus:

We agreed at our last meeting to jointly manage One Wellingborough Plus’s Community Resilience Actions, and to accept funding for our new projects. These will include our community allotment, swap shops, a repair club (to work alongside our Repair Cafes) and a volunteer time bank. Jonathan has agreed to draw up an action plan for these activities, tonight we need to consider the impact of the lockdown and what is possible in the current situation.

Your Views, Summary and End of Meeting:

– Everyone to talk about what they feel they have achieved from this meeting.

– Thank you all, together we will achieve a cleaner and more environmentally friendly future for Wellingborough and beyond!

Thank you to our 17 litter heroes today who did an amazing tidy up, with very soggy conditions, in Hemmingwell’s parks and pathways. We collected over 35 bags of litter, half a green bin full of recycling, 4 car wheels, a jukebox, portable stereo, a scooter, a parasol and a wheelie bin full of greenhouse glass!

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Thank you to Kate, Angela, Caitlin and Olivia, Judy, Sarah and Fletcher, John and Tricia, Freddie, Georgina, Bob and Gill, Kerry; Jonathan, Emma and Billy. Two children, Olivia and Caitlin, desperately wanted to tidy their local area and are sharing their efforts with Blue Peter, hopefully they will get a badge each for doing this!

Our monthly two hour tidy up this month was to litter pick Hemmingwell. Wellingborough Norse kindly supplied the litter pickers and collected the rubbish we picked. Our recycling station was set up from 9:30 outside the Well Cafe, to carry out litter picking between 10am-12 midday.

Three of us, Jonathan, Judy and Simon, had a look at our plot on Sunday, at Ladywell Allotments in Wellingborough. We spent two hours looking at options and uses of the site. Measurements have been taken and Simon will be drawing up a 3D plan based on what we have decided.

We considered where to put two sheds and a greenhouse that are on site ready to be assembled, plus a covered seating area and fence to be made out of large pallets and roofing sheets also on site. These have been donated to Jonathan for use at our community allotment and were brought to our plot last week.

We looked at the options for growing areas including raised beds, plus where to put a pond and planting to attract wildlife. The site already benefits from a large rose hedge, brambles and an apple tree, these will be kept and added to for pollinators, birds and mammal residents including badgers, foxes and dear.

What we are going to grow and who for was talked about in detail, and we decided that we would have a mixture of fruit and vegetables for local charities, and flowers and shrubs for community centres and gardens. We talked about donations to food banks and the One Wellingborough project for the food, plus overstock to Animals in Need; with flowers being grown for Glamis Hall and the Victoria Centre.

We also discussed how to make this as environmentally friendly as we can, including composting and rain water collection options, plus a composting toilet and solar power to power a water pump and lighting. We all agreed that we should base it all on organic/permaculture principles as far as we can.

Then we worked on accessibility, talking about who will be using the plot. We decided that everyone should be able to use the plot, so parking, a covered area near the entrance, hard standing for parking and access to the covered area was seen as a must. Spaces for two cars will be provided at the front of the plot. A covered 12′ X 8′ ‘gazeebo’ will be on the right as you enter plot. A fence will separate the parking strip from the rest of the plot.

Grass paths will then lead from the gazeebo across the plot to the left side, with a raspberry border between it and the fence, and vegetable growing area moving down the plot. Either side of this area, grass paths will run to the bottom of the allotment. Midway down the plot, we will assemble the greenhouse as a central feature. Grass paths will cross the plot in front and behind the greenhouse. Water butts will be put either side of the greenhouse.

The first path will lead to our wildlife garden and pond to the left of the plot, behind the neighbouring plot holders shed. A bench is also planned for this area. The apple tree next to this will have its canopy raised to allow more space for seating and the path.

Behind the greenhouse, we will construct raised beds and compost bins. Our two sheds will be built in the two corners at the rear of the plot. One will be for storage, the other for a composting toilet. A solar panel could be attached to the toilet shed to power a light, water pump and fan for the loo. Both sheds will have numerous water butts alongside them.

We are aiming to get this all completed by the spring, we know what we’re going to do, working days will be open to all, detailed plans to follow…

Thank you to everyone who attended our Zoom meeting on Thursday night. Simon, Heather, Sophie and Anthony, Judy, Karen, Marion and Jonathan had a very productive session.

We agreed to formally form a separate group from XR Wellingborough after talking about the reasons for doing so. We have also agreed to draw up a constitution, which may include having a committee, but must focus on the group being run collectively by all members. Heather will look at constitutions and share something we can use as a basis for our group.

We talked in detail about the One Wellingborough Plus project, agreed to jointly manage One Wellingborough Plus’s Community Resilience Actions, and to accept funding for our new projects. These will include our community allotment, swap shops, a repair club (to work alongside our Repair Cafes) and a volunteer timebank. Jonathan has agreed to draw up an action plan for these activities.

Judy agreed (weather permitting) to join Jonathan, hopefully Anthony Loukes and anyone else who is interested, at our community allotment plot on Sunday at 11am to see what we can do there. We discussed who would be able to use it, how we could use it to share skills, and what we should grow there. Using the plot to grow flowers for local community centres and community gardens, plus produce to feed animals at Animals in Need were very popular ideas…

Heather offered to host Repair Cafes at Glamis Hall separately from their indoor car boot sales. Simon (who is also one of our repairers) missed this conversation but was keen to start the repair Cafes again. I will contact our other repairers to organise this.

We talked about how we can operate the Repair Cafes and the Repair Club, we looked at how to share how the items are fixed and came up with two solutions. One could be to have a socially distanced audience for one or two repairers, the other option could be recording the repair and sharing via YouTube and social media. Simon thought that we/he can do this, and this idea of sharing by video was also suggested for other demonstrations, for example willow weaving, activities at the community allotment and Judy showing us how to make eco cleaning products.

We discussed our social media groups on Facebook and Nextdoor, our blog and other forums, including our Slack channel*, agreeing that these are easy to use and manage. We decided that with the addition of a YouTube channel, what we have is enough for what we need, and that the logo doesn’t need changing.

Simon  has agreed to host future Zoom meetings with his subscription so that meetings aren’t interrupted by the 40 minute time limit. We agreed to have monthly meetings with this.

We also discussed our current activities, including our litter pick, and talked about how well they are received by local people. Our next litter pick is on Saturday 31st October 10-12, on the Hemmingwell. I will update the group about this in more detail over the weekend…

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* Our Slack channel is at wellingborough.slack.com and anyone can join us to discuss our activities. For an invite please email info@wellingboroughecogroup.org.uk

This month our two hour tidy up will be litter picking the Hemmingwell on Saturday 31st October. It takes place between 10am-12 midday. Halloween costumes can be worn. All welcome!

We are going to be meeting at our recycling station which will be set up from 9:30 in the Nest Farm Crescent car park, where the Well Cafe and other local shops and services are.

We will be litter picking between 10am-12 midday, with so many different areas to tidy up this time, you can decide if you want to tidy up the housing estate or pick litter in the family friendly parks.

Everyone (without Covid-19 symptoms) is welcome, equipment is provided, due to government restrictions, groups of litter pickers are limited to 4 people each. Here are some photos of the area:

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