Here are the minutes of the ACE Monmouth AGM Meeting.
Meeting Title: ACE Monmouth AGM Meeting Meeting date and time: 13th APRIL 2023, 7pm Venue Details: Zoom
Present: Cherry Taylor, Rebecca Cunningham, Charles Emes, Haydn Cullen-Jones, Nichola James, Laura Mac, Fiona Wilcock, Anthea Dewhurst, Bryan Miller, Vivien Mitchell, Angela West, Scout Astley Jones, Sue Parkinson. Apologies: Paul Trotter, Clare Catto, Lisa Hicks
Agenda and Notes
1. Welcome and apologies for absence
2. Introductions
3. Annual Report Update Cherry Taylor ran through the annual report which was submitted to Monmouth Town Council’s People and Places Committee on the 11th April 2023 as part of our annual review. In response to the report the Town Council has agreed to the next instalment of funding.
Vivien Mitchell clarified that the Green Spaces project, originally under ACE’s remit, was now looked after by Transition.
4. Election of Chair, Treasurer and Secretary Charles Emes was re-elected to the position of Treasurer as was Haydn Cullen-Jones to the position of Secretary. Cherry Taylor stepped down as Chair. No nominees were put forward for this role and therefore the role remains open for candidates. This will be reviewed again at the next ACE Open meeting to be held on May 17th 2023 via Zoom. Any interested parties please contact the Officers at info@acemonmouth.org
5. Looking ahead to next yearDiscussions revolved around the need to consolidate, focus on the projects ACE already has underway and growing the volunteer team
6. AOBCherry brought to the table a proposal from Roger Ruston who is looking for support with a project he is involved with surveying the bee species of Monmouth and its surrounding areas. He is needing help with transport and identification and is looking to ACE for support.Sue Parkinson highlighted that the Nature Isn’t Neat teamare holding training to encourage more people to monitor pollinators to make sure the reduced mowing is benefiting the flowers and insects as intended.Action: Rebecca to email Scout regarding support from Bees for Development and forward the Nature Isn’t Neat training scheme to Roger.Fiona WIlcok expressed an interest in the cooking group and workshops. Haydn updated the group on the progress being made at Bridges with regard to their community kitchen project which is still in early days.Action: Rebecca to link up Fiona, Nichola James and Elaine Blanchard.Cherry updated the meeting on the progress of The Farmers Group, an initiative designed to work with farmers to move to more regenerative practices. A one day farmers event is to be held at Regen Ben’s farm in May, aimed at engaging with farmers A mentor programme for farmers led by Regen Ben and supported by MCC, ACE and Size of Wales is in development, funding is being looked into.Rebecca discussed limited location options for the Saturday of the ACE Monmouth ClimateFestival, to be discussed further at the next Festival Steering Group meeting.Haydn asked that the Schools Group create a criteria to make it clear what the ACE funding could be used for.Action: Rebecca to work with the schools group to create this.Haydn stressed the importance of ensuring that as per the MTC/ACE Partnership Agreement that ACE continued to work closely with the Town Council.Haydn asked for further clarification on any funding restrictions.Action: Fiona Wilcock has agreed to discuss further with the Town Clerk.
7. Date of Next Meeting: Tuesday 17th May at 7pm via Zoom, link to be sent out nearer the time
8. ACE Events The next speaker event is Getting to Net Zero – Can Hydrogen Play a Part?
With our warmest regards Rebecca Cunningham (Project Officer) Charles Emes (Treasurer) Haydn Cullen-Jones (Secretary)
