Business arising from the Minutes of the previous meeting:
- The financials presented at the May meeting should have read “April”, not “March”.
Coordinator: (Melanie)
- Letter from St Andrews Uniting Church (25/5/09) re thank you for participating in Fete.
- Letter from St Andrews Uniting Church (25/5/09) re permission to erect sign on South fence to advertise playgroup. Julie’s husband is a sign writer and has offered to do the sign for a reasonable price. Melanie to follow up with Julie.
NEW ITEMS
Policies
- Privacy Policy was discussed and approved. Motion moved by Kimone and seconded by Jayne.
- Nut Allergy Policy was discussed and approved. Motion moved by Vicki and seconded by Karen.
Open Day
- In order to boost membership of the group (both individually and groups) and to raise awareness of ourselves and playgroup in general, a suggestion was made to hold an Open Day on Saturday 08 August 9am – 12 noon.
- Format – Volunteers (kids & carers) required for activities – craft, play, etc. A small morning tea would be provided. Volunteers will be called for at the July meeting.
- Publicity – Local papers week before, sign on Church corner 1 month before, Council referrals.
- Cost – approx $30 for morning tea.
- To be further discussed at the July & August meetings.
ONGOING ITEMS
- Secretary position - Only one nomination received from Liz Strike, New Tots on the Block. Motion moved by Kimone, seconded by Vicki to accept Liz as Secretary effective immediately. Liz is currently Fundraising Officer, but with no major fundraising planned, can undertake both roles.
- Donation to Bushfire Appeal - Melanie has been in contact with Play Group Victoria regarding the donation of $1000. At present they have received $500,000 from the Government for Bushfire Relief and therefore would like to put us into direct contact with one of the three playgroups who lost everything. This way we can find something specific that they are in need of and may be able to develop an ongoing relationship for further donations. PGV have put on a temporary employee to deal with the Bushfire Relief program and Melanie is waiting to hear back from them with more information. Therefore the donation money is still in our account.
- Draft Budget -Draft (3rd) budget for the year period 1 July 2009 – 30 June 2010
· Projected carried forward balance - $3000
· Budgeted income for year - $8900 ($6900 weekly fees & $2000 Church fees).
· At this stage, no fundraising budget for.
· Budgeted expenses for year - $9120 ($11120 - $2000 church fees paid. Incl $1000 donation)
· Contingency of $500 allowed for all year
· Budgeted end of year surplus - $280.
Wish List 08/09 (3rd draft)
· Items 1-15 included in July 2009 budget
· Items 17 & 18 included in November 2009 budget (in time for outdoor weather and toy sales)
· Items 19-23 included throughout year and in conjunction with Church
· Items 24 -26 will be carried over to 2010 for consideration.
· Note – if outdoor seating not approved for Council grant funding, we will need to fundraise for it.
Budget for the year 01 July 2009 – 30 June 2010 and Wish List 08/09 have been approved unanimously. Motion moved by Samantha and seconded by Liz.
Administration: (Kimone)
- First Aid Course – 20 June, 9am to 1pm in playgroup hall.
14 people have signed up for the course, with any final payments of $50 to be forwarded to Kimone within the next two weeks.
- Information on Literacy Week has been received. As participation in last years week was not a great success, it was agreed that we would not participate this year.
- A new group will be starting this month on a Wednesday, which means that Wednesdays are now full. The new group are a new parenting group sourced through the council.
- There is only one free playgroup timeslot still available, which is on a Monday at 1pm.
Treasurer: (Sam)
- Weekly fees received for April - $630.05 plus $500 for Church Fees
- Expenses paid in May $1695.00 (Safety gate; craft; Church fees; kitchen & general supplies) - Current balance is $4427.02
Please note - This total includes $1000 donation, $500 Hall fees and $1030 for the Wish List, which will reduce it to approximately $1897.02 by late July.
- Church fees report – 127 children from 96 families. A list for each Group Leader of their paid members was made available at the meeting.
- Audit of Accounts – Suggestion was made to approach a local University or College to see if any third year students would be available to perform the audit for a reasonable price.
Fundraising: (Liz)
- Social Club Books due back next meeting – 6th July 2009. Jayne mentioned that you can access more books online and still order through the brochure.
Purchasing: (Sam on behalf of Helen)
- A safe mirror for the side of the dress up cupboard – suggestion made by Beth that polished steel might be a better option. Simone may be able to source it for a reasonable price.
Church: (Blair)
- Reverend Blair mentioned that he and Melanie need to have a discussion regarding the relationship between the playgroup and the Church before we went ahead with purchasing big ticket items, ie fridge – Still ongoing.
- A further thank you from the Church for our participation in the Fete.
- There is a choral concert coming up.
- The Church council were impressed with our very generous gift to Bushfire Relief. The Uniting Church made their own mobile kinder available to the affected areas. Mavis mentioned her own personal experience with having lived in Marysville and worked at the pre-school for 7 years, which has now gone.
- Kids Church – there is not a separate Kids Church being run, however, every Sunday there is a 20 minute Kids ministry being held as part of the normal service.
- The Church’s Messenger paper will be available next month. The Church wondered if we would like to submit an article. Melanie to follow up with Blair.
General Business
- Complaint again this month that toy sorting still seems to be a problem. A working bee to sort and remark toys, including sand pit toys, toy boxes etc will be held on Sunday 14th June at 2pm. Jayne, Liz and Aimee have volunteered already, although the date and time have now changed. Further volunteers are welcome.
-Website/blog – http://www.bacchusmarshplaygroup.blogspot.com/ A great job so far by Sam and Blair.
- $50 has been received from Aaron’s Jumping Castles from the Fete ($27 that we earned plus a donation). A motion was moved by Gretta and seconded by Kimone to donate the entire amount to the Church.
- The safety gate at the entrance from the car park has been fitted; however, the self closer is still being worked on. A special thank you to the person who put the new gate in, as they dropped their normal price by approximately $200.
- Swine Flu –
*Please keep sick children home from playgroup.
* If toys are coughed, sneezed or dribbled on, please wash in a disinfectant solution;
* Ensure tables and kitchen surfaces are thoroughly wiped with a disinfectant solution after each session;
* If possible, restrict shared toy use (especially baby toys). Maybe bring some baby toys from home?
* Do craft, outside play or a cooking activity.
* Ensure any used toys are clean after use.
* If a child using the facility becomes ill with Swine Flu, we ask as a courtesy to let us know (Melanie 5367 6616, Kimone 5367 6648) so that we can take appropriate steps to inform other groups and/or disinfect the facility (confidentiality will be observed at all times).
