Present: Ali Morley, Liz Fletcher, Sylvia Beardsmore, Mary Jackson, Fiona Jepson, Helen Bradstock, Rose Gillett
- Apologies were received from Andrew Bradstock, Jane Marlowe-Dauncey and Diana Hetherington
- The minutes of the last meeting were taken as read.
- Matters arising
- The Bottle refill scheme has taken about £200, but there has not been a coffee morning for a few weeks. In the light of this, Ali has placed the refill station in the vestry at the Community Centre in order that it can be accessed by church members in between coffee mornings. Accessibility will be from Friday to Wednesday. There will be an honesty box.
- The worship at Eco Church has been well received. The next Eco Church Sunday afternoon will be 26 Jan. Liz Fletcher will lead the worship and food will be provided as follows: Fiona- cake, Rose- bread, Liz- cheese, Ali- butter, Sylvia- salad
- Seven of us attended the walking group on 14 November. We visited St James Church Yarmouth and All Saints, Freshwater and had a great walk in the autumn sunshine.
4. Eco church Award: Simon Brown from A Rocha will be visiting the church between the 3rd and the 6th December. Ali will try to arrange a meeting with him on the 5th which we will all attend. A display board of some our activities is being created. We will be able to tidy up the labyrinth after Christy has strimmed it, in the next few days.
5. School seed planting workshop: Ali, Helen, Liz and Rose went into St Helen’s primary school on Monday 25th November to work with a Year One/Two class. Ali spoke to the children in the assembly and then led the workshop activities where we were planting seeds, assembling acorn books and decorating tree labels for their pots. The teacher, Mrs Rees, and the TA Mrs Yardley were very welcoming and appreciative. We feel we are forging good links with the school and aim to return with the seedlings in the spring. We are storing the children’s seeds in a covered raised bed alongside St Helens church. There are plans to work with Brading Primary School but these are on hold until next year.
6. Craft Workshop Saturday 30th November : Ali will provide two different soups, Mary will make apple cake and Sylvia will provide bread. Childcare will be in the chapel, Ali will make wax wraps, Mary will bring sewing machines for making recycled bags, Helen will arrange knitting wash mitts/ soap pouches, Theresa will be making boxes, Sylvia will decorate small produce bottles with stickers and ribbon and we need a volunteer to make energy balls.
7. Tree planting in the Churchyard : Our application for a free hedgerow pack from the Woodland Trust has been successful. A pack of 30 saplings (dog rose, hawthorn, crab apple, hazel and dogwood) will be delivered on 20th March. This will replace some hedgerow which was lost when a ditch was cleared by the farmer next door. We discussed planting additional areas of trees but decided to wait until we see how the St Helen’s school saplings grow and until we have got further with the pond project.
7. Pond project: The PCC has agreed the funding for the construction of the pond, from the churchyard budget. Rose has almost completed the Faculty application which will be submitted shortly.
8. Walking group planning: The next walk will be on Thursday 16th January. We will do walks 21 and 22 from the Pastoral Pilgrimage book – from Yaverland, to Bembridge, to St Helens.
9. AOB: Eco Church after church. The activities after church on the second Sunday of the month will restart in the summer months. We will consider planning more activities for children at church/after church during the school holidays when visitors may bring children.
10: The date and time of the next meeting is to be arranged.
The Haven Eco-Church 