2023 Minutes

An Extraordinary Meeting of Sturton by Stow Parish Council was held on Wednesday 25th October 2023 in the Old Schoolroom.  Meeting started at 7.30pm.

Meeting chaired by Cllr Gilbert.  Present: Parish Clerk, Cllr Cook, Cllr Taylor, Cllr. C. Christie, Cllr. S. Christie

Prior to the commencement of the meeting Cllr Gilbert reminded all applicants that their grant forms should have been presented in person at the October meeting.  This requirement is clearly stated in the Grant Aid Policy which forms part of the grant application.  An extraordinary meeting will not be facilitated in future years.

1. Recording of Meeting

It was noted no one was recording meeting.

2. Apologies

Apologies: Cllr Hawke and Cllr Hoyland

3. To receive declarations of interests in accordance with the Localism Act 2011. 

None

4. Meeting opened to the public 7.31pm and closed to the public

5. To receive grant applications 23/24

7.31pm the meeting was opened to the grant applicants

FOSSA

FOSSA have applied for a grant of £4000 to enable them to replace the trim trail in the school grounds which broke earlier this year. The trim trail has been in place for 20 years and used all year round by all children within the school. Fundraising for a new trim trail has been the children’s request as it is a greatly missed piece of equipment. A replacement of a similar size has been quoted for approximately £10,000. FOSSA fundraises for the school through 20/30 events throughout the school year. These range from movie nights, discos, competition, dress up days and Christmas fayres.  

7.34pm Sturton Plough Football Club

A representative from the Sturton Plough Football Club submitted a grant application form for £357.50 to purchase new equipment. This group was formed in 2006. Unfortunately, being an open men’s club, they do not qualify for grants offered by the F.A. These grants are usually given to girls/women’s and children’s team. Equipment costs are usually covered by the players and subs fees however due to the increasing running costs and expenses in grass hire they are hoping to be successful with this grant to help bridge the gap and to purchase better equipment which will enable new opportunities for the club. They have obtained quotes for new training balls which are a fundamental piece of equipment for their football club and some small sided goals which will roll up into a case. Having this equipment could enable them to organise mini tournaments, an opportunity to raise money for the club and other charities.

7.41pm Youth Club

A representative for the Youth Club submitted a grant application form of £3000 to cover four projects.

Project one: To provide staff training. With the number of attendees at the youth club increasing there is a need for more staff training for new staff. Some of the training is face to face and some online. The grant would help to train staff in First Aid, Safeguarding, Autism and neurodivergent awareness for children’s needs to help the staff to support these children.

Project two: To fund a drama project. It has been noted that some anti-social behaviour has been taking place in the village. This drama project would cover initiatives such as drugs and alcohol awareness, cyber bullying and anti-social behaviour to help educate the children in tackling challenging situations. A production of the children’s work will be held as another way of fund raising for the youth club by selling tickets to the event.

Project three: To organise two trips a year and to make the trip available to all the youth club like to heavily subsidise the costs to enable the children to attend for a smaller fee. A firm favourite is Alton Towers and this year they have been looking at costs for Go Ape, Go Karting. Planning trips give the children something to look forward to and is a great way to socialise and team bonding exercise.

Project four: To transform the chill area of the youth club. In the hall there are some sofas and a television where the children can hang out together and interact with their friends. Youth Club would like to make this area more appealing with new sofas, coffee table, rug to create an environment for the children to enjoy.

7.48pm The Recreational Ground

The Recreational Ground are applying for a grant of £2750 to cover running costs whilst savings are budgeted to enable them to fund two projects.

After a recent ROSPA report the skate park requires some maintenance. The manufacturer of the equipment is due to inspect and report back costs and findings to whether the equipment will be maintained or replaced.

The posts around the car park have been in place for 8/9 years and are beginning to rot. Ideally, they need to be replaced with concrete posts. A rough cost has been estimated at £7000.

Meeting closed to the grant applicants at 7.55pm

The Chair thanked the applicants for attending the meeting and shared information about the available FCC Funding with the grant applicants who if eligible they would be able to apply for much larger grants for big projects such as the skate park.

Meeting Closed at 7.58pm