Clayesmore

Senior School FOC

Friends Of Clayesmore

Our Aims

The Friends of Clayesmore was established in 1992, its purpose being to bring together the parents of the children attending the school with a view to providing a platform for communication, informal liaison and to the promotion of the ethos of the school.

Our three main objectives therefore are:

• To promote the fellowship among the parents and pupils of Clayesmore School
• To assist the interests of the school by organising fundraising events and deploying profits to appropriate
  departments, serving the generic interests of a broad range of pupils, for facilities and resources in addition to
  those provided by the school
• To act as ambassadors and promote the good name of Clayesmore wherever we go

IN A NUTSHELL: we are a friendly, informal group organising fun events that bring together the Clayesmore community and that provide funds for the ’ icing on the cake’ in terms of items and equipment for our children.

Membership

Membership is automatically offered to the following:

• Every parent or legal guardian of a child currently attending the school
• Every parent or legal guardian of a child who has attended the school in the past
• Any friend of Clayesmore
• All staff members

The Committee

The Friends of Clayesmore is run by a committee and officers who meet on a regular basis throughout the year. At these meetings the committee consider the fundraising events of the year, where funds will be allocated, and how parents may be brought together socially. We endeavour to recruit committee members from each of the school houses. A list of committee members and officers as well as forthcoming meetings follows: -

Please do not hesitate to get in touch with any committee members if you require any further information about the Friends’ activities.

The Annual General Meeting is open to all parents and is a wonderful opportunity to get an update on past events and forthcoming projects as well as to meet other parents in an informal environment. The AGM is well publicised in advance via the school newsletter. Minutes of the AGM held in September are detailed below.

Friends of Clayesmore – some numbers for you

Marcia Higgs	01425 474668
Nikki Cheung	01747 812489

Where does all the money go?

A list of all the areas and items that the friends have funded over the years would be lengthy. Hardly a department or boarding house has not benefited from Friends funds. Television and audio equipment, sports equipment, donations for overseas tours, a boost to house funds to add the comfort of the pupils and a substantial donation to the overhauling and updating of facilities for the Social Centre have been provided. Recently new disco equipment has been purchased, sailing boats, African persussion instruments, rubgy water proof suits, soft furnishings and Design Technology tools.

The Friends are open to suggestions from all departments and sectors of the school and always give each request its fullest consideration. The aim is to ensure that the broadest range of pupils is being served by each donation and that everyone gets a fair chance of receiving support.

We all sincerely hope that you will feel able to lend your support the committee and that, over the course of your time as a Clayesmore parent or friend, you will be able to take part in and enjoy as many social events and gatherings as possible. Thank you for your time.

The Friends of Clayesmore

Annual General Meeting

FRIENDS OF CLAYESMORE
p=. ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
p=. MEETING REPORT
p=. Tuesday 24th September 2009, 6.45 pm

Present:

Marcia Higgs
Eleanor Cooke
Martin Cooke
Nikki Cheung
Donna Parks
Rhona Rutherford
Louise Smith
Miranda Hewitt
Susie Patten
Francine Rough
Rowena Fairburn
Annie Meyrick

Apologies:

Angela Balmforth
Debs Purdue
Pat and Brian Baggott

1) Election of Officers: Marcia Higgs as Chairman, Nikki Cheung as Secretary and Rhona Rutherford as Treasurer were proposed for re-election. Each were seconded by Donna Parks and Eleanor Cooke and therefore duly elected for another year.

Rhona Rutherford as Treasurer will present accounts at the meetings and will liaise with the Bursary in preparing and managing the accounts on a day-to-day basis.

2) Election of Committee Members: The Committee members for the 2009 Friends of Clayesmore are as follows:

Marcia Higgs (Chairman), Nikki Cheung (Secretary), Rhona Rutherford (Treasurer), Louise Smith, Donna Parks, Debs Purdue, Sue Euridge, Brian and Pat Baggott, Angela Balmforth, Juliet Nicholas, Eleanor Cooke.

New Committee members welcomed to the Friends include: Miranda Hewitt, Susie Patten, Francine Rough, Annie Meyrick.

Parents who have offered help and support for events include
Rowena Fairburn (who attended the meeting), Lynn Button and Stephanie Cooper.

3) Chairman’s Comments: Marcia Higgs expressed her thanks to all the committee members and recounted a short review of events throughout the year. There were seven events in total. The Clay Shoot, a brand new event was a huge success and is set to be repeated again this year. Following it was the Christmas Market, The Ball, Race Night in association with the Prep School, Party Night, another new venture which was a free of charge occasion aimed specifically at encouraging parents to meet each other and make contact; Sports Day with Pimms bar, again a new approach and the ever popular Café series.

Each event made profit, apart from the Party Night (see next item) but, more importantly, each provided an opportunity for more and more parents to get to know the school and the work of The Friends. Marcia commented that the awareness of the friends has been heightened throughout the year.

4) Treasurer’s Report: Rhona informed the meeting that the finals accounts for the year showed £21,609.26 funds in hand. This did not include the new year subscriptions.

Profit from each event is recorded as follows:-

Clay shoot: £ 600
Christmas Market £ 140
Ball £1154
Race night £ 231
Sports day £ 357
Opera £ 208

Funds awarded:

Sixth Form
Common room £2500
Staging £9182 £3000 received from Prep Parents’ Assoc Funds
Mobile lighting £ 456
Football table (?) £ 811
Promo flags £ 462

£10,000 of funds in hand are ear-marked for the development of the Social Centre Kitchen allowing for the introduction of kitchen facilities for break time snacks etc.

5) Headmaster’s Comments: Martin Cooke paid tribute to the work of the Friends and the quality of the events and the fun they had generated. He also commented that this is the strongest FOC committee for some years.

The AGM was then concluded and the Friends Committee meeting took place immediately following.

New Events

Latest Events