On Saturday 12th November, WEGA is holding its 2022 Annual General Meeting. This will be the first one since we set ourselves up as a Co-operative Society in June this year. Welcome to people from all our sites: Blackpit Lane, Fairholme Road, Lime Tree Road, Northleigh Road and St Margarets Road.
Time: 11.30 meeting start. Light refreshments at 11 and at the end of the meeting (which will take about 1 – 1 ½ hours)
Place: Northleigh Road pavilion
So what’s different and why is it important to attend this AGM?
In many ways, nothing has changed. We’re still an allotment association run by plotholders for plotholders, on a voluntary basis – no-one is paid for managing the sites. We’ve still got 5 sites under the Ward End Gardeners Association ‘umbrella’. Each site still has its own identity and most people with plots only know their own site.
In other ways, we are changing. The move to set up a Co-op came about because we want to invest more in upgrading and improving facilities on all the sites and that takes resources we don’t have under the current arrangements with the Council – most of our rental income isn’t available to the Association to spend, and in any case upgrading facilities doesn’t come cheap. So we need to raise money from other places – such as grants from the Lottery, HS2 etc. They don’t give out big grants without being reassured that charity or public money will be properly spent and accounted for. Hence our need to have a legal structure and rules which will make us eligible for these funds.
More about the Co-op can be found on the Members Section of this website, including the Rules we now follow. A Co-op was recommended by the National Allotment Society and we are registered with the Financial Conduct Authority.
The other big change to do with the Co-op is that partners of plotholders now have rights. Up till now, the person signing the Tenancy Agreement for the plot (a legal agreement with the Council who is the landlord of all the sites), was the only person entitled to have a say in what happens. Now the spouse or other family member or friend of the plotholder who is involved with the plot can apply to become an “Associate Member” of the Co-op. This means they can contribute to decisions, vote at meetings, and stand for the Committee. It also means they have a ‘stake’ in the plot which could be important if the plotholder gives it up. As the sites become full and we have to set up waiting lists as is common in other parts of Birmingham, this will become more significant.
Quite a number of people have now joined up as Associate Members and we hope they will come along to the AGM and play a full part.
We’ll have the usual reports which are common to all AGMs – a report of last year’s activities and presentation of the annual accounts. We’ll be electing the Officers and Committee for the coming year, and this is open to any Full or Associate Member to stand. It’s important that every site is represented on the Committee which decides policies for all. Examples are Lettings and Health and Safety. So if you are interested, come along and put your name forward. It is a commitment to attend meetings, but we only hold 6 over the course of a year, and having a good Committee can make a big difference to how well we operate.
For more information, go to the Members Section of the website or contact the Secretary Hester Blewitt, who can remind you of how to log on if you don’t know. Minutes of past meetings are also in the Members Section – these give information about previous decisions taken over the past couple of years.
For the Secretary, ring 07812 248447 or email: hester_blewitt@hotmail.com