Elizabeth Day
I would like to re – stand for election on the Trustee board in order to provide continuity as BPCG consolidates its activities throughout this challenging pandemic. With increasing demands on our enterprise, I wish to influence our strategic development to hold on to our key purpose of sharing our love of nature and learning about growing in our inspiring public space, open to all the community. My considerable knowledge of the local community makes a useful contribution in supporting us to achieve our excellent results and thriving partnerships. I am a regular volunteer for many varied tasks. It is inspiring to be involved with such a positive organisation.
Antonia Gross
Derek Hoare
Alice Noakes
Andrew Oxley
I offer myself for election as Trustee/Treasurer of BPCG for a further year.
If re-elected I shall continue to maintain the financial records of the Charity in accordance with its legal requirements and as required by the Director. I shall continue with the provision of timely and accurate financial information for the Board to enable them to fulfil their fiduciary duties and be appropriately informed when making strategic decisions.
I shall continue to assist in the provision of information to support the changes needed as the Charity responds to the impact of Covid-19 while maintaining focus on the timetable for The Barn development.’
At a more detailed level during the year I shall review the Charity’s financial procedures and update and further develop the file of treasurer work instructions
Josh Piercey
I am standing for re-election as a BPCG Trustee.
I wish to continue helping BPCG meet the challenges of the new normal. Pragmatism and thoughtfulness are required to re-position the organisation into a post-Covid world, but the significant acceleration of digital behaviours from our community and our organisational inventiveness so far makes me very hopeful. I have been glad to help broaden BPCG’s digital output over lockdown and would like to put everything I have learned over the summer to further use on behalf of the organisation.
David Roy
I am standing for re-election as trustee. Safely fulfilling the charity’s mission during the COVID-19 pandemic has been a major challenge. Our sources of income have significantly been reduced. However, thanks to the Herculean effort of volunteers, staff and trustees, new ways of operating have been developed and implemented to enable activities to continue. I will continue to offer my technical expertise and knowledge to help the charity respond and adapt to the inevitable uncertain and rapidly changing circumstances. I will be focusing on improving and adapting site infrastructure. This will include developing the means to offer enhanced digital content to schools and the community.
Chris Smith
I am standing again as chair.
Whilst our financial and beneficiary results for the year 2019/20 paint a rosy picture and we gained planning consent to build the Barn, the six months from April have been very difficult for the charity. But with the help of our Covid volunteers and an emerging cohort of new and mostly young volunteers we have maintained the garden as a delightful and productive haven. Our staff have responded to the tactical challenges and this has in some cases advanced our strategic position. The winter ahead will present more challenges and I will support our tactical response to these.
We have had no schools visits since March and our families activities are curtailed by the need for social distancing. It is still not clear when it will be possible to restart these activities although trustees hope that the 2021 summer term will see the return of school visits. Once we have a better view of the future I will support trustees to have a realistic review of our current 5 year plan.
The other enormous task for the charity during 2021 will be to raise the remaining £150k we will need to actually build the Barn.We must raise this by June otherwise our GLA funding will expire. I intend to work urgently with trustees, staff and contractors to find ways of financing this sum.
Sarah Wales
I am standing for a third term as Trustee and Secretary to the board.
I am a regular volunteer at BPCG and very much enjoy working alongside fellow volunteers and staff members and the sense of community that this brings. I hope to bring insight of the volunteer experience to the board.
The coming term brings both challenges and opportunity. There will be continued impact from Covid-19 this Autumn/Winter on the full range of charity income. Trustees will need to consider how best to reintroduce school visits. We also need to reflect on altered routines and new ways of engaging with the greenhouses. I plan to be involved in the next push of fundraising to secure the funds needed to complete The Barn. 20/21 is going to be a busy term and I hope to be a part of its success.
Janet Worth
I am the newest Trustee as i was co opted at the November meeting last year. I am happy to stand for re election. It has been a very strange introduction to the charity as everything came to an abrupt halt in March with the start of lockdown. Prior to that I was involved in putting together the bid for the Good Growth Fund which was hard work and enabled me to use my legal and contract management skills to support the Chair and Director. It felt amazing being successful, but we are now having to review our targets in the light of covid. Hopefully in the forthcoming year I will be able to continue to support the other Trustees as we work on our plan to Raise the Barn, review and develop the best ways to reach our communities, and hopefully I will be able to do some gardening!