Charlbury Refugee Action Group (CRAG)

MinutesMay82017

Minutes of the CRAG committee meeting held on 8 May 2017

1. Present: Hugh Belshaw, Naomi Bowen, Jon Carpenter, John Dunleavy, Angela Gwatkin, Val Parker, Frances Webber

2. Apologies for absence: Gene Teo Cooke, Paula Dunleavy, Pete Welply

3. Minutes of last meeting: The minutes of the meeting held on February 27 were agreed as a correct record and were signed by Val accordingly. Naomi had reluctantly decided to stand down from the committee owing to pressure of other commitments, and was thanked for her work as Minutes Secretary to date. Frances kindly volunteered to take the minutes next time.

4. Chair's report: Valerie thanked the committee for their talent and commitment to CRAG -- it was now a dynamic organisation and had achieved a lot in a short time.

5. Secretary's report: Jon was disappointed with the lack of response to his suggestions for small-group fundraising contained in a couple of recent Newsletters, but was reminded that the 199 recipients probably regarded them chiefly as a means of keeping up to date with what CRAG was doing -- and the concerts and events put on so far had all proved excellent fund-raisers. John congratulated Angela, Jon and Val on raising what amounted to a huge sum of money for the benefit of refugees -- CRAG was making an immensely valuable contribution.

6. Treasurer's report: Hugh circulated hard copies of the latest accounts -- see copy on file.

7. Fundraiser's report: Members were reminded about the Art Café coming up on Sunday 14 May in St Mary's Church. Catherine Goyder had volunteered to donate 10% of her art sales to CRAG, and also to host a CRAG donation box at her studio. Frances offered to deliver flyers while doing a round of the art displays on 13 May.

There had been another concert since the last committee meeting, the one performed by Jenny Larsen, which had attracted families with children. A break was now planned until after the Street Fair, with the next concert scheduled for 15 October: this had been proposed by Fatima Lahham (British-Syrian recorder-player) who would be accompanied by an ensemble from the Royal College of Music. Subsequent offers included recitals by a clarinettist, a harpsichordist and a flautist. It was suggested that Kaye Freeman, arts editor for the Chipping Norton News, should be invited to review the next concert, and also asked to publicise the others.

Alison Pritchard had confirmed that she would lay on another Middle East Feast and the hall had been booked for 23 September. Diners would be entertained by a group from Cowley.

It was pointed out that if, as expected, Melissa Midgen were involved in helping out at CRAG events, the only way she could be covered by our insurance policy was if she were co-opted to the committee: this was agreed and done.

8. Campaign officers' reports: Frances had written and circulated a brief summary of the Dubs scheme to members. She had also written again to Robert Courts MP but had not thought it worthwhile to circulate his responses to the committee as they were so unenlightening.

Kaye Freeman had offered CRAG a regular slot in the Chipping Norton News and it was suggested that a précis of part of Jon's latest newsletter might be a good way to fill this, the first deadline being 12 May. Angela thought it could prove useful to introduce Frances to Molly Brett, a freelance journalist, to see if Molly could open up more avenues in the press.

Another possibility would be to host a series of public meetings on the causes of refugee movements and Frances proposed Celia McEwen as a possible speaker, having heard her speak elsewhere. Naomi suggested Churches Together in Charlbury as a potential partner in this.

9. AOB. A date had now been set for the Open Day at the Corner House mentioned in item 11 of the minutes of 27 February: Saturday 8 July, 9.30 am to midday. 17 organisations would be taking part and some discussion ensued about what the CRAG stall should display. Perhaps a donation box could be included, possibly even tasters of baklava for interested visitors. Hugh, Val and Naomi volunteered to help man the stall on the day.

10. The next meeting was fixed for Monday 11 September at 8 pm at Fiveways.

Signed:

Date:

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