The Spinney Project’ Update - 10th May ‘06

Due to other commitments the website has been slower to get off the ground than anticipated – so thank you for your patience.

As you will see we have copied all the minutes of the 3 committee meetings we have had so far.  Remember, if you have any queries or questions please either send an email to ideas@stmarychurch.org.uk or contact one of the committee members (who are also listed on this page).

QUIZ NIGHT

We kick started the fundraising off with a hugely successful Quiz Night on Friday 28th April at Llanfair School.  We sold all the tickets, which meant 80 people attended, mostly from the village.

 A great night was had by all.  There were 8 challenging rounds, with a picture quiz thrown in during half time when we broke to replenish our glasses and enjoy a light buffet.  The triumphant team were the confusingly named ‘All types of hair colour and gorgeous’, who just pipped the ‘Millfield Court’ team by 1 point. 

A big thank you to Peter O’Neill who compiled the questions and did a sterling job as Quizmaster. Tim McIllveen and Jim Teague who organised and ran the bar, and Melanie O’Neill, Mary Hopkin and Helen Page who prepared the food.  Also Sarah Wallace who did a great job of selling the raffle tickets.

We raised approximately £670.00 after expenses.  James Mangles, the St. M C Residents Assoc. treasurer will be able to supply a more accurate figure in due course.
This is a fantastic sum, well done everybody and thank you for your support.  We will definitely organise another Quiz night.

Steph Bonnar has put together a diary of forthcoming fundraising events, which you should have had posted through your letterbox.  For more information on these events keep an eye on the ‘Village Info’ page of the website.

GRANT APPLICATIONS

Melanie O’Neill is in the process of applying for several large cash grants from a range of organisations, from companies involved in the Landfill Tax Credit Scheme to the Lottery.

This task is being made that much easier by the knowledge and skills of Andy Hopkin and Lindsay Turner.

The VCVS in Barry have also been an invaluable source of support and information, helping to point Melanie in the right direction as far as funding is concerned.  St. M C Residents Assoc. have applied for free membership of the VCVS, which entitles us to further free support and cost effective publishing, photocopying etc. should we need it.

Depending on the success of our applications, we are hoping to start work on the Spinney improvements either at the end of this year, or once the birds have finished nesting in May ’07.

THE SPINNEY WATERCOLOUR PAINTING

Thanks to Angus Thody’s business contacts, we were extremely lucky to have Sue McDonagh, the well-known Cowbridge based artist, paint a beautiful watercolour representation of how the Spinney could look.  We have reproduced a smaller version for this page, but our aim is to use the image to produce postcards or notelets to sell as a fundraiser.

The next meeting of ‘The Spinney Project’ Committee is on Wednesday 24th May.