Youth Service minutes 23 July 2019

KINGSBRIDGE ESTUARY ROTARY CLUB

YOUTH SERVICES COMMITTEE

MINUTES
 of meeting held Tuesday 23^rdJuly at 7.30pm Seven Stars Kingsbridge

Present:                  Amanda Bloomer (AB)                                    
                                Norman Hore (NH)                                                                     
                                Steve Kerr (SK)                                
                                Gareth Scott (GS)                                                                           
                                Roger Trembath (RT)                                                                     

Apologies:              Robert Cattell (RC)
                               Brian Toms (BT) 
                               Richard Adcock (RA)  (joining member)

In Attendance:        Beverley Harman (BH)

1                     New members were warmly welcomed to the Committee – NH was welcomed back after his injury – BH proved a valuable ‘guest’ to the group.  RA who will be joining YS after his induction was unavailable; BT recovering from illness; and RC attending to family duties.

2                     The Minutes of the last meeting were familiar to all as they had been circulated beforehand and presented in summary to Club Assembly previously so they were taken as read because all matters arising would be covered on the Agenda for this meeting.

3, 5-9 +         The Time Schedule from District was discussed with some concerns being raised as it
is clear some of the events simply do not have sufficient lead in time for them to be undertaken in the coming year; indeed, it is difficult to see how the timeframe specified for certain competitions would fit comfortably within the academic timetable so it may be a struggle to secure interest from students to take part.  It is also not helped by the dearth of available information on the Rotary website (relevant pages blank – links not working – etc.) and confusion over competitions.
As a principle, it was agreed that whilst we would do as much as we could this coming year, it would be better to hold over some events if necessary to next year to ensure we ran the competitions as well as we could and students had a fair chance within the timeframes laid down. It was also considered that we may run some events at a Club level only this year as a ‘trial’ to test out practicalities. 
Much comfort was taken by the strong connection we now have with KCC through Fiona Bennett and the return of Tina Graham and it was agreed that some of the YS committee would seek an early meeting once term resumes with Tina and Fiona at KCC to discuss how the Club could work more closely with the school.
Running through the various competitions:-

YOUNG ENTERPRISE              
This is definitely going ahead as all funding has been secured (the final tranche courtesy of Neil Girling).  Neil and Tim Patterson (TP) have both kindly agreed to become Business Advisers (BAs) and are pursuing accreditation ready for September at their own cost.  NH also volunteered to become a BA  [Action AB to send NH information and forms for this]  TP will join future YS Committee Meetings for YE discussions so both BAs and the remainder of the YS Committee are kept fully informed.

It was agreed that as there was no spare budget, anyone volunteering to become a BA would fund the cost of accreditation themselves (approx. £70).

YS attendance at the launch at KCC on 12^th September to be finalised when Fiona is back at school (early Sept).

YOUNG CHEF
AB leading on this – The Bear & Blacksmith team have agreed to act as mentors for the participants;  Jo Parsons (the Blind Chef) is keen to be involved;  with the prize for the winner/s – a Masterclass with Jamie Rogers kindly offered. District have advised that prizes should not be monetary but vocational/an experience/something money cannot buy (hence why we arranged what ours should be) but Nationally the prize remains as £500 cash.

YOUNG WRITER

RC leading on this with both Kingsbridge Library and Jane at Harbour Bookshop fully on board.  Local author Felicity Goodall and Ian Hobbs of Devon Goodreads to be involved, plus other support.  AB to act as support/facilitator with her contacts.

YOUNG PHOTOGRAPHER

GS has kindly agreed to lead on this but understandably wishes to see what is involved before committing to this year’s timeframe. [Action AB to source information from District and send to GS]  Martyn Norsworthy (Martyn Norsworthy Photography) will help with this with support from Scot Baston (Zooming Feet) if required.  Next year, GS may extend this to the YOUNG FILMMAKER competition which Ben Harris of Gogglebox Productions is keen to assist with and, hopefully, Peter Trembath – BBC Outside Broadcast cameraman/technician.

YOUNG SCIENTIST and YOUNG ENVIRONMENTALIST

SK (and RA, seconded to these projects in his absence) will lead on these with the timeframes and requirements determining whether competitions will be this year or next.  [Action SK to do some research into the criteria / AB to send such information as she can find]

Local persons who can be called upon to assist with these projects : Nigel Mortimer, Estuaries Officer South Devon AONB;  Fiona van Es, educational ecologist;  Rob van Es, Physics teacher, engineer, horologist, restorer of vintage motorbikes, cars and steam launches; plus others. 

KCC TECHNOLOGY TOURNAMENT

RT whose long experience is invaluable will remain closely involved with this and it is hoped that, now the new curriculum has bedded in at KCC, there will be some scope for YS to become involved with Martyn Luckhurst rather earlier in the process than this year.  [Action AB and RT to discuss with Martyn Luckhurst how we might extend this involvement]

4         Preparations for Swimarathon are well underway and NH very kindly agreed to take
over as much as possible on this, and specifically liaison with the two charities to see if they can let us have information/literature, etc. which can go out to teams in advance and whether they wish to have a presence at the event.  Bill Beare has already been asked to include representatives from both charities as potential future speakers to the Club. 

Booking forms have been completed and returned to Quayside Leisure Centre – the cost has been given verbally at local level by Hayley who is meant to be managing this event as probably £375 this year – and she claims to be well aware of the booking and when it is. However, despite numerous visits to the Centre when she is meant to be on duty proving fruitless; emails not being replied to; phone calls not accepted and messages left both on answerphone and with other staff members, never returned, the event still does not appear as a booking in their calendar.  Apparently the booking will not be confirmed until payment in full is received – we cannot make payment until we receive an invoice (not yet forthcoming) – and I cannot deal with anyone other than Hayley as she is the only person who knows about it! 

NH is undertaking the printing of new Certificates without the necessity for signing by the President, seeking comparable quotes from printers to investigate savings.

Introductory letters have been sent out - bookings are coming in (32 slots confirmed plus other enquiries) – sponsorship forms sent to all teams booked – and as soon as the schools return, a follow up letter will be sent reminding them to book their teams in.

A rota will be circulated in September seeking help from Club members, as will a list for those wishing to join in the celebrations at Café Asia afterwards.  Several members have already kindly confirmed they will fulfil their usual roles and duties again this year including Alwyn who is essential to this event.

Little else to do at this stage besides panic!

10                 KCC have details, of those Club members willing to assist with mock interviews should
       they be required but essentially we have stepped back from major involvement in these 
       to allow KCC to lead / source interviewers themselves.

11                 There followed a lively, enthusiastic and varied discussion with all committee members
       expressing themselves both more positive about our connections with KCC and excited
       about becoming involved with more activities.  Much to do, and on the basis that less
       done well is better than more done badly, we will be sensible about what can
       realistically be undertaken this year and what should be deferred to 2020 to allow for
       sound preparations and careful research.

The meeting closed at 9.05pm