Page 46 - ALG Issue 1 2022

West Midlands
Shropshire, Staffordshire, Worcestershire, Herefordshire and Warwickshire
REPRESENTATIVE
Mr Tom Terrence
17 Stonefield Close, Walsgrave Keep, Walsgrave, Warks CV2 2PZ 02476 621350 tterrence@btinternet.com
MENTOR
Colin Bedford
West Midlands
0845 261 3672 cbedford.nas@gmail.com
Welcome to our new members...
Cofton Road Allotment Association Fillongley Allotment Association
Tilling Drive Allotments CIC
Wrexham Avenue Allotment Association 7 individuals
Uttoxeter Rural Parish Council
Calls to 0845 numbers cost 3p (ex VAT) per minute plus your telephone company’s access charge
West Midlands Report
The Annual General meeting of the West Midlands Panel of the National Allotment Society took place on Saturday 6th November 2021. It was a hybrid event, with some of the officers and local members attending face-to- face at the King’s Heath Centre in King’s Heath Park in Birmingham and others attending via Zoom. The meeting began with a presentation entitled “Teabags, Bras and Tights, Part 2” by Darren Rudge (Part 1 had taken place in 2017 at May Lane in Birmingham). The theme was sustainable gardening using assorted items, not necessarily just ladies’ underwear!
Darren’s talk covered the economical use of water, home-made and natural fertilizers, liquid feeds, herbicides. We were encouraged to enjoy the delights of potato vodka, “potcheen,” to the Irish, giant hogweed wine, marrow rum and Japanese knotweed wine. The debatable drawback of a Zoom presentation was that samples were not available! He advised that pruning of trees and bushes should not be undertaken when in a bad mood as it can lead to bad decisions! Finally, he encouraged us to tempt others with the benefits of gardening for
health and wellbeing. He said no prescription nor dosage was necessary, as well as reminding us that without the six inches of topsoil we could not exist!
After a short comfort break the business section of the meeting began with Tom Terrence, the Regional Representative, welcoming everyone to the hybrid Annual General Meeting and indicating that the National AGM in June 2022 would be in the same format, with the actual venue being Colchester. The Secretary reported that there had been a slight increase in Association and Member numbers, plus an increase of 24 individual members. Most show dates for 2022 had been published, though the format for most was still under discussion. The online ordering of Kings Seeds was discussed, and it was found that most of the problems from last year had been remedied as well as a few new ones that had crept in this year. The opinion was expressed that Kings were most anxious to have the online ordering working smoothly as, when working efficiently, it had the potential to be much quicker. The Treasurer reported
that we were again solvent though some electronic equipment had been purchased to facilitate a proposed new initiative regarding site associations’ training. The Region had represented the National Allotment Society
at a slimmed-down Gardeners’ World Live Show. Since then, he had been approached
by the organisers of the Malvern Shows to participate in their 2022 shows. The Regional Representative and Mentor have had an increased workload, being involved with Warwick, Rugby and Worcester with reviews and self-management issues. Training and support for self-management were going to be all important in the near future in preparation for changes to managerial arrangements.
The possible dates for next year’s quarterly meetings are 12th February, 14th May, 6th August and the AGM on 5th November 2022.
Finally, the Region is still without a Chair and Deputy Regional Rep. Anyone who might be interested in taking on either of these roles, please contact the Committee.
John McNab, West Midland Region Secretary
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46 Allotment and Leisure Gardener