Page 34 - ALG Issue 3 2021

return to allotment open days, and general socialising on the allotment, including site barbecues, August parties, and September Produce Shows. We can but hope!
John Irwin, Chairman
COMPANY SECRETARY REPORT
As we approach our 2021 AGM, I must admit a tinge of disappointment. We had great plans for a celebration
year in 2020 for our 90th year as a Co-operative. On the positive side, we embraced technology and held our first virtual AGM in October last year, which was a success and attended
by about 90 members. We had made plans to hold a hybrid event this year in Essex to once again celebrate with our membership, but, with all the uncertainty around restrictions, we have decided to go virtual once again. Many businesses have struggled seriously over the last 15 months with the repeated periods of lockdown
and closure of many leisure activities which have had a profound effect
on everyone. Our membership has been the fortunate ones. Allotments have remained open and provided
that valuable space to escape from a challenging world. Many members have told me ‘Our allotments have never looked so good’. Of course, this effect has now boosted the demand for more people to grow their own food and benefit from that special environment and waiting lists have rocketed accordingly.
Over the last 12 months, the Society has also seen an increase of over
3% overall in membership. The NAS Allotmenteers Liability Insurance scheme is proving very popular and has increased dramatically and we now have over 33,000 members
signed up. We are constantly looking
at new appropriate benefits for our membership. The Covid restrictions meant a cessation of shows and the opportunities for the Society to be proactively out and about. It very quickly became apparent that face-to-face events would not be resumed for some time. The Society response to this was to create webinars, firstly for town
and parish clerk training, followed by webinars to help those self-managed associations entering new long-term leases, models of how to operate
and a Trustee Workshop. Online
events are here to stay, and we have
a Sub-Committee actively planning a training programme to include ‘How to’ webinars for first time growers. Looking forward to 2021 and beyond, we have plans in development for a new website to complement the database installed and developed over the last couple of years. This has allowed
some digital transformation and this year we have moved very smoothly from a printed material system to renewals now being sent via email. This has been much appreciated by most of our membership. Of course,
as well as savings on postage, this
also reduces environmental impact.
All our association members can now receive their own copy of the quarterly Allotment and Leisure Gardener Magazine, which is now sent digitally
to the contact for each association. We hope all our members can embrace the changes we have made so far to the way the Society operates and we look forward to future developments during 2021.
The NAS Management Committee, Governance Committee and Subgroup meetings, have all taken place virtually this year. We have all had to look at doing things differently; however,
it has had the effect of keeping the team together although remote has worked very effectively. We continue
to encourage local authorities and developers to include new allotment sites in housing developments. We have been approached by many developers this year, asking for guidance and assistance with new sites. Fortunately, this year we have seen very few Section 8 applications and have also seen some rejected. Since the start of lockdown, we had notification of approximately 38/40 new sites being created throughout England and Wales. Some are private sites, but many are local authority sites.
For National Allotments Week, due
to social lockdown, we had to rethink our strategy; we could not do our
usual Party on the Plot campaign but ran a video competition for children, individuals and associations. We had some great entries that conveyed
how passionately people feel about their plots and the children’s video winner produced our Young Plotters ambassador Tom Wells, who now has a regular feature in our magazine.
We had joint association winners, the Green Growers at Acomb who have regenerated a historical site in to a welcoming, accessible space where new and old plotters alike enjoy a tranquil nature-friendly oasis and Chickerell Allotments Association who have created a new site with residents, council and developer working together to create a vibrant allotment community. Emma Quayle, the adult winner, got her plot at the beginning
of lockdown and it became a magical place for her and her family.
During the Covid-19 lockdown, waiting list applications soared and that has led to continuing interest from the press into rising waiting lists and the benefits of allotment growing, especially during lockdown. During the campaign
Many businesses have struggled seriously over the last 15 months with the repeated periods of lockdown and closure of many leisure activities which have had a profound effect on everyone
week, television, radio and the press acknowledged this with interviews, photo-calls and articles. The Black Farmer, Wilfred Emmanuel-Jones, was interviewed by BBC breakfast at Dorset Rd allotments and joined us in our call to make more land available for would- be plotholders.
The last months have been difficult for everyone coping with isolation, bereavement, the demands of work, home schooling, whether parent
or grandparent. Our Staff and Management Committee, Mentors, have all experienced similar problems. Our staff have adapted well working from home and although we have all struggled sometimes with technology and the isolation, we have settled into a pattern of weekly team meetings via Zoom.
I would like to thank all our staff for their work contributions over the last year. The Management Committee and Mentors for their patience and versatility at accepting new technology. Last but not least all our members for your continued support.
Liz Bunting, Legal and Operations Manager
Photo Credit – Vegetable images from Derek Cullen, West Midlands Region
34 Allotment and Leisure Gardener