Plympton Gardeners Association

Jill Warren was presented with the Richard Bishop Trophy for all her work running the raffle at the monthly meetings.

 

February News

Next Meeting - Thursday 5^th February. Harewood House at 7.30

The talk this month is on Camelias by Jeremy Wilson. The evening will include our AGM – see below for more details.

Free tea and coffee will be available during the interval. The sales/swap table will be in operation with good supplies of grit, vermiculite, perlite plus the other popular items. The monthly raffle will, of course, be in operation.

 

AGM

We will aim to get through the formal business as efficiently as we can. The agenda will include the Chairman’s Report, the Treasurer’s report and the election of officers. The officers and committee members have all indicated that they are willing to continue in office if elected. If any other member would like to be considered for election, please contact the chairman – John Gilding 07436 001882, or the secretary Carol Penhallurick tel. 07598 954276.

 

The finance reports are attached at end the end of the Newsletter

 

Spring Show – Saturday 21^st March

The show sub-committee have now confirmed the judges for the show. The schedule has been agreed and paper copies will be available at Thursday’s meeting. There is an electronic version, available to print, at the end of the Newsletter. Where possible we would ask members to print their own schedules to save on costs.

 

Staging takes place on Friday 20^th from 5.00 – 7.45pm and on the morning of the show from 7.30 – 9.30am. Judging then commences and the show opens to the public at 1.30pm. Entrance is £1.

Volunteers are required on Friday afternoon, from 4.00pm, to help set up tables, lay out tablecloths and arrange exhibit spacings. Equally important is help to clear up at the end of the afternoon.

 

We would be very grateful for donations of tombola and bric-a-brac items for use at the show. Please bring any donations to the February or March meetings.

 

Daffodil Competition

Just a reminder that judging will take place during the March meeting.

 

Coffee Bar

The last coffee bar made a profit of £580 which, considering the atrocious weather we experienced during the week, was an excellent achievement. Lloyd wishes to thank all those members who helped and to those that donated cakes, tombola prizes, and bric-a-brac items. The monies raised will be used to support our selected charity for 2026 – British Heart Foundation. The next coffee bar is in October 2026. For 2027, we will have weeks in March and October.

 

Membership

The annual subscription remains at a very reasonable £5. Thanks to all those members who have already paid – cards will be available for collection on Thursday evening. For those members yet to pay we can take your payment at the meeting.

 

Trips

We are running two coach trips this year:

 

                Toby’s Garden Festival – FRIDAY 1^st MAY   £35  (Members only until 15^th March)

                Pick-Ups -   Plymstock 8.30am;    Plympton 8.45;    Ivybridge  9.05

 

                Taunton Flower Show – FRIDAY 7^th AUGUST  £38  (Members only until 17^th May)

                Pick-Ups -   Plymstock 8.15am;      Plympton 8.30;    Ivybridge 8.50

 

To save on bank charges we would encourage people to pay by BACS or Credit Card

Plympton Gardeners   Sort Code 30-94-58   Account 0093 0198

Reference quote   Toby or Taunton FS as appropriate

 

If anyone is only able to pay by cash please speak to Phil.

 

                                   For Information only - Tally Ho equivalent prices are: Toby’s Festival £50 & Taunton Flower Show £59

 

Trophies

You are probably aware the PGA have decided to discontinue the awarding of trophies at our Shows & will be giving out certificates instead. This is because the number of trophies we own has become very large, making them difficult to store & organise. Many of the entrants in our Shows decline to take a trophy home & the certificates are easier to manage & store.

 

We now wish to reclaim any of our trophies that are not currently in our possession and decide what to do with them. For that reason, we would like to have any trophy that you, or anyone you know, are currently holding returned to us as soon as possible. You can bring it to a meeting or deliver it to Chris Bishop at 12, Treverbyn Rd. PL7 4EP. Telephone 01752 344048. Email djcabishop@aol.com

 

If you would like to keep a trophy that is in your possession in exchange for a donation to our charity (minimum donation £5) then please let Chris Bishop know. There will be an opportunity later this year for you to purchase any remaining trophies. 

 

Dates for your Diary

 

PGA Annual Show - 15^th August

Community Council Spring Fair 14^th March

May Fair 9^th May              

Next Coffee Bar - 12^th October

 

Finance

Attached are 2 files for 2024/2025 Balance Sheet and Summary of Accounts. These will be put to the membership at Thursday’s meeting for ratification.

 

Plympton Stannator

Attached are Personal Statements for the three candidates nominated for Plympton’s Stannator for 2026/2027.

A vote will be taken on Thursday to decide which candidate we will vote for at the Community Council Stannator election process.

 

PGA Website

Chris Bishop has been working hard on creating a new PGA website. The old website address is no longer valid.

The address for the new website is

             https://e-voice.org.uk/plympton-gardeners/

                               

Once you have accessed the site you might wish to bookmark it for future reference.