MINUTES from Friends of Levenshulme Meeting, Levenshulme Library, 23rd February 2008


Present: Charlotte Smith, Claire Mooney, Candy Leonard, Hugh Peters, Ellen Meredith, Liz Pilkington, Ollie Ashford, Paul Daly, Jenni Viitanen, Tracy Jesty, Jamie Summers, Lydia Meryll, Cllr Charles Glover, Kate O’Neill, Cllr John Bridges, Hannah Peake, Julie Reid, Liz Noble, Janet Scott, Cllr John Commons, Cllr Keith Whitmore, Stuart Calton.


Easter Event


Following on from the last meeting, it was agreed that the number of sites to be visited should be seven, these are:

- Chapel Street site (former Community Centre site)
- St Mary’s / Elbow Street site
- Levenshulme Baths
- supermarket formerly known as Kwiksave site
- Levenshulme Train Station
- Arcadia sports centre
- Greenbank

The postcard will be amended to show each of these sites. The event is to start at 14:00 and run until about 16:00.

Rather than stamps, it was agreed that stickers would be less expensive and fulfill the same role. Since there are seven sites, it was suggested that we use the seven colors of the rainbow, one for each site. This should be cheap and pretty.

Volunteers will sit at each site, at a kind of “checkpoint”, to sticker people’s cards.

There will then be a bring-and-buy sale at the end on the Chapel Street site. In terms of this, we’ll ask on the publicity for people to contribute baking. There’s also a possibility of getting cheap or free vegetables and stuff from Smithfields Market, as was done by Greenbank RA for their Christmas Party.

As well as drawing up a letter asking for donations to take around small local shops, it was agreed that we’ll also approach McVities, Cadbury’s and the Co-op (CWS) for free / discounted eggs and confectionary. It was suggested that, in the likely absence of a massive haul of large free eggs, we could use cream eggs instead.

There was some discussion about the legal implications of children walking around the various sites in Levenshulme. It was proposed that:

- if unaccompanied children turn up, we let them participate
- we do not provide people to accompany any unattended children
- we make it clear on all promotional literature that “parents are responsible for their children”

General consensus was reached on this solution, since it involved the minimum of intervention, expense and bureaucracy. Although it was also agreed to look into the legalities further to be on the safe side.

It was agreed that we need flyers a minimum of two weeks in advance. These should show a map of the route, explain the idea of the event and carry a message about what need to be done at each site. They can then be used to advertise it, and to give instruction on the day.

It was also pointed out that we should make sure any litter is collected from the site, and that we should ask for an optional donation from those taking part.


ACTIONS:

► Kate and the Roller Hockey Club have agreed to operate the checkpoint at the Arcadia. Cllr Commons and the Friends of Levenshulme Station will man the checkpoint at the Station. Hannah and Liz agreed to be on the checkpoint at Greenbank. The other sites will be dished out between us all on the day.
► Kate is to approach Alma Park school to ask if they’ll help distribute leaflets. Candy will speak to teachers at Chapel Street School too. ► Lydia will speak to the Co-op about possible donations of food, Stuart will contact Cadbury’s. Hannah will speak to Mark of Greenbank RA about visiting Smithfields Market for donations and Tracy will draft a letter approaching local shops.
► Stuart and Jamie will sort out a flyer between them, as well as finalising the postcard design and text.
► We should have stalls on the first three weekends in March to advertise the Easter event.
► Julie will look into the legal situation.

Letter to Richard Leese

It was acknowledged that it’s too late to get Richard Leese back before the election period begins. The Chief Executive of the Council has put restrictions on when council officers can appear in public during the run-up making it yet more tight.

It was agreed to invite the Leader of the Council and those council officers with responsibility for the Levenshulme area, in June or July 2008.

In the meantime, the letter inviting him, drawn up by Conor (see last minutes) will be sent. Additonal material will be included, asking for updates on the various issues.



Bank Account / Constitution



In order to open a bank account, Friends of Levenshulme will need some form of constitution and some official positions.

It was pointed out that our unofficial, loosely-grouped structure has always served us well, allowing us to make decisions quickly and with the minimum of fuss. However, we do really need a bank account, and there appears to be no way to get around it. For this reason the constitution will be extremely short and highlight only:

- FoL’s independence from all political parties and business interests
- FoL’s commitment to being inclusive regardless of race, sexuality, religion, disability etc…
- FoL’s commitment to the principle of public money or public services (see minutes 08/12/07)

Given that all these points have applied to FoL from the start, it should make no difference to the way we operate.

It was proposed that Tracy Jesty take the role of Chair, Stuart Calton take the role of Secretary, Audrey Sluyter take the role of Treasurer and Sean Roach and Charlotte Smith be additional signatories. All these positions were filled without objection.

The constitution will be placed on our website for public scrutiny and any objections. After 7 days, it will be regarded as agreed for one year. The positions and constitution will then be reviewed at an AMG a year from now on 22nd February 2009.


ACTIONS:
► Charlotte is drafting the constitution and has agreed to open the bank account itself once everything is sorted.

Levenshulme Hustings

It was agreed that we send letters of invitation to candidates standing in both Levenshulme and Gorton South wards, on the 4th April, once nominations are closed. We will need to have the letters ready in advance. The hustings itself should be in the third week of April. It was thought a school would be the best venue.

It was suggested that we invite one representative from each of the parties standing, rather than every candidate. This was generally thought to be more trouble than it was worth since it would not then be a meeting with the candidates. It was also suggested that we only invite candidates from parties already represented on the Council. These would be Labour, Tory, LibDem and Green. It was thought that this wouldn’t be appropriate as it would prevent independents or other smaller parties from having their say.

It was decided therefore to invite all candidates and let the parties themselves decide how they want to play it.

It was pointed out that neither Cllr Commons of the Liberal Democrats, nor Julie Reid (the Labour candidate for Gorton South) would be prepared to share a platform with fascists, should they stand. The general feeling was that we would not be prepared to offer them a platform. Should the a fascist candidate stand, we will meet nearer the time to plan our response in more detail.

ACTIONS:

► Stuart will get the basic text of the letters ready and pass them around in advance of the 4th April for comment. He’ll also get the basics of the publicity sorted out.

Other Business

A fundraiser CD single has been produced of Claire Mooney’s song “Who’s Looking After Levenshulme?” (with “Kindness of Strangers” on the b-side). It will cost £2.00 with all donations going to the campaign. Claire will advertise it on her website and at gigs. We will also sell it on the street on our stalls.

It was noted that the first draft of the minutes from 08/12/2007 gave the impression that St Peter’s church had been charging FoL to use their facilities. It was acknowledged that the wording was misleading and it’s now been amended. It was made clear that St Peter’s has never charged FoL for use of the church building and indeed has generously helped meet with publicity for our events in the past.

ACTIONS:

► Stuart has burnt the first batch of CDs and produced the labels and artwork. So they're ready now.
► Claire will approach ALL FM with these. We’ll also send some to the usual press contacts.





(Taken down by Stuart)