Friends of Finningham is a fairly informal group of people who are prepared to take a role in making the village a great place to live and work. Our main objectives are to organise occasional events and to produce a newsletter.

Our next meeting is the AGM on 28th April, 7.30 in the church. Anybody is welcome to attend.

Contact Ian Armstrong for more details. Ph 01449 780215.

Friends of Finningham Meeting

3 March 2025

Present:- Mary Webb, Carol Birch, Ian Armstrong, David Wadlow, Hilary Murdoch, Marion Bell, Margaret Strickland, Katrina Taylor, Lorna and Mike.

Apologies:- Emily Durrant and Mick Cattermole

Minutes:- Minutes of the meeting on 27 January were approved.

Treasurer’s Report:- We continue to have a healthy overall balance in two accounts. It was agreed that we will make payment to the Church for its use for our meetings.

VE Day Celebrations:-

A singer has been booked

A pizza van has been booked

The marquee used for the Flower Festival will be moved onto the green.

It was agreed that we would not serve tea or coffee.

It was agreed that we should have four posters produced with a budget of £200. David to contact Ngage.

Tony Kilbee to be approached for use of the PA system.

PRS licence to be finalised after the AGM.

David agreed to send a short piece for the Hexagon and Ian agreed to contact the newsletters for all local villages.

Games on the Green:- It was agreed that we should book an Ice Cream van and not try to do it ourselves. Ian agreed to arrange.

Christmas Lunch:- We agreed to use the White Horse at Stoke Ash again this year. It will be Saturday 6 December 2025 at 12.30. Further details, such as cost, will be given later.

Church Report:- Marion Bell reported that all details will appear in the Newsletter. For the Flower Festival June Aitken will be drawing up the list of volunteers. Donations for the Tombola and Lucky Dip will be welcomed. There is a plastic box in the church in which items can be left. Marion pointed out how grateful they are for the support that the church is receiving.

Church Roof:- Margaret Strickland pointed out that scaffolding will be erected by the end of March and the work must be completed by mid-April to protect the bats. That should not be seen as a sign the all the £20,000 needed for the work has be raised. Far from it. Mary agreed to organise a walk to help raise funds. She agreed that Sunday 6 July 2025 would be the date of the walk. We agreed that a bucket would be available during the VE Day celebrations.

Parish Council Report:- No representative was present but it was reported that Lorna Doyle has appealed to the Secretary of State over the refusal for planning permission on the land beside the pub.

Newsletter:- Ian was very pleased to announce that he had more contributions than he could fit into the current issue. It resulted in a larger issue which made it a little bit more expensive. The cut-off date for the next issue is 20 May 2025.

AoB:-  David reported that he had a visit from a person purporting to represent a company that was looking to install Full Fibre Broadband. If he was genuine that would be good news for the village. Ian showed the meeting a trophy that he would like to donate. It was agreed that we would gratefully find a use for it.

Next Meeting:- The AGM on 28 April 2025

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