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Notice of Annual General Meeting 2023

You are invited to attend the AHSRA AGM:

6pm Tuesday 18^th July 2023 – The Pavilion, Ashton Lane

The purpose of the AGM is to give “Members” an opportunity to ask questions for clarification and vote on business items on the agenda.

Anyone over 16 years old living in Ashton Hayes and Horton-cum-Peel attending the meeting is a “Member”

If you could consider volunteering your time, energy or abilities towards running our community facilities it’s a great opportunity to meet the trustees.

So that we can ensure that we have enough space to accommodate attendees comfortably it would be appreciated (although not required) if you could email ashtonhsra@gmail.com to advise that you are attending the AGM.

A List of “Members” is taken of all those attending the meeting, name, address, email address. This list becomes the AHSRA Members List and is retained in line with Data Policy and Articles of Association. Elected Directors living outside the village are also “members”.

At the AGM, Trustees are elected. AHSRA are actively seeking new volunteer trustees as there is a continuous need to renew and refresh our capacity and capabilities.

Voting is by show of hands and all” Members” (those attending the meeting, living in the village over 16 years) have right to vote and a Record of decisions taken is made.

Sample AGM Agenda:

Ashton Hayes Sports and Recreation Association now have a Board of 13 trustees and we were pleased that Alison Howe joined the team at the AGM and David Rounthwaite was co-opted just before Christmas. They have brought added skills to the Board.

The following activities took place during the last 12 months:

Queen’s Platinum Jubilee The Lighting of the Beacon marked the start of the celebrations and took place on the Thursday on the Recreation Ground and we had a great turnout on the night. The Bar served wine and beer and there were hot dogs and Morris Dancing. The Pavilion served hot and cold drinks. The main Jubilee celebrations took place on the Sunday of the Jubilee weekend. Unfortunately, the weather wasn’t kind to us.

The Lighting of the Christmas Tree was held at the beginning of December. The night was very cold and frosty but everyone had a good time. Father Christmas switched on the lights and we were entertained by Carol Singers. Hot and cold drinks and mulled wine were served from the Pavilion and beer and wine from the Bar. Fairy lights and Christmas music gave a festive atmosphere. We are hoping we can make this an annual event.

Football We have several local teams using our pitches: Ashton Vets and Tarvin Vets use the main pitch on Saturday afternoons. Four Tarvin Boys team (U11s and U12s) play regularly on Saturday mornings and Sunday afternoons.

Flood Monitoring Pilot Project The project is run by the University of Chester in conjunction with CWaC and the Parish Council. The gateway for this project has been installed on the Pavilion. The data from a number of sensors installed in the drainage system is sent to the Gateway. The Gateway then sends the information to the university and others.

Future Expenditure Most of the Play Equipment is 11 years old and we know that this will have to be replaced over the coming years and a 10-year re-investment Plan is being formulated. We are also aware that there is very little provision for teenagers. We have looked into acquiring a MUGA (Multi-use Games Area). Even a small one (which we would want) is expensive but they are low maintenance and offer an all-weather facility. We would be looking for funding to enable us to purchase this in the future.

The King’s Coronation We will be holding the “Big Lunch” to celebrate the King’s Coronation on Sunday May 7th at 12.30. We want it to be a fun and relaxed event and hope that the sun will shine! There will be a BBQ selling burgers and sausages, a fully licenced Bar and the Pavilion will Page68 be selling ice cream, hot and cold drinks. There will be some activities for children. As always, we will be looking for volunteers to come forward to help on the day (car park duty, MC, helping with the sound system, serving on the Bar and in the Pavilion and help with the BBQ), we also need people to setup and take down gazebos etc.

Finally – Once again, I would like to thank the Parish Council for their support.

Annual Parish Meeting Report – March 2022

ASHTON HAYES SPORTS AND RECREATION ASSOCIATION – The Pavilion, Ashton Lane, Ashton Hayes, Chester CH3 8AA
Who are we?
AHSRA is a registered charity, and not for profit company run by volunteers which aims to provide sports and recreation facilities for all ages in the local community.
We continue to manage the facility to a very high standard. The children’s playground, as well as the field and circular hard surfaced footpath, are being really well used by the local residents of all ages benefiting the health and wellbeing of all.
What is AHSRA doing?
These are much loved amenities, which we think it’s fair to say, became a vital asset for the community during the lockdown.
The pandemic has restricted the way in which the pavilion and field has been operated. Run by volunteers, the pavilion cafe operated on a takeaway basis as and when Covid allowed, and the number of football fixtures played was reduced through the Covid outbreaks.
‘Pavement Parking’ on Ashton Lane causing obstruction to pedestrians continues to be a concern at peak times. AHSRA displays No Parking cones on Ashton Lane during periods of high occupancy and this appears to be having some effect.
Despite the new signage and articles in Around Ashton, dog fouling continues to be an issue, though we are seeing some improvement.
Much of the playground equipment is now 10 years old and involve wooden legs embedded into the ground. We continue with annual professional health and safety inspections which indicate they are in good condition and another 10 years life expectancy would appear to be a reasonable estimate in planning future reinvestment schedules. The Trustees have put in place a reserves policy with the aim of providing immediate funding for the removal and replacement of one major piece of play equipment, when necessary, without first requiring a delay for fund raising.
We were fortunate to receive Covid Support Grants from CWaC and have continued to receive support from both the Parish Council and the Carbon Energy Company.
Trustees have indicated support for a grant funding application, should this be necessary, to support local community events with the purchase of gazebo / tents.

Annual Parish Meeting Report Spring 2021

ASHTON HAYES SPORTS AND RECREATION ASSOCIATION – report prepared by Mike Powers

AHSRA is a company limited by guarantee and managed by a board of eleven trustees The aim of the Charity is to manage the sports field and pavilion on behalf of the village of Ashton Hayes and promote amateur sport and recreation for all ages in the Parish. The last year has been dominated by the effects of the Covid Pandemic which prevented most of the usual activities from taking place. Although we lost most of our potential income from letting we did make a decision early on that because of our sound financial position we would continue to maintain the field and playground as usual. We felt it was most important for the villagers to have a park to visit and enjoy during lockdown. And visit they did. From far and wide. While the pavilion was closed due to the lockdown we took the opportunity to carry out repairs and maintenance, including decorating the interior of the pavilion. Sections of the boundary path were repaired and a new Petanque Piste (Boule Court) was constructed. The playground equipment is now more than 10 years old and some of it has begun to fail. The rocking log required replacement and the scramble net on the climbing frame broke and was also replaced. All the replaced equipment and parts have to conform with the stringent requirements for public use. We continue to receive financial assistance from the Parish Council. Covid didn’t prevent the sun from shining on the PV panels on the pavilion roof so we again received income from the Ashton Hayes Carbon Energy Company. The unexpected bonus was the Government grant for small business which helped put our finances back on an even keel. The café was closed for the duration of lockdown but has recently reopened but only on a takeaway basis. Unfortunately dog fouling is still an issue. We have added more signs but still find that certain irresponsible dog owners continue to ignore them. If I can end on a more pleasant note ASHRA is hoping to combine with the Church and school PTFA to hold a Village Event on the playing field on Saturday 18th September. Let’s hope we will be able to celebrate the return of our long lost freedom