The Friends of Combe Down Surgery is a Fundraising group, which started in 1999. We have raffles, competitions, Sponsored Walks, and monthly Coffee Mornings. Initially, we purchased equipment such as Blood Pressure Monitors, to assist in the running of the Practice; we bought plants and shrubs when the new Surgery was opened in Sulis Meadows, and in 2007, we paid for two defibrillators for the Surgeries. The staff have been trained how to use them in an emergency. In 2009 we purchased some more Blood Pressure Monitors for use by patients in their homes.

Our biggest achievement is in raising enough money to purchase a vehicle. We are very grateful to Medlock Charitable Trust, Co-operative Community Dividend Awards, and Mannings Funeral Directors for their very generous donations. In 2006, we took delivery of a Peugeot Montana, which has a ramp, and wheelchair access. This vehicle is now being used on five mornings a week, by elderly and infirm patients, who have been cleared by their Doctors as being in need of transport to get to their appointments at the Surgery.

We are very fortunate at present, as we have Volunteer Drivers, who do not ask for any payment. However, in the future, we could possibly have to pay for the services of a Driver.

The patients using the vehicle are asked to make a donation towards the running costs, but these donations do not cover all the expenses of keeping the vehicle on the road. We also want to build up a Reserve Fund, so that when the time comes to replace the vehicle, we will have some money available to do this.

There are over 8000 patients registered with our Surgery, but less than 300 of them are members of The Friends. Membership of The Friends is £5 per person annually, or £50+ to become a Life Member. Would you be willing to become a member of The Friends? You can have your annual subscription paid by Standing Order if you wish, and if you are a Tax payer, we can also claim the Tax, if you are willing to fill in a simple Gift Aid form.

You are sent a Newsletter every few months, letting you know about any future events, and they are also listed on the Surgery website www.combedownsurgery.co.uk.

I do hope that you will consider becoming a Friend – forms are available at both Surgeries, and I look forward to meeting you at our Fundraising events.

Mary Read (Honorary Secretary)
Tel: 01225 837457

SUMMER 2010

Dear Friends,

I want to say Thank You to those people who come to our Coffee Mornings every month. Sometimes we don’t have many people there, but those who do come, enjoy meeting up with the other ‘regulars’ to have a chat, and see if there is anything they would like to buy from the Bring and Buy table. I hope that many of you will be able to come to our Grand Coffee Morning on 31st July. Weather permitting, we will be having it in the beautiful garden of Colworth, The Avenue, which is only a few houses away from the Main Surgery. Our thanks to Phyllis Brown for inviting us to her garden. If it is bad weather, it will be at the Main Surgery. It will be from 10.30 to 12noon, and there will be various stalls – Cakes and Preserves, Garden Produce and Plants, Bric a Brac, Books and Jigsaws, Nearly New Clothes, Tombola, and a Grand Raffle. Entrance will be 50 pence.

Last week, we had a wooden shed erected in the Surgery back garden, for storage. It has been getting more difficult to find room to store the tables, chairs, etc in the small area upstairs above the Reception area, and they are very steep stairs to carry heavy things down. We are very grateful to Keith and Cynthia Jordan, and John and Frances Uphill, for all the time and hard work they put in to clear the site ready, cutting back several shrubs, making a level base, and shredding all the ‘rubbish’. Special thanks to John for hiring the shredder at a reduced cost.

At last week’s Committee Meeting, we agreed unanimously that The Friends could pay for an automatic opener for the Main Surgery front door. It is a very heavy door, and especially people with pushchairs, wheelchairs, walking frames, etc find it difficult to open. Karen has approached several firms to do it, and she has now had a quote from Automated Entry Systems who would be willing to do the job. It will have a similar operation to the Coop door in The Avenue- you can open it as normal, or press a pad and it will automatically open. It is far more costly than we had anticipated (nearly £3000), but we feel it will be an asset to so many people who come to the surgery.

We now need to get more members to help boost our Funds again.
Best Wishes,
Mary Read.

MARCH 2010

Combe Down Garage has recently agreed to service and MOT the surgery vehicle for this year and future years, at no cost to us. We are very grateful to them for this very generous offer. We now have their logo on the bonnet of the vehicle.

Minutes of the A.G.M. held on Thursday, 18th February 2010 At Odd Down Surgery at 8pm

Our Chairman, Mr John Morris welcomed 22 members.
Apologies had been received from 43 members.

The Minutes of the A.G.M. held on Thursday, 19th February 2009 were approved.

Chairman’s Report
In his seventh Report, our Chairman hoped that everyone agreed that we have had another successful year. The minibus has continued to be used every weekday morning. He had applied for a Grant of £3,600 from the PCT, in the hopes that we could use it to employ a Driver for afternoons. They had received 130 applications totalling £300,000, but we did receive £500. Our Chairman suggested that perhaps this money can be used to advertise for more volunteer drivers.

He said that our Treasurer will report that we have ended the year with a surplus, and that this is mainly due to the efforts of the Fund Raising team. The Coffee Mornings go from strength to strength, and provide funds in excess of £500 each year. We have recently bought storage boxes to store Coffee Morning items, and new tables are on order. We will shortly be purchasing a shed to house these items.

Each year we set aside funds to allow for the depreciation of the vehicle. It was commented last year, that £10,000 was too great. On contacting GM Motors this week (we purchased the vehicle from them), he was told that at present our vehicle is worth no more than £8.500 and a new one would cost £22,500. i.e. a depreciation of £14,000. We should allocate £4000 to the Depreciation Fund this year. Some members say that the vehicle will be useful for many years to come, but this would mean that the maintenance costs would start to escalate. In the event of a write–off, we would need the funds immediately. He is sure you understand his wanting to have a good reserve. This year we have purchased new front mats.

Our Drivers are a very dedicated team, who are all over 65 years old. We will need more back-up when they decide they can no longer drive for us, but the cost of paid drivers would gradually cripple us.

Our Chairman stated that in a charitable organisation such as ours, we all contribute a diversity of skills, and not every member should be expected to turn their hand to everything. For instance, he does not regularly attend the Coffee Mornings, except for the Christmas Fayre and the Summer Fete.

We now have approx. 207 members, a decrease on last year, and represents only 2.5% of patients registered with the Surgery. This is a very sorry situation, and we clearly need more Members. This lack of interest by the patients is borne out by the fact that not all of the patients given lifts are members. We now provide Application Forms in the vehicle, and the Drivers are trying to recruit new members.

Treasurer’s Report
Anne Meddick, our Treasurer and Membership Secretary was glad to report another successful year ‘mostly due to the continuing hard and energetic work of our Chairman and Committee. Certain ladies, and you know who you are, being the backbone of our enterprise’. Bank Interest has brought in £586 this year. Gift Aid refund (£439 for 2008), will be less this year, due to a change in the tax rate.

Running costs for the vehicle are not fully covered by donations from the patients, so we need to continue with Fund Raising.

We have received monies in memory of three deceased patients, and from the visit of the Maesteg Choir. This year we had sponsorship from local people and businesses amounting to £430, which covered the travelling expenses of the choir. The evening made a profit of £765, half of which was donated to the church.

We have purchased some Blood Pressure Monitors for patients to use, and these have been well received.

The profit made for the year was £4964.
The Accounts for the year ending December 2009 were adopted.

Nomination for new Trustee
A Nomination Form proposing Keith Jordan as Chairman, had been received by our Secretary. This was an unopposed nomination, so Keith was elected as Chairman.

John then gave a Valedictory speech. He was sorry to have received a vote of no confidence, but he had alluded to the reasons in his Report. He had had a good innings, with three and a quarter years as Treasurer, and seven years as Chairman.

He wished Keith every success as our new Chairman, and thanked a ‘sub-section of the members for their quiet dedication’. ‘The King is dead, long live the King’. John was given a bottle of wine from The Friends, and flowers from the Surgery, and thanked for all the time and hard work he had put in on behalf of The Friends, first as Treasurer, then Chairman, and having sole responsibility for the upkeep of the vehicle and liaising with the Drivers. Jean was also thanked for her support, and for ‘letting him out’.

Keith Jordan then introduced himself. He thanked John for what he has contributed over the years, and also thanked Jean. Keith was born in Combe Down, and lived in the village for over twenty years. He has always been a patient at the Surgery, and has always been well cared for, with a succession of doctors, naming several of them from the past. We should all support our Surgery for the future. He is concerned about the small number of ‘Friends’ and feels we should all try to get more members. Can we all try to get one more member? Word of mouth is the best advertising tool. The minibus has been a great success and has helped patients enormously. Last year there was an operating loss of about £300, but this facility is not about making money. Four or five Coffee Mornings help to make up this deficiency, so try to come along to them, usually the last Saturday in the month. Any help would be appreciated.

You are also welcome to come to the Committee meetings, where new ideas are always welcome. We must try to encourage a younger age group to join us, so that Fof C.D.S. will be secure for the future. Keith finished by saying ‘ I’m not quite sure what I have let myself in for, but I will do my best for you all’.

The meeting closed at 8.25pm and was followed by refreshments and quizzes.

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