February Newsletter

Dear Parent.

An extraordinary general meeting of The COOS Club was held on 11/02/09 in Cleish Village hall and was attended by all the current committee members, the staff and 5 parent users. Apologies were received from 3 further members.

The chairperson outlined the reasons behind calling the EGM, namely the retirement of three committee members, the fall in the number of attendances, and staffing issues. Careful consideration as to the future of the club was required. Thankfully the staffing problems prompted by the play worker leaving have been resolved. Louise’s sister Eilidh has agreed to come and work in the club in the run up to her nursing degree starting later this year. Nici MacRobert is also working with the club on a regular basis.

The recruitment of new committee members was highlighted as vital to the continuation of the club as six are required under our constitution. Three current committee members have agreed to remain on the committee and three new committee members have come forward to take the place of those leaving. This is excellent news and we are grateful to both those members leaving and those new to the committee. Office bearer roles, nominations, and more formal thanks to those resigning will be covered at the forthcoming AGM.

AGM

The AGM will be held on 30^th April in Cleish Village Hall at 8.00pm. Please make every effort to attend this important meeting and if you feel that you can support the club in anyway please make yourself known to the staff or the committee.

Attendances

The number of attendance at the club has fallen recently and is projected to fall further in the next academic year. Our current fees structure makes the club therefore financially unsustainable.

Those present at the meeting felt that the provision of Out of School Care was so important to their ability to continue working, that there was agreement to attempt to continue to run the club but with an increase in fees. It was emphasised that the rates are still very competitive in comparison to other forms of child care and compared to other clubs. It was agreed to increase the fees from £7 to £8 for an afternoon term time session, and in the holidays from £10 to £12 for half a day and from £16 to £18 for a full day. This is the first rate increase in nearly 2 years and compares favourably to the £20 per full day charged by the only other club in our area providing holiday care. It was recognised that this may deter some social use of the club but there was a commitment from those present to continue to organise a Friday Night Special programme at the current cost of £6 per child.

Easter Holidays

The COOS Club will provide a holiday club at Fossoway Primary School in the second week of the holidays from Tuesday 14^th – Friday 17^th April. The programme will be circulated soon.

Fund Raising

We will need to continue to actively fund raise and two proposed events will be announced in the near future – A Pampered Chef Evening and A Race Night. Watch this space.

Club telephone number 07875 711827 Website www.coos.org.uk