A short profile of the Members of the Committee of the Eastney & Milton Allotment Holders Association

Les Stevens is the Chairman of the Committeeand presides over the meetings which take place about every 6 weeks.

The Treasurer has been doing a splendid job for many years. He did have a few years off, but is now back at the helm and keeping a very careful eye on what we spend, and is always mindful that some money may be needed for a rainy day. Due to his hard work with another member of the committee in 2010 they were successful in obtaining a grant from Grassroots; this money was put towards new marquees, for our annual Autumn Show.

Lindsay Murday is on the Committee and helps in the shop. Most people know Lindsay who is always ready to give advice. He has had an allotment for a long time and knows just about everything about vegetables and flowers. He has won cups and trophies at the Autumn Show so many times he is giving it a rest and letting us newcomers have a chance.

Brian Forcey is the Trading Officer who organizes the shop and does all the ordering. He does a wonderful job and spends a lot of his spare time in there! What would we do without him! The shop is a focal point for newcomers to the allotments where they can buy their seeds etc. and get plenty of good advice.

Trevor Stark is the Vice Chairman and an expert in erecting tents for the Autumn Show! We are fortunate to have his expertise! Trevor organised the entrants for the produce tent in the Autumn Show for several years.

Andrew Leonard is the Membership Secretary. He also produces excellent posters for all the events, sets out the layout of the Newsletter and organises this web site.

Janet Haworth has now taken over as the committee's secretary, as well as this role she also organises the raffles that are part of the Autumn Show and other annual events that take place throughout the year.

Alan & Sheila Moorhouse are long serving members of the Committee (Sheila is the sister of Peter who used to be the Chairman and started the Autumn Show). Sheila and Alan do really excellent catering for our Autumn Show and other events that take place; they are noted for their tasty bacon sandwiches which are on offer at the annual plant sale.

Gina Chambers is also a long serving member who lets the Committee hold the meetings in her house and organizes the cake stall at the Autumn Show and makes lovely mince pies and cakes!

Hilary Day is our Committee Member from Hope Cottage and lets us know what is going on at the other end of the allotments. She has also worked alongside our treasurer in obtaining the grant for the new Marquees.

Deb Prytherch has been a great asset to the committee, she took over the Autumn Show secretary's role in 2010 and did a great job for a couple of years, Deb has decided to have a break from that role from January 2012.

Jeanette Jones joined the committee in February 2011; one of her reasons for joining was to be a voice for the west side of Eastney Lake and Hope Cottage. Jeanette is down on her allotment on Eastney lake several days a week and is very approachable if new people need advice or want their suggestions etc taken to the Societies attention.

Geoff Collinge joined the committee in April 2011, one of Geoff's ideas was to organise some social trips, so in the summer he organised a trip to Wisely Gardens which was a great success, Geoff has offered to organise further trips and is always ready to listen to other allotment holders for their ideas for places to visit.

Chris O'Farrell joined the committee in Feb 2011; Chris has reintroduced the Tombola stall at the Autumn Show which was a great success. Chris has other duties in the allotment site which everyone is most appreciative of.

We are all volunteers and give of our time freely because we think it important that we have a shop as a focal point and we all help organise the Autumn Show and Plant Sale, which is a lovely way to bring in the locals. These events are instrumental in getting people together and raising the profile of the allotments. There is now a waiting list of 500 and we hope Portsmouth City Council will stamp down on the people who neglect their plots and so free them up for others.

There are a steady band of volunteers who help erect tents at the Autumn Show and help on the stalls and they can also be called on if needed which is very important to the success of events. Also a lot of plotholders give their spare produce to sell at the Autumn Show and also bric a brac, cakes and chutney etc. It all helps to make it a success!

If you would like to serve on the committee or have anything you wish to discuss come along to the AGM which takes place around the end of January each year Bransbury Park Community Centre at 7.30 pm.