On Saturday, 10 June 2023 PASCO members gathered at St. James Church, Milton Road in Southsea to hold the Annual General Meeting (AGM).
The meeting started with the opening from the president who welcomed the members and gave his account of the status of PASCO and since the previous AGM in September 2021.
President's Report
He stated that it had been a successful two years. The first year was still a bit slow due to the aftermath of the pandemic but the second year was wonderful.
He stated that the committee has worked hard to organise so many functions in one year, but the highlights for him have been the new constitution and the lottery funding. The new constitution is a lot simpler and covers all that is required for us to apply for future fundings. The lottery funding on the other hand allowed us to organise events on a grander scale e.g. Diwali Dinner and Dance at the Marriott.
The president announced his intention to stand down as PASCO president after 8 years of being in the chair, and he would like to wish the new committee and the president the best wishes for the future. He also stated that he would also like to encourage the new committee to keep up with the momentum this committee has built up. He iterated that we have so many new faces in the PASCO membership now and we need to attract even more new faces.
He was hoping to have the PASCO.ORG.UK website ready for launch today (on the day of the AGM) but as the committee and the office postholders are likely to change today, it would make sense to launch the website over the coming few weeks.
He then thanked everyone for their support to PASCO and encouraged continuous support in the future.
Secretary's Report
Following the presidents report, the general secretary addressed the meeting by taking them through the events that were organised by the committee.
She stated that until June 2021 we were pretty much still in lockdown, and even after restrictions lifted around the middle of June people were still wary of getting together socially, so PASCO only organised two events - the overdue AGM and the Diwali get together.
The AGM was held on Saturday 18th September 2021 at St Swithun’s Church. After the conclusion of the AGM, pizzas were ordered for everyone, and it was just a nice evening with people pleased to see each other.
The Diwali get together was held on Saturday 13th November 2021 at St Swithun’s Church. It was a bring-a-dish event, and once again thoroughly enjoyed by everyone. There were a lot of new faces at that event, most of whom have now become PASCO members.
The secretary further reported that for 2022 we started off with a games night which was held on 29th January, again at St Swithun’s Church. We had various board games set out and the food was ‘bring-a-dish’. It was the first time we had organised an event like this, and it turned out to be a really fun evening.
The Holi celebration was held on Southsea Common on 20th March, from 2.00 – 6.00pm. The weather had looked a little dubious beforehand but, in the end, it was a dry, if a little cool spring day, and everyone enjoyed the throwing of colours followed by sharing some food together.
The Special General Meeting was convened to get approval of the new constitution and propose changes to the membership of PASCO. Both the constitution and the changes were passed unanimously, and the meeting was concluded with pizzas.
The annual BBQ organised for 11 September at Queen Elizabeth Park had to be cancelled due to the passing away of the Queen 3 days prior.
The meet and greet to celebrate Diwali which was held on 28th October at Buckland Community Centre. As usual we had a traditional feast provided by everyone. This evening is always well attended and is a lovely way for people to get together informally to wish each other a happy Diwali.
The Meet & Greet was followed by the Diwali dinner and dance which was held at the Marriott Hotel on Saturday 5th November in the presence of the Lord Mayor and the Lady Mayoress as guests of honour. It’s no exaggeration to say that it was a complete success. We were sold out and had a waiting list. The whole evening was fabulous with a great venue, great food and great music. The dance floor was always full, and in fact we could have done with it being bigger. The feedback throughout the evening from everyone was incredibly positive.
The Cookbook project was started in the Portsmouth Community by an organisation called FiLia which supports women’s rights. This project was about gathering recipes from women from different communities and compiling a cookbook. The Secretary had sent out a couple of emails requesting people to submit a favourite recipe in 2021. We got 4 people submitting recipes which were published.
Finally, the treasurer presented the accounts for 2021 and 2022. The accounts were signed by two PASCO members present at the AGM. If any member wishes to examine the accounts, they are available through the treasurer by a request in writing to the treasurer.
The current committee was dissolved, and the new committee was elected followed by the election of the officers from within the new committee.