Members

• Gemma Ferguson / Rob Lelliott (Co-Chair)
• Julia Pritchard / Julia Woodham-Smith (Co-Vice Chair)
• Vasantha Samakanayake (Treasurer)
• Fung-yee Lee (Secretary)
• Maggie Plowman (Marketing Coordinator)
• Alison Head (School staff and co-opted member)

The PFA is a voluntary association of parents, carers and friends of children who attend the school.  Its aim is to advance the education of pupils in the school, done through a range of fundraising activities that bring together parents, staff and children.

The aim of the PFA is to provide additional funds in order to purchase 'desirable' educational and other items that are not covered by the standard school budget.

The PFA is currently raising £10k for the new school theatre, for sound and lighting equipment.

Draft minutes of the previous AGM/EGM 2019

Draft minutes of the previous AGM/EGM in November 2019 were circulated in advance of the meeting. 

The draft minutes were approved by Alison Head, and seconded by Julia Pritchard.

Since the last AGM, the PFA has successfully achieved charity status.  Being a charity enables us to apply for grants, and it makes fundraising much easier when we approach businesses and companies for support.  It also allows us to claim Gift Aid donations, and sign up to Amazon Smile.

Chair’s Report for 2019/2020

The current PFA is made up of a new committee that was formed in September 2019.  Over the last year, the committee worked very hard to establish itself.  New job descriptions of committee roles were written, we applied for charity status, and we agreed a new constitution.

Events held by the PFA included:

•  A successful Year 7 disco in Autumn term.  The girls had great fun and a pop up photo booth at the disco was very popular too.
• Festive Foyer in December 2019 – lots of stalls including external businesses.  Stalls included sweet treats, crafts, and gifts, including games and prizes.  The PFA also organised a Mufti towards the Festive Foyer where the children brought small contributions for the stalls.
• Silent Auction where we relied on parents and staff to donate prizes. The Silent Auction was a big success and we will run a similar event this December.
• Christmas trees - Court Farm Garden Centre offered a special School Promotion of 10% off each purchase, and donated an extra 5% to the PFA.   The offer will be repeated this December.
• Grease – this was a joint production with TGS and Southborough held in the Spring term.  The PFA provided refreshments for the four evening performances.
• Comedy Night – this was a new PFA event held in the Spring term for adults and it was a great night out.  The comedians were hired from a professional company called Outside the Box.  A licensed bar was available and we made a profit on selling drinks.
• Craft Night – the PFA organised a Craft Night where volunteers helped to make crafts (candles, bath gifts, and sweet treats) in preparation for stalls as part of Easter Extravaganza. Unfortunately, national lockdown happened and Easter Extravaganza had to be cancelled.
• The PFA donated £500 to the Science department so that an Urban Farm event could be held where small farm animals such as guinea pigs were brought in and the children had an opportunity to pet and learn about them in Science lessons.

Finance report ending 31 August 2020

Vasantha, Treasurer, presented a summary of profit and money spent.  In total, the PFA made a profit of £6,029.  A breakdown of the profits is shown below:

Autumn term

• Year 7 disco £793
• EasyFundraising £29
• MUFTI Day £750
• Festive Foyer £1,760
• Carol singing evening refreshments £288
• Silent Auction £700
• Christmas Trees with Court Farm Garden Centre £100
• MUFTI Day £760

Spring term

• Grease production refreshments £400
• Comedy Night £414
• EasyFundraising £34

£500 was spent on the Urban Farm Science department project. 

The PFA currently has £11,900 in the bank.

The Finance report was approved by Alison Head and seconded by Rob Lelliott.

How Can You Help

There are lots of ways that parents and carers can help.  Examples include running class events, or smaller events and donating some of the money to school.

Easyfundraising is an easy way to raise money for the PFA.  Simply go to the Easyfundraising website to do your online shopping and a small percentage of money will be donated to the PFA.  Select Tolworth Girls’ School Parents and Friends Association (TGSPFA) on the EasyFundraising website.

Election of officers and trustees

Gemma Ferguson and Eugenia Andreadis announced their intentions to step down as Chair and Vice-Chair respectively.

Nominations were sought for the vacant committee positions.  As no nominations were received for the Chair, Gemma agreed to remain for a period until a new Chair was in place. 

The following were nominated and elected to the committee:

Committee members are automatically Trustees of the PFA.

The Chair and PFA thanked Eugenia for serving on the committee for many years and giving her time and support, as well as volunteering at numerous fundraising events.

AOB

Communication to parents and carers

The PFA currently has a list of email addresses of parents.  For data protection purposes (GDPR), the committee will contact parents to ask if they want to continue to be contacted by email.

Dates of PFA Termly Meetings

Dates of next meetings will be emailed out shortly.

Contact the PFA

The PFA can be contacted at Pfa.tgs@gmail.com.  Please send new fundraising ideas to us.