Alphamstone Village Hall

Minutes of the

Annual General Meeting of

Alphamstone Village Hall

Held on Tuesday 6th September at 5p.m in

The Village Hall

 

1. Apologies for Absence:  Peter and Debbie Duffus, Kate and Lloyd Felton, Eileen Hannis (EH), Rosemary and John Ingram, David Rutledge, Melinda Varcoe

2. Present:  Nigel Aulton (NA), Helen Bradshaw (HB), Desmond Bridge (DB), Jo Brogan (JB), Roger Gardiner (RG), Sue Gardiner (SG), Martin Gilbert (MG),  James Hunter (JH), Julia Lampshire (JL), Lynne Potter (LP), Ben Twinn (BT), Stephen Varcoe (SV)

3. Approval of Minutes of AGM held on 30th July 2015

   1. Signing of Minutes The meeting approved the minutes and they were signed by DB

   2. Matters Arising Removal of the tree had been completed

4. Chairman’s Report   2015/2016 was made as follows by Chairman Desmond Bridge

“I must start with an apology for this meeting being held very much later than would be ideal. The reason for this was a delay in getting the accounts scrutinized and agreed by Ensors-this was not the result of any subterfuge; it was simply that the handover of the role of Treasurer from Ben Twinn to Sue Gardiner was complicated by a number of outside influences, which could not have been foreseen. I feel it should also be said that amongst a number of those who sent their apologies today, the 5.00 p.m. start time was cited as being inconvenient. Last year at 8p.m we had 5 members of the public in attendance and two of them were spouses of committee members. We simply felt that we should try something different to see if that was more suitable.

As most of you are probably aware we hosted, in April, a stop-over for the Essex Rural Fund Walk who visited the Hall as part of their day in this area. May saw the new extended hall used for the first time as the hub of the Fete catering –albeit with a temporary floor and kitchen. In September Mary Parker hosted a very successful Coffee Morning for McMillan Nurses. A Bring’n’Buy coffee morning and apple pressing was held in early October and the Hume inspired Pumpkin Patch was held at the end of the same month. November was also a two event month with both the Bonfire Party and the Big Breakfast. In December, the hall was once again the venue for the après Silver Band Concert get-together. February this year saw the re-launch of the Social Club, to whom we owe our thanks for the curtains which divide the hall when required.

When compared to the previous couple of years, 2015/16 was relatively quiet on the visible building progress side of things, but this is not to say that there was any dampening of energy or inspiration. It was necessary to re-charge the financial war-chest whilst at the same time start the process of applying for grants towards both the floors and the kitchen and plan exactly what was needed to complete the project and make our hall something of which the community could be proud. Whilst this was going on work started on the clearance of the land to the end and rear of the hall.

Looking about you now you will see that this was time well spent, as in the first few months of the financial year 2016/17 great strides have been made towards the final goal.

The extended hall, as first envisaged by our predecessors on this committee, is already beginning to reap rewards with an increase in the number of private bookings.

The advances made have only been possible through the hard work of my fellow committee members and they truly deserve the plaudits of the whole community. Helen and Sue, a the holders of specific office, receive my personal thanks and I must make mention of the huge input that Nigel has made; without his knowledge, hard work and useful contacts we would not be where we are now. Sue, I believe, will refer to this and to the contribution of others in her report.”

Stephen Varcoe joined the meeting at this point

5.  Treasurer’s Report

DB drew the meeting’s attention to the accounts and Treasurer’s Report contained in the pack of papers previously distributed to all attendees.  SG talked through her report highlighting that the balance in the AVH current account currently stands at £5,886.62.  SG also mentioned that the AVH Committee had taken the decision to keep a £2000. Buffer at all times.

DB asked if there were any questions on SG’s Report. There were none.  NA commented that they were a good set of accounts clearly showing that net assets had risen by £5000.

6. Secretary’s Report

HB talked through her report, also contained in the pack of papers, and mentioned that the Fete Committee of 2016 had remained the same as the previous year and that the Fete had again raised a good amount.  HB also drew the meeting’s attention to the change in booking arrangements for AVH.  This was with particular reference to the contribution, over many years, by Grania Nelson, whom DB had succeeded.  DB asked the meeting if there were any questions relating to the report by HB. There were none

1. Any Other Business

   1. JB said that whilst not technically any other business she wanted to thank all the committee for their hard work over the period particularly in connection with grant applications. 2015/16 Members thanked JB for her kind words

   2. SV asked what programme events the Committee had planned. HB said that a programme of events would be decided at the first meeting of the new committee. SV then enquired about pumpkin patch and apple pressing and also wondered about the possibility of the Committee organising a Harvest Supper.  DB commented that the wish was to encourage those people coming up with ideas to also put those into effect.

   3. JL enquired about the terms of AVH hire regarding the Social Club.  DB advised that this was run under the umbrella of AVH and did not attract any hire charge. He went on to say that events run for the benefit of AVH do not incur a hire fee.  SV updated further about the Social Club and how funds were distributed.

   4. HB advised that Ed Twinn who had previously, kindly, managed the AVH web site was now travelling and unavailable and asked if anyone would be prepared to take up this task.  JL kindly offered to help.  HB proposed thanks to Ed Twinn for all his help which was welcomed by the meeting.

2. Question and Answer Session None were raised

3. Election of Trustees

   1. Current Trustees. DB told the meeting that all Trustees had stood down with all standing for re-election with the exception of Eileen Hannis.  EH had decided not to stand and DB paid tribute to how enormously hard EH had worked on behalf of AVH. Always full of ideas, enthusiasm and help undertaking a massive amount of work being the scenes. DB said that her retirement would be suitably marked.  DB proposed formal thanks to EH for all she had done and the meeting unanimously seconded this proposal.  DB suggested that a proposal be made that all the previous Trustees be voted on to the new Committee.  This was made by JH and seconded by JB

   2. Election of new Trustee DB advised the meeting that with EH not standing for re-election AVH were one Trustee short.  MG indicated his willingness to serve.  DB proposed and HB seconded MG.  The Meeting thanked MG.

4. Meeting Closed