Alphamstone Village Hall

Minutes of the

Annual General Meeting of

Alphamstone Village Hall

Held on Saturday 19th May at 10 a.m

In The Village Hall

 

1. Apologies for Absence  Ben Twinn, James Hunter, Eileen Hannis, Roger Gardiner

    

2. Present: Nigel Aulton (NA), Helen Bradshaw (HB), Desmond Bridge (DB), Sue Gardiner (SG) Martin Gilbert (MG), Lynne Potter (LP), Rosemary Ingram (RI), Julia Lampshire (JL), Paul Bolton (PB)

 

1. Approval of Minutes of AGM held on 17th June 2018  The Minutes were approved by the meeting and signed by DB

 

1. Chairman’s Report

    

   The year up to December 2017 was, to a great extent, a year of finding our feet.  The major work on the building had all been completed and the appreciation of the extended Hall had been widespread and positive.  We were unclear, however, as to how great our running costs would be and how they would be covered.  All we could be sure of was that the needed a higher level of income than had previously been the case.

    

   We were helped in coming to terms with this by our new Treasurer, Martin Gilbert, who brought to the job a substantial level of expertise.  For this I offer to him the thanks of all. 

    

   The Hall has had some more work done during this year and some is on the “to do” list.  This will, of course, be added to by a continuing need for general upkeep.  All this has largely been masterminded by Nigel Aulton and as he has also been heavily involved in the Community Pub Project we must thank him.  Meanwhile, Martin has provided him with great support.

    

   The parish has been well informed throughout the year as to progress and we, your committee, remain totally confident that in Helen Bradshaw we had an excellent Secretary.  We could not ask for more.  Thank you Helen.

    

   My other fellow committee members have all contributed tirelessly to the running of this Parish Facility and my thanks go out to them also.

    

   Inevitably, during the “construction years” the Hall fell out of use and we have had to re-establish it as a go-to venue.  This is beginning to be achieved with bookings steadily increasing.  We are pleased to have added regular income streams from the Pilates and Chair Yoga classes.  The Social Club and Pop-In Café continue to flourish and we are very grateful to those who run these two initiatives – or, dare I say “Institutions”.  Very special thanks must go to DM Events.  Both Deirdre and Mary, who have a track record reminiscent of Frank Sinatra when it comes to retiring, have brought the village together in a wonderful way with their meals; with, I’m pleased to say, more ventures in the pipeline.  Mention should also be made of those unsung people who regularly help out in a great variety of ways.

    

   Finally I should point out that we cannot rely on this state of affairs to continue unchanged.  All those who enjoy the things that happen in this Hall, and all those who are just happy that it is here, must step up and take on some of the workload.  I can confidently say that every parishioner has a talent, whatever it may be.  Please consider putting it to use for your community.

    

   NA proposed a vote of thanks to DB for all his work as Chairman and this was unanimously seconded.

    

2. Treasurer’s Report

    

   The 2017/18 accounting period saw a minor deficit of £73, with year end funds at £6507.

    

   Income dropped from £20,240 in 2016/17 to £7,274 this accounting year as grants and donations raised for building development work reduced significantly.  Income from fund raising and hall hire increased by 18% with an exceptionally good Fete income, the re-launch of village meals the pop-in café and the start of Pilates classes.

    

   Spending on improving the Hall this year included:

    

• £2040 of Village Hall funds (over and above a grant of £4530) to further improve the building with a new front door and changes to external kitchen doors;

• £434 on replacing the sewage pump (and funded by a generous donation) which will reduce our waste costs in subsequent years;

• £220 on a new projector screen

  Further improvements will be made during 2018-2019 as we work through our prioritised list.  Overhead costs remain in line with expectation.

   

  On the subject of the prioritised list NA felt that Tree work should be included.  NA also asked if there had been any issues reported by our neighbours since the replacement of the pump.  MG advised none so far.  NA asked when the next inspection was due and MG undertook to check and to ensure pump checked at the same time.

   

1. Secretary’s Report

    

   From the date of the last AGM, held on 17th June 2017 to todays AGM AVH Trustees held 6 meetings.  The following are the main points from these meetings.

   The first meeting was held on 4th July 2017 and at that meeting Desmond Bridge was unanimously elected as Chairman, Martin Gilbert unanimously elected as Treasurer and Helen Bradshaw unanimously elected as Secretary.  Trustee Declarations were signed

   At subsequent meetings the Insurance for the Hall, use of the Hall and Trustee Indemnity was renewed.

   Helen Bradshaw resigned from the Events sub-committee which continued with Sue Gardiner, Desmond Bridge and Martin Gilbert.  A joint Committee with the PCC was formed for the Fete comprising Desmond Bridge, Martin Gilbert, Sue Gardiner, Jenny Twinn and Colin Morris was co-opted.

   A Safeguarding Policy was adopted with Lynne Potter taking the lead on this

   A sample DPA Policy suitable for AVH has been supplied by the RCCE

    

   NA advised that the issue of DPA had been raised at the Parish Council meeting and that there was a move to exempt Parish Councils from DPA requirements.  DB added that the Deanery had sought answers from the government department but none were yet forthcoming.  PB informed the meeting that there was resistance to this legislation also from small businesses.

    

2. Any Other Business

   None was raised

    

3. Question and Answer Session

   No questions arose

    

4. Election of Trustees  DB advised that all existing Trustees were all standing for re-election  He asked that a  proposal for all existing Trustees to be voted on to the new Committee to be formally proposed and seconded.  RI proposed and JL seconded

   Election of new Trustee DB advised that PB was offering himself as a Trustee for AVH.  His nomination was proposed by DB and seconded by SG

    

5. Meeting Closed