Minutes of The Village Hall Management Committee held on Wednesday 8th August 2012 in the Village Hall
1. Present.
Mike Foster (Chair)
Kate Gibbon (Treasurer)
Caroline Pickering (Secretary)
Carol Cook
Terry Andrews
John Atkins
Di Foster
Glenys Elgie
Sue Cook
Sue Lawton
2. Apologies for Absence
Jennifer Swales
3. Minutes of Meeting held on 15th May 2012
Under 3(ii) Mike reported that a visit by the Building Officer to confirm that Building and Fire Regulations had been met prior to it being used, had not been necessary.
The minutes of the meeting were accepted.
4. Refurbishment update.
There are the following outstanding issues:
- The stair rail. Mike has seen John Swales who has confirmed that the rail will be fixed in the next few weeks. It will be stainless steel.
- The damp. It is likely that a damp-proof course will be required and external repointing.
- Flooring. There was discussion about what sort of flooring would be appropriate for the downstairs rooms. It was suggested that there could be carpet in one room and lino in the other.
- Flooding in the Ladies. Apparently this has been caused by the fire escape and can be fixed.
Mike thanked Terry Andrews for co-ordinating the decorating and clean up. Terry provided the following statistics: 14 people had put in 900 man hours over 3 months. They had applied 150 litres of paint over 2000 square metres of walls.
Mike also thanked everyone involved in the work.
It was estimated that the work done by volunteers had saved 15-20 k.
5. Financial situation.
Kate Gibbon distributed copies of the accounts audited by Ruth Fraser. Di Foster proposed the acceptance of the audited accounts. Seconded by Terry Andrews. The accounts were therefore accepted.
Kate said she would write a letter of thanks to Ruth Fraser.
6. Bookings Secretary.
Dorothy Johnson has now moved away from Swainby and has therefore resigned as Bookings Secretary.
Carol Cook kindly offered to take up the post. Her offer was welcomed and accepted.
It was suggested that liaison with the Village Shop over bookings could be useful.
7. Future fundraising activities.
The following activities have been organized:
26th August. Classic Car Show. Refreshments in the Village Hall. It was suggested that if rain prevents this taking place there could be a Coffee Morning instead.
8th & 9th September. History Exhibition.
14th September. Corsets and Crinolines. Fashion Show with wine and nibbles.
Other ideas for the future:
Games Night. Possibly in February.
Virtual Stock Market/ Race Meeting. Possibly in November.
Antiques Evening.
8. Bookings.
The bookings are down at present.
Kate distributed information about Camping Barns. We could register interest with campingbarns.net who co-ordinate the scheme with referrals from Youth Clubs etc.
The facilities would have to be pre booked.
It was suggested that as a project in itself this could be linked into a funding application.
At this stage it was felt there was a need for more information.
9. Any Other Business.
(i) Financial Statement. £15,000 in the National Westminster account.
The Santander account has been run down.
Mike Foster reported that there was approx. £6000 still to pay towards the refurbishment. Some extra pieces of work have had to be done.
There will be approx. £9000 remaining in the account.
The architects will only be paid a small amount.
It was requested that there be a detailed breakdown of the amount spent on the refurbishment. Kate Gibbon confirmed that this will eventually be provided.
(ii) Fundraising by increased usage of the Village Hall. This item was raised by Terry Andrews. Terry presented a number of ideas to promote the increased usage of the Village Hall e.g. via the press; website; radio;
Tourist information; mail shot local groups; Open afternoon/evening; erection of a sign; committee organize entertainment/attractions.
There was a discussion about the possible options and it was agreed to proceed with a Launch to attract potential users on Wednesday 26th September 2 – 8 pm. We would need to have the rail and flooring in place.
There will be a planning meeting on Tuesday 14th August at 7.30pm.
(iii) Maintenance of the Hall. Terry Andrews made several suggestions as to how the Hall could be maintained: a rota of people to make regular checks on the Hall’s condition; a blitz as required; regular clean by a company. There was some discussion but no resolution at this stage. It was suggested that we could do with a vacuum cleaner.
(iv) Caroline raised the question of sandbags being available in case of future flooding. It was pointed out that there are already some in the village. The possibility of storing some was suggested.
(v) The fire doors. They are proving difficult to manage as they are heavy to hold open. In order to comply with fire regulations and not keep the doors open permanently, then 2 people are needed if one is carrying, for example, a tea tray.
(vi) Hire of Hall. It was suggested that Hall Hire charges be reviewed. There could be an additional charge for the use of the kitchen.
(vii) New Bank account. Mike Foster proposed that the Village Hall set up a new account: The Co-operative Bank Community Directplus Account. The proposal was agreed unanimously.
(viii) Warming cupboard. Sue Lawton asked if there was a way that the warming cupboard could be moved into the kitchen for easier access. Mike thought that it would be possible for it to replace one of the fridges.
10.Date of Next Meeting. To be arranged as required.