Annual General Meeting 8th November 2013


Minute of the Annual General Meeting of Eassie Nevay & Kirkinch Community Association held on Friday 8th November 2013 at Eassie & Nevay Hall

 
Present:  Bradly Yule (Chair), Debra Ritchie, John Hamilton, Jane Brewster, Andrew Brewster, Marianne Jenkins, Phillip Jenkins, David Ritchie, George Marshall, Mary Marshall, John Brewster, Sylvia Fleming, John Duffy, Sine Robertson, Paul Phillipston-Masters, Leah Phillipston- Masters, Jonah Phillipston-Masters

Apologies:  Andy Blackie, Stuart Wright, Elaine Wright, Fiona Brown, Gordon Brown, Neil Ballantine, Jim Breckenridge, Linda Breckenridge

1. Apologies

Apologies for absence were given.

2.  Adoption of minutes of January 2013 AGM

The minutes were approved and adopted by the meeting

3. Report by the Chairman on the activities of the company

Bradly reported that the individual Directors had responsibility for specific business items and worked with community members who had an interest or expertise in the area. This enabled more community members to be involved in the running of the organisation. He was pleased to report that the hall had been well used for private lets as well as activities and social events. He said there was a good rapport with other communities and ENKCA members should be proud of their achievement.

4. Financial report

John presented the audited accounts for 2012/2013 and explained that over the year there had been a surplus of approximately £4,200. It had cost approximately £6,000 to run the hall during the year and so there was a need to increase the surplus each year in order to maintain the hall and plan for the future. The cash balance on 31st March 2013 was £28,986 and this included £5,200 of restricted funds, £10,000 set aside for capital/repairs provision, £6,681 for the builders’ retention and £7,105 for operating funds.

     5.   To consider a change to article 65 in the constitution

John explained that the Articles of Association stated that ENKCA must have a full audit of the accounts each year. This had been included because the organisation had income of more than £250,000 while the hall was under construction and it was a legal requirement. Now that income was considerably reduced the Board proposed changing this to an independent review. An Independent examiner who was qualified to undertake the duty could examine the accounts and there would be no or little charge to the association. The cost of a full audit was approximately £1,000. There was unanimous support to make this change. John had asked Bruce Dingwall, the Group Financial Controller from Stagecoach, to check the accounts which he had agreed to do. John will pass on ENKCA’s thanks to Mr Dingwall. John Brewster thanked John Hamilton for his work throughout the year and acknowledged ENCKA’s good fortune in having a skilled and experienced person who could take responsibility for the accounts. John explained that David Ritchie undertook the book-keeping duties which helped to create another level of examination.

6.  To consider the ratification of any co-opted Directors and/or the election of new Directors

Bradly thanked the Directors for their work throughout the year and said he appreciated their enthusiasm and the time they gave. All Directors had expressed a willingness to remain on the Board but there were opportunities for new members to join. John Duffy agreed to join the board and was nominated by Bradly Yule and seconded by Debra Ritchie. Phillip Jenkins offered to join and was nominated by Jane Brewster and seconded by John Hamilton. Jane Brewster suggested some people may prefer to join one of the sub-groups before committing to the Board and Bradly invited anyone who may be interested to attend a Board meeting to see how it operated.

7.   To consider the report of the buildings and operations group

In Andy’s absence Bradly reported that Andy was the Director responsible for this group and co-ordinated the maintenance of the hall. The hallway had recently been painted and other parts of the hall will be repainted in the future. The land-scaping project had started in 2013 and the hard-landscaping was now complete. Bradly thanked Debra for securing funds for this and Jane Brewster acknowledged the contribution Debra had made to raising funds for the hall. The help of Euan Grant who designed the garden was acknowledged and he was thanked for his help.  A plea was made for more volunteers to help with the weekly checks of the hall and a request made for tuition on what needs to be done for the weekly checks and how to operate the A.V. system.

8.   To consider the report of the events group

Debra thanked the events group for their work throughout the year and acknowledged that other community members had organised events for the community including Andy Blackie, Margaret Mowatt, Louise Lear-Jones, KT Garrett-Sutherland, Lynsey Brown, Audrey Duffy and Lisa Yule. Individual members of the events group had offered to take responsibility for the regular classes and Debra thanked Jane Brewster, Mary Marshall and Linda Breckenridge for undertaking the duties for ensuring the classes ran smoothly. These helped to raise the profile of the hall and brought in considerable income for the hall. The events run during the year raised approximately £5,750 and the lets for the classes raised £2,500. Debra thanked the events group for ensuring the hall was clean and prepared for private lets and acknowledged that many gave their time to undertake cleaning duties when they identified that extra work was required.

9.   A.O.C.B.

Phillip Jenkins noted that some the equipment in the store cupboard was under-used. Table tennis tables and carpet bowls were mentioned as specific items which could be used by the community on a regular basis. He asked anyone who was interested in using the table tennis tables to let him know as he was keen to organise a taster event in December. Jane Brewster suggested opening the hall one afternoon during the winter for people to drop in. This could be done on a Wednesday afternoon when the heating is on for yoga but needs a volunteer to co-ordinate it.

Mary Marshall informed the meeting that the W.R.I. will be having a coffee morning on Saturday 23rd November between 10am and 12 noon and encouraged people to support this.