Board meeting November 2013

Minute of the Eassie Nevay & Kirkinch Community association meeting held on Thursday 21^st November 2013 at Eassie & Nevay Hall

 

Present: Bradly Yule (Chair), Debra Ritchie, Jane Brewster, Andrew Brewster, Marianne Jenkins, Amanda Garner, Andy Blackie, John Duffy

Apologies: Phillip Jenkins

 

1.   Welcome & apologies

Bradly welcomed everyone to the meeting and apologies for absence were given.

 

2.   Previous minute

The previous minute had been accepted electronically

 

3.   Election of Office Bearer and allocation of roles

Chairperson                                       Bradly Yule

Treasurer                                            John Hamilton

Secretary                                             Debra Ritchie

Events                                                  Jane Brewster

Bookings                                              Jane Brewster

Communications                              John Duffy

Fund-raising                                       Debra Ritchie

Policy & administration                  Marianne Jenkins

Corporate planning                         Andrew Brewster

Junior Council                                    Amanda Garner

Buildings & maintenance              Andy Blackie & Phillip Jenkins

 

4a           Finance

John was unable to attend the meeting. Andy requested a budget for fixtures and fittings maintenance/replacement and will contact John. Debra mentioned that a community member had asked if money raised from events could be set aside to pay for specific projects. Jane suggested there should be a target for fund-raising each year. These will be discussed at the next meeting.

 

4b   Corporate planning

There was nothing to report

 

4c   Policy & administration

Marianne will send each Director 2 policies for them to review. It was suggested that a book be used to record items borrowed from the hall so that individuals could sign to say when they had taken the items and when they were returned. The P.A.T. testing of small electrical appliances will be completed in December.

It was agreed that key-holders should accept some responsibility for the hall e.g. opening the hall for events or contractors. Their first name and phone numbers will be displayed on the notice board. The need to sign the signing in book was discussed and agreement reached that it should be reinforced.

 

4d   Business Development

Andrew had drafted a letter to go to the Council about the school parents being asked to use the car park when collecting their children from school.

 

4e   Events

There had been no events since the last meeting but Andy was in the process of organising the Hogmanay party. Tickets will be on sale soon priced at £10 for adults and £5 for children. Volunteers are required to help make stovies. The themed meal next year will take place in June or July.

 

4f   Fundraising

Debra had sent the final request for payment to the Angus Environmental Trust. The hard landscaping was now completed and now a small group was looking at plants. Eleanor Gledhill had provided some assistance. Debra could try to secure funds if she had full details of costs.

 

4g   Buildings maintenance

Andy reported that the outside railings and interior hallway had been repainted. He had costs for regular fire maintenance which was approximately £250 per year. The external lights were to be looked at. Andy suggested the boiler clock was confusing and suggested another type might be better. He will ascertain the cost. Andy will contact AD about the architect certificate that they have requested be given to them prior to the completion of the retention money.

 

Marianne suggested the store room could be better utilised and Andy and Bradly will look at this. A new baby changing unit will cost approximately £200, Andy will contact John Hamilton about buying one to put in the accessible toilet. Marianne reported that the Angus Federation of Village Halls has a meeting on 5^th December to discuss energy efficiencies and environmental improvements. It was suggested she could enquire about PV panels and an electric charging point.

 

4H   Community Integration

Amanda said she was in the process of making a poster to generate interest in the younger members of the community.

 

5         A.O.C.B.

John suggested the hall could be used as a resilience centre, either for people to use as a base or as a centre point in the case of bad weather. The hall would need an external socket to plug in a generator for electricity and to identify people in the community who are housebound or who may be in need of help should severe weather affect the community. Andy will report back to a future meeting with the price for an external socket. John also mentioned the possibility of an oil co-operative. He will look into this.

There was discussion about cars speeding through the village. Andy will contact the Community Police man who had expressed interest in giving a talk in the hall.

Jane mentioned that a group had requested to use the hall for an event in the spring. The group had used the hall before and there had been a few problems. Jane will ask for a deposit of £250 and insist that the organisers must return to the hall the following day to ensure the hall had been left in an acceptable state. The no smoking policy will also be reinforced.

The community clean of the hall will take place in March or April 2014.

 

6.   Date of next meeting

The next meeting will take place on Thursday 23rd January 2014 at 7.30pm.

Annual General Meeting 8th November 2013

Minute of the Annual General Meeting of Eassie Nevay & Kirkinch Community Association held on Friday 8^th 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 31^st 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 23^rd November between 10am and 12 noon and encouraged people to support this.

 

Board meeting October 2013

Minute of the Eassie, Nevay & Kirkinch Community Association Board meeting held on Monday 14th October 2013 at Eassie & Nevay Hall Present: Bradly Yule (Chair), Debra Ritchie, Jane Brewster, Andrew Brewster, John Hamilton, Amanda Garner Apologies: Marianne Jenkins

1.         Welcome & apologies

Apologies for absence were given

 

2.         Previous minute & matters arising

The previous minute had been accepted electronically and all matters arising were on the agenda

 

3.         Workgroups

a)   Finance

John presented the draft accounts and gave an explanation of the figures. The Board approved the accounts. John will review the WRI loan before next year’s accounts are due and will discuss the retention money with Andy Blackie. Bradly thanked John for all the work he had done.

 

Business input

Landscaping – Debra told the board that £10,000 of the £14,000 already given for the landscaping project had been paid. The Angus Environmental Trust had awarded ENKCA £13,500 and they usually paid the grant when the project was completed and all invoices paid. Debra will ask if some of this can be paid in advance. It was agreed that some of the money will be kept back from the landscaping company until the project is complete. John will speak to Andy about this.

 

b)   Corporate planning

There was no report

 

c)   Policy & administration

This was deferred to the next meeting as Marianne was not present.

 

Matters arising –

Pat-testing – This was deferred to the next meeting

Lights in small rooms – An electrician from Alliance had arranged to come to the hall to look at this. It was suggested that a change to a light switch might be the best option.

Weekly rota –Michael Ryan had resigned from the rota, John offered to take over the January slot.

 

Business Input

Keys for the hall – Marianne had suggested that more keys be cut for people who use the hall on a regular basis. It was agreed to have 4 keys cut and ask Marianne to continue to maintain the record of key-holders.

 

d) Business development

Andrew reported that the new sign outside the hall had been erected. He was designing a poster to advertise the hall and will send a copy to business centres. Andrew had also included the hall’s details on two web sites. Melissa Lawrence had shown Jane and Andrew how to edit the web site.

 

There was discussion about a wind turbine which, if erected, will be directly in the view of the hall. It was agreed that the Chair should write on behalf of ENKCA asking Angus Council to consider the presence of the hall when making their decision. Jane will send Bradly factual points to be included.

 

Bradly informed the meeting that Angus Council was considering making the road in front of the school a no-parking zone and tell parents they should park further down the road and in the hall’s car-park. Andrew will write on behalf of the Board to Angus Council to let them know the hall is used during the day and to ask them to clarify what they propose.

 

e)   Events

Debra reported that the August afternoon teas raised approximately £950, the Comedy night £750 and the coffee morning for the air ambulance £673. Next events are a talk on the plant hunters of Angus on 23^rd October and the Halloween party on 31^st October organised by community members. The events group had offered to prepare and serve refreshments for the parents at the party.

 

f)   Communications

Jane told the Board that the newsletter had gone out to everyone in the community. She was keen to be able to offer space on the web site to other local community associations as they had included ENKCA’s on theirs. Work needs to be done on the web site to allow this to happen.

 

g)   Fund-raising

There was nothing to report.

 

h)   Buildings and maintenance

This was deferred to the next meeting as Andy was not present. Thanks were extended to Andy and his team for the work they had done on the landscaping around the hall.

 

i).   Community integration and junior council

Amanda reported that there had been no calls in response to the article in the newsletter about a junior council. It was suggested that other ideas be used to encourage young people to come forward.

 

4.       Annual General Meeting

All Directors present said they were able and willing to continue with their role on the Board but Debra said she would have to resign from post of events co-ordinator. Bradly will approach community members to see who is interested in joining the Board. Wine and shortbread will be served at the AGM. Jane offered to buy the refreshments.

 

A.O.C.B.

The gas interlock system caused problems at a function the previous week-end. Jane will contact Waltons to ask them to look at it and sort out the problem.

 

Date of next meeting

The next meeting will take place on Thursday 28^th November at 7.30pm.