MINUTES OF THE BERNARD HALL AGM
MONDAY, 15TH MAY 2017
BERNARD HALL, CUDDINGTON
PRESENT: Markus Bolton, Caroline Winnicott, Charlotte Cooper, Chris Blumer, JamesStonham, Ken Brown, Jessica Ecott, Chris Luckett, Chris Long, Brian Woodford.
APOLOGIES: Robert Spencer Bernard, Margot Hodson, Michael Edmonds, Ken Birkby, Zoe Gibson, Michael Collins, Helen Keeping.
MINUTES
The Minutes from the last year’s AGM were approved and signed off – proposed by Chris Blumer and seconded by Chris Long.
CHAIRMAN’S REPORT (MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE)
On behalf of the Bernard Hall Management Committee I am pleased to report another good year for the Hall in 2016.
The Hall has been well used again this year with a wide range of users including theatre, the Picture House, exercise classes and numerous fund raising and other village social events. Usage of the hall was similar to last year.
After a slow start, bookings at the Picture House have picked up and are now running at similar levels to last year. We achieved this by allowing National Theatre to advertise our events nationally. It has meant that a significant number of non-villagers are now attending our events, and having the performances full again has reduced the risk of us losing our distribution license.
The Picture House has had its busiest season with 40 events in the year. This includes 3 kids club films, 14 National Theatre Live productions, one Kenneth Brannagh play, a record concert and our first ballet, Romeo and Juliet, recorded at La Scala Theatre in Milan.
The funding of the Hall remains healthy due to the contribution from the Picture House. 2016 income was £19,048, up from £18,233 the previous year and expenses were up to £14,245 from £13,407. Most of the variance was due to Picture House revenue and expenditure.
Picture House receipts have given us the opportunity to make some major improvements without the need to access outside funding. This year we replaced the majority of the Hall’s extremely old lighting and also installed a major improvement to the Hall’s acoustics. This involved a capital expenditure of £12,694. Because we expense capital improvements in their entirety as they are incurred, this has resulted in the Hall making a loss of £7,892 in the year. However the Hall has closed with £13,345 in the bank so we have sufficient funds to deal with future issues should any arise.
We were very grateful to the Village Fete for making a contribution of £900 towards our improvements this year.
As the finances are robust, it was again decided to keep booking charges at the present rates, which means that we continue to offer some of the lowest hire charges in the area.
Once again this year, the management committee have done a great job of running the hall. Chris Luckett, Michael Collins, Caroline Winnicott, Jessica Ecott, Charlotte Cooper and Zoe Gibson have all made full contributions and I am very grateful for their support. I would like to thank Chris Blumer, Chris Long and their band of helpers for doing a cracking job of running the Picture House and also Jeyan for managing the bar for all the productions
TREASURER’S REPORT
The Accounts were presented to the meeting. (Accounts attached).
ANY OTHER BUSINESS
Markus informed the meeting that an Induction Loop for the Bernard Hall was in the process of being investigated.
He also stated that the windows, heating and floor were ongoing maintenance issues which were being addressed.
Chris Blumer asked if it was possible to make improvements to the heating system so that it was easier to control. Jessica Ecott explained that the management committee were in the process of looking at additional systems to circulate the heat more efficiently. Initially, some of the windows were to be replaced/repaired which would hopefully help with the problem of draughts.
Chris Long stated that in order to prevent problems with power dips during cinema showings, it would be advantageous to install an uninterruptible power supply and he would investigate the costing for this.
Chris Luckett reported a leak in the disabled toilet, and also rubbish and loose roof tiles on the floor outside the back door.
Chris Blumer thanked Markus and the committee for their continuing work.
Meeting concluded at 8.30pm.
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