UNCONFIRMED MINUTES OF CARLBY VILLAGE HALL MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING HELD ON MONDAY 9THMARCH2009 AT 7.30PM

Present:David Burke – Chairman

Margaret Dair – Secretary

Kerry Vincent – Treasurer

Tony Roche

Gordon Templeman – Carlby Bowls Club Rep

Sarah Cardew – WI Rep

Ian Dair

Roger Shead – on behalf of Playing Fields Committee

Apologies:Rosie Nelson

  1. Welcome - Chairman David Burke welcomed all present and opened the meeting.
  1. Minutes of AGM held on 29th April 2008 - There was one amendment to these minutes. The date of the next AGM should read 3rd March 2009 and not 3rdFebruary2009. The minutes were then agreed and signed as a true record of events by the Chairman.
  1. Matters Arising – None
  1. Reports

Chairman – David Burke reported that the last year had been a rewarding year for the Village Hall. Purchases such as the banqueting chairs and replacement heaters have added to the comfort and functionality of the hall. The aim should be to carry on with the successful pub nights using the same format – experience has shown that keeping it simple means that the workload to members is kept at an acceptable level whilst allowing for enjoyment of the event.

For the coming year the Chairman went onto say that we need to investigate a mid summer event to give the villagers an occasion to celebrate the year so far and allow for further fundraising. Coupled with this is the need to raise grant money to carry out refurbishment of the women’s toilets and external areas of the building.

Questions from the floor - Roger Shead asked about the size of the next project. The Chairman replied that he would be seeking grants up to about £1,000 for refurbishment of the women’s toilets and external areas of the building.

Ian Dair said it would be good to continue the trend of refurbishment that has already been done. David Burke said that he hoped to make the Village Hall more attractive to encourage more revenue.

Ian Dair asked how far afield is the Village Hall advertised. Events that take place in the Village Hall are advertised in the monthly Carlby Now. Kerry Vincent reported that she already receives bookings for a lot of children’s parties. Ian Dair mentioned that advertising for the events and for the Hall itself could be put on the Carlby web site – for which he is the Administrator. The Committee agreed to look into this.

Treasurer – Kerry Vincent reported that takings from bookings were up by around £350 on 2007 which is encouraging.

It had been a very busy year with all the improvements in the kitchen and main hall, but also, needles to say quite an expensive one thus we have spent more than our income – but luckily we had a good balance in the deposit account. Thanks go to David, Tony and Veronica (who almost single handily revamped the Kitchen) for all the hard work they have put in. It has made a real difference to the ambience in general. The heaters especially are a great improvement on the old ones, but to be fair they had served us well for over 20+ years. Also with the addition of the staging and new chairs (much more comfortable) I think we are getting there. The decorating of the main hall was an added bonus.

Kerry went onto say that she would like to take this opportunity to thank Margaret for her excellent work as a secretary, a thankless task, and also Mike Paulson who once again audited the accounts.

Kerry said that the main fund raising had again been the Pub Nights which seem to have gone from strength to strength in recent months with a profit of £100+ each time plus the Xmas Fayre. The Committee were hoping to include some different events on some of these nights possibly a Race Night or 50/50 Auction but it is quite difficult to organise with such a small committee – volunteers would be gratefully accepted.

Kerry finished by saying that she would like to thank all those who have supported the events without whom we could not manage to fund the upkeep of the Hall.

Kerry then went through the Balance Sheet – which is attached. David Burke reported that a grant of £500 from the Parish Council would go towards the expense of the new heaters that had been installed.

Roger Shead congratulated the Committee on the work that has been done in the Village Hall.

A letter of thanks would be sent to Mike Paulson for auditing the Accounts.

St Stephen’s Church PCC – report received from Rosie Nelson – The Church continues under the care of Rev Paddy McKee with Hazel Whitfield as Reader. Over the year average congregations have remained similar to last year but it was good to see good congregations at festival events. Regular prayer meetings were held.

PCC members have worked hard at fund raising events including whist drives, summer fete, barn dance a stall at the Village Hall Christmas Fayre and a coffee morning, the barn dance and whist drives taking place in the Village Hall.

As a precaution following theft of lead from church roofs in Lincolnshire the lead at StStephen’s has been treated with smart water. Anti vandal paint has also been used. The PCC continue to be concerned about vandalism and are disappointed that a number of window panes have been broken. As well as the cost implication these are very old glass and it is a shame that they will have to be replaced with new.

Note: Roger Shead commented that a very successful Safari Supper had been held in the Autumn with 29 people attending. Funds were raised for the Church.

Roger Shead also went onto say that due to vandalism over recent years the PCC were looking into perhaps putting gates up by the porch.

Mums & Tots – report received from Rachel Loader – Carlby Mums & Tots meet in the Village Hall every Wednesday during term time from 10 am to 11.30 am. Claire Ferguson and Sharon Stokes organise the group but we are fortunate to have an ethos whereby everyone helps out. We welcome any baby or pre-school child along with their carer. It is a popular group with fifteen families attending regularly amounting to twenty plus children. Most come from Carlby but we also have children from Ryhall, Essendine, Belmesthorpe and Stamford. There are a large number of ride-on and smaller toys as well as a piece of carpet, allowing the babies a safer place to lie or sit away from the toddlers. Since September we have started to provide a craft session which the children really enjoy – Rachel Loader organises this. We celebrate each child’s birthday with candles and a cake as well as having a Christmas party with a visit from Father Christmas. We make a small charge of £1.50 per child accompanied by an adult, with each additional child being 50p more. This small charge more than covers our costs. Although some children leave the group each year for school they always seem to be replaced.

Carlby Bowls Club – Report received from Roger Osborn, Secretary – Carlby Bowls Club currently has 53 members, made up of 50 playing members and 3 social members. The club enters 2 teams in the Stamford & District outdoor Bowls League with some success.

During the warmer months good use is made of the outdoor green and facilities, with weekly roll-up meetings on Sunday afternoons and Wednesday evenings. League matches are held most Monday & Friday evenings, with occasional friendly and over 60’s matches held on Wednesday afternoons.

Unfortunately as a small village club there is always a need for more members, particularly juniors. The indoor part of the club (which is where the club started back in February 1987) has struggled to attract large numbers during the winter months, however a regular turnout of 10 to 14 members in the Village Hall on Wednesday evenings keeps this social side of the club active.

Financially the club remains in the black, however future legislation may put increasing pressure on the club finances. During the coming year it is the intention of the club to attempt to attract new members, as well as continuing the fund raising events. An open day is also planned for late spring (date to be advised) in the hope that new bowlers will come along and ‘try their hand’ at the sport.

The overriding aim of the club is enjoyment of the sport, concentrating on the social aspect for both matches and roll-ups.

WI Report – Sarah Cardew reported that WI is flourishing with a very varied programme. There had been several new members joining and one or two of them are on the Committee. She also said comments had been made on how good the Hall was looking.

Playing Fields – Roger Shead that a grant of £2,800 had been received to enable much needed work to be carried out on the Playing Fields. There was also assistance from the Parish Council each year to maintain the facility. The Playing Fields are inspected annually by RoSPA. At the present time the play area is closed for repairs.

Ian Dair commented that the various reports that had been read and reported were interesting and could the minutes of this meeting be sent out as Unconfirmed Minutes to the Parish Councillors and also put on the Web Site. It was agreed this would be done.

  1. Election of Committee Members

Veronica McCutchen had resigned from the Committee. The Committee wished to minute its appreciation for all the hard work that Veronica had done on behalf of the Village Hall Committee.

Chairman- David BurkeProposedIan Dair

SecondedTony Roche

Vice-Chairman- Tony RocheProposedDavid Burke

SecondedMargaret Dair

Secretary- Margaret DairProposedDavid Burke

SecondedRoger Shead

Treasurer- Kerry VincentProposedDavid Burke

SecondedSarah Cardew

Also on the Committee, representatives of Organisations.

It was noted that new members would be welcome onto the Committee.

  1. Any Other Business – None
  1. Date of Next Annual General Meeting – Monday 8th March 2010 at 7.30pm in the Village Hall.

Meeting closed at 8.25 pm

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