Underskiddaw Village Hall
Minutes of the Annual General Meeting
held on Friday 1st April 2016
at 7 p.m.
Present:David Bateman, Jacky Bateman, Alison Bell, Bill Bell, Jill Brocker, Betty Bulman,
Mike Bulman, Maggie Climie, Chris Corder, Tom Donaldson, David Edmunds, Gill
Edmonds, Jean Green, John Hayes, June Jude, Andrew Lysser,Kath Paterson,
Graham Paterson, Stephen Rycroft, Ray Sheldon, Harriet Spence, Tony Welch,
Jean Welch, Jenny Whalley, Kevin Whalley
Apologies: David & Jan Boniface, Dave & Ros Roberts,Jane Sutton, Jim Wilson
1: Introductions
Kath Paterson, Chair of the Committee 2015 – 2016, introduced the other members
of the Committee who were present. She explained that there was also a
representative of the Church Room and the Parish Council; although neither of
these attended meetings, they were the point of contact and information sharing.
Kath explained that sadly two members of the Committee,Shelley Collins and Jane Sutton, had resigned due to personal reasons. She thanked them both for their
work and help.
2: Minutes of the Last Annual General Meetingon 21st March 2015
Copies of the minutes of the last AGM had been distributed on the tables before the meeting. Bill Bell proposed and Graham Paterson seconded that the minutes be accepted as a true record of the meeting.
3: Matters arising from the Minutes
There were no matters arising from the Minutes.
4: Chair’s Report
A copy of the Chair’s Report is attached to these minutes.
5: Treasurer’s Report
The Treasurer, Jacky Bateman, gave a financial report for 2015 – 2016.
Jacky said that she had been very new to this job and thanked Jill Brocker, a previous treasurer for her help over the year.
Income
Events:- five events had been run during the year, all of which were very successful and resulted in a total profit of £2446.97. The hall had also been hired by a private company to put on an orienteering event for some 180 people. They were charged a high fee, as it was commercial, and were also charged for soup for everyone’s lunch, which was provided by Jane Sutton. Rod Smith, at The Farm, agreed to provide space for parking the many cars, for which he was paid by the company. The event provided the Hall with a profit of £355.
The photographiccompetition and sale of resulting Underskiddawcalendars produced a profit of £544 up to the year end – there will be more to add in the next year’s accounts.
Hall Hire:- The two Art Groups and the Millbeck Strings regular bookings brought in £1800. Allerdale’s hiring of the Hall for local elections brought another £50.
Donations:- Car Parking contributions added £268.55; a donation from local Hound Trailers £50; and other donations from Parishioners £560.
Bank Interest came to £46.74
Payments
Insurance:- remains high following the flood damage claim but should reduce in 2016-17 £996.01
Water:- £127.47 electricity:- changed to EON from Opus in September - £1056.93
Maintenance:- Roof - £750; damp gable end wall stripped back, tanked & plastered £1692.72; gable end gully cleared to below level of Hall floor - £120; annual inspections of Fire extinguishers and labelling as well as electrical fittings & equipment £135.20
We started the year with a balance of £20,356.71 and ended with £20, 869.61 – a year end profit of £512.90. It seems to be a very good result tohave funded some major maintenance issues supported fully by fundraising initiatives over the year and not having to dip into the savings account.
David Edmonds asked whether any other work needed doing on the Hall.
The Supper Room needed new floor covering and curtains, which is in hand. There may also possibly need to be some remedial work on the Beck End foundations following the heavy floods.
6: Election of Committee
Kath Paterson referred to the list of Committee members 2015 – 2016 which had been given out before the start of the meeting. This noted that Jane Sutton, Shelley Collins and Tom Donaldson would not be standing for re-election but that the other five members – Kath Paterson, Maggie Climie, Ray Sheldon, John Hayes and Jacky Bateman were.
Dr Tom Donaldson proposed that all five remaining members be re- elected. This was seconded by David Edmonds and carried by the meeting.
Kath Paterson nominated Fiona Cox to join the Committee. This was proposed by Gill Edmonds, seconded by June Jude and carried by the meeting.
The Committee therefore has its full complement of six members. They could, at the first meeting of the Committee, co-opt up to two more members if they thought it was necessary.
Kath asked for anyone who was interested to let her know.
7: Programme of Future Events
The following events for 2016-2017 were suggested:-
- Kath has been contacted by a Choir of Youth, They are mainly from the USA, 15 – 25 year olds plus tutors and the group will be 30 strong. They will give us a short concert and would like an opportunity to meet locals over a meal. Proposed date = 19th August.
- A Quiz – with Fish & Chip supper as last time. It was very successful. Jane & Graeme Sutton have agreed to organise and run it.
- A Gardens’ Open Day, suggested by Dr Tom, as there are many new people in the Parish now it and would be a chance for them to get to know others.
- A Treasure Hunt – produced & planned by Graham Paterson. Suitable for all ages.
- Bonfire Night – Saturday 5th November. Maggie will organise. Bill Bell offered his help.
- It was suggested that as the Lego Exhibition and competitions were so successful that something similar might be arranged.
- A Table Top Sale.
- Rod Smith has offered to take groups round on his trailer to see the lambs. To be combined with tea in the Hall? There may be insurance complications and it would need to be organised very soon.
- Queen’s 90th birthday event.
8: List of people willing to help
The list we presently have of people willing to help with events and other things at the hall needs to be updated.
It was emphasised that no events would be possible without the excellent help given by members of the Parish; that it is not necessary to be on theCommittee to help or even to organise an event; that Committee members do not necessarily have to organise events; and that no one should think that they have to put on an event withouthelp.
9: Christmas Fayre 2016 and Calendar 2017
a)Christine Sheldon will organise the Christmas Fayre again this year after a very successful one in 2014. Proposed date Saturday 3rd December.
She will be having an initial planning meeting on 18th April at 7:30 p.m. in the Hall.
N.B. we need to check the dates of i) Lyzzick Hall’s Charity Event and ii) Keswick’s Victorian Fayre
b)Ray & Christine Sheldon will be organising the Calendar for 2017; the theme will be “The Many Faces of Underskiddaw”. The closing date for the photograph competition for entry in the calendar will be at the end of August.
10: Any other urgent business
- The Secretary reminded those present that the Public Access Defibrillator Cabinet was now in place and operational. Lauren Watson from the North West Ambulance Service would be coming shortly to give a talk and demonstration/training session. Those interested in this were asked to sign up on a list so that they could be contacted and informed of the date and time.
- The Secretary relayed the latest information from Connecting Cumbria concerning the recent installation and readiness of Fibre Optic Cables which should allow us to receive High Speed Broadband. People were reminded to shop around for the best price on offer from InternetServiceProviders but warned that they often promise higher speeds than they deliver.
- Damage to the underneath of the Hall:- Thanks were given toTony Welch for the work he did previously in getting the beck side of the Hall underpinned. However during the recent bad weather, which resulted in high levels of fast water down the beck,there has been some further damage and scouring. Ray Sheldon, who is a Structural Engineer and worked closely with Tony lasttime, and John Hayes have been down to look at it. The underpinning isstill in place but the protective stonework has been damaged and needs some remedial work. Ray will get in touch with the engineers who did the work last time.
- Damage to the bridge:- apparently some of the bridge structure has been damaged and there is a large crack. This resulted in the closure of the bridge and therefore the Terrace Road. It has beensaid that it will be a 6 – 8 week job but no one knows when work will start. The meeting felt strongly that better notices should be erected to inform walkers and car drivers.
The meeting adjourned for refreshments.
Ray Sheldon then introduced the evening’s speaker, Andrew Lysser, Keswick Councillor, Allerdale Councillor, former Mayor of Keswick, gyrocopter pilot, local businessman and musician. Andrew was in town on December 5th 2015, the day of Storm Desmond and the floods; he called in at the Flood Control Centre – and left eight days later. He never got a chance to see a flooded house or to help anyone directly as he was in the Centre the whole time. He thinks that the community should be proud of the spirit and the help that was given to everyone.
He gave a long, extremely interesting first-hand account of what that week was like for flood victims as well as volunteers. He had nothing but praise for all those who had come to help from as far afield as Bradford, 100 military personnel andlocal civilians. After four and a half days twoPolicewomenarrived – one from Workington and one from Maryport. Not one officer of the Government’s Flood Recovery group came to Keswick.
Andrew talked about the conflicts between flood defences, dredging or not dredging, flood plains, protecting buildings or farm land, local knowledgeable people and the Environment Agency.
The local Lions and Rotary groups have outshone every other area on the country. Their joint flood appeal will now get match funding from Government and so is almost £250.000
230 households have received funds and they will be able to continue to help people for another six months or so.
Andrew thinks that repairs will cost £25 million – whereas remedial work beforehand (to river banks, river courses, bridges and flood land) would have cost £7 million – saving money is a false economy.
The Chair thanked Andrew for a most interesting and informative talk, which was enjoyed by all those present.
The meeting closed at 9:15 p.m.
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