Minutes for the Meeting of the Trustees of the Phoenix Project held on
Thursday 2 October at 5.00pm at the Phoenix Centre,Salters Road, Ryde, Isle of Wight
Present:Lynsey Burden, Pat Dench, David Ives, Bob Marks, Sue Roberts,
Jane Salih, Sam Whittingham, Liz Dutton
- Apologies for Absence
Apologies were received from Connie Wendes.
- Introduction of the Clerk to the Trustees
Sam welcomed and introduced Liz Dutton, the new Clerk to the Trustees.
- Minutes
The minutes of the meeting held on the 2 June 2014 were confirmed.
- Election of Staff Representative
Sam informed the meeting that Dave Robinson had been elected as the new staff representative. It was agreed that Pat, Jane and Bob would meet with the staff representative a few weeks before each meeting of the Trustees in order todiscuss any issues. It was also agreed to publish minutes of the meetings of the Trustees on the website once they had been signed. It was recognised that a staff protocol would need to be introduced to cover the process.
ACTION:Sam would draft a written protocol including meeting and election procedure and forward a copy to Bob Marks.
- Report from Committees /Sub Groups
a)Finance Committee
The group had not met since January. Its next scheduled meeting was arranged for Thursday 23 October 2014 at 10.30am at the Phoenix Centre. The Finance Committee would now be comprised of trustees Bob and David together with Sam.
b)Service Users Committee
This group met every six weeks and had found informal contact with the service users during their booked sessions had proved more successful than arranging to meet them at other times. Themost recent questions that had been put to service users concerned the size of the building and what improvements could be made.Suggestions included a larger main room, computer room and kitchen. The corridor could be larger to accommodate 2 wheelchairs. The changing rooms could be separate from the toilets. The garden area could have more facilities. Suggestions from staff had included after lunch the games room could be the quiet room and the sensory room could be bigger and not be used as a walk through as is currently sometimes the case.
The next meeting had been scheduled for November 12 between 12 and 2pm. Liz had agreed to attend this or a future session, as it would provide useful background knowledge.
c)Governance and Audit Sub-Group
The next meeting was scheduled for Wednesday 22 October2014 beginning at 5pm at the Centre and would be chaired by Connie. Liz agreed to contact Connie about the agenda.
d)Human Resources Committee
Sam reported that two unsuccessful attempts had been made to recruit a clerical assistant. The post remained vacant and previous applicants would now be reconsidered.
The next meeting for this committee would take place on Wednesday 22 October 2014 beginning at 4pm at the Centre.
e)Property Sub-Group
Bob gave an update to the Committee regarding the current status of the site. He had been in contact with Des Widger from the Council to ask whether they would consider assigning the lease over to the Phoenix Centre. It was agreed that Bob would speak to Des and ask him to contact Michelle Day from NHS Estates to with a view to moving the matter forward.
Plans drawn up by the architects Biggs Talbot to show what could be achieved from the current building were circulated. It was agreed no further action would be taken pending the outcome of discussions with the Council. It was agreed that in the meantime all avenues regarding alternative sites should continue to be explored.
The Committee agreed that Sue would be co-opted onto the Property Sub-Group. The next meeting would be held on Thursday 23 October 2014 beginning at 11.30am at the Centre.
- Transport
Sam reported that she was currently in talks with the leasing company to provide two Volkswagen / Mercedes mini-buses on a three year lease and provided an update with the on-going issues with the current mini bus.
Consideration was given to the two surplus buses. Representations had been made by the Federation of Chillerton, Godshill and Wroxall school and by Westminster House who were looking for vehicles. The Trustees agreed that it would be preferable to sell the buses for use within the community if possible.
- Waiting List / Building Capacity
The Trustees were informed that there were currently 89 service users. A recent request for five spaces for three sessions a week had been received fromHighmead and the Laurels former Islecare homes now run by the council. The trustees agreed to fund a discretionary place for one person who had until recently been a service user. It was agreed to keep a waiting list of those wishing to access the service.
ACTION: Sam to keep a waiting list of people wanting to use the service.
The idea of inviting the County Press to write an article on the services the Centre offered was discussed. It was considered that it could be useful publicity but it was decided that the Trustees needed to be clear on what message was given before things were taken further,particularly with expansion planned. It was agreed that no action would be taken at present.
- SIRIs/ Notable Events
None were noted.
- Training and Education
Rob Jubbhas agreed to run training for staffand two sessions on protecting staff and users had been planned. It was agreed to plot when and where incidents occurred (a measles map) as this would flag up patterns of behaviour. Basis life support training would commence in the coming week.
- Fundraising and Events
The date for the Buzumble sale was agreed for Saturday 13 December 2014.
It was agreed to hold the Christmas party in the day rather than the evening this year to enable more service users and carers to attend.
The idea of having a patron was discussed. Jane agreed to ask people she knew if they could suggest anyone. Liz agreed to co-ordinate a list of people that could be approached. Sam would forward the list of previously suggested names to Liz.It was also raised that the local member, Conrad Gauntlettcould be asked whether he would be willing to act as a Trustee.
ACTION: Bob to contact Cllr.Gauntlett to see if he would be interested in becoming a Trustee.
- Any Other Business
There was no other business.
- Date of Next Meeting
The next meeting of the Trustees would be held on Wednesday 10 December 2014 at 5pm at the Centre.
Signed as a true record……………………………….
Date……………………………………………………..
Bob Marks (Chairman)