| Date | 9th April 19.30 at the Village Hall |
| Present | Hamish, Sue, Alex, Janet, Stephen, Maggie, Pierre + Claire, observing |
| Apologies | Cordelia, Stella, Bill, Terry, Nick |
| Next meet | Tuesday 14th May AGM date: Tuesday 2nd July |
| Item | Details | Actions |
| Actions outstanding / rolled over from previous meeting | Ongoing action to explore grant options, sitting with various committee members. | Various |
| Treasurer’s report | Janet presented end of year accounts. See screengrab in annexe. The value of the current account loss for the year is very significant, £2,123. However, if our grants received for the community kitchen are allocated to the period to which they actually apply (so one grant within 2023/24 is accounted for in 2022/23, and one grant to be received in 2024/25 is accounted for in 2023/24), then our losses for the year are more like £800. Accounts will go the accountant for auditing at the end of the week, with the usual gift of wine – thank you Janet for organising. The committee agreed the annual payments to treasurer and booking clerk. Janet needs to print off the remittances for Hamish/Nick to sign. We agreed to defer the discussion on charging rates for the hall until the May meeting so that Hamish could prepare another cost proposal based around the final end of year figures, and so that we could have as full an attendance as possible to discuss this important issue. For ease of reference, the action rolled over from the previous meeting is: Hamish agreed to rework his analysis and present a further proposal at the April meeting. Thank you Hamish. New proposal to include for consideration: a cost base with the 2023/24 significant capital expenditure costs (the boiler replacement) removed, so that subsequent price increases do not need to be so steep; separate rates for parishioners and non-parishioners; a cheaper rate for longer bookings; and a hike in wedding costs(?). Grants: Carol Hall is applying for a grant for the community kitchen, and also preparing a bid for grant for replacement windows – see maintenance below. Thank you Carol! No applicants have responded to the advertisements in the Gazette for a new Treasurer. It was suggested that Damien Furniss might be interested – Hamish to ask Damien. Interest in the savings account is 3.9% and raising a not insignificant amount (£508), but could we do better if we move elsewhere? One to debate once new Treasurer in post. | Janet Hamish |
| Maintenance | The old shed has gone, the football team picture has been fixed. The tap washer issue has been resolved but alas the whole tap now needs replacement. Hamish to take forwards, thanks Hamish. Shed roof remains a significant issue. Claire kindly offered her tarpaulin as a temporary fix. Alex and Hamish will affix, weighted with sandbags, as a stopgap. Longer-term the committee agreed that galvanised sheeting is probably the way forwards. Alex to speak with Julian to get a quote for some sheeting. Also let’s not forget the stirling board that the church offered us. To discuss again next month. The leak in the back porch was discussed. It’s only an issue in high winds but it still needs sorting. We agreed that the initial action should be to get up in the loft above and use caulking gun around the flashing. Hamish volunteered to tackle this at the same time as doing the shed roof. If this doesn’t fix it then we can go for a specialist. We discussed replacing the windows at the front of the hall, which are badly damaged. On balance the committee agreed to pursue cheaper, better-insulating PVC windows, sympathetically designed, rather than wood frames which will quickly need more work and upkeep. We are applying for a grant and need at least three quotations – we have one already from Hani. Alex will approach Select Windows, Maggie will approach Anglian. Hamish will pursue with the estate how they feel about PVC windows (and also check whether this is permissible in the conservation area). To discuss at next meeting. We discussed maintenance days, or maintenance evenings: Committee and other volunteers coming together for a few hours to progress a series of maintenance actions. Strong support for this and also for advertising for help in the Gazette. We did not agree a date but should do this at the May meeting if not before. | Hamish Hamish, Alex, Alex Hamish Alex, Maggie, Hamish |
Long-term maintenance list, for progression when we land a grant. No hierarchy as yet
| (Rising?) damp in southern elevation | TBD |
| Extractor fans in kitchen | TBD |
| Drainage pipes | |
| Internal repaint | |
| New large range cooker and oven |
| Petition | Sadly our questionnaire to the village in the last Gazette did not receive any responses – thank you Alex for trying. We need responses to gather data to support grant applications, but we also want the communication to gather ideas on how the hall can be used and to advertise the community asset. Alex is going to have another go, this time using Microsoft Forms to create a light touch survey that shouldn’t take as long to complete. Please circulate around the committee when ready Alex so that we can comment/add questions. | Alex |
| Future events | We are all looking forward to the St George’s Day quiz, Saturday 20th April, Nick as quizmaster. Thank you Nick. And a ploughman’s supper – thank you Sue. Cheese, no soup. £7 on the door. Nick to advertise. Please be there by 5 to help set up. We agreed to organise an evening of village Skittles on Saturday 18th May, from 19:30. Steve to organise and advertise. We agreed to run the Father’s Day BBQ on Sunday 16th June, and to coincide this with the opening of the new village table tennis table. The Parish Council will be asking Damien to organise a table tennis tournament that week, with the finals on the Sunday. Entry fees for the tournament to go to a men’s charity; money for the Father’s Day BBQ to go to the Village Hall. We agreed to pursue live music options as priority. Carol will approach Hani to see if he can run a Syrian music and food event on Saturday 20th July. But we need many live music options to pursue as we think this will be great and draw in the punters. Maggie to approach Richard Thorn, Hamish to approach skiffle band that he knows, Claire to get a quote for Joey the Lips. We agreed that more evening talks would be brilliant. Alex to consider / organise an astronomy talk from him / Norman Lockyer colleague, to consider at next meeting. Long list of other options: Ceilidh Art exhibition with scones… Hosting the pizza van… Sea defences talk Magical mystery bus tour Villages in action | Carol, Hamish, Maggie, Claire Alex |
| AOB | On behalf of the committee earlier this month Alex attended the East Devon Village Hall Nest meeting. Thank you Alex for dedicating your time to this. A very useful talk with plenty for us to consider. Listing readout here in full as we did not have much time to discuss and we might want to pick up elements in subsequent meeting: A number of other village halls are adding a supplementary ‘kitchen-use’ fee to their booking prices. ‘Hallmaster’ is an app that could support booking clerk – worth reviewing. South West Water has a regional grant fund called ‘neighbourhood fund’ capped at £2k. One village hall raised £100k simply through…crowdfunding! Alex will attend the next meeting of the committee on Wednesday 12th June – thank you again Alex! Having observed us in action Claire asked to join the committee – motion approved! Welcome Claire! |
| Gittisham Parish Hall Accounts – 1st April 2023 to 31 March 2024 | ||||
| INCOME | ||||
| 2022/23 | 1.04.22- 31.03.23 | 1.04.23 – 31.03.2024 | ||
| Balance brought forward | 6,258.80 | |||
| Hire of Hall | 4,953.50 | 4,953.50 | 5,588.85 | |
| Social Events | 1,791.04 | 1,791.04 | 1,371.36 | |
| Interest | 226.48 | 226.48 | 0.00 | |
| Miscellaneous | 175.98 | 175.98 | 2,005.91 | |
| Total | 15224.92 | |||
| Miscellaneous includes the £2000 drawn dow from Redwood Bank |
| Gittisham Parish Hall Accounts – 1st April 2023 to 31 March 2024 | |||
| EXPENDITURE | |||
| 2022/23 | 1.04.22-31.03.23 | 1.04.23-31.03.24 | |
| Insurance | 643.79 | 643.79 | 690.38 |
| Non-domestic rates | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Cleaning/grass cutting | 748.57 | 748.57 | 1,019.62 |
| Maintenance/Equipment | 3,624.97 | 3,624.97 | 5,840.55 |
| Water/Gas/Electric | 2,173.82 | 2,173.82 | 3,031.87 |
| Miscellaneous(inc. bank charges) | 269.50 | 269.50 | 1,014.59 |
| 11597.01 | |||
| Balance | 3627.91 | ||
| Total | 15224.92 | ||
| Redwood Deposit A/c | £24,811.22 | ||
| Miscellaneous includes payments to Treasurer and Hall booker. | |||
| Cleaning/grass cutting has risen by 36%, from last year. | |||
| The utilities have risen by just under 40%. |