Village Hall

SCOPWICK & KIRKBY GREEN VILLAGE HALL

MINUTES OF A MEETING OF THE SCOPWICK & KIRKBY GREEN VILLAGE HALL MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE HELD IN THE VILLAGE HALL ON TUESDAY 9TH NOVEMBER 2021

Present:  
Mrs Janet Flett    Chairman
Mrs Rosa Nelson    Treasurer
Mr Joe Kennard    Booking Secretary, Vice Chairman
Mrs Tracy Fenwick    
Mr Michael Dowse
Mr Chris Medcalf
Mrs Debra Heeney
Mrs Wendy Stacey
    
1  Welcome - Chairman thanked everyone for attending and informed the meeting that Richard Martin, the Bowls group representative, had resigned from the committee due to personal reasons and the Secretary has written to him thanking him for his support.  Michael Dowse will ask the Bowls group for a new representative.
Apologies – Mrs Lizzie Banks
The Chairman also thanked Wendy Stacey for taking the minutes in the absence of Lizzie Banks.    

2  Acceptance of previous minutes - Accepted as correct by the whole committee.    

3  Matters arising from previous minutes not on agenda – Liz has delivered the new key to Kate Mason for Brownies, who will pass on to her replacement, and Sheena Lazenby of the Art Group has signed for her key.
Keys have been given to Clare Chesters and Liz has been in touch with her re signing for them.
Liz has sent a grant application to the Parish Clerk for £1,340 - £1,000 for the Village Hall, £250 for Parish Council bookings and £90 for the website.    

4  Correspondence – Chairman received correspondence from YMCA & Community Links regarding Cluster Meeting and safeguarding training available.
The Chairman also received a letter thanking the Committee for the Village Hall event leaflet that was posted through letter boxes.    

5  Treasurer’s Report – The Treasurer distributed a financial summary to the committee, covering 1st April to date. This showed an income of £12,389.60 with expenditure at £3,975.70.  The Treasurer pointed out that the expenditure included purchase of new equipment i.e. cutlery etc, and the water bill has gone down and Plusnet had increased and the payments are monthly, they don’t charge the rental for the whole year as before.
There was a £15.00 refund for the John Magee event as the hours of use was reduced from 3 hours to 2.
There was also a refund to the Parish Council as they had paid twice.
The Chairman pointed out that currently our expenditure exceeds our income, if you take away donations received, and a fundraising event in the Spring may be required even though we have a “cushion” from grants received during the Coronavirus lockdown.
The Chairman raised the possibility of using the proceeds from the Hub to purchase items for Christmas hampers for people within the village who may appreciate them, for which the committee agreed.  The Chairman will ask the Parish Council for a £100 contribution towards this.  Also, the Chairman will look into any appropriate grants.
The Treasurer was asked the status of money held for the Tiddlers group.  The Treasurer said it was held in a separate account and if a new group is started the money could be available for the groups use.
Treasurer reported she will investigate the tax situation now grants have swelled the bank account so much.
Village Draw Update – Some people are behind with payment, Treasurer to chase.      

6  Lettings and Bookings – A list of current bookings for the Village Hall was distributed.  Joe noted that for the wedding this weekend the Bowls and Art groups had given up their Friday bookings for this event.
Joe pointed out that a normal day’s booking is for 8 hours but no specified end time is noted on the booking form.  It has always been the case that an event would finish at 11pm, allowing 1 hour for packing up, thus ensuring neighbours are not disturbed after midnight.  Unfortunately, on this occasion this will not be the case as the wedding is due to finish at midnight, but hopefully disruption will be at a minimum as people will return on the Sunday to pack up and clear away.
Pilates has not returned after Coronavirus lockdown and the group are currently looking for a new instructor.
The regular event of Meditation and Wellbeing has been cancelled twice and Joe has asked the organiser to keep him informed of cancellations, so he can acknowledge this.
Joe is led to believe the creative pottery group is going well.
Joe updated the Committee that the person intending to run the new toddlers’ group has gracefully withdrawn.  Although there has been a lot of interest, the people required to help can only attend after 9.30 am on Mondays, which clashes with another regular booking.  The organiser has looked at Tuesday as a possible alternative but this was not viable.  The idea will be held in abeyance for now.
Rosa told the committee that Liz had offered to store the village show tents in her shed to free up storage space for the toddler groups toys if needed.
Joe reported that everyone using the hall is very complimentary about the hall and its facilities.
Rosa pointed out that some people making bookings need to be reminded that the final payment needs to be made before their event is held.    

7  Fabric & Fittings – 
a)  Flagpole – recently the flagpole blew down as the wood at the bottom was rotten.  The Chairman thanked Tony Stacey for refurbishing the flagpole by cutting off rotten wood, painting it and replacing the cord.
b)  Anything Else – Thanks to Tracy for arranging a plasterer to rectify problems in Ladies toilets.  Repairs to ceiling in Gents to be discussed at next meeting.
Tracy did a crockery count in October and Rosa and Tracy will do another crockery count in November.
Rosa purchased additional door stops.
Thanks to Tony Stacey for repairing the toilet system in the Gents.
The hedges at the front of the hall have been cut to enable the Christmas tree to be visible this year.    

8  Caretaking Matters – Tracy has bought new hand sanitisers to replace broken ones.
Tracy has found it hard to replace the moisture absorbing crystals but has purchased a similar but smaller variety and will use these in future.
The Chairman pointed out the fridge thermometer is full of condensation and hard to read.  Tracy to purchase a new one.    

9  User Groups Update –
Art – The recent exhibition went well with approximately 150 pictures on display with 19 pieces of art sold and several artists receiving commissions.  Jean Knight won the Millennium Shield and also won the Post Card competition by a large majority.  It was noted the standard was very high and the Chairman thanked the Art Group for holding the exhibition in the Village Hall as it is quite a coup for our village and also promoted interest in village activities to people inside and outside of the village.
Bowls – Doing well and had to have 3 mats our last week as 14 people attended.
Fun Fit – Going well with consistent numbers.
Church – Remembrance Service to be held on Sunday 14th November at 10 am with attendance at the War Graves at 10.45 and refreshments in Church afterwards.
Winter Fair will be held on 27th November between 11 am to 3pm.
Christmas Carol Service to be held on 5th December at 4pm.
Christingle Service will be held on Wednesday 22nd December at 6.30 pm and includes a memory tree.
Shake it Up – Numbers are up and down with only 3 last week, including a new lady who said she enjoyed it and would return.
Hub – The date was changed to accommodate a stall holder who then, unfortunately, did not turn up.  Despite the date change the Hub was well attended.
Friendship – The numbers were low at the last group, 4 people attended with the group before having 16, which is a dramatic difference.
Playing Field – A Race Night will be held on 4th December tickets will be sold at a cost of £2.50.  Unfortunately the group received a poor response from their recent survey, but there were difficulties with the printing of it.  Rosa reported they would have another survey.  A grant had been received for 2 more picnic tables.    

10  Feedback from Village Hall Cluster Meeting – The Chairman reported that the meeting was poorly attended and the person presenting the main topic of the evening did not attend either.
The Chairman has a list of information publications relevant to Village Hall Committees, produced by Acre.  These are £10 each but we can access free as we are members.
The Community Links new website appears to be better value for money.
The John Barker trophy has been revamped and revitalised.
The Cluster meeting suggested Village Hall Committees check if they have an alcohol licence – the Treasurer reported that we have a licence to sell alcohol and every event where alcohol is sold need to pay an extra £10 to cover the licence.
The Cluster meeting also suggested we might be able to claim back VAT even if we are not registered – the Treasurer said that is only for certain items.
Our Chairman asked the Cluster group about the viability of solar panels on the Village Hall, those present advised against as very expensive, no grants available and no return for 25 years.  Our meeting discussed this and it was agreed to explore the possibility.    

11  Future Events –
a)  Christmas Carols & Songs – Wednesday 15th December 6.30 pm
It was agreed the event will be held to raise money for Cancer Research.  Terry & Nigel have been booked for this event.  We will welcome guests with a sherry and have refreshments at the interval.  A raffle will be held and light entertainment/quizzes placed on tables.
Tracy said she will ensure the Christmas tree and room decorations are in place.
It was suggested that we could pass the word around to people who may need assistance, that it would be possible to pick them up and bring them to the event.
The Chairman asked if we could borrow the lights from the art group that they used to light the path to the Village Hall, as they looked so pretty.  Chris will look into this.
b)  Queen’s Platinum Jubilee – June 2022 (Bank Holiday Thursday 2nd – Sunday 5th June)
To be placed on next Agenda.
Any Other Ideas – Although the Rural Touring List was sent to Committee members, it was agreed to wait for the next touring list (coming out in March) to decide on anything.
The Chairman said the Metheringham Village Hall have had the “Wrinkly Rockers” perform and said they were very good.  Tracy was asked to find out how much they charge as she knows a member of the group.
The Chairman will contact Flossie who has performed for us before and find out if she is still working.
It was mentioned that Julian Gash lives in the village and is an entertainer – Mike to find out how much he charges.
The Chairman said it would be good to have an event in the Spring and if we could all think about it and bring ideas to the next meeting.    

12  Parish Magazine Entry – Deadline 15/11/2021 – the Christmas Carols & Songs event needs to be advertised in this edition.     

13  AOB – It was queried whether the defibrillator was now registered and checked regularly.  The Chairman said it was now registered and couldn’t understand why there was a problem with this previously and the Parish Clerk now checked it on a regular basis.  The Parish Clerk will also be responsible for the defibrillator that will be installed in Kirkby Green telephone box.
The Chairman said it has been approximately 4 years since training was given to people on the use of the defibrillator – she will organise another training session for Spring 2022.
The Treasurer reported on her investigations into installing a dishwasher – the most appropriate would cost £1,500, takes 10mins to complete a wash and installation would cost approximately £100.  It was agreed to give it more consideration as we were undecided whether a dishwasher was needed.
The Treasurer queried whether the hall booking to discuss Broadband was a community event and therefore no payment would be required – the Bookings Clerk confirmed it was.
The Treasurer also queried whether the special Parish Meeting on November 16th, requested by a resident of the village, would fall into the category of a Parish Council Meeting – the Bookings Clerk confirmed it would.    

14  Date of Next Meeting – January 18th 2022 at 7 pm.    

15  Village Draw –
October       1st prize £40    F13    David Hyde
                   2nd prize £20    P9    Barbara Penman
                    3rd prize £10    C2    Hugh Hardy
November    1st prize £40    B3    David Bentley
                    2nd prize £20    E1    Toby Mitchell
                    3rd prize £10    L9    Angela Robinson
Drawn by Tracy Fenwick and Chris Medcalf, witnessed by Michael Dowse.

Wendy Stacey