May 21 - Hawkesbury Upton Village Hall - Hire for Weddings, Parties, Stage for Live music

 

Present     Bill Cullen   Phil Dennett    Fiona Steeds   Angelo Sauro    Jackie Sandy   

Kate Bashford    Jane Stanbridge   Andrew Webb   Chris Knight  Hilary Rogers

Sally Roberts  Vicky Rispin   Amy Barnfield (via Zoom)

 

Apologies  Sue Hope   Steve Magrath   Louise Roberts  Neil Fozard   Neil Adams  Mandy Clarke

Hannah Herod

 

Andrew Webb was elected as Chair of the Committee – proposed by Kate Bashford, seconded by Phil Dennett.

 

The minutes were agreed as a true record.

 

Bill has created a spreadsheet detailing which Hall Users have returned and when, and tracking Risk Assessments and Invoicing.  There is a new Yoga group and Toddlers are temporarily meeting in the Hall.  They are storing their equipment on the stage.  This was agreed with Drama group.  All Badminton clubs restart this week.  Library in July. Kate to ask Sue when History Group are returning.  WI returning in September.  Youth Club re-assessing in September.

Jackie will advise all regular users that they will now be billed at the end of each calendar month.  Payment terms will be 10 days from date of Invoice.  Bill asked if Badminton clubs can continue to pay only for the nights they use the Hall (they very occasionally cancel at the last minute).  This was agreed, however Jackie will advise if we have any regular enquiries for the time slot that badminton currently has booked. If yes then the decision regarding badminton above may be re-considered.

 

Bill had distributed his report which was discussed.  It was agreed that any leftover grant money from the Playpark should be ringfenced for them.  Karen Bexter has advised that a Christmas Shopping Fundraiser has been arranged for Friday 19^th November which will be used to contribute to the annual playpark/skatepark insurance costs.

Steve had submitted his report and there are no significant issues.  RoSPA  Inspection has been done.  They highlighted some areas which we need to monitor, eg wood and cable on zipwire. Any maintenance issues have been passed on to Angelo.  More damage had been done to the Skatepark.  John Day has repaired the panel.  This will be paid for from Skatepark Bank Account.  Fiona to add review of RoSPA Report action list to the Agenda every quarter.

Andrew’s scoping document has been circulated and he had updated it.  Angelo has suggested we add Hallmark accreditation to our goals.  Levels 1 and 2 should be achievable by the end of this year and we will aim to get to Level 3 by the end of 2022.  The document was approved by the Committee. Andrew and Angelo to work on converting the scoping document to a Plan in time for June meeting. Andrew to prepare something for the Parish magazine, outlining our future plans.

 

We raised £430 from the sale, despite Covid restrictions and awful weather.  Jane was approached by a stallholder who is interested in running a regular table top sale in the Hall.  We would benefit from hall hire charges and could sell refreshments and possibly a Raffle.  Jane will email the details to the Committee so that a decision can be made promptly.  Bill added that Tim Watts had donated £500 on the day.  Fiona has sent him a thank you letter.

 

Angelo had circulated his monthly checklist which he went through.  Andrew Warner has replaced the screws on the firebell alarm which were worn.  The trees at the front of the Hall are growing up towards the overhead cables.  Angelo to contact Western Power.  Jane told Angelo about the smoke alarm going off repeatedly during the table top sale – he will follow up.  The Clothing Bank has been added to the fundraising account.  Tom Cole replaced 5 tiles on the roof.  Fiona to send a thank you letter.  No CCTV activity but it was checked twice in the month.   Phil asked Angelo to add the Charity Commission Report to the spreadsheet.  Bill said that SSE want to fit a smart meter.  Angelo asked him to point out that we have Phase 3 supply which normally means they can’t do it.

Angelo to find out if we can get a camera capable of covering the Skatepark and how much that will cost.

The Committee do not want this to be done, however we are happy for them to cordon the area off during their sessions.  Angelo has offered to assist them in finding appropriate fencing.  It was agreed that Pre-school can extend the area by the fence and put up another shed to store fencing.  Amy said that their Committee can get the area cleared. Sally asked that they don’t dig down as this would damage their fence.

 

Tree Planting – Angelo suggested we could plant trees at bottom of rec along low stone wall next to Sally & Pete’s field (agreed by Sally). However we need to know that the trees are suitable. Fiona to email Sue Hope and request more information.

 

Chris has agreed to oversee this and will liaise with Andrew Warner regarding the monthly walk round.

Andrew reported that the gate between the two play areas had rebounded on a little girl causing injury to her.  A new gate with a hydraulic mechanism would prevent this from happening again.  Cost is £1590 + VAT.  The option is to remove the existing gate and leave a gap or fill in the gap with fencing.   Kate will ask Karen Bexter for the Playpark Committee’s views.  The Hall Committee did agree that the gate at the entrance to the original playpark should be replaced with a hydraulic one.  The third (new) gate is of the hydraulic design.

Angelo to get back to the electrician regarding the box on the Rec.

Health & Safety Policy – This was approved by the Committee.

Given the ongoing uncertainty surrounding Covid restrictions, it was decided to postpone this event until 2022.  Fiona to include on September Agenda for discussion.

 

Chris will be taking the lead on this going forward and will liaise with Angelo when we receive the Energy Report from JPR Solutions.

Sue has asked if the Hall can store Parish Council records upstairs. We need more information about how much space is required.  Bill wondered if they had looked at digitising their records and Vicky thought SGC might have storage facilities for Parish Councils to use.  Kate is liaising with Sue.

 

None

Vicky asked if the Show Committee can be invoiced for the whole day hire of the Hall and Rec, rather than having to have a breakdown of varying hire charges. Bill, Andrew & Kate to look at previous 3 years’ charges and the Committee will agree a figure at June meeting.

The Show Committee have also requested that the red metal barrier halfway down the Rec be moved to facilitate the Show Marquee.  It was agreed that the Show Committee could do this and they will make good the ground.  Metal barrier to be kept in case it can be sited elsewhere in future.

 

Andrew has been asked by the Shop Committee if we would be willing to have a Village Information Board sited in the Hall grounds.  They are celebrating their 5 year anniversary and wish to mark the occasion, possibly with a board showing a map of the village and pubs, shops etc.  The Committee is concerned that, even though it would not be advertising walks in the area, it would still give the impression that the car park is a focal point for walkers to leave their vehicles.  It was suggested that this could be combined with parking charges (Louise suggested a QR code for payments by mobile phone).  The general feeling is that parking is a big an issue in the village at present which would be complicated by another notice board in the car park.  Andrew to advise the Shop Committee that we feel the board would be better sited elsewhere.

 

PTA Car Wash event - they have not come back to us on this.

 

Bookings System – Angelo, Bill and Jackie have liaised on this and are optimistic that it is a good fit for the Hall.  It will cost £180 a year (Kate is trying to get a discount through Dick Whittington). Bill is keen to get it up and running as soon as possible.  Jackie would like to standardise the charges before we go live with the system.  Jackie to circulate suggested pricing to the Committee.  If we can incorporate it when the system is ready to go we will, but we won’t let it hold up the launch of the system.  Pricing framework is a specific action in the Strategy scope which will require a thorough review of all pricing aspects by the end of this year for implementation in 2022.

 

Louise emailed to say that Badapple Theatre have cancelled for this year but will put on a performance in 2022.

 

Sally said that they have noticed youngsters playing down the side of the Hall adjacent to their property recently.  Angelo will see if there is a way to block it off.

 

Angelo suggested we buy a Projector for when the upstairs room is in use again.  The Committee agreed this would be a good idea and Angelo get quotes.

 

Bill said he needs to update our gambling licence which is out of date.  PPL/PRS Licence also needs to be re-negotiated.  Bill is meeting with Anna O’Brien this week for auditing of the accounts.

 

 

There being no further business the meeting was closed at 10.50pm.

The date of the next meeting will be Monday 13^th of June at 8pm.