Dec 20 - Hawkesbury Upton Village Hall - Hire for Weddings, Parties, Stage for Live music

 

Present – Chris Rispin    Sue Hope    Bill Cullen     Neil Fozard    Phil Dennett    Fiona Steeds  

Angelo Sauro   Jackie Sandy   Sam Allen   Kate Bashford   Amy Barnfield   Sally Roberts

 

Apologies – Steve Macgrath   Louise Roberts   Jane Stanbridge

 

Happy Christmas to all and thank you for all your help over the year. Let us hope 2021 is a bit closer to normality, whatever that is! However, here is to a Happy and Healthy 2021!

The minutes were agreed as a true record.

 

It was agreed that even if we are moved to Tier 2 this week, we will not open the Hall for leisure use until the 4^th of January.  Initial are offering an Air Purifier which is supposed to destroy Covid 19.  However it is expensive and would not necessarily be effective throughout whole premises.  It was offered to the Groups present on the basis that the Group would be required to pay but it was decided not to order it.

Steve had done the checks and submitted his report.  Nothing major to report.

 

Bill’s report was distributed and discussed.  There has been a delay in changing our electricity supply to SSE.  This will happen on 20^th December.  We will be asked to give the final meter reading. 

We have received donations from the Bonfire Committee (£400) and Roy Townsend’s Badminton Group (£150) which were gratefully received.  The Village Shop also paid us £200 for having stored their freezers earlier in the year.  Kate also applied successfully for a Sth Glos Covid grant of £1300.  Skatepark Insurance is due soon.  It is expected to be around £800.  Bill is going to prepare a spreadsheet to show how we have spent the £10k grant we received during the first lockdown.  Emma (shop accountant) has been advising us on our accounts.  She has recommended using a new spreadsheet which will give a more accurate breakdown of  the finances for the Hall overall. Bill has transferred 3 months of accounts over to the new system.  If it is successful he will continue to use it.  It is hoped to link the bookings system to it and Jackie is going to meet with Jack (Amy’s husband) and Bill via zoom to sort this when it is possible to do so.

Bill also wants to prepare a list of Hall assets.  He will email Hall Users to ask them to compile a list of what equipment they are storing in the Hall.  Amy to ask pre-school if they have an inventory.  The kitchen and bar will also be included.

 

Nothing to report.

Chris, Phil, Kate and Bill have been looking at our finances and we are currently losing £300-£400 per month (without grants or fundraisers).  Currently our reserves will keep us going for up to 2 years so we need to look at different ways that our income can match expenditure allowing for ongoing maintenance that is not grant assisted.  Hire charges will have to be increased by up to 25% and we need more large events in the Hall (post-Covid).  A delegation from the Committee have approached the Parish Council informing them of this situation.  Sue reported back that they want to know what is our number one spending priority.  Chris said that this is the car park which needs rebuilding.  The cost would be around £37,000 to do the whole area.  We can do from the entrance to a third of the way back which would cost £10k (estimate awaited) or just patch potholes as necessary (which we need to do as a minimum to keep within Insurance conditions).  The Parish Council felt that we need to put up a bigger sign to encourage people to pay when they park.  However even a large increase in people paying will not help towards these costs.  Kate said that the message we want to send to the Parish Council is that the public are using the car park but it is the Hall Committee who are having to maintain it and if they see it as a Parish facility we need help with costs  However, this was not considered entirely practical if we are to give Hall and Field users preference as with no limit on people entering the car park and a total disregard for the sign that states it is for hall users only, then there are insufficient spaces at times of high demand. Kate asked Sue to confirm what support the PC would be able to provide. A suggestion that we extend the car park was not deemed safe or feasible as the extension would need to be near both the play park and the basket ball court. The current gate provides an effective barrier and a safe area for users of all ages.

Chris is working on a Business Plan for the next 3 years and this will be circulated to the action committee before a wider circulation and then submission to the Parish Council.

 

No one has come forward to replace Chris as Chair of the Committee.  Phil says we can continue to operate without a Chairperson. We will have to divide Chris’s roles amongst us. Chris will prepare a list of his roles and a notice of the AGM for the Parish Magazine.  Sue confirmed that she will be Parish Council Trustee on the Committee but we haven’t been formally advised by Hazel.  The Buffs have advised us that they are disbanding at the end of the year.  They have donated their fridge to Youth Club and Drama are taking the Altar and Chair.  Pete Webb will remove their other items as soon as possible.  Phil will remove them from Trustee list.  Amy is also leaving and will ask Pre-school to nominate a new Trustee.

 

Louise emailed to say that she has not yet had any feedback from schools regarding covering up the graffiti with something more professional.

CCTV – When Kate has had time to work on the CCTV  Policy, Angelo will be able to get this in situ.

The Heating broke down a couple of weeks ago.  A temporary repair has been done and a new Pump and Valve have been ordered.  Amy passed on thanks from Pre-school for the prompt action taken.

Neil and his team have planted a range of species of saplings around the boundary.  Thanks to everyone who helped.  Simon Kempster and Roland Ayers have volunteered to clean the gutters.  The Stanbridges have cleared around the back of the kitchen and it is looking great.  Many thanks to them for doing this.  Kate asked about paint and Chris said this is stored under the stairs if anyone wants to do some painting in the Hall.

 

 

None

 

Bill advised that our account has been transferred to the Lewisham branch (from Black Heath).  This doesn’t affect the day to day running of the account. 

Bill also suggested we advertise the upstairs room as office space for rent (available outside Pre-school hours).

Cotswold Challenge emailed to ask if they can use our facilities again next year (27-28^th June).  They have continued to run throughout Covid and Fiona will circulate their email to the Committee.  Kate said they must prepare Risk Assessment before we can confirm the booking.

Sally Roberts advised that they are having work done on their Barn adjacent to the Hall in January.  Chris had received an email from Pete Roberts and has asked for a meeting with the Builders to work out the logistics and a safety plan. Pre-school to be advised of this.

 

There being no further business the meeting was closed at 21.30pm.

 

Date of next meeting 11/01/21.