Whitestone Parish Hall

WHITESTONE PARISH HALL COMMITTEE OF MANAGEMENT

Registered Charity No 1134187
(Regd. Charity 1134187)

COMMITTEE MEETING

7.40PM TUESDAY 13TH MAY 2019

MINUTES

  1. APOLOGIES/PRESENT: Apologies – PH, IM. Present: AK, GF, SL, MD, MC, JK, JR, MB.
  1. SIGNING IN NEW TRUSTEES and ELECTION OF OFFICERS: All signed in. Chairman Jane Richards - Deputy Chairman Jock Kirkpatrick, Treasurer Anna Kellagher -Deputy Treasurer John Robinson (pro tem), Secretary Mary Colson - Deputy Sue Llewelyn. Parish council and CHEF to elect trustees at their AGMs.
  1. MINUTES OF LAST MEETING (9.2.19): 2 typos corrected then signed by JR.
  1. MATTERS ARISING (from 9.2.19):
  1. SECRETARY’S REPORT: Gas service engineer has been contacted and will call back soon to book time for servicing of heating and cooker.
  1. TREASURER’S REPORT: From Feb meeting to present. April invoices mostly paid. Receipts to date £5843, payments £5220. Surplus £622, which is ok. No unusual payments over on-going expenses. JR contacted EON to read FIT meter. JR said reserves very important as income/expenses very finely balanced. JK said profit comes from FIT payments and one off private parties, which are ad hoc and could reduce. This highlights the importance of maintaining Solar PV. AK said we couldn’t spend what we do without FIT. Discussion about future possible large costs such as car park resurfacing. AK said PC would pay for that and historically it does support large costs – but it has changed since Les Pike’s days. JR said teamwork with PC important.

     6a APPOINTMENT OF SUB COMMITTEE:Sub comm. is officers + extras. AK would prefer not to be reappointed but will continue for now. Given no PC rep. yet the sub comm. will stand as it is before until all new trustees in place.

  1. APPROVE POLICY DOC. 5 and QUALITY MANUAL INDEX: AK read out Policy 5. Changes were made to Responsible Persons. Discussion about various responsibilities. JK does Fire Safety check and every 6 months a fire inspection report is done by Fox. JR is responsible for First Aid and Child and Vulnerable adult Protection. Brian Durrant does PAT every year. Sec. responsible for checking Accident book. JK said all policies are in Drop Box.
  1. IMPROVEMENT TO DISABLED ACCESS: Reasons behind consideration of this improvement discussed – current ramp too steep and narrow with no handrails and not to standard disabled access regulations. During panto, extension exit might be compromised. JR asked if we want to pursue this improvement and all agreed we must bring the hall up to good access and safety levels. GF asked if an external wheelchair lift would work but after discussion agreed not a suitable alternative. MB said we were too late for a Rural Aid application this year and suggested we get 3 quotes and continue to look at this and be ready for a RA application next year. LB reminded us that a porch is necessary at the top of ramp to provide protection from the elements when door is open. This will be included in quotes.
  1. PART-TIME CARETAKER: Reason for considering this is that JK, PH and others spend a lot of time on the hall maintenance and running. As PH is not able at the moment, it falls on JK, which is not fair or sustainable in the long term. MB suggested Paul Jordan and AK said that would be ok as he is already on PAYE with us for cleaning and we do not want the problem of employing someone else. GF suggested that the first step should be to think about how many hours we could afford to pay and set a maximum number of hours. MC asked if LB would do it. LB said he would be concerned about unsocial hours but JK said that never happens. GF said that regular jobs done by JK are a cost to running the hall and should be paid for. LB said he would be interested and would be happy to invoice us. JK will liaise with JR and make a list of regular jobs. J Rose asked who should be called in an emergency. JR said it should be on booking form that LB will be the contact and out of hours Caroline should be contacted. JR thanked LB and suggested a trial period to see how many hours he does. MC asked if LB’s trustee status might be a problem – AK to check.
  1. PURCHASE OF DIGITAL PROJECTOR: JR suggested waiting for new Parish Council to ask for help with buying these. GF said when hiring meeting rooms, projectors are often charged as an extra so could be a source of more revenue. AK lead discussion about whether this would lead to administrative difficulties. JR to explore this further.
  1. GAS BOTTLES/BULK TANK: JK explained problem of running out of gas. Bulk tank option looks more expensive both in terms of installation and gas price. Agreed to have 2 more cylinders at the cost of £100 deposit.
  1. GLOSS PAINT IN HALL: Glen Miller gave best quote but over £300 sub-com limit. All agreed to accept his quote. He will do the work in August.
  1. EXTRA STORAGE SOLUTIONS: Freight containers and other options are being looked at by sub-com. JK asked Jim Christopher to look at extra garage option and he said it would cost around £5.5K. A 20’ container is about £2000 including delivery. Wooden sheds are not suitable. JR said we’d continue to explore options. Short discussion about need to improve new storage area under basin in ladies loo.
  1. HEARING LOOP IN BILLIARD ROOM: MD said this is important as users need it and GF agreed that with the demographic (older people) we have it is essential and more important than the projector as users can bring their own if needed. JK said the PC will probably contribute to the cost. JR said sub-com would look at this further.
  1. VOLUNTEERS FOR HALL RISK ASSESSMENT: JR asked for volunteers. DL, JK and MB offered. Com will be informed when assessment completed.
  1. PRAYER TREE REQUEST: AK explained that the local prayer group would like to put a prayer request tree structure in the green room as part of Thy Kingdom Come initiative by the C of E. Labels will be supplied for people to write their prayer requests and tie to structure. All agreed to allow.
  1. MATTERS RAISED BY REPS: LB said panto sheds will be cleared for installation of new shelving and all contents will be put into extension in the first week of July. JK explained there is no WiFi code. AK said she had not yet had an invoice from BT for the WiFi. DL reminded us about the latest Whitestone Entertainments booking of the Cleverly Brothers on 30th
  1. O.B.: None
  1. DATE OF NEXT MEETING: Wednesday August 7th at 7.30pm