Alphamstone Village Hall

MINUTES

Alphamstone Village Hall Committee

AGM

Saturday 22nd July 2023

10.30am

Held at AVH

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Committee Members:

Desmond Bridge (DB)- Chairman

Martin Gilbert (MG) – Treasurer

Laura Richardson (LR) – Secretary

Lynne Potter (LP)

Sue Gardiner (SG)

 

Members of Public

Kathryn Parsons

Chris Parsons

Deirdre Hume

Robert Hume

Adrian

Helen Morgan

Rosemary Ingram

 

• Apologies for Absence

Jean Sullivan

Nigel Morgan

 

• Approval of Minutes of AGM 2021

  • Approval by SG MG. Signing of Minutes

  • Matters Arising - None

 

• Chairman’s Report

Attached

 

• Treasurer’s Report

Attached

 

• Secretary’s Report

From the date of the last AGM August 2022, AVH committee held 3 meetings, in September, January and April.

During the re-election of the Committee at the 2022 AGM, Desmond Bridge was elected chairman, Martin Gilbert was elected Treasurer and Laura Richardson was elected Secretary, all with unanimous Committee approval.

We have had one resignation from the Committee from Eugene Franco who we wish well on his move to the Colchester area.

Annual membership was renewed for the RCCE.   

All legal requirements for Fire Safety, Health & Safety and Safeguarding continue to operate, with renewal of documentation where appropriate.

The fete sub-committee for the 2023 fete comprised of MG, DB, and LR.

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None

• Questions from members of the public?

HM : Relating to the financial report. Why did the groups stop running? A: Lack of demand, the pilates man moved to Australia and the Yoga class has moved to Lamarsh which is closer to her attendees.

 

CP: Relating to the financial report. Is the grant that was received a recurring grant? A: No.

 

RH: Will we have another big breakfast? A: January 2024.

 

DB: Suggestion from Ann Rutledge. Ian found two sets of Boules which have not been used. Suggestion to have a Boules event in the Summer. Games based event. Ferrier’s have a couple of games. KP has a giant Jenga. MR has volunteered to do a burger night. Combined with a simple bar provision. KP suggests a team event. Would be an inclusive event for all ages. LR and KP to plan for late August bank holiday.

 

MG: Does anyone have any idea how to increase rentals? DB one of the issues for children’s parties is the trend to go to soft play places. Plus the issue of parking.

 

DH: Bingo evening family event? A: We need some more people willing to run events, with support from the committee rather than the same people running the events. RI: Suggestion to cater the food part with a fish and chip supper with delivered food to take this responsibility away from the committee. SG: This would significantly reduce the profit margins. RH: We need to remember that there are two aims for the hall events – making money, but also social interaction.

 

RI: Could we advertise on social media every couple of months to increase rental? Advertising locally.

 

MG: Is there a market for a working from home drop in usage of the hall. CP: Business meetings would be one suggestion, but either way marketing needs to be spread wider. KP: would it be financially viable, especially in the winter months when one hire would require heating all the hall all day for example.

 

KP: Are we having a harvest supper? A: It has not yet been booked in but it would be in October.

 

RI: How much do the elections charge us? A: £200 but it is not a set cost. DB: We should be encouraging support for local elections and if we put the price up too much this is discouraging. Note: There are opposing opinions on this matter, with attendees suggesting that we can put the price up a good amount and other attendees suggesting that a modest increase would be more appropriate.

A general discussion was held regarding events at the village hall, and in particular the lack of support for several new events that were advertised and planned but cancelled due to lack of uptake. Attendees were in agreement that a popular event usually centered around food! It was generally discussed that the events are usually run by a small group of the same volunteers each time and that events needed to be simplistic in execution, or that we needed to enroll the support of other villagers to put on any more events than the stock events put on each year. It was also suggested that a list of events was published at the beginning of each year to allow people to plan around these events and give people an overview of the year’s events. This was met with positive response.

Stock events are:

Big Breakfast (Matt Richardson, LR SG and DB) Late Jan/Feb

Fete (MG DB LR SG and others) Late May bank holiday

Winter Warmer Dinner (SG LR and others) November

It was noted that Melinda had offered to lead on a Greek dinner event and this should be considered as another option for 2024.

 

General Revenue streams were also discussed, with a suggestion to advertise to local schools to attract children’s parties or other events. LR to market this on facebook and possibly flyers in schools.

 

 

• Election of Trustees (if applicable) (2022 Committee elected.)

Named Trustees all stand down to be re-elected. Proposed as standing (RH). Seconded by (A).

 

• Joining Committee Members

Kathryn Parsons. Proposed by DB. Seconded by DH.

Meeting adjourned at : 11.15am

Date of next meeting: Wednesday 20th September 2pm