TRUSTEES REPORT 2021
The annual trustees open meeting was held in the small hall at Newport Village Hall at 7pm. In attendance were five members of the committee / trustees and four representatives from regular hirers. No villagers or members of the parish council were in attendance. Apologies were received from Dawn Cundill (committee) and Krista McLeod (Pilates)
Welcome – The Chairman welcomed everyone to the annual Open / Trustees Meeting for Newport Village Hall. There had been no meeting in 2020 because of the pandemic but a report was compiled and made available to anyone wishing to see it.
The Chairman then delivered the 2021 Trustees Report to the meeting.
Tribute – On September 17[th] Coleen Rostron died. She had been a committee member and trustee of NVH for many years and although she retired from involvement a few years ago she continued to help with the prize bingos until the start of the pandemic. We thank her for her many years of volunteering and support for NVH and pass our sympathy to her family. Several committee members attended her funeral last week.
Thanks – I would like to put on record my thanks to all the committee members for their support over the past year particularly given the difficulties created by the pandemic. Each and everyone of them has helped in different ways to keep NVH running as well as offering advice mainly via our whatsapp has we have very few face to face meeting in the last 18 months.
The Pandemic – I hope you will forgive me for reference to events in 2020 as well as 2021 as inevitably the pandemic had impacted on NVH and how we have (and have not been able to operate). From March 2020 to June 1[st] 2020 we were completely closed. Pre-school was able to return in a covid secure bubble at that time but their organisers and NVH had to complete C-19 risk assessments and set up recorded cleaning regimes. Other groups were able to return on July 23[rd] but under restrictions and mandatory recording of cleaning. Not all of our regular users were able or felt willing to return. This partially opened window lasted until Nov 9[th] when the 2[nd] Lockdown began. Even thought this was lifted in December, E Yorks was in Tier 3 so we had to remain closed. It was necessary to carry out weekly, recorded inspections of the premises, keep a covid pathway minute (which now runs into five pages of A4) and provide updates on opening and closure dates during the pandemic in order to satisfy our insurers.
Pre-school was able to operate throughout the autumn of 2020 and winter of 2021 during the 2[nd] and 3[rd] Lockdowns. We received news that partial reopening was possible from Apr 12[th] and had to revisit our C-19 risk assessment in response to a 50 page Govt update document. However it was apparent that most of our regular users
could not return until May 17[th] . We did however contact them all in April to see if they were coming back and all except the Art Class indicated that they would. May 17[th] saw NVH fully reopened again but still under covid restrictions until they were all lifted in July. The committee met ahead of this date and agreed that we would keep most of the restrictions in place and produced a Covid Statement of our intentions. Most people supported this decision, though one comment on our facebook page called this ‘scaremongering’.
THE PREMISES – The main hall is almost 100 years old and the new hall is now over 20 years old so we are aware that we will always have maintenance and repair issues. We carried out the annual fire, health and safety risk assessments as we do each February, fire extinguisher checks, pat testing of equipment and we also had the 5 year electrical test and took the opportunity to fully upgrade the emergency lighting system. In June we experienced some problems with the heating system which would not turn off (it was hot at this time !) and required a diverter to be replaced. We get good service from MEC Humber. The village noticeboard which had been made more than a year ago was finally put up in August by Paul Nicholson. We have been concerned for some time about the state of the front doors and frame and have accepted a quote for their replacements and are now waiting for the doors to be made and fitted. In recent weeks problems have emerged with the forty-five year olf flat roof over the office and kitchen in the main hall. This now needs replacing and will shortly be undertaken by the Pearson family, who put up the original all those years ago. We have mercifully had very little vandalism in recent years. There was a minor incident in July but our CCTV enabled the youths to be identified and a ‘word’ from the PCO meant we had no more trouble over the summer holidays. Litter in the site is a problem and some members of the community see our bins as an extension of their own when theirs are full which leads to unnecessary overflow.
USAGE – The chairman distributed a timetable of regular events which showed that NVH is well used by our regular hirers, who we thank for returning after the pandemic and continuing to use NVH. Their support means that we are able to keep the cost of hiring modest and still cover our costs. Most week day evening apart from Fridays are fully booked as are most afternoons again apart from Fridays. Over the last two weeks we have had three bookings for events in the hall, a tea dance, a children’s party and an adult party with band, all under the covid restrictions which worked well – things seem to be returning to normal, albeit gradually. Morning in the main hall are not well used and there is scope for groups to meet like the Family History, one a month. We would like to encourage use at this time and are prepared to offer free sessions for groups to take off. We will try to see if we can get community groups off the ground in the coming months – whist, scrabble, rummikubs and coffee mornings are possibilities.
FUND RAISING - In recent years our fund raising has been modest, largely coming from monthly quizzes from Sept to Apr and monthly prize bingos. We are a small committee and these things take a lot of organising but did bring in several thousand
pounds a year, money which is used for improvements. All this stopped of course in March 2020 since which time we have had no fund raising events. The quizzes will begin on Oct 30[th] and the first Prize Bingo is a Christmas one on December 10[th] . We are open to ideas but really need people to help, even if they don’t want to be on the committee. The government grants mean we have a comfortable amount in the building fund for future projects but we can always do with more.
THE FUTURE – The chairman indicated his sense of frustration in recent weeks when reading of large amounts of grant money being secured by Gilberdyke and Eastrington Village Halls and the Market Weighton Canal Society to fund large projects. This is because they are within the range of a wind farm and landfill site. Newport falls just outside these areas so we are not eligible to bid for the money. What about the landfill between Newport and Gilberdyke you may ask ? There does not appear to be any money available from that site and I cannot find out why. So our grant sources seem to be EYCC Commuted Sums, which is a small grant or the former WREN fund which is a more lengthy process and required an additional sponsor with 10% of the cost upfront (we were unable to find one locally when we looked into it a few years ago), or the National Lottery. Nevertheless, we do have a project in mind. We would like the develop the strip of land to the west of the premises. We want to flatten it, put an easy to maintain surface on it, fence it off so it is secure and safe and turn one of the windows in the small hall into a door on to the new area. It would be an additional, safe facility for pre-school and a lovely outside area for childrens’ and adult parties as well as improving the look of that side of the premises. There are of course other things which will be needed in the short and medium term including replacing the windows and floors.
IN CONCLUSION - We have made great progress in recent years. NVH is more profitable, used more by a wider variety of groups, had embraced electronic technology to enable the running and administration to be more efficient and had enough money to make significant improvements but the committee is small and several of us the wrong side of 60. I still feel that many Newport Villagers know very little about the facility as can be seen from the number of people here tonight. I’m afraid the world today is very self-centred and not many people are willing to give of their time freely. This place means a lot to us all and we want to ensure that it continues to be the community hub for the Newport for many years to come.
There being no questions arising from the Chairman’s Report, the meeting moved on to the Treasurer’s Report.
Treasurer’s Report – The Treasurer, Mr. Colin Benstead spoke about the financial years 2019-20, 20-21 and the first six months of 21-22. 2019-20 was a normal year financially – income around £20k, expenditure around £18k and therefore a break even year. 2020-21 saw the impact of the pandemic and whilst NVH was completely closed a loss of £450 per week in income, but all the bills still to pay. However, government grants of £20k and the return of Pre-School greatly eased the burden of
worry. We were able to use some of the government hardship money to re-surface part of the car park and it will pay for the roof replacement. We again broke even on the year. 2021-22 so far has seen a slow re-building as other regular hirers have been able to return. Income so far is £6.5k and expenditure about the same. As a result the finances of NVH are reasonable. The Treasurer was thanks for all his hard work and the accounts were accepted on a proposal from Amy Grafton.
Hirer’s Forum – There were several questions from the members of the Pre-School present ranging from updating the hiring agreement between themselves and NVH, usage, minor repairs and alterations. Once the committee has met to discuss the agreement with Pre-school a joint meeting will be arranged to move things forward.
Covid Winter Plan – The Chairman outlined NVH’s response to the Government’s Covid Winter Plan which we received last month. Our position has been communicated to all the regular hirers and a copy of the full document has been placed in the blue file containing all the covid documents, which is in the front entrance for reference to all. It is a common sense continuation of existing arrangements as more events take place in the hall.
Election of Officers and Committee.
The following were re-elected en bloc.
Chairman / Secretary – Steve Clarke Treasurer – Colin Benstead
Committee – Steve Clarke, Rhonda Clarke, Colin Benstead, Stewart Cundill, Dawn Cundill, Paula Pridmore, Lucy Kelly, Amy Leedham- Howett.
There being no other business, the meeting concluded at 8.30pm
S. J. Clarke
Secretary
NEWPORT VILLAGE HALL ACCOUNTS – April 1st 2020 – Mar 31st 2021
Charity Number 1005662
Income
Expenditure
| Hire of Hall | £9460.25 | Car Park Resurfacing | £5000.00 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cleaning | £2601.89 | ||
| Main users :- | CNG Energy – Gas | £1831.41 | |
| Pre School | £7597.50 | Insurance – Allied Westminster | £1286.81 |
| Aerial | £1003.75 | Opus Energy – Electric | £946.47 |
| Dogs | £504.00 | Rear Door Replacement | £845.00 |
| HIIT | £160.00 | Daisy Comms – WiFi | £666.19 |
| Pilates | £110.00 | ERYC – Bins | £475.80 |
| Wake | £40.00 | Performing Rights (PPLPRS) | £472.24 |
| Cycling | £25.00 | TM Electrical – Assessment/Repair/PAT | £387.18 |
| Howden u3a | £15.00 | Fishers – Alarms | £322.16 |
| Cricket Meeting | £5.00 | Yorkshire Water (now Business Stream) | £304.82 |
| Soft Play Eqpt | £250.00 | ||
| COVID Grants | £21724.57 | MEC Humber – Boiler Serv. /Heating Repair | £216.00 |
| Field Hire | £175.00 | Premises Licence (DPS) | £180.00 |
| Cricket Club | £150.00 | ERYC – Pest Control | £166.14 |
| LSAS – Fire Extinguisher Service | £145.20 | ||
| PPE – Aprons Sanitisers etc | £131.77 | ||
| Miscellaneous | £112.45 | ||
| Decorating/Repair/Line Marking | £110.93 | ||
| UK Hub – CCTV | £83.94 | ||
| ER Rural Community Buildings -Memb Fees | £75.00 | ||
| Plants | £74.00 | ||
| Lawn Mower | £60.00 | ||
| Village Christmas Event – Donation | £50.00 | ||
| COVID – Signs | £45.43 | ||
| Data Protection Fees | £40.00 | ||
| Sub Total | £31509.82 | Sub Total | £16880.83 |
| Fund Raising Income | Fund Raising Expenditure | ||
| Donations | £115.00 | ||
| Interest | £8.00 | ||
| Sub Total | £123.00 | Sub Total | £0.00 |
| Opening Balances | Closing Balances | ||
| HSBC Savings Acc | £17470.94 | HSBC Savings Acc | £17728.94 |
| HSBC Current Acc | £6327.85 | HSBC Current Acc | £20721.16 |
| Cash in Hand – General | £381.18 | Cash in Hand – General | £616.86 |
| Cash in Hand – Fund Raising | £424.93 | Cash in Hand – Fund Raising | £289.93 |
| Bingo float | £75.00 | Bingo float | £75.00 |
| Tea money float | £34.48 | Tea money float | £34.48 |
| £24714.38 | £39466.37 | ||
| £56347.20 | £56347.20 |