Plawsworth and Kimblesworth Community Centre and Recreation Ground (Charity No: 1174075) (https://www.nettlesworthcommunitycentre.co.uk)
Annual General Meeting, May 10[th] , 2022
Trustees’ Annual Report
The charity, which began as a CIO on 1[st] January 2018, has the following aims:
The objects of the CIO are to run a Community Building and to promote, for the benefit of the inhabitants of Kimblesworth and Plawsworth Parish and Sacriston parish (“area of benefit”) without distinction of sex, sexual orientation, age, disability, nationality, race or political, religious or other opinions, the provision of facilities for recreation or other leisure time occupation of individuals who have need of such facilities by reason of their youth, age, infirmity or disablement, financial hardship or social and economic circumstances or for the public at large in the interests of social welfare and with the object of improving the conditions of life of the said inhabitants.
This report covers the period from July 2021 to May 2022.
The current trustees are:
John Barclay (Chair); Lorraine Gillhespy (Treasurer till Dec 2021); George Kendall (Vice-Chair); Lisa Walker (Bookings Secretary); Lillian Walker; Heather Liddle (Treasurer from January 2022); Peter Beard (Buildings Officer); Diana Barclay (Minutes Secretary)
Alan Hodgson became a trustee during the past year, but unfortunately has since had to resign due to work commitments.
Our constitution allows a minimum of 6 and maximum of 12 Trustees
The Management Committee of the Centre consists of the Trustees and meets every month. Membership is open to any member of the community, on completion of an application form.
Since the autumn of 2021, the building has been able to open for business as usual, though with continuing cautions around the Covid-pandemic. Some user groups have not been able to continue post-pandemic, but most have been able to restart to some degree. Because of Government business grants, we have been able to survive and are actually in a better condition financially than we have been for a while.
The Food for Thought project came to an end in September 2021, but left a legacy in the re-opening of the Monday café, and continued for a while to store goods in the Conference Room. The Sacriston Youth Project makes very good used of the building for most of the day on Fridays, and has just been given permission by the Trustees to turn the Conference room into a designated Youth Room, for use by a weekly youth group run by SYP. Other regular users include: Mini Melodies; Little Stars; Clog
Dancers; two Dog Training groups; Sugarcraft; Durham Music Theatre; the Parish Council; and Ballroom Dancing. Other groups use the premises on a monthly or occasional basis. It has been good to see the hall used again for birthday parties and other social events in the community.
We are continuing to explore and to develop new ways in which these facilities can serve the needs of our local communities and are planning a major community event for the weekend of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, on Sunday 5[th] June, with a funfair.
We are very grateful to Lisa Walker for her excellent work as Bookings Secretary.
Our very ancient gas boiler (used for the main building) was finally condemned after an inspection and cannot be repaired. We are exploring alternative sources of heating, to be installed in time for the next winter.
The cleaning of the halls is now undertaken by a local cleaning company; we are grateful to Kaily Stephenson for serving as our cleaner from January 2021 till February this year.
The lease on the land on which our building sits (owned by the Lambton Estates) was up for renewal in November last year. A new lease arrangement (with an increased rate of rent) has been agreed in principle, but there is a hold-up created by the involvement of CISWO (Coal Industry Social Welfare Organisation), who have an interest in the building. We are hoping that this obstacle will be overcome soon, with the aid of Durham County Council and Kevan Jones, MP. As soon as this is sorted, we hope to undertake a major refurbishment of the building, which will include at least: wiring, heating, lighting, accessibility, and the toilets. This will require obtaining a number of grants, and we will be working further with the DCC on this.
This is the last AGM at which we receive a Treasurer’s Report from Lorraine Gillhespy who has been our Treasurer for very many years. We are immensely grateful for the many, many hours of work she has put in on behalf of the Community Association, and for her wisdom and loyalty as a trustee through some challenging times. She has been an enormous asset to the Association and to our communities, and we wish to record our heartfelt thanks to her.
John Barclay (Chair of Trustees)
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