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BISHOP MIDDLEHAM VILLAGE HALL
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING MINUTES 18 OCTOBER 2023
ttendees:
ommitt88
hair.. Jane Brownlee (Trustee)
Luke Bamford (Trustee)
ohn Burrows rrrustee)
ane Dove (Trustee)
arah Oakley (Trusteey
ulie Thomson (Administrator)
vonne Houston {Caretaker)
epresentatives of User Groups
ulie Hall {W.l.)
Welcome and Apologies
ane Brownlee (Chair) opened the meeting and welcomed everyone.
o apologies.
Minutss of 2022 AGM
inutes from the previous AGM meeting were accepted.
Chairfs Report lJane Brownleo)
I look back over the last year and see how far we have come with our objective to regenerate the
illage hall and make it a welcoming and safe Spa￿ forthe community-
his year we have welcomed two new trustees to the board., Mr John Burrows and Mr Luke
amford, both of whom, like the rest of us, work hard on behalf of the Village Hall and give freely o
heir time and expertise.
e are especially fortunate too, to have been able to employ our administrator, Julie Thomson. It
ould be no exaggeration to say that wtthout her V￿ would not be Whe￿ we are today. She has
ecome a popular and welcome member of ourteam, but so much more than that. There is more
nd more demand from government regarding the running and management of community ￿nIreS
uch as ours. There are a lot more legislative hoops we must jump through and a lot more
enalties if we fail to comply. Julie's help in guiding us through all this continues to be invalu8ble.
he (with the help of John) has spent hours and hours checking compliance, and I would urge you
11 to look at the folder of policies which Julie has compiled. which is on display, and which is
imed at ensuring the safety of everyone.

Ith regard to hall improvernents, we have successfully bid for funding from our local Area Action
Partnership and re￿iVed a substantial donation from Bishop Middleham Parish CounGil which
have enabled us to=
Resurfa￿ the car park.
Have new doors, windows and blinds fftied.
Replace and add new and more efficient lighting.
Improve our kerb appeal with new extemal signage, a planting area and troughs.
Purchase a large screen television.
Progress our intemal storage solution. by reCOnf￿Uring the large cupboards.
Have the kitchen floor re•laid.
Purthase new chairsArollies.
Have Ihe drains unblocked.
U￿ently, we are purchasing new fumiture for the large meeting room, exploring how we can
mprove our technology. and installing new intemal signage and smoke alarms.
e have hosted a number of wonderful events over recent months. including music and dance
rom Groovy Street. Skeme Folk Band, Joannie's Blitz and Pieces, and discos for the children. We
Iso had the Coronation weekend. the Model Rai￿aY Exhibition, Summer Fete, and a Table-Top
ale.
hese are in addition to the regular activities, wee￿Y and monthly sessions and classes, which
keep the community and the hall engaged and busy. Their time, effort and contribution is very
much appreciated.
he ethos, the motive for￿. the purpose of our. and indeed of all village halls, remains the same
as it was 50 years ago. to provide a wami and welcoming place offering the opportunity for leisure
ctivities for all members of the communty. However. we must recognise that life in the 21
entury is very different from Itfe all those years ago. Access to other, more exciting. venues in
owns and cities is now within easy reach of rural communrties. foreign holidays are there on
emand, and people's lives are such that they no longer have the time to volunteer. All these
actors lead to a falling demand for what we offer. and we need to look at more imaginative ways o
ttracting people to become involved.
e want to continue to survive and thrtve going forward, and to do that. the village hall needs
upport and to be used by our residents. family and friends. We are always open to new inttiatives
r classes and would love to hear from our communty about what they would like to see.
oming up we have the children's Halloween disco on 2P OctotEr. St Michael's Church Fele on
1" De￿rnber, Christmas Paty Night with Michelle Black on 81h December and a Jazz Night being
lanned for earfy in the new year.. oh, nd I nearly forgot, tomorrow night at 8pm. 'an evening of
Itness and craic the Irish way.. I'm intri
ed to see what that's all about. Why not check it out on
ur Facebook page and then come down and see.
11 in all, l am proud of what has been achieved this year, the things we have managed to get
one, the challenges we have faced and the lessons we have learned along the way.
inally I would like to thank all my fellow Committ￿ member5 who are so committed to this
ommunity for sharing so generously of their time and skill, I would like to thank Julie, who does
uch a greatjob for us and perhaps the most important lady of all, who puts up with all of us and
ur mad schemes, who is here at all times of the day and night and keeps this hall so immaculatel
resented. That of Gourse, is our ovffl... Yvonne.
nd let's not forget you. our clients. who make it all worthwhile.

Treasure¢s Report (Sarah Oakley)
During 2022, the Hall r￿1Ved £3.140.00 in grants for a variety of purposes. These include th
purchase of a new bowling mat for the Carpet bowis club. a TV screen for use in meetings, fil
ights, and screening live events." assistance with various ftjnd raising events and new blinds for th
ain hall. During the year, Fnday night live shows were put on. increasing the income Strea
ignificantly. Room hire income increased significantly as the hall was reopened for bookings afte
he lifting of restrictions during COVID.
he Willage Hall Lottery has continued to be a small but signtficant fundraiser. with, on average, 2
people regularty Contributing their £2 a month.
he Financial report for 2022 is summarised below and the fu51 accounts for the year are sent to th
harities Commission where they can be viewed online.
Balance brought
forward 1° Jan 2022
Income
£33,925.92
2022
Unrestricted
Room Hire
10.170.95
8,126.41
608.42
Income
Donations
Grants
205.00
Lottery
Grants
578.C()
Restrirted
3,140.00
Donations
Totsl Income
22,828.78
Expenditure
Unrestricted
Building & Maintenance
Expenses
Utilities
10.236.75
10.650.00
3.238.47
1.070.16
410.(K)
Insurance
Wages
Lottery
Fees
326.00
644.51
Restricted
Building & Maintenance
Expenses
Wages
Donations
10,171.00
2.751.96
5,769.01
Total Expenditure
Balance @ 31 Dec
2022
45,272.86
£11,481.84
Annual Review of Constitutional and Operational Matters (Julie Thomson)
he Constitution has been reviewed, there are no changes.
ecently, I wrote to all representatives of user groups for feedbacklcomments on the village hall.
o responses were received. None were received at the meeting.
Regular users were also advised in wrsling that the Tem)s & Conditions and the Policies had all
enu
dated to reflect chan
esto
uidance and I
islation. es
ciall to kee
eo
le safe.

hese can be found at our website. WFih a hard copy available on site.
Fire Risk Assessment was also undertaken, concurrently with the Policies. The Fire Service
isited the hall and offered further guidan￿. Written confimiation was received to advise that the
illage hall is broadly compliant. This will be improved however, On￿ smoke alarms have been
itted, along with new signage and some replacement bulbs for the emergency lighting.
perationally, things are going well with positive feedback. atthough funding remains a challenge.
hat brings us to financial planning.
re￿nt meeting that Jane and I had wtth Peter Garrod from 4Together Partnership helped focus
ur minds towards finanaal forecasting. No doubt our current charges for hall hire require
onsideration and some research needs to be undertaken. to enable us to plan for the future I
propose a full financial review and forecast to enable the direction of travel. As part of that we will
urther engage with regular user groups for their opinion and thoughts.
e proposal was agreed by the Commtttee and a finan￿ meeting is to be booked for the
ollowing Wednesday 25kn October 2023.
Electlon of Trusteeslofficers
rustees in post, remain as follows-
ane Brownlee
uke Bamford
ohn Burrows
ane Dove
Sarah Oakley
ane Brownlee was re-nominated as Chair of the Tmstees, seconded and elected.
Sarah Oakley expressed a wish to resign as Treasurer. She agreed to remain in post until the end
of December 2023 to allow for a new appointment and handover.
Sarah requested to focus solely on funding applications in the fijture.
. Any Other Business
ulie Hall IW.l. representative) mentioned access to tables is awkward rf there is a class being
onducted in the main hall. where they are stored. In future, W.1. to let Yvonne know how many
ables are required in advance of the meeting.
ane Brownlee mentioned the land at the back of the village hall that was occupied by children's
utdoor toys. It is not financially feasible for the village hall to take tt over, it will remain the
responsibility of the Parish Council. who intend to repurpose rt as a seating area.
Meeting conGluded at 7.20pm
Mlnutes agreed and signed
Jane Brownlee (Chalr of the Trustees)

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