Hawkhurst Community Trust 2018 Minutes of Annual General Meeting held on 14th November 2022
Trustees Present
Joss Brushfield, Harvey Cobbold, Tina Cobbold, Eddie Coombs, Janet Coombs, Ruth McChesney (Chair), Jacqueline Schalburg, Sally Thomson and David Veale
Residents Present
David Lloyd Owen, Carol Miles, Beverley Palmer, Lisa Ridley, Anita Stevens and Bridget Thomas
1. Welcome
Ruth McChesney, Chair of Hawkhurst Community Trust (HCT 2018), welcomed everyone to the AGM. She explained that the meeting would cover the Trust’s activities over the past twelve months, the annual accounts and the election of Trustees. A short audio-visual presentation of the Trust’s work would then be shown. She invited those attending to join trustees at the end of the meeting for coffee and a chat.
2. Apologies for absence
Clare Escombe, Ellen Neville and Marie Thomas
3. Minutes of the previous meeting
The Minutes of the previous Annual General Meeting held virtually on 4[th] November 2021 were approved.
4. Presentation of the Annual Report 2020/2021 – Ruth McChesney
“As Chair, I am honoured to work with the great team who are the Trustees of HCT 2018. The Trustees have formed a strong bond over the years: they look out for each other, come up with great ideas for what we can do next, and generously give of their experience, their knowledge and their time to help make Hawkhurst a better place to live in. I give my thanks to: David Veale (our Vice-Chair and Secretary); Harvey Cobbold (our Treasurer); Sally Thomson, Jacqueline Schalburg, Joss Brushfield, Janet Coombs, Eddie Coombs and Tina Cobbold.
Some of our Trustees have full time or part time jobs and family responsibilities in addition to other charitable work and everyone has faced difficult times over the past year. Despite these challenges, each Trustee has contributed wholeheartedly to the work of the Trust. Over the year we have also benefitted from the support of some great local volunteers who have helped out at events.
The mission statement of HCT 2018 is “Bringing together the Hawkhurst community with events and projects to help make Hawkhurst a great place to live”. To that end, over the past year we have organised or participated in six community events, some on quite a large scale. We have refreshed our website and issued quarterly newsletters to keep the Hawkhurst community up to date with things. The wonderful Community Fridge, which sits under the umbrella of the Trust, continues to make a real difference to people in Hawkhurst.
We aim to have some free events for local children. In order to afford these, we also organise some events that aim to raise money. We also seek community grants from Hawkhurst Parish Council, who are most supportive, and approach potential sponsors.
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Hawkhurst Community Trust 2018 Minutes of Annual General Meeting held on 14th November 2022
Our biggest event is the Hawkhurst 10k and 5k Run and here we work closely with other local organisations.
Our first event of 2021/2022 was the ever-popular Christmas craft event for local children, where we provide the materials and children make Christmas decorations to take home. We were very fortunate to have the support of Kino Hawkhurst who allowed us to use their outside terrace as a venue on the Happy Christmas Hawkhurst evening.
In April we again held a popular event for children, the Easter eggbox scavenger hunt. Tesco very kindly donated lots of delicious chocolate eggs that children could claim as prizes once they had tracked down the items in the nature scavenger hunt.
The entire nation celebrated the late Queen’s Diamond Jubilee in early June, and Hawkhurst joined in with a wonderful Jubilee Fete on the KGV playing field. At our stall we welcomed little ones to make their own magnificent crowns, dress up in regal attire and be queens and kings for a day.
Late June saw a very active day in the village, our second 10k and 5k Run. This is a major event that takes many planning meetings to organise. The race was a partnership and collaboration between the Hawkhurst Highgate WI, Hawkhurst Parish Council, ourselves and our professional race partners Nice Work. Also key to our financial success was achieving significant sponsorship. The event was a great success and hopefully will remain a fixture on the local race calendar.
In early August we again organised the Hawkhurst Playday for local children. Playday is a national celebration of children’s right to play, and a campaign that highlights the importance of play in children’s lives. We had a large sandpit for tinies (thanks to Travis Perkins), a wonderful storyteller, keenly fought sack races, a dressing up tent, a cycle and bike track and lots of traditional games for everyone. Free squash, tea and biscuits were served throughout the hot afternoon.
The grand finale of the year’s events was our third craft fair “Makers @ The Moor” on 10[th] September. This time we welcomed about 50 stallholders on to the Moor. Additionally, the Trust runs a refreshments stall, selling homemade baking, tea and coffee. Our stallholders are all so passionate about their wares, whether they are bakers, potters, poets, jam makers, jewellers or wood turners.
Throughout the year we’ve produced regular newsletters to keep local people up to date with what’s on and to showcase what we’ve been doing for the village. By getting local businesses to pay for advertising in our newsletters we’ve been able to keep costs to an absolute minimum. We’ve kept our website refreshed and regularly updated and also posted on our Facebook page.
Over the past year one of our Trustees, Jacqueline Schalburg, has provided experienced input to the Parish Council regarding the communications aspects of the planned new Community Centre which received planning approval in July 2022.
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Hawkhurst Community Trust 2018 Minutes of Annual General Meeting held on 14th November 2022
I’m very pleased to report that the Hawkhurst Community Fridge, which falls under the umbrella of HCT 2018, is now in its third successful year of operation. A key aim of the fridge is to reduce waste through redistributing food. Ellen Neville and her team of wonderful volunteers work tirelessly with a range of local suppliers to keep the fridge stocked with all kinds of produce, often seasonal.
We are able to provide some financial support to the fridge where needed. They have also been successful in attracting grants and sponsorship from various organisations, including the Parish Council, Tesco and Waitrose, to enable them to continue their excellent work that benefits the whole community. They also receive the generous support of the Hawkhurst Community Hospital League of Friends, who pay for the electricity for the fridge.
Looking to the future, the Trust will continue with its popular programme of local events. It will also continue to review how it can contribute to the lives of Hawkhurst residents.”
5. Treasurer’s Report for the year October 2021 to September 2022
Harvey Cobbold (HCT 2018 Treasurer) gave a summary of the annual accounts for the financial year 1[st] October 2021 to 30[th] September 2022. A summary of the accounts is set out at the end of these minutes and can also be found on the Trust’s website. Key points were:
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The main costs through the year were Easter Egg Hunt (£70), Platinum Jubilee Dressing Up (£163) and Play Day (£572).
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£271 was invested in catering equipment for events.
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The 5k/10k race had a surplus of £2,579, mainly through sponsorship.
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Makers@The Moor made a profit of £725 mainly through selling refreshments
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in the tea tent and a pitch charge for stall holders.
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The Community Fridge accounts were held separately, but the Community Fridge itself comes under the umbrella of HCT 2018. It should be noted that the League of Friends at the Green Shop contribute approximately £800 a year to Community Fridge electricity costs.
6. Slideshow of the Trust’s Activities during 2021/2022
RM went through a presentation illustrating the points covered in the annual report. A copy of the slide show can be found on HCT 2018’s website.
7. Election of Elected Trustees
There are two kinds of Trustees in the Trust, a) Nominated (who serve for 3-year terms) and b) Elected (who serve for 1-year terms). Jacqueline Schalburg, formerly an elected trustee, had been confirmed as a nominated trustee. Harvey Cobbold had also decided to serve as a nominated trustee.
Two people were standing to be an elected trustee. Firstly, David Veale, having recently been appointed as a Hawkhurst parish councillor, could no longer be a nominated trustee. Secondly, Anita Stevens, who took a break from being an elected trustee the previous year (but who had been a keen volunteer at events during the year), wished to rejoin as an elected trustee.
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Hawkhurst Community Trust 2018 Minutes of Annual General Meeting held on 14th November 2022
The names, proposers and seconders of these two Trustees were as follows:
| Trustee | Proposer | Seconder |
|---|---|---|
| Anita Stevens | Andrew Lusted | Isobel Goodwin |
| David Veale | Gavin Steele | Janet Coombs |
Those present approved these names unanimously and consequently Anita and David were elected as Trustees.
RM reported that Sally Thomson was standing down from the Trust after several years as a Trustee: RM thanked her on behalf of all the Trustees for her contribution to the work of the Trust.
RM said that she too would be standing down as a Trustee after the AGM, having been involved with the Trust since its earliest days, around six years before. She was very proud of what had been achieved over the past few years and truly believed that the Trust did make Hawkhurst a better place to live in.
8. Closing remarks
There were no questions from residents. RM thanked those attending and said that concluded the 2022 AGM of HCT 2018.
Ruth McChesney was presented with flowers and thanked for all the hard work and contributions she had made to HCT 2018 over the years. She had helped to nurture a small charity into what it had become today, and she should rightly be proud of her achievement and leaves a great legacy for the future.
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Hawkhurst Community Trust 2018 Minutes of Annual General Meeting held on 14th November 2022
| Hawkhurst Community Trust (2018) | Accounts 2021 - 22 | Accounts 2021 - 22 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ( Financial year 1st Oct 21 to 30th Sept 22) | ||||
| Starting Balance | £5,623.44 | |||
| Total Income | £8,836.90 | |||
| Total Expenditure | -£6,667.56 | |||
| Final Balance | £7,792.78 | |||
| Annual Surplus | £2,169.34 | |||
| Events Income and Expenditure | Income | Expenditure | Total | |
| Easter Egg Hunt | £0.00 | -£68.40 | -£68.40 | |
| Hawkhurst Fete Childrens Dressing Up | £0.00 | -£163.06 | -£163.06 | |
| Hawkhurst 5k/10k Run | £6,896.29 | -£4,316.42 | £2,579.87 | |
| * Includes sponsorship by local businesses of £2,800 | ||||
| Play Day | £250.00 | -£822.49 | -£572.49 | |
| Makers @ the Moor | £1,143.40 | -£417.54 | £725.86 | |
| Donations and Collections | £382.21 | £0.00 | £382.21 | |
| £8,671.90 | -£5,787.91 | £2,883.99 | ||
| General Income and Expenditure | £150.00 | -£864.65 | -£714.65 | |
| major costs: | ||||
| Purchase of catering equipment | -£271.17 | |||
| Printing of Newsletter | -£139.88 | |||
| Insurance | -£131.41 | |||
| major income: | ||||
| Newsletter advertising | £120.00 | |||
| Community Fridge Accounts | ||||
| Starting Balance | £1,284.84 | |||
| Total Income | £3,784.19 | |||
| Total Expenditure | -£1,469.51 | |||
| Final Balance | £3,599.52 | |||
| Annual Surplus | £2,314.68 | |||
Income comes from donations, the most significant being from Waitrose, Tesco, Tunbridge Wells BC and Hawkhurst PC, plus a donation in kind to cover the cost of the electricity for the fridge from HCH League of Friends |
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| 5 The most significant expense was £1,288 for a new fridge; additional expense includes operating costs, training and publicity. |
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Income comes from donations, the most significant being from Waitrose, Tesco, Tunbridge Wells BC
and Hawkhurst PC, plus a donation in kind to cover the cost of the electricity for the fridge from HCH League of Friends
5 The most significant expense was £1,288 for a new fridge; additional expense includes operating costs, training and publicity.