Chair’s Welcome and Report
I would like to welcome everyone to this the first General Meeting of the Eden Miner’s Centre.
Many of you here will be users of the centre and we are delighted that the centre is gaining in popularity as somewhere to go for company, food, activities, access to local craft businesses and volunteering opportunities.
We have had some journey getting here – taking the building on in 2017/18. We then spent some time taking over the building from the Leadgate Youth Centre who had done very little to upkeep the building over the years it belonged to them, thus we inherited a great deal of building issues.
Jean Huntley and her willing band of volunteers painted the downstairs area and organised a very successful reopening in July 2019 with 400 – 450 people attending over 3 days.
Our longest term let has been Kerry with her Lightening Dance Studio and she has put up with a great deal as we had informed her the building was in a poor state of repair and it would be some time before much of this could be addressed. However, she was keen to offer something for the young people of Leadgate and we were happy to support her.
As we were getting to grips with the building and its needs, we moved straight into Covid and the building had to close.
Once we reopened there was lots of work undertaken by some of our then Trustees and our thanks to Fred Crowell, Martin Boyle and Jimmy Donaghy on the work undertaken on the stage and its surrounding areas. Not only making the building safer but also more aesthetically pleasing.
We also work in partnership with That Bread and Butter Thing through Lenny Curry a former Trustee and Lead Volunteer of this programme.
Our other good fortune was signing up Philippa Reed as a Trustee and many of you will know that Philippa most recently organised the Summer Scheme, supported by our Secretary Andy Plant and our own band of committed volunteers, and
they have done an excellent job. Philippa engaged other providers who offered Multi sports, Little Explorers to Creative Kitchens and Games Club meaning there was something for all ages. She provided cooked meals and snacks for more than 25 children each day and also provided 100s of pack ups during the Easter Holidays.
We have a new Treasurer in Marion Gladdon which is great news and we are fortunate to have such enthusiastic and supportive people around us as we try now to bring the building up to a 21[st] century spec making it a building we are proud of and which meets all our users’ needs.
We would also like to extend our thanks to Councillor Watts Stelling who has continually supported us both in terms of calling in and chatting to people and financially through his area budget. Councillor Alan Shield cannot fund us as he is already a supportive Trustee, and this would be a conflict of interest for him. However, both our councillors continue to support us 100% in the ways open to them.
This Building was bequeathed to the young people of Leadgate and surrounding area and was latterly held in trust for the Leadgate Youth Centre by the Charities Commission. As the Leadgate Youth Centre was no longer functioning we as the Eden Miner’s Centre CIO requested and were granted to be trustee of the building which now needs to come directly under our jurisdiction and ownership so that we can properly follow through with applying for grants for renovations. To do this we have one more legal hoop to jump through which is to transfer the building to become the direct asset of the Eden Miner’s Centre.
I will hand over to our secretary for his report and we will then receive the Treasurer’s report before moving on to the motion/resolution you found on your chair when you entered in relation to transferring the building and dissolving the Leadgate Youth Centre Charity.
Many thanks
Jeanette Harold Chairperson.
Eden Miners Centre End of Year Accounts April 2022 – March 2023
| Income | £ | Expenditure | £ |
|---|---|---|---|
| Room Rental | 3570 | Admin | 596 |
| Grants | 10,800 | ProfessionalServices | 322 |
| Donations | 2004 | General Repairs | 1263 |
| Consumables | 671 | ||
| Renovations | 10,607 | ||
| Water | 314 | ||
| Gas/Electric | 3131 | ||
| PL Insurance | 184 | ||
| BuildingIns | 329 | ||
| Projects | 1057 | ||
| Total Income | 16,374 | Total Spend | 18,474 |
| + Brought Forward Balance |
8686 | ||
| **Total ** | 25,060 | Balance as at 31st March 2023 |
6,586 |
Signed
Jeanette Harold Chairperson 12/06/2023
Independent Examiner's Statement I have completed my examination. I can confirm that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination giving me cause to believe that in any material respect: 1. Accounting records were not kept in respect of the Trust as required by section 130 of the Act or 2. The accounts do not accord with those records. I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached. Signed Name: Elaine Curry Address: 5 Durham Road, Leadgate, Consett, Co Durham Date: 0410412024