First Meeting of Charitable Incorporated Organisation Number 1188973
1. Welcome by the Chairman
The Chairman, Pat Varney, welcomed attendees and opened the meeting at 7.58pm. The attendees and apologies for absence were as for the Registered Charity AGM.
2. Operation of Charitable Incorporated Organisation Number (CIO) 1188973
It was noted that the new charity has been operating since 31[st] December 2020.
3. Treasurer’s Report for CIO Meeting on 1[st] June 2021
Normally I would have prepared a mini account showing the comparison of this year to last year but “there is no comparison”!! Plus, I have not had access to my work printer for nearly fifteen months whilst working from home!
Here is a quick update on income and expenditure covering January to April 2021. Income received is £17628.25. This includes £16955 Business Rate Support Grant which covered all lockdown periods from December 2020 to April 2021. As mentioned previously, we will not know whether all grants received cover all loss of income during 2020/2021 until the end of this year. Expenditure has been £4124.34. This includes our usual utilities, insurance plus other standard expenses. We have allocated £10,000 to be available for the maintenance and decoration work planned for the Summer outage.
As our first wave of regular hirers only returned after 12[th] April, no invoices have been issued as yet. We had several of our exercise groups returning in May plus a few more returning this month. Therefore, all invoices covering up to the summer holidays will be issued in July. Our only casualty thus far has been the Jo Jingles Children’s Musical Activity Group, but we have been able to take on several new regular hirers during the past few months and on the assumption that all the others return in September, we will have very limited availability as far as regular slots are concerned. At a pinch probably a couple of monthly hirers. Nearly all of our regular hirers are paying via BACs which has made it far easier to manage especially now that Barclays Bank has closed in Leatherhead. During the last year or so, I have been able to pay most of our invoices and bills via online banking which again is more convenient and of course saves on expenses, ie stamps!
4. Trustees of CIO at Formation
It was noted that the five Trustees of the Registered Charity became Trustees of the CIO at its formation: Pat Varney, Alan Pooley, Christine Attwood, Tim Hall & Ian Funnell.
5. Election of Three Trustees for CIO
A vote was taken on the proposal by the five founding Trustees that the following individuals should be elected as Trustees: David Brain, Mark Rowell & Brenda Rowell. The vote was passed unanimously. It should be noted that all elected and co-opted Trustees serve one-year terms which are re-newable
6. Vacancies Available for Further Trustees
It was noted that the constitution allows for twelve Elected Trustees and three Co-opted Trustees which will allow future expansion of the number of Trustees.
7. User Organisation Representatives/Trustees
It was noted that the five founding Trustees had invited thirteen not-for-profit user organisations to nominate representatives who will become Trustees until the organisations, at some future date, decide to change their nominations. Pat Varney reported on the responses received so far. John Bostock had been nominated by Leatherhead U3A. John asked for a copy of the CIO constitution so that he could understand the role and responsibilities of a Trustee. Sue Scott from Mole Valley Women’s Institute and Selena Edney from Bookham Light Operatic Society were present and would discuss with their organisations whether they would take on the representative roles.
8. Thanks to Retiring Committee Members
Pat Varney thanked Debbie Murrell for her sterling work as Booking Secretary over recent years. In addition, Debbie had sought the assistance of Kowoon Bacon to re-design the hall website and we now had a much more informative website of which we can all be proud. Pat thanked Kowoon for designing the website and Debbie for keeping it updated.
Pat Varney then thanked John Bull who was not present for his help with day-to-day inspections of the hall and for various maintenance activities, some carried out with Mark Rowell. John had been carrying out work on clearing gutters and weeding for many years as well as showing new users around the hall and running the Bridge Group.
9. Volunteers Offering to be Booking Secretary and Website Manager
Debbie Murrell introduced Lucy Owens as a volunteer who was willing to take on the Booking Secretary role and who had a strong legal background which would be helpful to the committee. Pat Varney welcomed Lucy to the role. Lucy also asked to see a copy of the CIO constitution. Pat stated that there were two other volunteers who she and Christine would be talking to regarding the website and office support.
10. Two-week Summer Outage for Maintenance Work
Alan Pooley described the main aims of the decorating and maintenance during the two-week outage from Monday 2[nd] August to Sunday 15[th] August.
Redecorate: All the external timber on the car-park-side of the buildings.
The John Rumble Room.
The three internal entrance passage-ways.
The cupboards etc fronting under the stage in the Main Hall.
Minor touching up to ceilings and other areas where there is water staining.
Refixing the cupboard door in the Large Kitchen.
Replace all the ceiling lights in the foyer with built-in LED fittings.
Fix, if possible, safety nosings to the front and rear steps to the stage.
Remove the cover to the three radiators in the John rumble room.
11. Need for Active Volunteers
Pat Varney mentioned the need to recruit volunteers to help with the running and general
maintenance of the hall.
12. Any Other Business
During the meeting the improved information on the website was referred to. The typical hall capacities have been revised and are now 54 to 135 in Main Hall and 24 to 42 in the John Rumble Room, depending on use. The hiring rates are currently £17 to £25 per hour for the Main Hall and £12 to £18 per hour for the John Rumble Room depending on the time of day and day of week. The website also contains updated Hiring Regulations and Security, Safety and Service advice. Pat thanked David Brain for his help with the application of fire safety regulations.
Alan Pooley noted that he had numbered all the storage cupboards in the hall which are used by hall regular hirers and that the needs to be aware of the flammable nature of the contents of all these cupboards and other storage spaces. John Bostock asked if storage space could be made available for some Leatherhead U3A equipment. He also asked if the hall had broad-band provision and coverage. The response was “not at present” as the demand had not been great in the past but some of those present spoke in favour of reviewing the situation.
The need to keep the rear pathway from the emergency exit for the John Rumble Room clear of moss was raised as the last clearance carried out in 2020 needs repeating.
13. Date of Next Meeting of CIO Committee
The next committee meeting will be held in the John Rumble Room at 7.30pm on Tuesday 20[th] July.
14. Thanks for Attendance & Close of Meeting
The Chairman, Pat Varney, thanked everyone for attending and closed the meeting at 8.42pm.
Ian Funnell 12[th] June 2021