## **The Friends of Ide Hill Church Minutes of the Second Annual General Meeting held at 7 p.m. on Tuesday 18[th] March 2025 in Ide Hill Church** **Trustees Present:** Lynne Rutherford, in the Chair Anne Beasley Debbie Seaton Jane Rossi Liz Denbigh Apologies for absence were received from Andy Scott, Jane Belle, Sally Bawn (Trustees) and the following members: Derry and Jane Wiltshire, Barbara Baker, Neil Arnott, Avis Simons, Angie Chapman, Robert and Susan SkoneJames, Joanna Campbell and Trudi Broughton ## **1. Welcome** Lynne welcomed those present and reminded everyone that this AGM covered the second year of the Friends’ charity. ## **2. Minutes of the previous meeting** The minutes of the previous meeting held on 15[th] February 2024 were approved. ## **3. Annual Statement of Accounts** Debbie introduced her financial report (attached to these minutes). They show an income of £5,712 and expenditure of £2,860. This figure includes a payment of £1,512 to Thomas Ford and Partners Architects for preliminary work on project Flushing Hill. The surplus for the year was £2,852. The bank balance at end October 2024 was £20,679. The current bank balance is £26,119. Adoption of the accounts for the period from October 2023 to September 2024 was proposed by Liz Denbigh, seconded by Paul Beasley and unanimously agreed by members present. ## **3. Chairman’s Report** Lynne read her Chairman’s report (attached to these minutes). ## **4. Retirement and appointment of Trustees** In accordance with the Friends’ Constitution Jane Belle, Andy Scott and Liz Denbigh retired as Trustees at this meeting. All had offered to be reappointed. The reappointment of Jane Belle was proposed by Jane Rossi and seconded by Mike Denbigh. The reappointment of Andy Scott was proposed by PJ Rutherford and seconded by Sarah Arnott, the reappointment of Liz Denbigh was proposed by Barbara Couch and seconded by Liz Gandon. All appointments were unanimously agreed by members present. ## **5. Rev Lynette** Rev Lynette thanked all Trustees and members of the Friends for their support for Ide Hill church, both in looking after and enhancing facilities in the building but also in supporting the church’s mission in the parish. Lynne thanked her for her words of encouragement. **Anne Beasley Secretary 20.03.25** ## **The Friends of Ide Hill Church AGM 18[th] March 2025** ## **Chairman’s Report** _The purpose of The Friends is to strengthen the role of Ide Hill Church as an asset for the Church and the Community of Ide Hill for all to enjoy for generations to come._ This report covers the period from 1 October 2023 to 30 September 2024, and this is our second AGM since becoming a registered charity in October 2022. I would like to start by remembering 2 of our founder members, Brook Marshall and Maggie Meredith, who both passed away in 2024. Our thoughts and prayers are with their families. We continue to raise awareness of The Friends, and to explore creative ways to welcome people who would not normally come into the church through various activities such as our annual Christmas Tree Festival, auction and music evening, followed by the now annual Christmas Tree carol service which is attended by nearly one hundred children and adults. The 2024 CTF raised an incredible £4492 ! Thanks must go to all the tree decorators, the performers, supporters, everyone who helped organise, and the sponsors, especially the Montreal Estate who hand picked the lovely trees from their estate. In November we held a Quiz Night in the Village Hall which was attended by 87 quiz enthusiasts and which raised just over £2000. In September we hosted a MacMillan Coffee afternoon in the church, which was very well attended by members of the community. We were able to give £326 to MacMillan, and we are planning to do this again this year as it raises funds for a worthy cause and at the same time creates awareness for The Friends. We once again provided refreshments for Ride and Stride, which raised money for Friends of Kent Churches. Thanks to the efforts of Neil Arnott, Jane Rosam and Trudi Broughton and team, they raised a total of £2215, of which 50% comes back to us, giving St Mary’s Ide Hill £1107. This year, we will be brainstorming how we can increase participation, especially amongst our young people. Thank you to the Ide Hill Community Shop who generously made funds available for us to purchase a coffee machine from Kingdom Coffee, which uses fairtrade coffee. This now means we can provide a really good cup of coffee after church services, promoting fellowship – in fact we have noticed that members of the congregation stay a bit longer to have a second cup and great conversations with each other! You will see from our Treasurer’s report that we are in a strong financial position and we can report progress on Project Flushing Hill (the installation of a toilet and tea station in the church). After some delay, we received approval from the DAC, for the toilet to be sited on the south side and the tea station on the north side. We are working with Architects Thomas Ford and have received drawings and a schedule of works. We are currently exploring drainage and water supply options, and we are pleased to report that the Faculty for the project has been submitted. Thank you to Anne Beasley for all your hard work on this. There is a lot of paperwork involved! Thank you also to Jane Wiltshire who has taken on the task of applying for grants once the Faculty is approved. We estimate the total cost of the project to be between £75 000 and £90 000, as long as there are no major issues with water supply. Once the Faculty has been approved we will start the consultation and communication process to ensure everyone is kept informed of progress. I would like to close by thanking Lynette for her support and trust in us. To you, the members, and the support from the community, it is truly appreciated. To the Trustees, thank you for your wise counsel and enthusiasm. We are a great team. Thank you Lynne Rutherford Chairman The Friends of Ide Hill Church Profit and Loss Oct23 to Sept24 |Income||| |---|---|---| |Donation|1339.29|| |Fundraising|4203.90|| |Gift Aid|169.07|| |||5,712.26| |Expenditure||| |Computer|-19.08|| |Insurance|-212.84|| |Fundraising|-596.51|| |Professional Fees|-1512.00|| |Machinery and plant|-469.29|| |Sundry|-50.00|| ||-|2,859.72
| |Retained Funds||2,852.54| ||The Friends of Ide Hill Church|| |Balance Sheet as at 30th September 2024||| |Assets||| |Assets||-| |WIP||-| |Bank||20,679.33| |Debtors||| |Liabilities||| |Creditors||| |Suspense||-| |Net Worth||20,679| |Equity||| |Profit and Loss||2,853| |Retained Profit||17,827| ||08/03/2025|| Page 1 Confidential