## TDDS Half Yearly Report May 2025 ## Welcome In Attendance, Jonathan Brown, Amanda Whittle, Marcus Whittle, Chivonne Chaplin, Gemma Matthews, Mark Peel, Ian Roberts. Apologises Nick Dollars, Steve Downie. ## Minutes of the Last Meeting Trustees voted in agreement and the record signed for filing Oct 2024. ## Chairperson Report The last six months have flown. I retired in January after 45 years at Royal Mail. I have so much time on my hands! Will be able to focus more on TDDS with progress to support the social club. Sally had commented and tells people I spend far too much time here. So, a little friction. Looking back on what’s happening and it’s great to see: - Membership numbers are up; more people are viewing our website and people from up country are visiting and taking part in our events. Well done team, you are the keen drivers running the club without you this club would continue to sit in the “doldrums.” Enquires with the Abbey Hall Trustees on further room improvements. Damp prevention in the all-purpose room, opening the two rooms which can still turned back to two rooms with bifold doors. Stair’s safety grips have all passed the threshold of what we can do. I have made enquires online to building contractors to get quotes in for the work we need doing for the two rooms. I will share them as they come. The snooker table finally removed, and progress need to continue. I know the slates are still there. I have one potential offer from Ivybridge and will check this soon. If it doesn’t go, the slates will be broken up and sent to the tip. Mark Peel fitted the disabled toilet kit, in the ladies. A door stopper to stop door hitting the fitting if it’s the down position. Mark put in damping insulation on the Social Club main door to muffle the “slamming “sounds. Steve Downing sorted out the Dishwasher as the housing wasn’t allowing the dishwasher to fit squarely. A bent screw left from the removal of the earlier cupboard, before the dishwasher went in. Jason said never trust a plumber with other work as he only knows his pipes! I also heard chippies and plumbers don’t mix well in the trade! We have people volunteering for doing jobs in the club. We like people doing these tasks. But we should be agreeing a “goodwill fee” which is fair and reasonable. Particularly when we have external contractors get paid for completed work. Carolyn commented we have started to provide food and drinks to volunteers when they are doing work for the charity. ## Secretary Report continues to look for funding which will help the club. Crowdfunding for the chairlift. This will go hand in hand with the sponsored walk on June 28[th] , sixteen miles Haytor to Teignmouth. The walks group had a further meeting on planning. Pleased to hear we have seventeen walkers putting their best foot forward! Also have spare two support drivers to help with walkers throughout the day. HMRC confirmed can Gift Aid our donations. I also understand we need software for gift aid which is recognized by HMRC to input supporters who have supported the sponsored walk and collect the 25% gift aid from HMRC. Crowdfunding will be helping us with fundraising and getting sponsors. This had not gone well. We lost out on the Sport England who would match the overall money raised. Partly as we are not into sports even though I stated we do Skittles, Darts, inhouse games, wild swimming and have a walking group. I have communicated with Torbay News, Devon and Live and Ex radio and no replies to my emails which is another disappointment. We are still weeks away, and I think if all of us start recycling the sponsored walk to our friends and families weekly in June I think the impact will start to come in. However, some members will be collecting via sponsored forms. I managed to get a few more of my friends to sponsor us. I would share my message with you to reach out to friends who live far away and not our local friends and families. When do you get this message take my name off and add yours and see if this makes a difference to your friends and family? I asked Chivonne to broadcast this to Torbay Deaf Club walkers who are walking. B&Q I have applied for a £10k grant. Anton Jurgens Charitable Trust, derived from the Dutch/UK firm Unilever a wellknown brand. I have applied for £10k grant. Screwfix this came round recently. I declined this one as we haven’t spent the current funding from them. I could reapply in two years’ time. Asda came round for up to £30K. I have let this passed for now as we have jobs to sort out in the rooms with current funding at hand. New Fridge and Oven for the kitchen from lottery funding. On 4[th] June Paul Birbeck from Lift Tech solutions to look at the feasibility of a lift for wheelchair users. The stairwell we have is not wide enough for a wheelchair lift. Paul looked at a straightforward lift from ground floor to social club. Nick Dollar Abbey Hall Trustee also attended this meeting. The costs for a platform lift is £24100. There will be an element of building work to reinforce the snooker room floor, and this price could be up to £15k and will need builders to review the plans to advise on costs. We were able to identify a location on the ground floor back doors via Rock Road. The lift will go direct to the old Snooker room. The current chairlift for members will stay as it is. The lift for wheelchair used for wheelchair users. We still need to wait for the Abbey Hall Trustees to give consent before we process any lift purchasing. ## Treasurers Report The Accounts have completed and shared at this meeting. Cash flow is good, and we are in decent shape. I have sent out ten months of utility bills invoices to the five groups that used the Social Club. The bills were £790 each. If you equate this to 52 weeks of the year works out as £15 a week. Further savings is doable with Gas. The deaf club costs £6000 a year to run. Gas heating for the rooms should switched off from May till late September. The Social club is open two days a week on average. The Gas should be on a timer for twice a day heating rather than all day. April Gas bill was £312 for the month. We are not a home but an office. I have come in several occasions in the daytime to find the heating was on, but no one is using the rooms. When Jason’s the Plumber was in, he commented the heating was on when he was fitting the dishwasher pipes. Amanda commented the church the sensor was red as pointed out by Caroline Norrish. I explained when its red the sensor is off. Meaning currently the radiators are not coming on. But on Sunday the heating is green and comes on from midday till 5pm. I also explained when the heating comes on in the social club the same heating will warm up the Vestry which had improved the damp situation as we no longer smell the damp in the room. The Electricity contract renewed for one year. There was a big saving made compared to when we were with British Gas. The competition for business energy is so big. I used a go-between to find the best deals as I don’t have the time to look at all these deals. Nick Dollar Abbey Hall Secretary had audited 2025 accounts and had confirmed he’s satisfied the Accounts show a true record for the year. A couple of minors which were discussed but these minors shouldn’t affect the overall impact of the Accounts. The Charity is looking stable on income and expenditure. The committee agreed to the accounts with no further comments. These accounts will be sent to the Charity Commission along with this report. ## AOB Sink removed in the kitchen. Checks to confirm if the sink required for handwashing under hygiene regs. Safeguarding training to be organised shortly for committee members where certification and yearly refresher training. First Aid training course to be planned. Bin Locks this to be reviewed. Sharp Box for discarded syringes found around the gas box area. Fire Risk Assessment file to be updated and six-monthly fire practice. Summertime Wednesday club to be opened every fortnight. Organise poll vote with membership. Possibly moving Wednesday night to Monday night due to more people at DM Bingo. WAGs to stop coming into the club on Wednesday afternoon due to no safeguarding officer on site. Arranging rota for Safeguarding officers on site. Next Meeting TDDS AGM Wednesday 12th November 2025 7pm