## **MINUTES OF THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING OF DAVENTRY BRASS** ## **Held on Tuesday 16[th] April 2024** Present: Paul Brook-Nolan, Mike Beale, Alison Buck, Chris Buck, Fiona Dennett, John Dennett, Ken Ewer, Martin Heath, Charlie Higgins, Lucy Higgins, Nadine Hobbs, Louise Kennedy, Anna Langton, Caroline Lewin, David Moorhouse, Tracey Moxon, Wayne Russell, Karin Shepherd, Tegan Stokes Apologies: Paul Cartmell, Paul Kelly, Mr and Mrs Blackham Martin Heath, President, opened the meeting at 7:30pm. The minutes of the previous meeting had been circulated prior to the meeting. It was confirmed by Lucy Higgins that the typographical errors identified in the Constitution had been amended for the finalised version. Approval of the minutes as an accurate record of the previous meeting was passed unanimously. ## Committee’s Report: Nadine Hobbs delivered the report on behalf of the committee, covering her first year as committee Chairperson. The band delivered a good number of performances in the past year and were lucky for the summer jobs with the fine weather. These included regular and prestigious local events such as the Braunston Boat Show and Everdon Fete which we will play at again this year. The band were conducted from 6[th] January by Jonathan Mott to prepare for the Midland Area contest. The band were engaged and improved under Jonathan’s direction. Jonathan worked well with the band, particularly in supporting younger members new to contesting, Oscar and Charlie. Thanks were extended to Ken for supporting the band and playing various roles across the cornet section. The final contest result was not as good as we had hoped, but the band remain in the 3[rd] section for another year. Upbeat Brass continues, with a steady attendance of 2 cornet and 2 baritone players. John Dennett has been helping out on trombone. Alison met with Newnham School with regards promoting Upbeat Brass in a school assembly with a small group of Daventry Brass players. Thanks were extended to Alison Buck, Chris Buck and John Dennett for all of their work in supporting Upbeat Brass. The difficulties of recruiting and retaining band players was noted, and it was highlighted that this is very common for bands as evidenced by the large number of recruitment adverts on social media. Ethan Higgins and Ian Civil have recently left the band. Promoting the band at local events led to some success in supporting recruitment, with the band welcoming Louise Kennedy following the Daventry ‘Feel Good Fest’ in October. It was noted that Karin Shepherd was stepping down from the Committee and role of Treasurer, after more than 30 years. Grateful thanks were extended to Karin for her dedicated service to the band. New members and supporters of the Committee are actively encouraged to maintain the band. Thanks were extended to the Committee for the work in the past year. The Chair closed the report with requesting all band members to please positively promote the band to support recruitment of players, and to do what they can to be able to attend the scheduled jobs. The report was accepted. An addendum to the Chair’s report on hall maintenance was delivered by Ken Ewer. It was noted that the hall is now 13 years old and some maintenance issues are starting to present. The green roof appears to be fine at the current time but an underground tank with an electric pump has not been used and the state of the water in the tank is unclear. Recent boiler failures mean some replacement units are needed and repairs have been needed for external drainage. Recent damage to the intumescent paint on the external metal supports has been identified, from weathering and customers picking the paint off. The paint is very expensive and enquiries are being made to Northants Fire Service. It was noted that costs to maintain the building are likely to rise significantly in the coming years. There were no questions arising from this report and it was accepted. ## Treasurer’s Report: The accounts for 2023 had been circulated. Total income was reported as £31,012.86. Total expenditure was £11,539.43 (+ £10,000 transferred to Charities Official Investment Fund). Questions were received on hall valuation (£1million). Ken queried how accurate this was. Karin responded that the valuation change was prompted by the insurance renewal and had been worked out by Karin as an insurance valuation for complete rebuild. This was discussed and agreed with the auditor. There were difficulties in getting someone to value the building e.g. Howkins and Harrison had not been able to identify a value because of the green roof, and Karin did not want the building to be underinsured. While this is a large asset for the charity, with inflation and costs this estimation is unlikely to be an undervaluation. It was queried whether the council would know anyone who could advise on an appropriate valuer and this was noted as an **Action for the committee to explore** . Ken queried why there was no comparator column for 2022 as had been shown in previous years reports. Karin responded that so many items had changed or were extra, it wasn’t reported. Ken queried the lack of entry for heat, light and water on the accounts. Karin responded that the amount of credit on the band’s water account was so high that this has been worked through this year so there was no additional expenditure. Karin noted that the heat and light costs were omitted in error. The report could not be accepted with these errors. **The finance report would need to recalculated with these costs and re-audited, to be recirculated to the band for further review (Action).** ## Election of Officers: Chairperson Nadine Hobbs Treasurer Caroline Lewin Secretary Lucy Higgins Member Alison Buck John Dennett Tracy Moxon The abovenamed people had been formally proposed and seconded. It was resolved to vote in the committee on block and this was passed unanimously. ## Election of President: It was proposed that Martin Heath be re-elected President, and this was passed unanimously. ## Election of Vice-Presidents: Mr and Mrs J Blackham Mr John Frith Mr Brian Knight Mr David Finney Mr Paul Kelly The list of proposed vice-presidents had been circulated. It was proposed to accept these on block. No objections were received and this was passed unanimously. ## Open discussion – band uniform Caroline Lewin explained that the Committee had held discussions on band uniform and were seeking wider band members views. Polo shirts had been introduced last year which were well received but we were lucky with the weather, which cannot be guaranteed. The committee were looking at getting warm waterproof jackets, and noted that players can always wear layers underneath if it’s a cold day. The members were invited to consider whether the grey band jackets had run their course. The committee had been considering black shirts for concerts with the band logo. Mike Beale commented that he had played with many bands and think that they grey jackets do look out of date and shabby and supported a change. Stock in a range of sizes would be needed. Anna Langton noted that a black v neck jumper could be worn to supplement a black shirt at a cold venue such as a church in winter. Louise Kennedy queried whether the band jackets are needed for the contest. It was clarified that the rules are that the band must wear their uniform, therefore if that is a black shirt then that is permissible to wear. It was confirmed that there was general approval for the idea and this was for the committee to take forwards. ## Any Other Business: Alison asked for volunteers for the Newnham School assembly to contact her directly. Martin Heath gave additional recognition and thanks to Karin Shepherd for her work and commitment as outgoing Treasurer. Martin thanked the committee and Ken Ewer for the work undertaken to keep the band running. Martin reflected that as a relative outsider, he hears a lot of good things about the band and the town of Daventry thinks that the band is really good. The meeting closed at 8:10pm. ## **Post-meeting actions and summary relating to Finance Report** An updated Finance Report was received from outgoing Treasurer, Karin Shepherd. This was re-circulated to members on 7/7/24 with 14 days provided for any comments to be made. One comment was received from member Paul Cartmell, who noted the increase in asset value of the Band Hall from £522k to £1Million, suggesting that further explanation and justification of this increase should be made. Paul independently obtained a re-build estimate using industry standard metrics which suggested a cost of £977K, which verified the £1Million estimate (see attached document ‘Rebuild Estimate – Daventry Band Room’), however Paul queried why the leap in value was only made this year and had not been kept up to date in previous years. The comments from Paul were further discussed at a Committee Meeting on 15/7/24 and it was agreed that a proactive approach should be taken in future years to ensure that the asset value of the Hall is kept up to date. A professional valuation will be sought in the first instance and repeated at appropriate intervals which should provide an accurate and contemporary assessment of asset value to avoid such sudden and significant changes to value being reported. Rebuild Estimate- Daventry Band Room Errfland."FarttrAidl 51ruthn 5tartd41i•ndcDn5tsWi￿￿pETIlldI￿￿5l Guideion5truLdon Ex1ernalwuTk5*5drn*e 11.96% 5.45% Prtrj¢rvde5i￿*lM(eg5¢5Y￿ Tender Co#llM Esfth•tsdiw.OPJuly2Q24 Y.112.IK) wd31.1222 7112 2eo fy) d131.1222 a•g131.1123 701.Tr) 1107.10100 520A51.O) TOTAL 1AW.11k(•) 11n414 397.16 C•th 8203A7 034A74.KI TOTAL 1.121W D*ts: Ll x)J Ic i