## **Minutes of the Annual General Meeting - Rowney Green Village Hall Management Committee - Monday 29[th] June 2026** ## **Present: -** **Trustees** : Mark Easter - Chair, Andy Free -Treasurer, Nan Fellows, Sue Stevens, Tony Wallis, Gayle Stilwell, Karen Wild, Louise Croxton ## **Independent Election Auditor:** Andy Ballard **Minute taker:** Brian Steele **Villagers** : Michelle Yeoman, David Smith, Mark Woollatt, Wendy Easter, Ann Gallety, Deborah Sebestjanowiiz, Kathy Chadderton, Sam Chadderton, Nigel Allen, Nick Allen, Sally Bradley, Richard Wooward, John Cypher, P. Jeffs, Dean Croxton, Marie Croxton, Lynsey Hoxha, Klevis Hoxha, Mike Stilwell, Dave Alcock, Kim Free, Laura Pearson, Clare Gittins, Tony Gittins, Jill Wallis, Liz Ballard, Peter Dunbar, Jean Dunbar, Jennie Davies, Anna B (rest unintelligible) Mary Garrett, Jen Burton, Chris Burton, Michael Corfield, Jane Corfield, Viv Hallam, Margaret Rollason, Pat Teall, Callum Savage, Catrina Savage, Will Savage, Annie Cowles, Tony Cowles, Mark Coulson, Jude McManus, Rick Chima, Kim Thomas, Andy Dunkers, Brian Jones, Sue Dutton, Judy Hallam, Shirleyann Millington, Sue Williams, Dave Williams, Mike Fellows, Chris Morgan Note: plus one person who did not wish to be recorded on the minutes leaving a discrepancy of one unknown attendee (which did not affect any voting outcomes) ## **1. Apologies:** Chris Gollings (Trustee), Sue Walker, Tom & Emma Webb **.** ## **2. Minutes of last AGM:** Proposed by Will Savage & seconded by Tony Cowles. ## **3. Treasurer’s report.** Presented by Andy Free. **See NOTE 1 Below** Richard Woodward requested confirmation of the funds received by the Village Hall Trust fund from the 100 club, Andy confirmed that whilst none had been received in the reporting financial year, £1700 had been received for the current year. ## **4. Chairman’s report.** Presented by Mark Easter. **See NOTE 2 below** . No comments/questions receive ## **5. Election of trustees.** It was necessary to have an election of Trustees as there were 9 candidates for the 6 elected posts allowed by the constitution. All attendees of the meeting of 18 years and over were entitled to vote for up to 6 candidates. The election process was agreed beforehand by the trustees and Andy Ballard. Andy also agreed to be the independent scrutineer and managed the election process. The 6 nominees who received the most votes were as follows: - Andy Free, Louise Croxton, Tony Wallis, Sue Stevens, Will Savage, Gayle Stilwell. The new Trustee committee will meet as soon as possible to elect a Chair. Sue Stevens, on behalf of all the trustees, thanked the outgoing Chairman and Trustee Mark Easter for his efforts over the previous 9 years A brief word of thanks to the other outgoing trustees, Nan & Karen, was made by Gayle Mark thanked Sue for her warm words and re-iterated the priorities from the Chairpersons report: - Ensure the governance framework to support the hall, the park and the Trustees is actively in use across the Charity. - The Trustees should abide by their commitment to a 5-year update meeting with the village to celebrate the achievements and ask the villagers “what next” so village views are heard and taken into account. ## **6. Appointment of honorary auditor.** ## **See NOTE 3 below** ## **7. AOB.** None ## **8. Date of next AGM 2027, to be confirmed** ## **NOTE 1 Treasurer’s Report 2025** ## **Headlines – big picture overview** When I took over as Treasurer at the start of 2025, the hall was facing a significant challenge due to increasing energy costs. Fortunately for the charity, our previous treasurer, Nan, had us locked into a fixed price energy supply contract until November 2024 which insulated us from the energy price rises following the invasion of Ukraine. However, on expiry of that contract we faced a huge spike in our energy bills which were already our biggest single regular cost category. Our electricity costs for the three coldest months in winter 23/24 were £2,688 while the equivalent bills a year later totalled £4,929. Taken over a whole year, these increased electricity prices would have cost us around £4,500 extra - enough to drive us into an operating loss. This led to the decision of the trustees to increase letting rates for the first time in a decade. The increase of approx. 10% took effect last summer. Also, in early 2025, the trustees decided to invest around £11,000 in a new heating system. Mark subsequently pursued a grant funding opportunity and was successful with the application he made. This was a huge boost which meant we did not need to draw down from financial reserves for this project. As a result of the rental increase and the new heating system, we have largely mitigated the cost increases and been able to deliver a small operating surplus for the year, similar to previous years. Not reflected in the accounts for 2025 are the subsequent successes in obtaining further grant funding towards: - The play equipment, worth £20,000, submitted by Nan with the support of the park group and - The solar panels, for which an application was submitted in March 2026, added a further 19,999 toward the project. I’d like to thank all the trustees who helped complete this application in a very short timescale and thank Gayle, in particular, for identifying and supporting this funding opportunity. These will both appear in the 2026 accounts. ## **Bank account and cash balances at the end of 2025** Current - £11,267 Deposit - £73,951 Cash - £64 Total funds at end of 2025 - £85,282 up by £3,823 over the year before. I will go through the income and expenditure accounts as prepared by our independent examiner Sadie Dykes, if you wish to refer to it. Like for like income is up by over £3,600 on last year, the main differences being increased letting income for both the hall and the park and the hugely successful fete raising money for the park last summer. ## **Total Charity Income £47,708** ## **Hall income totalled £38,050 under five broad headings** Lettings total - £21,440 Grants £10,786 Fund raising £2,226 Donations £2,998 Bank interest and sundry income £600 Letting income increased by around 7% mostly from the letting rate increase part way through the year. Income from community groups increased very slightly and there were some changes to our regular lettings. Riopedre reduced their classes again and we lost Toddler Football and Read Play Create during the year. However, the Art Group is thriving and we gained Move It or Lose It. The Cello Group was a fleeting visitor for 3 months. Outside lets were stable – these are mostly from children’s parties and occasional villager’s birthday parties and family celebrations. We applied for and received a grant worth £10,786 from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund which almost covered the full costs of the heating upgrade. Our thanks go to District Councillors Bailes for signposting us to this grant funding and supporting the application. Included in fundraising are park social events and £1,019 taken at Lights Up (after costs taken out the Lights Up profit was £398). Donations come from various sources, the main one for the hall being the Goat & Trousers. As well as paying a regular rent like other user groups, the G&T usually makes a donation at the end of the year. This year, the donation was reduced as the G&T instead funded new fridges which remain hall assets. ## **Park** ## **Total Income - £9,658** 1. £1,210 from lettings 2. £5,599 from the fete (this is all the takings, not the profit, which was £3,762) 3. £2,849 from donations comprising £1,849 from households and one-off donations and £1,000 from the Parish Council towards maintenance in recognition of the one-off cost of tree felling. You will note that no donation from the 100 club appears in last year’s accounts, but that donation has since been received and will appear in the 2026 accounts. ## **COSTS** ## **Total - £43,885** ## **Hall costs totalled £34,741** I will go though some of the higher costs 1. The upgraded heating system cost £10,887 and is shown under repairs and maintenance. Whilst this is a substantial sum, the real cost would have been far higher but for our volunteer maintenance team. I’d like to personally thank Tony Cowles, Mark Coulson and Tony Wallis who along with myself enjoyed some long days through the summer doing most of the installation work! 2. Other Repairs and maintenance are lower than 2024 at £2,345. 3. Total energy costs increased significantly to £9,258 because of the increased costs in our electricity supply, since the new gas heating did not come on stream until summer 2025. I did, however, manage to increase the proportion of our bill on which we pay reduced rate VAT saving around £300pa. 4. Cleaning & refuse, insurance and Fire plus Health and Safety costs all rose, broadly in line with inflation to £5,838, £1,923 and £1,083 respectively ## **Park** ## **Total costs £9,144 includes** 1. Tree felling cost £2,175. The decision to fell the trees was not taken lightly but it was a condition from our insurers to retain public liability insurance. 2. Capital costs £1,316 the main one being £730 for new quality gazebos for use at the fete and other events. 3. Fees and inspections – £584 for such items as insurance, play equipment safety, fire alarm, burglar alarm inspections etc. 4. Peppercorn rent of £100 to Parish Council 5. Maintenance and mowing - £1,287 6. Fete Costs - £1,865 7. Other Event costs - £596 I would like to thank Sadie Dykes for her support with invoicing and for the independent examination of the hall accounts that must be submitted to the Charity Commission. Following Sadie’s departure from the village, we are looking for a new independent examiner for the coming year if anyone has relevant experience to volunteer or knows a potential candidate – see the agenda item later. ## **Andy Free – Treasurer, Rowney Green Peace Memorial Hall** IndepeThlent examlnerfs report to the trustees of R