AGM Strachur Memorial Hall
Minutes of QUARTERLY GENERAL MEETING 20th January 2010
Present: Mary Thomson - Honorary President
Executive Committee: David Fiddes - Chairman, Tom Peebles - Vice Chairman, Bill Dickson - Treasurer, Elspeth Ferguson - Activities Supervisor, Kate Glasgow - Secretary.
Permanent Committee: Douglas Currie - Chairman Emeritas
Trustees: Rev Dr Robin Mackenzie
Group Representatives: Anne Currie - Friendship Group and Lunch Club, Iseabal Thomson - Flower Show, Anne Fiddes - Ladies Bowls, Ladies Keep Fit and Scottish
Country Dancing, Betty Acklam - Guild and SWRI, Cathie Montgomery - Smiddy and Historical Society, Colin Stevenson - SNP, Ken Finlayson - Cowalfest, Karin Reid - Strachur Youth Club, Kirstie Reid - Tenants and Residents Association and Jim Davison - Playgroup
Public: Fiona Campbell, Bruce marshall.
Presentation - The meeting began with the presentation by Councillor Bruce Marshall of a painting from Korcula, Croatia. This had been given to Argyll & Bute Council but they thought Strachur Memorial Hall was the most appropriate place to keep it in recognition of the special relationship between Korcula and Strachur. There were photos on view of the 1981 Korcula and Zagreb visit and Douglas Currie reminisced on the background to the links.
Welcome - Purpose to allow Executive to brief Permanent Committee Members and User Groups of actions being taken, get feedback and allow any issues or concerns to be raised.
Apologies - , Jim and Elise Nolan, Jackie Scott-Mandeville, Eddie McGunnigal, Archie Reid, Annie Grant and Jim Gaully
Play Group grant funding - Jim Davison gave an update on the current situation, financially the Playgroup was in better shape than last year, although as yet there were no extraordinary funds from the Council but thanks to several successful fund-raising events and with more state-funded children in place the Playgroup is in a position to recommence paying their hall fees. David Fiddes suggested they revert to the previous amount "the young People Rate" which is about 75% of normal as of the 1st of January - all agreed.
Jim also mentioned the Playgroup had a locked filing cabinet up in the office and asked if it was in the way of the Historical Society, Cathie Montgomery said it was fine where it was.
The Newsletter - David reported that there were a couple of competent people who might be interested in taking over the publishing in March when the Nolans give it up. He said what a fantastic job they and until recently Margaret Marshall had done It is now a successful profit making publication highly sought after by local tradespeople for advertising. Douglas Currie suggested a letter of recognition and a presentation to thank the Nolans and welcome the new editors at the next quarterly meeting.
Historical Group - have the use of the upstairs room so there is a possibility of using the old Registrar's Room as a Community Office when the GP's no longer need it, which should be when the building work is finished at the Surgery in perhaps 6 months.
Anne Currie pointed out that the Friendship Group have a continued interest in the use of the room, it was mentioned that there is room behind the Youth Club cupboard which could be put to use.
Maintainance Activities - There has been no advance on work to the Green Room or the modifications to the Kitchen. The sanding and sealing of the Memorial Hall Floor will be done by Roddy McLennan and Donald Cameron when able.
Hall Heating - Asked for a review of performance over cold spell Anne Fiddes reported the New Hall had been cold as some radiators were not working, Jim reported the playgroup had no complaints.
The plumber has not been to service the system yet, David reported that CES had reccommended a room thermostat as being more reliable than individual ones on the radiators.
It is important that the hall gets a more reliable system in place for next year.
The Wood Chip Boiler will cost £50 000, CES have awarded a 75% grant, LEADER has now been asked for 20% leaving the Hall Committee to provide the remaining 5% aproximately £2500. The contract should commence on the 1st April this year.
Booking Officers Report - Frieda Bos reported continued good use of the Hall particularly during the week, she encouraged the user groups to use the website first to see availability and pointed out that the Strathlachlan Hall is also on the website and there is an Events Calendar there on which user groups can post upcoming events. Frieda intends to put a page on the Geology of the area. Cathie Montgomery pointed out the great work Julie and Ron Thom achieved during their stay by documenting the Geology of Strachur.
Activities Supervisor's Report - Elspeth Ferguson reported that the Fun Day will go ahead and a date will be announced shortly. Andrew Harrison had approached her with a Play on Darwin for which we would be expected to pay around £600. David announced a folk band The Tanahill Weavers may come and split the proceeds of the door takings.
Financial Report - Bill Dickson reported that both accounts are healthy, the fabric is about £6584 and the current £6984 but reminded us that there are major costs to come this year in the Boiler, heating upgrade and kitchen refurbishment.
AOB: None
Date of Next Meeting: To be announced.
Minutes of Annual General Meeting Wednesday 22nd October 2008
Present
Honorary President - Mary Thomson
Executive Committee : David Fiddes - Chairman, Bill Dickson - Treasurer, Frieda Bos - Booking Officer, Elspeth Ferguson - Activities Supervisor, Kate Glasgow - Secretary & Douglas Currie - Chairman Emeritus.
Permanent Committee : Kirstie Reid.
Trustees: Rev Dr Robin Mackenzie
Group Representatives: Anne Fiddes - SWRI / Guild, Anne Currie - Friendship Group, James Nolan - Newsletter, Nikki Dayton - RUN, Cathy Montgomery - Smiddy Trust / Local History, James Davison - Playgroup, Ken Finlayson - Cowalfest
Apologies
Berta Cuskar, Betty Acklam, Archie Reid, Hugh Killin, Colin Stevenson, Elise Nolan, Iseabel Thomson, Kathleen Mirrlees & Sheena Douse
The Minutes of Meeting 14th November 2007
Circulated, read and approved, proposed by Nikki Dayton and seconded by Bill Dickson
Matters Arising
Nikki Dayton reported that RUN as an organisation had wound up and would like to offer the Community Office to the Hall Executive to organise. There were several high quality pieces of equipment, a telephone line and broadband connection. The Committee agreed to take over and would discuss rehousing it down stairs where it would be easier to access. Kirsty Reid reccommended the signing of the Computer Misuse Act. Cathy Montgomery asked if there were lessons to be learned from RUN's demise, Nicky said the members tried to achieve too much with not enough time available.
Kirsty Reid suggested the office be behind the stage, James Davison enquired if the changes behind the stage would affect the playgroup storage he pointed out that their outdoor equipment is now in their shed, it was suggested some equipment be moved to the other area behind the stage to allow access to the toilet.
Correspondence
There was an offer from ACHA, Dunbrittain, Fyne Homes and others of work to the hall by unemployed people to give them experience, we had requested some painting, creation of a path to the shed, removing sand from the multicourt we have been shortlisted and await news. We may be expected to make a contribution.
James Nolan suggested redoing the badminton court - preferably under new varnish.
Chairman's/Executive Report
The Chairman reported the Executive's job to maintain the building and facilities for the benefit of user groups had an eventful and successful year. The new roof to the Memorial Hall has proved a good investment. That and the change from diesel to kerosene meant we had an effective and relatively trouble free second half of the winter from a heating viewpoint. Some minor flooding was fixed by A & D Watt from Furnace, who have also checked out and made some modifications to the whole system. Other maintenance activities included re-varnishing the New Hall floor for which thanks are due again to Donald Cameron, Murdo McLeod and Robbie Bulloch for operating the sanding machines, and installing a large storage shed which allowed us to clear much of the clutter from behind the stage.
We were unable to let the contract for grass cutting to our usual contractor and no other tender was forthcoming. Ben McKeown and his team of community service lads did a great job with some supplementary cutting by Jim Gaulley. Jim has unofficially taken on much of the roles vacated by Mac and Roddy and we are very grateful to him for his minor repairs, painting of the shed, grass cutting, and maintaining the netting around the multicourt. We also are very grateful to the Rural for taking on litter picking and keeping the outside area tidy.
Thanks are also due to Fiona Campbell who continues to do an outstanding job of keeping the place spotless and has transformed the stage curtains while also doing much troubleshooting and snagging activities.
The Arts and Activities programme has gone from strength to strength under the stewardship of Elspeth Ferguson and Sheena Dowse and we look forward to their future plans. Frieda Bos has maintained and augmented the website and hall booking system efficiently and professionally and the published hiring conditions appear to be working well. Bill Dickson and Kate Glasgow have carried out the duties of treasurer and secretary very efficiently and I wish to record my thanks all of the Executive including the Chairman Emeritus for his guidance and advice.
With the shed in place we can turn to planning a "green room" behind the stage. This is essential if we want to expand our theatrical activities. I am still pursuing the possibility of getting grants to install a woodchip burner to be the main source of our central heating. Elspeth and the Friendship Group are planning the upgrading of the kitchen. I would like to update our constitution before the Charities people force us to. We have had some temporary income from the use by NHS Highland of the Registrar's Office for an "out of hours" surgery. When this requirement ends we wish to explore bringing the Community Office downstairs where it will be more accessible to potential users.
Treasurer's Report
Bill Dixon announced that the accounts were improved due to grants from The Robertson Trust, Awards for All, The Bernard Sunley Charitable Foundation and The Garfield Weston Foundation and donations from The 50/50 Club, The Piping Association, Stars in Their Eyes, The Newsletter, The White Elephant, The Flower Show, RUN, Karaoke and Private donations also the Development Company Loan was returned. Major costs were the roof and the shed, Repair & Maintenance costs were down due to Boiler and heating system refurbishment, the cleaning costs were up due to the contractors increased hours, also the £500 for Argyll Hygiene. Fuel costs had almost doubled, Ground maintenance costs down as we now use local people. Douglas Currie mentioned the cleaning was expensive. It was discussed whether there was a neccessity for the Hygiene service and whether we could find a cheaper way to deal with sanitary waste.
There was mention of the Accountancy Fees which were £940 and it was stated that we are using a different, cheaper accountant now and the Exec are all more comfortable using a professional. David Fiddes proposed increaseing the hall charges by 2.5% it was agreed this would be implemented and the playgroup may get a reduced rate on request.
Douglas Currie suggested the Executive should consider charging expenses and he will look into grants for the running of the hall.
David Fiddes brought to attention the Trustees Report and the Accounts, all approved.
Booking Officer's Report
Frieda Bos reported a decrease of weddings but increased birthday parties. Frieda requested all user groups inform her of their hall use for the new season and that cancellations should be 2 weeks in advance.
It was decided that events such as Birthday Parties should pay in advance and if not paid 2 weeks prior to the event will be cancelled. This clause would be added to the Terms and Conditions of Hiring which would be distributed with all new hall bookings and posted on the website.
Mary Thomson suggested the Terms and Conditions of Hiring be circulated to all groups once a year along with the annual price increase - all agreed.
Kirsty Reid pointed out that sometimes a group did not get the hall they booked - it was suggested they ammend their invoice as neccessary.
Activities Supervisor's Report
Elspeth Ferguson reported success with many profitable events this year and plans for many more next year ie Kareoke, a Folk Night, a Play & a puppetteer.
The refurbishment of the kitchen is awaiting tenders.
Unfortunatly Sheena had stood down as assistant so Elspeth was looking for a replacement.
Newsletter Report
James Nolan reported that circulation was steady. The accounts looked good with a profit of £1600 allowing a donation of £500 to the hall funds and the purchase of a new computer.
He was pleased with the number of advertisers and would give priority to local businesses although he was dissappointed with the lack of editorials.
Appointment of Office Bearers
The following were proposed and agreed:
Honorary President - Mary Thomson
Chairman - David Fiddes
Chairman Emeritus - Douglas Currie
Treasurer - Bill Dickson
Secretary - Kate Glasgow
Hall Booking Officer - Frieda Bos
Buildings Supervisor - Hugh Killen
Assistant Buildings Supervisor - Jim Gaulley
Activities Supervisor - Elspeth Ferguson
Assistant Activities Supervisor - Sheena Douse is stepping down
Permanent Committee - Kathleen Mirrlees, Jean McKechnie, Claudia Montgomery & Kirstie Reid.
AOB
Bill Dickson expressed his opinion the Executive Committee should become a Limited Company after some discusion it was decided to leave things as they were.
Douglas Currie expressed his thanks to the committee for their excellent work over the year.