TODWICK VILLAGE HALL MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE
7.30PM, TUESDAY 6TH SEPTEMBER 2005

Present:

• Revd. David Bliss (Chair & Trustee)
• Mrs Margaret Grayson (Treasurer & Trustee)
• Mrs Jean Leah (Secretary & Trustee)
• Mrs Margaret Ware (Over 60s & Trustee)
• Mrs Anne Rusling (Caretaker)
• Mrs Chris White (Todwick Tots & Toddler Group)
• Mrs M Linda Hewitt (Women's Institute)
• Mrs Mary Pavey (Mothers' Union)
• Mrs Audrey Radford (Brownies)
• Mr Harry Bower (PCC)
• Mr John Palmer (Parish Council)
• Mrs Mari Gabbitas (WI Craft)
• Mr Jim Tompkin (representing Alan Tizard)

Apologies:

• Alan Tizard (Todwick Bowls Club)

Revd. Bliss opened the meeting and welcomed all those in attendance, particularly John Palmer and Jim Tompkin who were attending their first meeting.

22/05 TRIBUTE TO JOHN MOSLEY

• Members were meeting together for the first time since the sudden death of John Mosley. The Chairman paid tribute to John for the tremendous amount of work he had undertaken for the whole community of Todwick and, in particular in his role as Vice Chairman of the Village Hall Management Committee over many years. Each and every one of us in the village will miss John but his name and work will continue to be spoken about and acknowledged for a long time. Members remembered John with affection and gratitude as the Chairman gave thanks for all that John was and had done.

23/05 MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS MEETING

• Minutes of the meeting held on 7 June 2005 were accepted and signed by the Chairman.

24/05 MATTERS ARISING

24.1 Item 16.7 - Repair to Fire/Emergency Exit

• The repair to the emergency exit opening out onto The Pastures is still outstanding. Action: Chairman

24.2 Item 17.1 - Food Safety (General Food Hygiene) Regulations 1995 - RMBC Inspection

• The Chairman said following an earlier RMBC inspection, the required work (re-plastering on kitchen walls where paint was flaking off) had been undertaken in the timeframe stipulated (by 3 July 2005). As a result of completing the work the building was now ready for re-inspection by RMBC at their convenience.

24.3 Item 17.2 Gasforce Service Contract

• It had previously been agreed that an alternative quote to Gasforce would be obtained. Difficulties with this had been experienced but another company were to attend and give a quotation on the 8th. If this proved unsatisfactory the Chairman said he would revert to the existing Gasforce contract as it was imperative that this was resolved without any further delay. Action: Chairman

25/05 CORRESPONDENCE

25.1 Charity Commission - the latest edition of Charity news had been received.

25.2 Guidestar.Org.Uk - correspondence has been received from Guidestar UK notifying us of a Government initiative whereby details of all charities will be accessible to members of the public on the above website. There are no exemptions to this and we will be able to check the accuracy of our website entry later this month prior to the website becoming live in November 2005.

25.3 RMBC Licensing Application - following submission of an earlier licensing application, RBMC had approved the application. Due to a backlog, their certificate will follow in due course. A copy of the letter received from RMBC has been posted on the Hall's Notice Board.

25.4 Funding News - the latest edition has been received.

26/05 TREASURER'S REPORT

• The Treasurer was not in a position to give up-to-date figures as a result of the accounts having only been returned from the auditor that day. She undertook to give the up-to-date position at the next meeting (4 October). Action: Treasurer

27/05 BUILDING BID

• Since the last meeting the application for WREN's Village Hall Challenge has been submitted. The Chairman said he had now received an acknowledgement stating we will be notified as to whether or not our application has been successful in moving to the next round of the competition by 30 September 2005.
• Whilst the above application has already been submitted to WREN we are also eligible to submit a separate application for funding up to £50,000. The Secretary said that she would draft the application and forward it to the Chairman for discussion. Action: Secretary
• The Chairman also stated that notification had now been received by YRCC that their application form - for possible funding up to £200,000 - was now available and had been forwarded to the Secretary for drafting. Application forms have to be submitted by the end of September 2005. Action: Secretary
• The Secretary up-dated members on a recent meeting held by her and the Chairman with a project manager from Coalfields Regeneration Trust (CRT). It had been highlighted at that meeting that we may be eligible for one of their schemes called 'Bridging the Gap' with funds up to £10,000 available. The Secretary was awaiting further details from the relevant project manager within CRT.

28/05 BUILDING MAINTENANCE & REPAIR ISSUES

• Anne Rusling again raised the state of the windows, particularly one at the gable end which was particularly well rotted and expressed her concern as to their capability of weathering the coming winter. The Chairman noted her concern stating that this item would be deferred to the next meeting when the outcome in respect of our Village Hall Challenge application will be known.
• Anne Rusling reported that the Village Hall now had use of a hoover.
• Anne Rusling asked that a new heating system time-clock (which is capable of daily change) be obtained. The Chairman said that he would deal with this at the same time as dealing with the Gasforce Service Contract issue above (item 24.3 refers). Action: Chairman
• Mari reported repeated problems with the locking mechanism on the gate. This issue will also be deferred to the next meeting when the outcome in respect of our Village Hall Challenge application will be known.
• The Chairman informed all members that during the summer recess Anne and Tony Rusling - in their own time - had redecorated all the internal walls in the Village Hall. On behalf of all users, the Chairman thanked Anne and Tony for their hard-work and dedication.

29/05 HEALTH & SAFETY ISSUES

• The Secretary said that together with the Chairman, H&S assessments had now been undertaken in the Village Hall. The assessments still needed transferring into a user-friendly document which, when finalised, will be displayed in the Village Hall and will highlight actions required. Action: Secretary
• One area highlighted of particular concern relates to users not carrying out fire drills. To assist all users in undertaking this function the Secretary undertook to circulate fire warden guidelines. Action: Secretary
• Monitoring H&S issues is a vital function of the Management Committee. Accordingly from this point on H&S will be a standing item at every meeting and in addition to monitoring any outstanding actions, one user group will be asked to outline how they manage health and safety issues associated with their individual group activities. Action: All Users
• Chris White volunteered to give the first H&S up-date in respect of her group. She informed those present that they were currently applying for grants for safety mats and insulated hot water jugs. She acknowledged that her group had not undertaken a fire drill. She said she would welcome guidance on this and would undertake a drill as soon as possible.
• A H&S up-date on Brownies' activities is due at the next meeting. Action: Audrey Radford

30/05 ANY OTHER BUSINESS

• Item 30.1 Xmas Fayre - Date Saturday 26 November 2005. Anne Rusling to order the raffle tickets. Secretary to despatch letters to prospective raffle prize contributors. Action: Anne Rusling / Secretary

There being no further business the meeting closed at 8.15 pm.

The Annual General Meeting of the Village Hall Management Committee will be held at
7.30pm, Tuesday 4 October 2005 (reports required from all user groups please)

ALL GROUPS ARE REQUESTED TO SUPPORT THE AGM BY ATTENDING WITH AS MANY REPRESENTATIVES AS POSSIBLE - YOUR VIEWS COUNT!