Great Barrow Village Hall Annual General Meeting 18/11/24

Meeting commenced 7.30pm

Present

Sally Clarke - Barrow Village Hall Chair

Sue McGowan – Barrow Village Hall Trustee

Andy Jones - Barrow Village Hall Treasurer

Janice Andrews - Barrow Village Hall Secretary

In attendance

Trevor Roberts (Greysfield Services)

Thelma Roberts (Greysfield Services)

Neil McGowan

Minutes of previous AGM

Acceptance proposed – Sue McGowan

Agreed – Trevor Roberts

Matters arising from previous AGM minutes

Health and safety - Fire drill to be arranged - ongoing.

Chairmans report for the period

November 2023 to October 2024

Bookings are slowly returning to pre-Covid levels. We have a number of new daytime users, which is good to see. Our 2 main users continue to be the Chester Community Orchestra, formerly known as the Jan Modelski Orchestra, including some of the individual sections and the Chester and Ellesmere Port Table Tennis league, with many teams using the hall for their home games. Other regular local users include Sarah Whites Pilates, Barrow Ukulele Group, Indoor Bowls, WI and Wine Tasting. Looking forwards, we would like to hold more events that the community can participate in, for example the forthcoming Sip and Paint class. Private bookings for parties etc have remained at a good level throughout the year.

Thanks to the rest of the Trustees who have continued to support the Village Hall. Teresa Bergin is our most recent addition to the committee.  As members of ACRE, we have used their advice and guidance to update and to start to prepare existing and new essential policy documents.

Following the successful repairs to Hall Lane, we moved the fire evacuation point from Next to the Pump to Hall Lane. The new contract with Dee Fire to supply and maintain all necessary fire equipment is working well. They are very responsive to any queries we have in this area.  

Minimal maintenance has been required on the hall this year. The water butt has been removed from the courtyard as it is no longer used and thought to be the source of water ingress into the corner of the hall. Although there is still a sign of damp in the Okell Room and entrance porch it is definitely not getting worse. This will be monitored over the winter.  

Recently our electricity supplier has changed to EDF. The smart meter has not worked since the spring, despite numerous notifications to Opus and a visit by an engineer, the meter is not working. Consequently, we have only paid standing charges during this time period.

No change to the tenants in either cottage. Small repairs have been required to both cottages. Work is definitely required to the windows in both cottages. As they are Grade II listed buildings, any major repairs on the windows or replacements will require listed building consent.

We are very pleased to still have the reliable caretaking services of Trevor and Thelma in the form of Greysfield Services. We recognise how much work they do in looking after the hall and the bookings. Many thanks to both of you on behalf of all of the Trustees.

Andy will shortly outline our current financial situation; however, we anticipate that our costs will mount over the forthcoming years as energy prices continue to be very high, the building get older and landlord legislation tightens.

Treasurer’s report - see below

Appointment of officers

Existing officers re-appointed:

Sally Clarke – Chair

Andy Jones - Treasurer

Proposed – Thelma Roberts

Agreed – Sue McGowan

Janice Andrews – resigned (due to house move)

Sue McGowan – agreed to continue as Trustee

Teresa Bergin - TBC

Health and safety

Fire drill to be arranged when hall is occupied - ?during orchestra session.

Policy documents

In progress – amended hiring agreement, safeguarding policy, data protection policy.

Any other business

Village hall gutter requires attention (TR)

Meeting closed at 20.04