CONSTABLE BURTON READING ROOM

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING _ TUESDAY 18th 2014 at 7pm

Present:

14 persons in total

Apologies: There were no apologies.

Minutes from the last meeting:

These were accepted as read – approved by Keith Manning and seconded by Mrs Duff

Matters arising

There were no matters arising at this point in the proceedings – a few areas being raised later in the Chairman’s Report

Chairman’s Report:

The Chairman approached her report by showing some stunning slides of the year in Constable Burton. High lighting the amazing events that the village has organised over the year.

A COPY OF THE CHAIRMAN’S REPORT IS INCLUDED IN THESE MINUTES (below)

Treasurers Account 

Keith submitted a very comprehensive report for the year 2013-2014 – see below

In the interests of the village – Keith’s report and the financial breakdown will be published with these Minutes.

Keith was thanked from the Chair for all the work he has put in compiling the financial run downs each month and for keeping a good control of our finances.

Standing down of the existing officer:

The Chairman, treasurer and secretary all stood down from their positions leaving three vacancies.

Election of Officers:

Voting was thrown open to the floor for the three available posts.

Cathy Ayres was proposed and seconded from the floor and accepted to stand as Chairman in the event that no other names were submitted.

Thank you goes to Cathy for electing to take on this role for another year.

Unfortunately the other two posts could not be filled, which leaves the Reading room in an unfortunate position. With out the three Primary posts filled the constitution is null and void.

Suggestions that the outgoing Chair has one last attempt to reach the many villagers who benefit from all the reading room has to offer.

• Anna will draft a flier.

The New Committee:

Chairman: Cathy Ayres.

Treasurer:

Secretary:

Gareth Meadows, Stewart Ayers, Hilda Dobson, Mike Phillipson and Anna Corbett agreed to serve for another year. John Edington offered to join the committee and was warmly welcomed

Any other Business

• Gareth reports that the paperwork for the proposed camp site on the Green for the Tour De France, has arrived. Proposed new sights in the fields near the green have been put forward be Becky Duff. A meeting will take place on April 2^nd at 7pm. to consider the proposal. An open meeting for the village will then be arranged

The Meeting was then handed over to Cathy who closed the meeting at 8.30pm.

After the close of the meeting the evening ended on a social note with drinks and nibbles

Date of next Committee meeting : To be ascertained at a later date

Chairman’s Report – 2013 – 2014

This has been a busy year, with some traditional activities and some new ones.

The Coffee mornings have been held each month, and afternoon teas during the summer. Both have been happy social occasions and have also raised funds. The Forties evening and the Hallowe’en childrens’ party went well. We held an after Christmas get together with Mulled wine and mince pies.

We had three talks this year, one from George Tomlin about his work in South Africa to save the rhinos. The donations were given to Martin House, the childrens’ hospice

Another from Don Gamble from the Yorkshire Dales Millenium Trust on Hay Meadows and the third from Dawn Webster, the curator of Kiplin Hall. Attendance varied, but all were much enjoyed by those who came.

The Reading Room continues to be used by the Penhill Painters, who would very much welcome new members, and the Welcome Club. The Computer training sessions continue on Friday afternoons, very grateful to Mike Phillipson for giving his time and experience.

The Duck Race and Summer Fair were a great success – we were lucky to enjoy a day of sunshine. It was well attended by the village and a number of visitors, particularly those with small children. A team of volunteers worked very hard all day, the ladies providing teas did an amazing job, and the Duck Race just would not happen without Hilda’s energy and enthusiasm. The Duck marshalls in the beck also did well keeping the ducks on the move. We were able to donate £120 to the Yorkshire Air Ambulance.

During the year the toilet block has had a new roof and new wall lights have been installed which are more appropriate for social evenings than the existing strip lights.A grant covering 90% of the cost was obtained from the Lower Wensleydale Partnership Community Fund. Derek Knights repaired the benches on the Green which have been restored most sympathetically.

The Hall has been hired for private parties, and tables and chairs have been hired.

The village website is full of information about our activities, coming events, photos, and further information on local issues. It is a very useful way of passing information round the village. I would encourage anyone who has access to the internet to subscribe. This would reduce the number of flyers that have to be distributed. We are grateful to Mike Phillipson for maintaining the website. We are sharing information about our events with other villages.

Finally I want to thank the committee – Stewart, Mike, Gareth,and Hilda for their support and ideas during the year. They all contribute in different ways to make sure the Reading Room is cared for and available to everyone

Keith, our treasurer, has produced comprehensive reports every month and has kept our spending under review. I would also like to thank Alan Cape for auditing our accounts, as he kindly does every year. Jane has produced minutes of the committee meetings, putting our various discussions into some order. I am very grateful to them all.

TREASURER’S REPORT FOR THE YEAR 2013 — 2014

Copies of the audited accounts for the year 2013 — 2014 have been distributed. They show that the Reading Room made a profit during the 12 months just past of £467.16. The figures for 201344 are distorted by the inclusion under both Income and Expenditure of the grant of £2626.00 from Richmondshire DC, towards the cost of repairs to the toilet block roof and an upgrade for the internal lighting in the Reading Room. This sum was received as Income and promptly paid out again as Expenses, so can really be ignored in terms of the Reading Room’s operating performance during the financial year. A total of £2,895.33 was spent on the Toilet Block roof repairs and on the lighting; this amount exceeds the grant received towards the work by £269.33, which therefore represents the actual cost borne by the Reading Room. Ignoring the grant money, income for the year came to £2,851.14 and Expenses came to £2,377.94, a profit or surplus for the year of £467.16. As well as the remarkable contribution of over £1,200 from the Summer Fair / Duck Race, significant contributions of well over £500.00 each came from Room Hire (including Polling Day and Penhill Painters) and from Coffee Mornings / Book Sales with a further £250 raised by Afternoon Teas. There were a number of other small but useful contributions. Among items of expenditure, the largest were for Heating and Light (£791)and Insurance(£353), followed by the non grant-funded building costs of £269 and Building Maintenance costs of £183. It should be noted that after the record-breaking success of the Summer Fair / Duck-Race, it was decided to donate 10% of the profit (U20.00) to the Yorkshire Air Ambulance. There were no other significant items of expenditure during the year. It is estimated that the basic running costs of the Reading Room (ie actual expenditure minus elective expenditure) is between £1,700 and £1,800 a year). Examples of elective expenditure during the year include the improvement to the lighting in the Reading Room, repairs to a bench on the Green, grass-cutting at the end of the car-park and the purchase of a school photo from the final year of Constable Burton School.

The audited accounts for 2013-14 show a closing bank balance of £2,900. During the period since the accounts were audited the sum of £46.00 has been raised by the Coffee Morning held on 8 March while expenditure of £339.74 has been incurred, comprising £314.74 for 500 litres of heating oil, and, £25 for a Campbells Voucher for our auditor. The effect of this movement in the bank account is to reduce the balance in the Reading Room account to about £2, 600. Even so, this balance is more than enough to cover a year’s expenditure, as outlined above.

Meanwhile it will be important during the coming year to maintain the level of fund-raising activities at the Reading Room, notably the successful monthly coffee mornings, the occasional afternoon teas and the summer fair / duck race. The level of income from Room Hire should be maintained and if possible increased; the continual up-grading of the facilities over past years makes the Reading Room an increasingly attractive venue and it is available for rent at a very competitive rate.

Keith Manning
Treasurer