Minutes of Long Stratton Village Hall AGM - 8th May 2024 - 8pm
Present: Amanda Phillips (AP), Peter Smith (PS), Paula Armes (PA), Kirsty Dye (KD), Alan Thayne (AT),
Amy Eastall (AE), Janice Nash (JN) representing NHS Cardiac Rehabilitation
AP opened the minutes welcoming members of the Committee and Trustees
1. Apologies No apologies received.
2. Minutes of 2023 AGM – Approved during the meeting, no outstanding items.
3. Matters arising – There are no matters arising following the last AGM.
4. Committee to stand down - Everybody stood down
5. Election of the Committee - AP explained that as we don’t currently have an Ex-Officio Member,
in line with our Constitution, PA is to hold this part of the meeting, all Committee members
agreed. Trustees agreed as follows: Chair - AP nominated by KD and seconded by PA.
Secretary / Bookings Clerk - KD nominated by AP and seconded by PA Treasurer - PS nominat-
ed by AP, seconded by KD. Trustees- PA happy to stand for another year. AE happy to stand.
6. Chairs Report
AP thanked PS, explaining we would be lost without him, especially since losing Alan last year which has
made a big difference. Most of the day to day running has now fallen to PS to sort out. AP thanked KD for
all of her hard work behind the scenes as well, confirming we have hirers in the Hall most days of the
week and most Saturdays, with a Church Group hiring on Sundays. We hire to a wide range of users, in-
cluding dance classes, Scouts, a bridge group, fitness classes, the WI and NHS Groups, as well as other
private hirers and party bookings - all which shows how popular and needed the Hall is within our Com-
munity.
AP confirmed that we have very much been focused on the new buildings works which are still moving
forwards. We have received the structural engineers report now and the architects are about to submit
the application to Building Control. AP stated that she is hopeful that we will soon be in a position to
seek builders quotes and finance from grants and will be able to look at work starting next year.
AP discussed that we are looking to work closely with a Charity called Bike Active Norfolk who are cur-
rently seeking planning permission to site two large containers in the car park area in order to store their
biking equipment, in line with their work with adults and children with disabilities.
AP concluded that she understands that the Church has now employed a new Reverend so we look for-
ward to meeting her shortly.
7. Treasurers Report - PS shared the accounts dated 31/3/24. Main points covered:
• Profit & Loss Accounts include hire costs income of £10,497.00 for the period (last year was £9,808.50),
interest of £617.86 (last year was just £38.40), a donation from Amy Eastall of £163.00 - income to-
talled £11,310.46.
• Total expenses were £15,113.90, Main expenses for the year included £5,500.00 towards professional
fees (Architect fees, planning application fees, Structural Engineer), £2,103.70 for cleaning costs,
£1049.34 for insurance. Total Profit before tax -£3,803.44.
• Total current assets stood at £34,032.76, which includes £549.50 in our Current Account, £30,445.02 in
our Savings Account, £1587.40 in our Investment Account and £35.00 Petty Cash.
• No questions were asked regarding the accounts.
• AP signed off the accounts
7. Adoption of the accounts – Due to our balance this year the accounts have not been independently
examined, under the guidelines of the Charity Commission, but AP has signed them off as accurate. PS
therefore proposed we adopt the accounts, KD seconded. All in favour. PS will update the Charity Com-
mission.
8. Secretary Report - KD raised concerns regarding the size of the committee currently and is hopeful
that we will be able to increase the committee in the future. She reported that hirers are up on last year, with the hall being hired daily and thanked PS for his support in relation to the hirers and the daily
running of the hall, as well as the website and bookings processes. We have focused on holding more on-
line meetings this year and now have a WhatsApp Group which has proved to be beneficial, especially to
communicate around the building plans etc.
KD agreed that she will email the other regular hirers to offer them the chance to have a representative
on the committee and will write to the new Reverend to invite her to the next meeting to introduce her-
self. KD will also advertise again for volunteers.
9. Any other matters -
* Building works - AP shared the current building plans with all attendees, explaining that it has taken
longer than we hoped to get to this point and so likely the building work will start next year now. JN
asked whether the Main Hall will be staying this size and what impact having the containers in the car
park will have on spaces available. AP confirmed that we don’t plan to change the size of the Main
Hall, just spruce this area up and that we will be expanding the car park further by introducing more
spaces on the grass, once the containers are in place.
JN asked how long we planned to be closed for - AP confirmed that, having discussed with a builder, it is
likely we may need to close for 3 months but this could change. It may be possible to keep some of the
Hall open whilst the building work is completed, but we will know more once plans are underway. KD
confirmed we will give our users plenty of notice and will support them in finding alternative temporary
accommodation.
JN confirmed that they would need a venue similar size to this one, with parking and on a bus route in
South Norfolk.
* Cleaner - JN thanked the cleaner for their hard work and praised how clean the hall is.
* Window Keys - JN confirmed that the key that is on the windowsill appears to be too small. KD con-
firmed that we will locate the correct keys (following the meeting this has now been done and the key
has been left in one of the window locks).
* Dustpan and Brush - it was discussed that it would be useful to have a dustpan and brush left out for
users, PS to order one and place in the kitchen.
Meeting closed at 8.50pm
Present: Amanda Phillips (AP), Peter Smith (PS), Paula Armes (PA), Kirsty Dye (KD), Alan Thayne (AT),
Amy Eastall (AE), Janice Nash (JN) representing NHS Cardiac Rehabilitation
AP opened the minutes welcoming members of the Committee and Trustees
1. Apologies No apologies received.
2. Minutes of 2023 AGM – Approved during the meeting, no outstanding items.
3. Matters arising – There are no matters arising following the last AGM.
4. Committee to stand down - Everybody stood down
5. Election of the Committee - AP explained that as we don’t currently have an Ex-Officio Member,
in line with our Constitution, PA is to hold this part of the meeting, all Committee members
agreed. Trustees agreed as follows: Chair - AP nominated by KD and seconded by PA.
Secretary / Bookings Clerk - KD nominated by AP and seconded by PA Treasurer - PS nominat-
ed by AP, seconded by KD. Trustees- PA happy to stand for another year. AE happy to stand.
6. Chairs Report
AP thanked PS, explaining we would be lost without him, especially since losing Alan last year which has
made a big difference. Most of the day to day running has now fallen to PS to sort out. AP thanked KD for
all of her hard work behind the scenes as well, confirming we have hirers in the Hall most days of the
week and most Saturdays, with a Church Group hiring on Sundays. We hire to a wide range of users, in-
cluding dance classes, Scouts, a bridge group, fitness classes, the WI and NHS Groups, as well as other
private hirers and party bookings - all which shows how popular and needed the Hall is within our Com-
munity.
AP confirmed that we have very much been focused on the new buildings works which are still moving
forwards. We have received the structural engineers report now and the architects are about to submit
the application to Building Control. AP stated that she is hopeful that we will soon be in a position to
seek builders quotes and finance from grants and will be able to look at work starting next year.
AP discussed that we are looking to work closely with a Charity called Bike Active Norfolk who are cur-
rently seeking planning permission to site two large containers in the car park area in order to store their
biking equipment, in line with their work with adults and children with disabilities.
AP concluded that she understands that the Church has now employed a new Reverend so we look for-
ward to meeting her shortly.
7. Treasurers Report - PS shared the accounts dated 31/3/24. Main points covered:
• Profit & Loss Accounts include hire costs income of £10,497.00 for the period (last year was £9,808.50),
interest of £617.86 (last year was just £38.40), a donation from Amy Eastall of £163.00 - income to-
talled £11,310.46.
• Total expenses were £15,113.90, Main expenses for the year included £5,500.00 towards professional
fees (Architect fees, planning application fees, Structural Engineer), £2,103.70 for cleaning costs,
£1049.34 for insurance. Total Profit before tax -£3,803.44.
• Total current assets stood at £34,032.76, which includes £549.50 in our Current Account, £30,445.02 in
our Savings Account, £1587.40 in our Investment Account and £35.00 Petty Cash.
• No questions were asked regarding the accounts.
• AP signed off the accounts
7. Adoption of the accounts – Due to our balance this year the accounts have not been independently
examined, under the guidelines of the Charity Commission, but AP has signed them off as accurate. PS
therefore proposed we adopt the accounts, KD seconded. All in favour. PS will update the Charity Com-
mission.
8. Secretary Report - KD raised concerns regarding the size of the committee currently and is hopeful
that we will be able to increase the committee in the future. She reported that hirers are up on last year, with the hall being hired daily and thanked PS for his support in relation to the hirers and the daily
running of the hall, as well as the website and bookings processes. We have focused on holding more on-
line meetings this year and now have a WhatsApp Group which has proved to be beneficial, especially to
communicate around the building plans etc.
KD agreed that she will email the other regular hirers to offer them the chance to have a representative
on the committee and will write to the new Reverend to invite her to the next meeting to introduce her-
self. KD will also advertise again for volunteers.
9. Any other matters -
* Building works - AP shared the current building plans with all attendees, explaining that it has taken
longer than we hoped to get to this point and so likely the building work will start next year now. JN
asked whether the Main Hall will be staying this size and what impact having the containers in the car
park will have on spaces available. AP confirmed that we don’t plan to change the size of the Main
Hall, just spruce this area up and that we will be expanding the car park further by introducing more
spaces on the grass, once the containers are in place.
JN asked how long we planned to be closed for - AP confirmed that, having discussed with a builder, it is
likely we may need to close for 3 months but this could change. It may be possible to keep some of the
Hall open whilst the building work is completed, but we will know more once plans are underway. KD
confirmed we will give our users plenty of notice and will support them in finding alternative temporary
accommodation.
JN confirmed that they would need a venue similar size to this one, with parking and on a bus route in
South Norfolk.
* Cleaner - JN thanked the cleaner for their hard work and praised how clean the hall is.
* Window Keys - JN confirmed that the key that is on the windowsill appears to be too small. KD con-
firmed that we will locate the correct keys (following the meeting this has now been done and the key
has been left in one of the window locks).
* Dustpan and Brush - it was discussed that it would be useful to have a dustpan and brush left out for
users, PS to order one and place in the kitchen.
Meeting closed at 8.50pm
