Minutes for Felmingham Village Hall Committee held on Thursday 27th February 2025 at 7.30pm
- Present, Roy, Mike, Syd, Karen, Sarah, Graham and John
- Apologies:
- Minutes of the previous meeting held on Thursday 9th January 2025:
agreed and signed. - Matters Arising
Action points from previous meeting- Kitchen The new Kitchen has been fitted and completed
A tour of the new kitchen followed, the upright cooker having been installed on the day of
the meeting to complete the project. Everyone was very pleased with the finished job. A
few minor additions were discussed such as a new double bin, reattaching the fire
extinguisher. Also possibly new blinds for the windows, and door stops.
Mike thanked Syd for overseeing the works. The fridge freezer which had been in the bar
kitchen has now been moved to the front kitchen as planned.
Following this the committee moved on to the main original store room, Mike explained
the alteration works which were to take place in the near future. A partition wall would be
built to keep the bar stock safe and separate from the main store room, the only access
to this area would then be through the bar and into the bar kitchen. The rotten door of
the outside store formerly used for football club storage, would be removed and this
would be bricked up with a cavity wall and breeze blocks on the inside. The wall to the
outside store would then be taken down. This gives about a metre of further space for
the store room. A new butterfly style table tennis table had also been sourced, and
would replace the old version which would be easier to store and move.
Then moving onto the former changing room, in which Mike had recently installed
kitchen cupboard storage. Also explaining which items were to be kept and which to be
scrapped. The committee thanked Mike for his hard work. - Repair manhole cover surround replacement Ongoing
- Committee task list
- Guttering Completed Mike reported he had checked the guttering on a rainy day and
there were no leaks - Playing field John reported that the hedges around the playing field had been recently
cut by a Papworth’s Farm worker. He had thanked the tractor operative at the time, and
also wished to thank Tim for the quick action on getting this done, having only asked the
previous day. - Also there has been a mole man visit recently, but he has somehow unfortunately lost
some of his traps, which may have been removed. - Health and Safety Assessment Sarah reminded the committee this may need to be redone. Sarah offered to check when it was last completed
- King’s Beck Newsletter article Completed and Ongoing: Sarah has had a new article published for January edition and will compose a new article for the next edition. The committee thanked Sarah.
- Website Ongoing
- Neil Ireland has continued to update the village hall website. Updating the events.
- The calendar needs to be setup still, when Neil/Karen get dates of bookings from Des
- New calendar to show morning, afternoon and evenings for bookings
- Ask Des to pass on bookings
- Mike suggested that bookings could be made through the website
- Graham to email to Neil historic minutes since October ‘22 for possible inclusion on the website.
- Kitchen The new Kitchen has been fitted and completed
- Correspondence
- Tim Papworth had sent communication to some members regarding possible Net zero
Carbon targets set for public buildings in the near future. Solar panels and their benefits
were then discussed by members who have them installed in their homes, unfortunately
it was considered the village hall’s roof would be unsuitable due to its facing directions.
- Tim Papworth had sent communication to some members regarding possible Net zero
- Treasurer’s Report
Account Bank balances to 24th February are:
Community Account £2522.58
Business Premium Account £13464.59
Total £15987.17
Cash float £125.84
The £3000 grant from Bernard Sunley Foundation has been received since these balances, so
Total is now approx £19,000.
Main kitchen costs:
Predicted 2024 £16,365.00
Actual costs £12,980.54
Funding:
Bernard Sunley Foundation £3000.00
Garfield Weston Foundation £2500.00
Geoffrey Watling Charity £1500.00
Own village hall funds £5980.54
Total £12980.54
There is a negative balance for the year so far of £923.03
Syd has researched prices for village hall hire and gave the committee a breakdown of figures.
Also a breakdown of Country & Western dance margins for all performing artists.
Store room alteration costs:
Partition costs: Timber framework £60
OSB board £105 = £160, less costs of some donated boards so approx £126.
Also electrical costs for new socket/lighting
Also costs for bricking up the outside doorway. Mike to get a guide price quote from Chris and
Adam in the village, although they will possibly be too busy to carry out the works. Roy to then
also get a quote from Dan, the builder previously used on the bar extension.
The crockery was then discussed, committee members deciding on replacing the original blue
crockery instead with new white plates, side plates and cups and saucers. Syd to get prices,
also check prices at other retailers. 60 new sets were decided upon, and to keep 20 sets of the
originals as backups. It was thought that we have 100 sets at present.
Karen offered to wash the original crockery before being replaced in the kitchen.
Roy requested a new double bin for the kitchen so recycling could be sorted on site, as he has
to sort after at present.
Village hall charges were then discussed, Syd has looked into local hall charges on their
websites. He suggested to increase the basic hall charge to £10 an hour for new bookings, but
to keep it at £9 for current bookers until next January. Also an additional £5 charge per booking
if they wish to use the kitchen, which is to be kept locked in future. These items were roughly
agreed upon by the committee. Also hire deposits, which it was not sure were currently in use.
Syd, the treasurer, also explained the Country and Western Dance spreadsheets he had
created for the committee’s information, some artists being far more profitable on a regular basis
than others. The number of dances per year was also discussed, Roy has booked 10 dances for
2026, looking at 25-26 in total. It was suggested less dances could mean a better profit margin,
also the possibility of saving the last Friday of the month for a social night was also brought up.
Social night dates for the rest of the year to be sorted out.
Roy to pass on booking dates of dances already booked for 2026, at the next meeting.
7. Bookings and events update
Social nights on February 28th and March 28th
Quiz night 14th March
John informed the committee 10 tables were at present booked, hoping for 2 more.
John/Hazel to pass on catering qty information to Karen. Also Karen would need to know
vegetarian numbers.
Raffle prizes needed.
Sarah to sell raffle tickets and take entrance money at the event.
Mike/Graham to run the bar, with table service.
AOB
Communications: Mike asked whether it was best for committee members to be communicating
through email or WhatsApp for general communication. Committee agreed upon WhatsApp
Mike made a proposal for Karen Ireland to become a vice chairman to help Roy, this was
agreed upon with Sarah seconding the proposal, there has been no vice chairman since Ivan
Smith a few years ago.
Graham was asked to send a copy of the constitution to committee members, and for it to also
go on the website. Also to discuss the constitution at the April 24th village hall meeting and
invite Neil Thrush from trustees to said meeting.
Roy asked for the next meeting to be brought forward to discuss dance dates. The next
scheduled meeting being 13th March, it was agreed upon to keep this date.
Sarah asked for the 5th June meeting to be changed, a new date of 29th May was agreed upon.
Next regular meetings 13th March
Further dates on Thursdays at 7.30pm usually every 6 weeks.
24th April – 29th May – 17th July
28th August – 9th October – 20th November
AGM Thursday 27th November 2025 7.30pm, hall opening at 7pm