Minutes of Directors Meeting
The Old Colliery Offices
Tuesday 31 August 2021
18.00-19.30
Present: Michael Wright (Chair), Arthur Whiteway, Steph Hryschko, Kyle Wakelin, Rita Bullock, Keith Payne, Kath Payne, Helen Greer-Waring, Cameron Williams, Martin Gray, Simon Nuttall
Apologies: Janine Cope
Declaration of Interest: None declared
With agreement of the Chair, Simon addressed the Board. He is unhappy with how comments about him were dealt with. He felt that some people believed the comments. Steph stated she spoke to Kevin as per the Safeguarding Policy. Simon and Steph disagreed with how events unfolded. The Board confirmed that Simon has their full support and are happy the comments were malicious and unfounded. Michael will review the Safeguarding Policy (and the requirement or otherwise for DBS checks for staff, trustees, and volunteers) and report back at the next meeting.
21/108 Minutes of last meeting: Agreed
21/109 Matters arising: Financial Report, it was noted we again don’t have one. Martin has offered the Trust (free of charge) the use of a Chartered Accountant to assist in getting the Trust accounts up to date and able to produce timely and quality financial reporting. The Board accepted Martin’s offer with thanks.
Action: Martin to arrange for the accountant to liaise with Nikki, the trusts financial officer.
21/110 Resignation of trustees and proposal for two new trustees: The board received letters of resignation from Arthur Whiteway and Peter Blanksby. Both of whom have been very long-standing members of the board and who have contributed significantly to the success of the Trust from its inception. The Trust would not be where it is now without their efforts.
Proposal of Cameron Williams as trustee by Martin Grey. Cameron has been recommended because he is a young person who has grown up in the village and is passionate about the community and improving facilities for people. Cameron was accepted on to the Board.
Proposal of Kyle Wakelin as trustee by Steph Hyrschko. Kyle as been an employee of E-Biz for ten years and knows a lot about the trust. He’s also been actively involved through playing football on the pitches. Kyle is also passionate about developing the Trust and helping the community. Decision on Kyles selection was deferred to the next meeting pending clarification of the legal position as per Kyle’s employment and the Trusts Constitution.
21/111 Resignation of Volunteer Coordinator, Caz Ogden Funding has almost run out for the role of Volunteer Coordinator so we will not be seeking to fill the position. Caz’s last shift will be on Thursday, she is going to pursue further career opportunities. The Board wish Caz well in her future career.
21/112 Election of Officers Michael Wright stood unopposed for Chair. Simon Nuttall stood unopposed for Treasurer. Helen Greer-Waring stood unopposed for Secretary. All were duly elected.
21/113 Finance Report No report available. The Board agreed a finance report must be available for each monthly meeting.
21/114 Staff reports The Board thanked Kevin, Kim and Mick for their written monthly reports. Discussion around them was as follows:
Sports Park – noted that although the closures resulting from Covid had limited the amount of time the pitches were available, they have still been reasonably well used. The Board look forward to seeing the full spreadsheet of the pitch accounts at the next meeting.
Board to consider how we can increase usage particularly during midweek daytime hours. There are opportunities we can pursue examples of which are: parent and toddler activity sessions, keep fit, circuit training, use by rugby clubs for circuit work etc.
How can we ensure the weekend use is maximised? We need to ensure that there is access to facilities when required. Steph very helpfully covered the first weekend back, but naturally does not want to do every weekend. A rota was discussed. The role of caretaker for weekends was also discussed along with other options including encouraging some younger people to take more ownership and responsibility. If the facilities could be made to operate ‘cash free’ it would also be very helpful. Martin will have discussions with Kevin and look at how we can best enhance the weekend provision. Steph confirmed the weekend sessions are normally run as a six hour day at a 10.00-12.00, 12.00-14.00, 14.00-16.00. Concerns were expressed about the safety of any individuals responsible for ensuring people left the pitches at the agreed times.
Steph mentioned that a Sports Development Officer role would be one way of getting the daytime use maximised. There may be funding opportunities the trust could apply for to support this.
The business plan need to be updated/drafted to reflect the aspirations of the board, this will be discussed further at the next meeting with the formulation of a smaller working group.
Action Item for next meeting agenda.
Discussion about CCTV
Action the Board tofollow up if Kevin has been able to obtain any quotes.
Action Helen to find out the police position on prosecutions using CCTV footage.
Kim mentioned the community garden in her report. The area was rotavated and initially looked to be good workable soil. However, the weeds multiplied and rapidly took over making the area un-usable again. Consider levelling the land, putting ground cover down and building raised beds, bringing in topsoil to fill them. Steve Land had done much of the work strimming the areas which made a huge improvement. It is hoped that Steve would still be able to help the Trust maintain the grounds and the Trust to cover any reasonable costs incurred by Steve.
Keith expressed concern about some parking on the verges.
Action Kevin to obtain prices for large boulders prior to next meeting
Michael agreed to take a closer look at Mick’s report and report back at the next meeting. The report covers a lot of compliance and governance issues.
Action Documents, minutes, and agenda’s etc need to be put onto the KPW CDT system. Steph had done it previously and it had not been done in her absence.
21/115 A tour of the network for trustees Steph used an OHP to illustrate to the board the database used. It was noted that for anyone to access it, they would need to physically be in the building and use a computer linked to the system. The board would like to ensure appropriate access is available to those who need it.
Action Martin very helpfully proposed he would ask his IT security team to have a look at it.
21/116 AOB Team Build Event Helen will send out a short questionnaire to everyone about the proposed team build.
Action Place Team Build as an item on next meeting agenda
To close the meeting thanks were again expressed to Arthur for his commitment to the Trust for many years and although he has resigned from the Board he was reminded that all Board meetings are open, and he is warmly welcomed at future meetings and at the Trust where he is a valued member of the volunteer team.
Date of next meeting
18.00 28th September 2021
