Underriver Village Association
(Registered Charity No 302831)
Minutes of the
67th ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
held in the Village Hall on Wednesday 30th November 2011
Present: Helen Watson (Chairman), Miles Hayward (Treasurer), Robert Talbot (Secretary), Fionna Brooks, Mary Owlett, Phillip Payne and circa 30 other Members of the UVA.
1. Apologies for Absence
Apologies were received from various members of the UVA, including Committee members Kim Harris, Edward Rook and Michael Tong. Ordinary members included Rev Carol Kitchener &Marjorie Hitchcock.
2. Minutes of Meeting – 24th November 2010
With the approval of those present, the minutes were taken as read. The motion was proposed by Andy Bligh, seconded by Vernon Law, and carried unanimously.
3. Chairman’s Report
The Chairman thanked all committee members for their hard work and enthusiasm over the last year. Good news that one new member ‘Kim Harris’ had joined the committee in September. However this only brought us up to the minimum we need & we are still looking for up to a further 2 people. Anyone interested should contact her or the secretary.
Currently we have 107 households as members & have been actively trying to boost this number further through the “Welcome Letter” which is delivered to new residents to the village.
Following last year’s significant expenditure on the village hall & recreation ground we have been able to reduce it this year, however we have still invested in:
- A new salt bin for snowy weather & we will be shared with the Church.
- Sanding & resealing the floor
- New Christmas Lights.
Income through hiring the hall is up on last year however we still have plenty of availability. Members were reminded that they could book the Hall for their own social functions and should encourage others to do so.
Over the years various attempts have been made at updating our ‘Trust Deed’ but without success. The Committee decided 18 months ago that they would like to have another go & recruited John Clemence to advise them. Earlier this year we were successful in gaining the Charity Commission’s acceptance of the updated Trust Deed.
The Chairman thanked John for all his hard work & presented him with a small gift of appreciation.
Richard Shirtcliffe requested a copy of the updated Trust Deed. If anyone else would like a copy they should contact The Secretary
HW then highlighted the social events that the committee had organized over the last year which included:
- Village Fireworks at the White Rock was a great success with nearly 300 people attending. A profit of over £700 was achieved which was donated to the British Legion Poppy Appeal.
- Last year’s Christmas Dinner was once again well attended with 48 people enjoying a superb three course dinner & festivities at the White Rock.
- In March the village hall was packed with over 70 people for “The Underriver Quiz Night” she thanked Mike & Janine Clyne for running this very enjoyable village event which raised over £700 towards the Diamond Jubilee Fund.
- In June the village Golf Day took place at Boars Head Golf Club. It was an exciting tournament which culminated in prizes being awarded at a dinner afterwards in the Village Hall where everyone enjoyed a sumptuous 3 course meal. Over £500 was raised for the Diamond Jubilee Fund.
4. Treasurer’s Report
The Hon. Treasurer, Miles Hayward (MH) presented the Accounts for the year ended 30 September 2011, thanking regular hirers of the hall for their continued support.
MH highlighted:
- An operating surplus of £2,960 for the year ending 30th September 2011 compares with a deficit of £6,124 in 2010.
- Hall bookings were up £356 on last year partly helped by a small increase in hiring rates for the year in line with inflation.
- A reduction in Membership subscriptions and donations. The committee recognise the importance of the subscriptions and are working on ways to increase the membership & making it easier for subscriptions to be collected.
- The committee continues to make improvements to the Hall and Grounds with a total spend of £9,472 on maintenance and improvements vs. £17,392 in the previous year.
- The committee undertook a thorough review of the Long term costs and major expenditure program and have decided to transfer £18,000 to the reserve. The reserve now stands at £26,000.
Finally he thanked Julian Parkin for auditing the accounts and Richard Shirtcliff for his help in preparing the accounts.
The approval of the Accounts was proposed by Neil Fair and seconded by Richard Shirtcliff and the motion was carried unanimously.
5. Election of UVA Committee – 2010
Phillip Payne (PCC), Fionna Brooks (TUG), Mary Owlett (Hort Soc) and Michael Tong (Cricket Club) had all been re nominated for 2011. Independent members who were standing for election & re-election were: Helen Watson, Robert Talbot, Miles Hayward Kim Harris, Edward Rook & Jennifer Fair. The motion was proposed by Tim Tawney and seconded by Jim Owlett and carried unanimously.
6. Village Organisations:
St. Margaret’s PCC – Phillip Payne reported that they had had a busy year culminating in the appointment of the new vicar Carol Kitchener. He then gave a resume of the main events & services that had taken place.
Next year the Church Garden Party will take place in Underriver & will move from May to September to avoid clashing with the Diamond Jubilee.
Their charity this year was Sevenoaks Area Mind & next year it will be Church Urban Fund.
Jennifer Fair highlighted that PP had undertaken a sponsored cycle ride of over 360 miles around mainland Scotland raising over £1200.
Horticultural Society – MO gave a resume of the last year and including that the Plant Sale had raised £527 for Bradbourne RDA and a very enjoyable AGM supper that had taken place in October. The Summer Show & Fete had been a great success this year & had enabled them to donate £500 towards the Diamond Jubilee Fund. She announced events for the coming year, including the Summer Show which will take place on the 21st July.
New members are always welcome & as the annual subscription is only £1.00 & that includes dinner at the AGM it is a bargain!.
Thursday Underriver Group (TUG) – FB reported that they had had a good year with ten well attended meetings and excellent speakers. Topics had included Kent Women of Note, Pompei, Knickers & Things & Crop Circles.
FB highlighted that the meetings were even more enjoyable thanks to such a nice hall & thanked the UVA committee for its upkeep.
Cricket Club – Andy Tong reported that 2011 season had been groundbreaking for the club having joined the Kent Village League, won all their games bar one resulting in promotion to the next division
The club was continually improving the ground and this year the square had been overhauled and new side screens had been purchased.
The annual overseas tour to Opporto was a great success.
Particularly encouraging was the success of their drive to recruit younger players resulting in half the squad who are now under 20 years old.
7. New Rules
The Chairman highlighted that as a result of updating the Trust Deed with the Charity Commission the rules have been updated. Questions were taken from the members & ably answered by John Clemence.
The motion was proposed by John Clemence and seconded by Neil Fair and carried unanimously.
8. Diamond Jubilee Plans
RT reported that the weekend kicks off on Saturday afternoon with the Underriver Games with a series of “FUN” games on an Olympic theme that all ages can take part in – Archery, Hammer Throwing (Welly), Equestrian (Bronco Ride), Shooting (Laser Clays) to name a few!
In the evening the awards will be presented at a Hog Roast Dinner in the White Rock & you will be able to dance to our local village band “Digging Deeper”
On Sunday morning there will be a Commemorative Service held in the church & in the evening you will be able to enjoy a wonderful Music Festival culminating in the Hallelujah Chorus sung by everybody!
Juggler’s & magician’s will entertain at our traditional Street Party Lunch on Monday which will take place on the road in between the pub & the Old Vicarage. As with the Golden Jubilee we will be asking everybody to bring food from a pre agreed menu.
There will be a Flower Festival in the church over the whole period & we will also have a Scarecrow competition. As a legacy of the event we are planning to site a circular Tree Bench around the chestnut tree on the green.
Numerous volunteers have been involved in the planning to date, however further assistance will be needed nearer the time for help on the actual days.
The total cost of this plan is nearly £10,000, of this the UVA have/will raise circa £3,000 of this through their fund raising activities.
Thanks to a number of kind people & groups a further £3,700 has been secured through grants & donations from:
- THE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY
- THE CLEMENCE CHARITABLE TRUST
- SEAL PARISH COUNCIL
- SEVENOAKS DISTRICT COUNCIL’S “BIG COMMUNITY FUND”
The support of the village is needed to cover the remaining balance of just over £3000 by buying tickets.
Diamond Jubilee Tickets will go on sale early next year & they will entitle people to attend all the above events, including the dinner. They will only cost £15 per adult & £10 per child under 12, there will be no charge for Under 5’s. It has been recognised that residents may want to bring visiting family & friends to some of the events, to help with this there will be a half-price ticket option that will be valid for one of the day time events only i.e Games or Concert or Street Party.
The aim is to keep it a “Village” do, so ticket sales will be limited to people living in the Underriver ward which includes Fawke Common. All UVA members will also be eligible to apply.
Communication is key to the success & the committee will be working hard to make sure everybody knows all about our plans as they evolve, these will take the form of updates sent to our email list & also placed in the Church Newssheet.
The meeting closed at 20.55 hours and was followed refreshments.
