Hookhills Community Centre AGM 2024 Minutes
Welcome and one minute’s remembrance for departed members.
Apologies received from Tony Smith, Norm Thomas, Dave Thomas, Nikki Baxter, Colm Dignam, Marilyn Riley, Sue Dodd, Chris Mullan, Neil Penman and Ron Goodwin.
President’s report – Stuart Wilson
Good evening ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the AGM of Hookhills and Broadsands Park Community Association 2024.
We’ve had a very successful year, basically down to lots of very hard work by many people for which we thank them all.
Roger, our expert accountant, who works here for many hours a week, incidentally unpaid. I can honestly say that without his input we most certainly wouldn’t be in the position we are now.
Other people have made huge contributions for the good of our community centre which Trevor will elaborate on shortly.
Talking of Trevor, he also has spent many hours over the last 12 months renovating and replacing many items including the room we are sitting in being redecorated.
Every window and door you can see has been replaced totally free of charge in labour and the new door in the skittle alley and upstairs were paid for by a long standing member who wishes to remain anonymous. So thank you Trevor and the mystery donor.
On this subject, I feel it must be said that unwarranted, slanderous accusations and rumours of misappropriation of funds are totally false and anyone who wishes to inspect our accounts are more than welcome.
From all of us members a big thank you to all of the staff who undoubtedly make everyone feel welcome and certainly make our club a pleasant place to be. Thank you to the catering team who make sure that, at least twice a week, a lot of people get a wholesome and top quality meal at a better than reasonable price. Thank you too to the office staff and cleaners. Thank you to the Trustees who make sure we operate legally and above board. As we know, one of our Trustees is stepping down after many years of dedication to the centre. Tony Smith really has been a stalwart in the many things he has done for us, sound engineer, lighting technician, quiz host and best of all, stunt man. He’s helped the wider community including introducing the cherry pie fayre which has financially helped numerous organisations and people in need. Tony, from all of us, thank you and we wish you the very best for the future.
I’ll also take this opportunity to welcome the co-opted trustees, ironically Tony Smith and Roger Earnshaw. Also welcome to the new committee members and existing members. The role of the committee is basically to run the centre, have a presence in the club, talk to members and act on any concerns they may have. To help out at busy times and host club events and private functions and make people feel welcome. Thanks to all the members, without who we wouldn’t be here at all.
All in all folks, I feel we are positively moving forward so let’s pull together and make our community centre even better in the coming years.
Chairman’s report – Trevor Holsey
As Stuart said, thank you for all coming tonight. It’s good to see so many of you have made the effort. It’s very much appreciated.
We now have nearly 700 members which I think is a sign that we are going in the right direction with all that we do. In the last year we have had some great members and non member events. Halloween, the children’s party at Christmas with Santa in the grotto. Easter games, hunt and parade. This was mainly down to one person and that is Lianne, with a lot of help from Lorraine.
Lorraine has also raised over £2,000 in car boot sales so a huge thank you to her for her dedication and support.
The Christmas draw was a great success and a record amount of over £7,000 was raised for prizes and that was all down to Matt.
A massive shout out to Robin, Roy and Mike for all their hard work in the car park area rebuilding the walls and making the grassed areas look so well presented in all weathers.
We now have the windows cleaned at the beginning of every month by Liam of TQ window cleaning.
If you didn’t know, there has been a lot of maintenance going on which I think was overdue. As Stuart has mentioned some of the things already done, the outside toilet roof has been replaced and the roof above us is also being replaced in July. We have Matt spending 5 hours a week on these projects and ,at the moment, he is power washing the rear courtyard and slope, with the help of Steve Parker.
Two new glass washing machines have been purchased, for both bars.
We have new bar staff who have all been trained and are ready to go.
A fire assessment has now been completed and we are working our way through a few areas that need attention.
We have now had our PAT testing done throughout the building and we are slowly updating all existing lights to new LED ones which you may have noticed outside and on the slope.
Thank you to all the committee members, Trustees and volunteers for all that you do for the benefit of the club.
That’s about all for now so thank you for all your support over the last year which allows us to stay open and to do all the updating of this lovely club.
Club improvements 2023 – 2024
New window and doors throughout main building and outside toilets.
New roof on outside toilets.
New store room.
CCTV upgrade.
New Glasswashers.
Ballroom decorated and pictures added.
New lawnmower.
New TV.
Kitchen replacements.
Wall rendering.
New fencing.
Trees pollarding.
Enhanced gardens and walling.
New carpets.
New computer and printer.
Upgraded internet and computer software including till system.
Upgraded card readers.
Upgraded electrics.
Grease trap for kitchen.
Financial Report – Roger Mullan
After the financial struggles of 2022 we’ve had a very successful year. In 2022-2023, we lost £18,500. This year we have a profit of just under £25,000 with £40,000 cash reserves.
There are copies of accounts available should you wish to view them.
Bar takings up until March 2022 were £140,000, 2023 were £171,000 and 2024 were £230,000. This is a 35% increase on last year.
We have 700 members now and are in a much healthier position. Our volunteers massively help.
This is good news. The budget for this year however is to break even and this excludes the new roof which is going to cost £15,000. We are trying to fund it and it has to be completed. The reason for the change in budget is wage increases of 10% and a high level of training required for three new staff. Energy costs have risen with a new two year contract which is a 60% increase in cost. Gas and electric since Christmas has cost £3,000 a month on average. On that basis, over the last three months, March had a loss of £2,000 and April a further loss.
Fingers crossed going forwards, we are looking at fundraising ideas and are not to be complacent.
Darnell’s were confirmed as the centre’s accountants for the financial year 2023/2024.
Election/Confirmation of new Trustees.
Following a suggestion from the floor that we should be voting for two individuals and not two candidates together, an individual vote for each took place.
Roger Earnshaw was elected as a Trustee.
Tony Smith was elected as a Trustee.
Motion to expand the committee to 15 members.
This motion was carried.
To confirm all or elect three new committee members.
This motion was carried. Marilyn Riley, Steve Simpson, Lianne Simpson, Lorraine Wells and Micky Parker were elected for a term of two years.
Motion to provide more Saturday evening entertainment.
It was decided that this was a committee item and therefore the motion was not carried. The committee will feed back on the decision via minutes and the newsletter.
Open Forum
A suggestion from the floor was that most clubs provide free entertainment.
A suggestion from the floor was that the latest entertainment had been backed by members.
A suggestion from the floor raised the consideration of open mic nights.
A suggestion from the floor was that members post suggestions in the suggestions box for the committee to review.
Micky Parker stated that he has requested suggestions to discuss in the newsletter.
Stuart Wilson mentioned art classes that have been ongoing for 7/8 months. Mike, the tutor, has made wonderful artists out of the participants whilst also raising money for the club.
Trevor Holsey asked for the committee to be informed of any ideas to fundraise for the club.
A member of the floor raised that Preston Conservative club provide free entertainment and have a joining fee of £18.50 (plus £5 joining fee) or £30 for joint memberships.
Stuart Wilson commented that they are subsidised, and we are not.
Trevor Holsey asked if there were any more questions to which there were not.
Trevor Holsey thanked those in attendance and welcomed the new Trustees and committee members.
Meeting closed at 8.40pm.
Next AGM will be Monday 19th May 2025.
