Pomeroy War Memorial Hall Committee Meeting (Held Remotely) Monday 29th March 2021
01/03/21 Attendees
Jean Brown (JB) Vice Chair of Committee
Jenny Cooper (JC) Committee member
Bridget Dicken (BD) Committee member
Rebekah Dicken (RD) Committee member
Lloyd Melland (LM) Treasurer
Jess O’Dwyer (JOD)
SecretaryIan Webster (IW) Committee member
Philip Wheeldon (PW) Chair of Committee
02/03/21 Apologies and Expressions of Interest
There were no apologies received. Two Pomeroy residents have expressed an interest and will be “associates” until the public meeting.
03/03/21 Minutes of Previous Meeting dated 7th December 2020
The minutes were accepted as a true record of the meeting. JOD to put a public copy of the minutes on our Facebook page.
04/03/21 Matters Arising
Duke of Edinburgh (DoE)/Lesley Musgrove:
JOD had spoken to Lesley Musgrove (former leader of 3rd Buxton Harpur Hill Scout Group) who had filled in the public survey. She had suggested the hall would make a good base for DoE expeditions.
Path from Street House Farm to Pomeroy Cottages:
Having spoken to DCC, they are not willing to install a path along the roadside and it would be prohibitively expensive for us to complete. We will re-visit this once the hall is up an running.
05/03/21 Buxton Drama League (BDL)
BDL have started to move out of the hall. This has been disrupted by the lockdown but they will complete this as soon as they are able.
06/03/21 Feasibility Study
The Architect carried out the first part of the feasibility study on 20th November.
JOD and JB had a Zoom meeting with Elanor Hazlehurst on 14th January to discuss the public survey.
Our committee came up with a list of local businesses and organisations for Elanor to contact, to find out what facilities we have in the local area and what there is demand for. JC provided a list of local farmers and JOD supplied a list of local accommodation.
Elanor drafted a public survey for us based on one she had previously used. She then set this up as an online questionnaire using “Survey Monkey.” The link to the survey and the QR code was emailed to all on our distribution list. This is on the Pomeroy Hall Facebook page and has been shared with a great many other local Facebook pages. This was emailed to local newspapers, radio stations, tourist information centres and libraries. We requested an article in both News and Views and a new local trade publication called the High Peak Advertiser. We realise that not everyone has access to the internet and so BD printed 200 copies of the survey. These were sent out with News and Views, to be returned to the Duke of York when complete.
Information about the survey will be placed on Parish notice boards as soon as restrictions permit. (29th March or 12th April). JB will deliver some paper copies to Chelmorton as requested. The survey is open until 7th May as the High Peak Advertiser is not out until 5th April and the Peak Advertiser will resume circulation on 26th April. There is information about the survey in both.
JB suggested having a representative from Sterndale Moor when we re-elect a committee.
A renewed appeal for photographs of the hall was unsuccessful.
Elanor also suggested we have a logo for Pomeroy Hall. Abby Atkin designed one for us to use.
07/03/21 Land Registry
Nigel Davis Solicitors emailed on 16th February to say he had completed the registration of Pomeroy Hall with Land Registry. We now have a copy of the official register and title plan.
08/03/21 Rural Action Derbyshire (RAD)/Charity CommissionSummary of Discussion:
JOD spoke to Helena Stubbs at RAD on 5th February about submitting the application to the Charity Commission. Completion of the Land Registry will help with the Charity Commission registration. Helena says that our application will be treated as a draft and to submit as much information as possible then await Charity Commission advice.
09/03/21 Bank Account/TreasurerBank Account
Awaiting report from LM.
PW found that anyone independent is allowed to carry out an audit of our account.
Dormant Account:
JOD received a telephone call from the bank on 27th March to confirm a few details so hopefully we will hear good news soon.
10/03/21 Funding
There have been no new funding applications. We are in the process of spending the grants we have already obtained. We have paid Greenwood Projects for Elanor’s work on the feasibility study and we have paid the first part of the work done by Smith and Roper Architects.
A member of Warslow village hall committee (see correspondence) recommended the Lady Neville Charity to us. This Charity provides capital grants for Arts and Heritage projects across the UK. Eligible Arts and Heritage projects include local heritage projects which help local groups to conserve and restore their landmarks, landscape, traditions and culture https://www.skinners.org.uk/neville/.
11/03/21 Fundraising
JC reported that there was no change to the fundraising situation – the 100 Club and raffle total were still the same. RD and JC have some ideas for when Covid restrictions are relaxed.
12/03/21 Going Forward/AGM/Post-Covid
IW, JOD, JC, JB and PW are happy to continue in their current roles on the committee unless anyone else would like to volunteer. LM would like to step down as Treasurer. We will be looking for someone else to fill this role.
13/03/21 Risk Assessments
JB has written a draft Covid-19 Risk Assessment for Pomeroy War Memorial Hall.
JB enquired about risk assessments for volunteers, but was unable to find anything relating to a hall that is closed. All risk assessments relate to halls reopening after Covid.
We should also have a GDPR policy, but this is a massive subject. It is not just about privacy and safe storage of information/personal details but also includes information online. A good starting point is the ACRE publication “Data Protection for Village Halls and Community Buildings – A Preliminary Guide” (Information Sheet No. 4).
14/03/21 Correspondence
A member of Warslow village hall committee contacted us to offer a second hand industrial cooker. After speaking with JB he also offered advice and support on various aspects of running a village hall. As well as information on funding he also told JB what events they have, what works, which fuel source they found best, where/how to get equipment etc. Where relevant these suggestions have been forwarded to Elanor for the feasibility study. JB to draft a thank you letter.
15/03/21 Any other business
Photo competition ideas – Collage or collection of photos from last year (architect visit, what the hall looks like now, 100 Club, winter photo, Covid?, repair of hall floor, raffle, new logo).
Calendar – JC reported that Ben is working on images throughout the year to go on a fundraising calendar.
NCVO – The NCVO represent over 16,000 voluntary organisations, charities, community groups and social enterprises across England. They support their members by developing practical resources designed to support the day-to-day running of their organisations, saving them time to focus on their beneficiaries. JOD, JB, BD, PW and IW were in favour of joining the NCVO.
Leaflet by Jane at Tutbury – JOD received an email on 17th February from Jane Nuth at Tutbury. Originally we had contacted Jane for a reference for architect work done. Since then she has been trying to find more details about the 18 or 20 men on the Earl Sterndale War Memorial, which includes the four men who would be on a memorial at Pomeroy. She asked if we would consider selling copies of this book as a fundraising exercise? They did this in Tutbury with their book which raised local interest and gained support for the Preservation of the War Memorial project. IW and PW were in favour of selling copies of the book if other committee members were in agreement.
Adjoining landowners – we have now been in touch with all adjoining landowners and can contact them as necessary when any development commences.
16/03/21 Date and Time of Next Meeting
Suggest June 28th for AGM. It may be necessary to have a public meeting about the outcome of the feasibility study and also to get a resolution on the Charity Commission decision. Public meetings will need to be advertised widely. BD suggested the following week in case the lifting of restrictions is delayed.