The Memorial Hall, Cropwell Bishop, Nottingham.

Registered Charity No: 220504

Minutes of Meeting held on Tuesday 22nd February 2022 Held @ The Old School, Fern Road, Cropwell Bishop Nottingham.

Apologies: M.B- C.K - P.R

Please note: Ashley Drew sent her apologies also Daniella Jackson. DW to contact both to arrange a future suitable date to present their case for consideration.

Present: D.W - J.L - A.B - N.L - A.W – C.H – S.P (Sharon Pyke)

Chairman’s Report:

Firstly, I would like to wish Chris Keast a speedy recovery as we found out he has COVID. I know Chris was concerned that at these meetings we were masked, and he was, of course, quite right to insist on this.

It is easy to think we are in an endemic phase of this infection but there are still high numbers of infections and still deaths, so, despite government easing restrictions, I think it is right we keep masks on just for a little longer.

February has been a very busy month with varying results from the activity. Firstly, the saga of signatories for banking continues. Both Jacques and I have been sent on a wild goose chase by NatWest Bank which has resulted in a formal complaint being made, which has its own reference number, but still no outcome. Basically, outdated documents filled out submitted to the bank in West Bridgford were not pointed out as being ‘out of date’ at the time but accepted.

After 11 working days, they should have been in touch, but this never happened. Jacques got in touch and found out that because the forms were not acceptable, they had just left it and not even tried to contact us. This is when the complaint was made. From that point on things have just become progressively worse as the online form that I have filled out, several times and the girl dealing with our case has filled out several times also, cannot get the document accepted by their own system. She has managed to fill out the document and save it as PDF for me to print and sign, which will at last move things along. We are considering our relationship with NatWest Bank and will look at shopping around for a better option if things do not improve.

The best news is the work being done by Jacques to get some portion of the Hall usable, he will report on this later, but it is worth noting that what he is doing is invaluable for future of this project.

I am very pleased and relieved that Nigel is back at full strength with secretarial support and been very active in moving things along. For me this has been especially helpful as I have started a new job which will eat up much of my time.

As the agenda covers the rest of what has been happening, I will quit now while I’m ahead.

David Whisson

Constitution

This was discussed, we have copies of the two constitution’s dated 1931 & 1967.

The old constitutions, have names on them and organisations that no longer exist. It was agreed that these copies of the constitution were not fit for purpose in 2022. C.H offered to contact the Charity Commission as to whom needs to be on the constitution.

It was agreed to further discuss a new constitution, this would involve both a solicitor and the charity commission and therefore a cost to the CBMH. Part of the conversation was also new members which will be form part of the discussion on potentially a new constitution for CBMH.

Working groups was also discussed, this item will be on future agenda and future committee meetings.

Minutes of Committee Meetings

This was discussed, as a member of the public had requested a copy of minutes from previous meetings. It was agreed that CH would investigate as to whether this is a legal requirement and report back at the next meeting.

Current Committee Members

A further discussion on what the members of the current committee and their duties will be moving forward.

Treasurer

We are still struggling to fill the current vacancy for a treasury does any current committee member feel that they might be able to fill this role or know someone who might be interested in the role.

Interim Drawings / Plans: Update

It was discussed that can we look at more building companies to obtain further costings, J.L confirmed that he had contacted several local companies to obtain quotes but had little success as it seems the companies are too busy or who are just not interested.

C.H suggested that she would contact other builders to give them the opportunity to tender on the interim repairs this was agreed and J.L would assist in this exercise.

J.L has received one quotation returned for the proposed interim works and is expecting another w/c 28th Feb, disappointingly we are still waiting to receive the third tender.

Memorial Hall Banking:

Banking issues are causing frustrations for the CBMH committee, as no outstanding payments or banking problems can be resolved at this time.

Carolyn has kindly offered to talk with Ingrid who works for NatWest in order to try and help speed up the changing of the signatories of the CBMH committee.

JL & CH stayed behind after the meeting to complete new forms and hopefully this will enable these now to be processed more quickly.

C.H is to report back at the next committee meeting.

Meeting was suspended @ 17.30 hours for Sharon Pyke, who was invited to this meeting.

Sharon Pyke.

Fund raising and support to the committee: Sharon was introduced to the CBMH committee and then S.P explained who she was & why she was here.

After interaction and conversation with the CBMH committee, it was agreed to co-op Sharon onto the committee as of today’s meeting this would be discussed at the next meeting, to ratify with the committee to vote Sharon onto the CBMH committee.

It was agreed that Sharon’s experience working with local communities would be of great value to the CBMH going forward.

Sharon then left the meeting at 18.10 hrs. Meeting resumed @ 18.12 hours.

Fields in Trust:

N.L is dealing with this as he has a contact name & mobile number, the contact only works part-time so N.L will call to make contact as soon as this is possible, and when the contact is available.

Top Car Park

A copy of lease agreement to the top car was given to J.L.

The current lease is up for renewal in the next couple of months and at this point have no past correspondence to look back as to whom the contact was at that time or what department we need to contact. J.L has email, but we are waiting for a response from Laura Trusler (Senior District Manager) who has copied in the County Council Corporate Property team. We are therefore still wanting to find either a contact name or department. A.B has offered to contact the above.

The Fern Charity Group

A Thank You was sent to The Fern Charity Group reference their very welcome charitable contribution to the CBMH funds.

Memorial Hall (Ranger Ray)

A letter was sent to the clerk (Janice Towndrow) of the Cropwell Parish council reference the ranger using the Memorial Hall, this is a concern due to the structural problems & white asbestos.

It was confirmed that the ranger does have a set of keys and uses the facilities when working around the grounds of the memorial hall.

The CBMH has implement a simple recording procedure when entering the building, this for health & safety reasons this is a signing in and out log, as well as a hard hat & hi-vis vest, these instructions have been sent to the Cropwell Parish Council and this also applies to anyone who enters the building currently. Janice has confirmed that a copy of the letter has been passed to the ranger for reference / information.

Charity Commission Website

The details relating to change of committee members and positions on the new committee have been amended on the above website. These are:

D. Whisson Role - Chairman, N. Lockley Role – Secretary & J. Lacey Role - Committee Member, M. Beazley Role – Committee Member.

CBMH Website

It was discussed that we will be looking to design our own website, going forward, as a temporary short-term fix DW had a discussion with the website editor of the Cropwell Bishop village current website and whether it would be feasible to add a page for the CBMH this to keep the residents of the village updated about the memorial hall. D.W to update.

Meeting was declared closed @ 19.10 hrs.

Date of Next Meeting:

Tuesday 29th March 2022 @ 1800 to 19.30 hrs @ The Old School, Fern Road, Cropwell Bishop, Nottingham.

The Memorial Hall, Cropwell Bishop, Nottingham.

Registered Charity No 220504

Minutes of Meeting held on Tuesday 18th January 2022 Held @ The Old School, Fern Road, Cropwell Bishop Nottingham.

Apologies: P.R

Present: D.W - J.L - M.B - A.B - N.L - A.W – C.H – C.K

Chairman’s Report:

I am very proud of what this committee achieved over the Christmas period.

The survey was a huge undertaking, but I must make a special mention of Jacques efforts to get the ball rolling on the letter, find the sleigh, fetch it out of the barn, clean heaps of mouse poo out of it, wash it, paint it, repair it, purchase and install speakers, obtain a Santa suit and finally returned it to the barn. I think both Santa’s were fantastic, and I am sure they secretly enjoyed the experience. We couldn’t have collected the letters in the time we had without all of you that turned out so a massive thank you to everyone.

The survey was very successfully carried out with a significant response to the 850 letters delivered.

This was reported initially on the Bulletin Board on Facebook, this produced a negative response from the minority and the controller of the Facebook page.

I made a polite request directly to the admin of the site to remove some unhelpful and untrue comments about the committee which was subsequently made public by the admin.

As a result of comments about this committee, I removed all the contributions I had made regarding the Memorial Hall, in the build-up to the survey, which effectively deleted those posts and comments. I will not allow any further comment from myself or this committee to be published on that site.

We had a couple of volunteers who helped in the collection of letters, I have contacted them with a view to inviting them to a future meeting of the committee where you can decide if we can adopt them onto the committee.

I have passed on the mandate forms to NatWest bank to update signatories to allow us to start dealing with the financial demands, however, this will take some days to process. I will be asking for online banking to make things easier to review the accounts which will make it easier to go through. We are still in need of a treasurer. Bike account?

Donations from the 18th and 19th of December have been paid in along with a substantial donation from a charity group calling themselves ‘Fern Charities’, these totalled £1,639.94.

Even though Phil will not be able to commit to being on the committee full time, I had a long conversation with him about the development of the website. He is still very much wants to help with the development of this which will be vital for communicating all the milestones on the way to funding, designing and building the New Hall.

Before Christmas, I spoke to the Insurance company to find out what we are covered for. Part of what was discussed is why we are here tonight and Jacques will go through in some detail about what he has in mind.

Moving forward, I believe it will be important for subgroups to be set up to tackle the different issues we will be faced with, along with working on a 5-year plan this will at times result in longer meetings, wew will of course try and give as much notice as possible.

Update from the New Memorial Committee of Cropwell Bishop See latest edition of The Cropwell Parish Newsletter for further detail.

Heritage Document:

Document presented to the committee was discussed and will be revisited at a later date

Interim Drawings / Plans:

Request for a structural engineering company Howard Ward Associates Ltd to investigate the plans as discussed at the meeting and how we might be able to temporary use annex buildings are as follows, Disabled & Ladies & Gents toilet & changing room, storage areas.

An estimated cost of £500.00 was mentioned for HWA to carry out a structural survey. It was agreed that J.L arrange a meeting to discuss this further and report back.

If any committee member would like to attend this meeting, this is not a problem, but the meeting will take place during the day.

HWA to provide a document to satisfy our insurance requirements and health & safety.

C.K suggested that his Post Grads students to use the Memorial Hall as a project?

Memorial Hall Banking:

New forms were completed and signed by members of the new committee, this removing the old committee members on being able to sign cheques on behalf of The Memorial Hall, Cropwell Bishop, Nottingham Committee. Also agreed by the committee that we should look to use online banking facilities in the future.

Treasury Vacancy:

We have no-one in position yet, this is under discussion and will be discussed at the next meeting to see if we are any nearer to filling the vacancy.

Mystery & Bike accounts? We have several accounts that we have little or no information about. Caroline offered to speak to Ingrid and report back to the committee.

An invoice is to be raised for either Nottingham County Council or Rushcliffe Borough Council over land adjacent to the top car park, used near the Memorial Hall. The committee is looking into who is the contact at Nottinghamshire County Council so a new agreement can be negotiate with the right dept.

The date for the invoice is we believe to be February 2022 and that the lease is for 10 years? Note: Any negotiation must include the current rate of inflation rate.

Fields in Trust:

C.K & M.B to talk to the Land Trust regarding the land that the memorial hall sits on it was agreed that they report back to the committee at the next meeting of their findings.

Stilton Stumble:

The committee had a brief discussion regarding the car park. CH offered to speak with the Stilton Stumble committee to arrange a meeting with the Memorial Hall committee to discuss the up-and-coming event and any issues / problems that might be in relation to holding the event at the memorial hall.

Communications from the Committee:

It was agreed that any communication prior to circulation will be presented to the committee to agree and have ownership of all communications pertaining to The Memorial Hall, Cropwell Bishop Nottingham.

Meeting was declared closed @ 18.18 hrs.

Date of Next Meeting:

Tuesday 22nd February 2022 @ 17.00 to 18.30 hrs @ The Old School, Fern Road, Cropwell Bishop, Nottingham.

David Whisson Chairman: Cropwell Bishop Memorial Hall Committee

Before Christmas, the Memorial Hall Committee published an article which included the results of the survey of Cropwell Bishop residents: it can still be seen at the foot of this webpage (and, in future, in the Archive: 2021).

The Committee have since released an update – which is printed below.

Tony Jarrow

In my December article, I mentioned that over £350 was collected by Santa's Sleigh, and we wish to thank people for their generosity.

Shortly after this, we received a generous cheque to the value of £1,269.69 from a local charity group called ‘Fern Charity’.

This means we start off 2022 with donations totalling £1639.94 which is wonderful news.

In the coming months, there will be plenty to report and this will be done hopefully through a newly constructed website enabling the community to access and follow the activities leading up to each milestone along the way to achieving our goal.

Also, regular updates will be published on the CropwellBishopPlan website and the distributed Cropwell Bishop News.

We can confirm that everyone on the New Committee is fully on board with ensuring the greatest respect to the heritage of the old building and, indeed, we will endeavour to incorporate as many elements, as practical, of the village resident's suggestions within whatever design transpires.

A key feature will be a dedicated space to the commemoration of Cropwell Bishop's heritage and history to be created for future residents to enjoy.

David Whisson
Chairman
Cropwell Bishop Memorial Hall Committee