4th September 2023
DOWNEND FOLK HOUSE ASSOCIATION
MANAGEMENT MEETING MINUTES
Monday 4th September 2023
PRESENT
Mr M Brown. Mrs C Bilella, Mrs Z Tanner, Mr A Clements, Mr B Gibbs, Mrs E Bayley,
Cllr J Biggin, Mrs J Kennett,
1. APOLOGIES
Cllr L Brennan, Mrs E Bendrey, -Chairman, Mrs M Hosking
2. MINUTES OF THE MANAGEMENT MEETING HELD MONDAY 3RD JULY 2023
The meeting agreed the Minutes to be a true representation and the Chairman signed the supplied copy.
3. MATTERS ARISING FROM THE MANAGEMENT MEETING
Property & Management
Snooker baize and string pockets replaced.
Loft insulation on hold for now. Action Management Committee
4. CORRESPONDENCE
Heart to Heart have requested Heath room to be decorated to brighten the area. Management Committee will request a contribution. Action Zoe.
5. PROPERTY & MANAGEMENT
The Maintenance review in detail x2 is listed on the Notice boards within the Barn. Action Zoe
A better fan requested for the Office. Action Christine
The car park wall repair to start mid September. Action Aaron
Risk assessment for the building will begin shortly. Action Zoe/Christine
The condition of the DFHA seating to be assessed and recovering or replacing considered. Action Zoe
After decoration of the corridor to the kitchen, the left hand side wall would be improved with new pictures, Camera club will be asked to provide. DFHA to pay for frames. Action Zoe.
PAT Testing Date: Ongoing
Signage for coffee lounge
Above door area into kitchen area ‘Coffee, Tea You and Me’ Action Zoe
6. FIRE & SAFETY.
Up and running, all safety tests done. Action Zoe
“Crumbly Concrete” – RAAC
Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete was used between the 50’s and the 90’s.
It is a lightweight concrete product and was used to make pre=cast panels, which were mainly used for flat roofs, low load bearing walls and floors.
Lincombe Barn and its various extensions have not used pre-cast panels in any of its constructions.
Information from Management Committee
7. ADMINISTRATION
250 members have so far registered to join DFHA.
There have been several new inquiries for regular bookings and room hire. Action Zoe/Martin
8. FINANCIAL REPORT
Current Financial Situation:
Deposit Account £ 71,725
Current Account £ 11,501
Total £ 83,226
Significant Expenditure - > £500 (since the end of June)
Apart from salaries, utilities and cleaning, the expenditure in excess of £500 were:
£9,350 – Mark Evans (Electrical) – EICS certificate now completed .
£620 – Choir – Pianist costs during 2022-2023 year.
£1,656 – Pete Jones – Painting and woodwork in hallway and stairway (snooker room)
Mel to Update monthly
Annual Accounts
Work in progress, copies will be forwarded to members in due course.
Overview is that our reserves fell by about £41,400 during the year.
In November 2022, it was estimated that we would end the year with about £84,000, however some of the expenditure which had been forecast “grew” significantly, and it was only due to the “above estimated” hiring monies (of approx. £19K) during the year which allowed us to keep to the forecast.
Action: Mel
Car Park Incident
The insurers have informed us that they have notified the claimant that there is no liability on DFHA. Should a claim be raised, then the insurers will defend. Closing Note
9. SOCIAL & FUND RAISING
The Table Top sale made £140. Well done all who attended.
Christmas Fair November 11th. Action Emma/ Merle
Almondsbury Garden Centre trip Wednesday 4th October. Changed location to Dobbies Garden Centre at Almondsbury. Bookings taken in the Office
Speaker morning open 10.15 am for Refreshments. Talk 10.45 – 11.45 am
September 7th Janine Marriott Arnos Vale Cemetery. Action Christine Broadway
Lunches after Speaker Morning restarting in October and November. Action Emma
10. WEBSITE UPDATE
Up and running. Barn News is printed and available on the website.
Work has started to have booking forms on line. Action Bruce/Zoe
11. AOB
Gardening Sub-committee September 2023
Emma has moved some stones from the pile in the SGC’s garden strip to the area outside Grace’s window to provide habitat for insects etc.
In July there was vine growing over the fence in Rockland Road and spilling across the pavement. Anyone walking along the path after wet weather could have slipped on it. Eileen cut back the vine to the fence to aid pedestrians.
Last week Eileen noticed that the vine had once again spilled on to the pavement. She lightly pruned some of the strands to give pedestrians more room to walk but unfortunately the vine was now in flower. She decided to leave it until flowering had finished before completing the pruning. The pavement itself is very uneven and really needs resurfacing.
Merle has been keeping the strip near Overndale Road weed-free and more flowers have started flowering.
Eileen is hoping to meet Louise sometime in September to discuss further planting for the autumn/winter to make the garden more attractive.
Dave Regan has once again kindly offered to prune our shrubs. Information Eileen
The Unicorn Fest has gone well, with our Gracie, standing proud in Downend for the last eight weeks, with 19 businesses and shops participating in having paper maps and collection tins for the Charity Leukaemia Care and in time Janet will let us all know how much was raised.
We should have more information about the new toilet block soon.
The first Page Park Billy Kart Derby will take place on Sat 9th Sept. 11.0 – 5.0 pm.
Downend and Bromley Heath Parish Council are supplying 3 Christmas Trees this year. Two as usual in Downend Village, and one on Bromley Heath Road. Information Cllr Janet Biggin
12. DATE AND TIME OF NEXT MEETING
Monday 2nd October 2023 9.15 am.
MANAGEMENT MEETING MINUTES
Monday 4th September 2023
PRESENT
Mr M Brown. Mrs C Bilella, Mrs Z Tanner, Mr A Clements, Mr B Gibbs, Mrs E Bayley,
Cllr J Biggin, Mrs J Kennett,
1. APOLOGIES
Cllr L Brennan, Mrs E Bendrey, -Chairman, Mrs M Hosking
2. MINUTES OF THE MANAGEMENT MEETING HELD MONDAY 3RD JULY 2023
The meeting agreed the Minutes to be a true representation and the Chairman signed the supplied copy.
3. MATTERS ARISING FROM THE MANAGEMENT MEETING
Property & Management
Snooker baize and string pockets replaced.
Loft insulation on hold for now. Action Management Committee
4. CORRESPONDENCE
Heart to Heart have requested Heath room to be decorated to brighten the area. Management Committee will request a contribution. Action Zoe.
5. PROPERTY & MANAGEMENT
The Maintenance review in detail x2 is listed on the Notice boards within the Barn. Action Zoe
A better fan requested for the Office. Action Christine
The car park wall repair to start mid September. Action Aaron
Risk assessment for the building will begin shortly. Action Zoe/Christine
The condition of the DFHA seating to be assessed and recovering or replacing considered. Action Zoe
After decoration of the corridor to the kitchen, the left hand side wall would be improved with new pictures, Camera club will be asked to provide. DFHA to pay for frames. Action Zoe.
PAT Testing Date: Ongoing
Signage for coffee lounge
Above door area into kitchen area ‘Coffee, Tea You and Me’ Action Zoe
6. FIRE & SAFETY.
Up and running, all safety tests done. Action Zoe
“Crumbly Concrete” – RAAC
Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete was used between the 50’s and the 90’s.
It is a lightweight concrete product and was used to make pre=cast panels, which were mainly used for flat roofs, low load bearing walls and floors.
Lincombe Barn and its various extensions have not used pre-cast panels in any of its constructions.
Information from Management Committee
7. ADMINISTRATION
250 members have so far registered to join DFHA.
There have been several new inquiries for regular bookings and room hire. Action Zoe/Martin
8. FINANCIAL REPORT
Current Financial Situation:
Deposit Account £ 71,725
Current Account £ 11,501
Total £ 83,226
Significant Expenditure - > £500 (since the end of June)
Apart from salaries, utilities and cleaning, the expenditure in excess of £500 were:
£9,350 – Mark Evans (Electrical) – EICS certificate now completed .
£620 – Choir – Pianist costs during 2022-2023 year.
£1,656 – Pete Jones – Painting and woodwork in hallway and stairway (snooker room)
Mel to Update monthly
Annual Accounts
Work in progress, copies will be forwarded to members in due course.
Overview is that our reserves fell by about £41,400 during the year.
In November 2022, it was estimated that we would end the year with about £84,000, however some of the expenditure which had been forecast “grew” significantly, and it was only due to the “above estimated” hiring monies (of approx. £19K) during the year which allowed us to keep to the forecast.
Action: Mel
Car Park Incident
The insurers have informed us that they have notified the claimant that there is no liability on DFHA. Should a claim be raised, then the insurers will defend. Closing Note
9. SOCIAL & FUND RAISING
The Table Top sale made £140. Well done all who attended.
Christmas Fair November 11th. Action Emma/ Merle
Almondsbury Garden Centre trip Wednesday 4th October. Changed location to Dobbies Garden Centre at Almondsbury. Bookings taken in the Office
Speaker morning open 10.15 am for Refreshments. Talk 10.45 – 11.45 am
September 7th Janine Marriott Arnos Vale Cemetery. Action Christine Broadway
Lunches after Speaker Morning restarting in October and November. Action Emma
10. WEBSITE UPDATE
Up and running. Barn News is printed and available on the website.
Work has started to have booking forms on line. Action Bruce/Zoe
11. AOB
Gardening Sub-committee September 2023
Emma has moved some stones from the pile in the SGC’s garden strip to the area outside Grace’s window to provide habitat for insects etc.
In July there was vine growing over the fence in Rockland Road and spilling across the pavement. Anyone walking along the path after wet weather could have slipped on it. Eileen cut back the vine to the fence to aid pedestrians.
Last week Eileen noticed that the vine had once again spilled on to the pavement. She lightly pruned some of the strands to give pedestrians more room to walk but unfortunately the vine was now in flower. She decided to leave it until flowering had finished before completing the pruning. The pavement itself is very uneven and really needs resurfacing.
Merle has been keeping the strip near Overndale Road weed-free and more flowers have started flowering.
Eileen is hoping to meet Louise sometime in September to discuss further planting for the autumn/winter to make the garden more attractive.
Dave Regan has once again kindly offered to prune our shrubs. Information Eileen
The Unicorn Fest has gone well, with our Gracie, standing proud in Downend for the last eight weeks, with 19 businesses and shops participating in having paper maps and collection tins for the Charity Leukaemia Care and in time Janet will let us all know how much was raised.
We should have more information about the new toilet block soon.
The first Page Park Billy Kart Derby will take place on Sat 9th Sept. 11.0 – 5.0 pm.
Downend and Bromley Heath Parish Council are supplying 3 Christmas Trees this year. Two as usual in Downend Village, and one on Bromley Heath Road. Information Cllr Janet Biggin
12. DATE AND TIME OF NEXT MEETING
Monday 2nd October 2023 9.15 am.