Ladybridge Park Residents
Club
Agenda and Minutes
Ordinary General
Meeting - 20 July 2017
Welcome
The meeting
opened at 7.50pm by Chairman - Paul Howarth.
2016 Minutes
The Minutes
of last year’s OGM meeting were read and discussed. These were proposed and seconded by two of the
Residents as being accurate.
Accounts
Julian the
representative from Sefton’s Accountants, gave a brief statement regarding the
accounts. He then went through the
accounts with the Residents with a breakdown of all costs. He said the accounts are very favourable and
the bank account is healthy. Profit for
this year was £7,800 which was an improvement on recent years. Income and outgoings are in line with
previous years. The Chairman asked that
the Accountant was now available for any questions, but the Residents did not have
any questions for him.
Appointment of Accountants
The Trustees
recommended that we keep the same Accountants.
Roger Warwick approved this and it was then seconded by another Resident. The Accountant then left the meeting.
Chairman’s Annual Report
Annual
report was read by the Chairman - Paul Howarth.
CHAIRMAN'S STATEMENT
OGM - 22 July 2017
It is hard
to believe that it has been a year since the last OGM and most importantly in
terms of the Club's finances, as can be seen in your copy of the accounts.
It has been
another successful year and this success has greatly enabled us to improve the Club
both inside and out, and the results can be seen by you all. We feel we are nearly there in improving the
facilities within the Club, but have more work in the pipeline to be undertaken
next year, for instance both the ladies and gents toilets to begin with.
We have
managed to achieve this through the hard work of the Trustees, Anne and Pauline
in the office, the Manager and her staff (with a special mention to Harry the
Manager's Husband) who voluntarily undertakes the duties required to keep a good
cellar, without being on the payroll.
A decision
was made from April to move away from the usual fortnightly Saturday
entertainment due to lack of residents' interest and attendance, to once a
month, as the cost savings would benefit the Club more. It is disappointing to have to do this, but
it was a loss making exercise. We are
now trying to vary the entertainment, in order to try and encourage more
residents to come in. In addition to
that, we will hope to have one off events throughout the year.
Lastly, may
I thank Pauline Monk and Bernadette Howarth for taking the minutes of the
meeting, and you all for attending tonight.
Report on Events and Entertainment
Tommy Boyne discussed
the entertainment over the last 12 months and due to the lack of interest, the
entertainment has changed from twice a month to once a month, as this was
making a loss due the small attendance by the Residents. He also asked if anyone would like different
entertainment, but no one had any requests. As the entertainment is now going to be just
once a month, they are going to try and vary it more in the hope that more Residents
come into the Club. He also brought up
the Fun Day and the Race Night to be held on the August Bank Holiday Sunday, which
is aid of the Breast Cancer Charity and asked that people come in and support
it.
Also, the
HIT exercise programme which is held on a Monday and Thursday in the small hall
was discussed which has become very successful.
Election of Trustees
Chris Morley
had to stand down due to tradition, but he has agreed to accept the Trustee
position going forward and was therefore reinstated unanimously.
Jeff
Higginbotham was introduced to the Residents as one of the Trustees. Jeff was elected in 2016, but unfortunately
he could not attend the 2016’s meeting due to a family commitment and was
therefore voted on in his absence.
The Chairman
thanked the Trustees for all the work that they do for the Club.
Any other business
A Resident
asked what was the amount of the donation made by the Club to the Manchester Bombing
Appeal - which was £250.
The
Ladybridge Park Residents Club Website was discussed and one Resident asked if
the Minutes and Newsletter could be put on the Website. The Chairman said that two Trustees work full
time and two Trustees are retired and they already spend a lot of time in the Club
on a daily basis and unfortunately do not have the time to update the Website
themselves.
The Residents were asked if anyone would volunteer to update
the Website, a Resident suggested that we could pay someone to do it and that
it would pay for itself in the long run.
It was suggested that we pay £30 a month. Another Resident disagreed and said that it
was not a good idea to pay someone to do it, when the Trustees give their time
free of charge. Also the Newsletter is
delivered to each Resident’s house and people could always come into the Club a
pick up a copy of the Newsletter from Reception and also read the Minutes of
each meeting, which are displayed on the notice board in Reception. A Resident said it would be of benefit to all
people who own rented properties on the estate and do not live here, to have
them put on the Website. Roger Warwick has
offered his services for free and would update the Website but he needs the
code to access it.
A Resident
said that it was good to see a profit and asked why there were no legal fees
this year. The Chairman said the
previous legal fees were due to the problems that the Club were having with a previous
Manager. The Accountant would have been
able to answer that question in more detail if it had been asked before he left
the meeting.
The Resident
also said that he does not receive a news letter as he does not live on the
estate but he actually owns a rented property here. The Chairman said that a lot of the people
who own rented properties do not live on the estate, some live overseas and
therefore it would be difficult to send them a Newsletter, but they are
delivered to all the rented properties. The
Resident also asked if he could have a Newsletter delivered to his address on
Mill Lane. The Chairman said that all
the Newsletters are delivered by volunteers but would ask the volunteer to
deliver one to him at his address, when they are being delivered.
A Resident
asked if we have a “One Armed Bandit” and thought it would be a good idea to
make money for the Club? The Chairman
said that the licence fee is over £500 per annum so it would not be cost
effective. The same Resident also asked
if we have a Juke Box. The Chairman
pointed out that we do, as we have to pay for a PRS licence anyway, this does
not cost the Club anything, people just put their money in for the music and
the proceeds then are collected by the Juke Box Company which covers the cost
of the Juke Box.
With regard
to the Saturday night entertainment – the same Resident asked how much does it
cost for each artist. The fee is between
£175 - £200 per artist. The Resident asked
why are we paying this amount for artists.
Tommy said that you get what you pay for. The Tribute acts are very expensive and we are
trying to get different entertainment and get better acts, which will hopefully
get more Residents in the Club to watch the entertainment. Tommy is going to have a chat with this
Resident after the meeting to ask for the information of where the
entertainment may be found cheaper.
It was
suggested that the Trustees take on board the people who own rented properties
on the estate and do not get notification of the OGM by post or email. The Chairman said that notification does go out
with the invoice for the levies, and they are sent to all the Residents and
also sent by post to the owners of rented properties. Hopefully, going forward when the Website is
updated, the date of OGM will be posted on the Website.
A Resident
thanked the Trustees on behalf of everyone for all the work that they do for
the Club and the fact that their role is voluntary and do not get paid.
Tommy asked
that people please be vigilant, as cars are broken into on the estate. Tommy interrupted some boys who were trying
to break into people’s cars.
Tommy also
brought up the problem with dog fouling on the estate and they are trying to
get something done about this. Tommy said
he also saw someone throw their dog foul on the grass verge. The Council were approached to put dog bins
out on the estate, but they declined due to the cost. This problem is brought up regularly in the Newsletter.
A Resident
also brought up the inconsiderate parking and speeding on the estate and how it
is dangerous, as people cannot see oncoming traffic. It was suggested that we ask the Council to
do a 10-20 mile speed limit throughout the estate. It was also brought up about parking on the
pavement and bends which it is illegal. The
Chairman said that they are aware of the problem and it is also brought up
regularly in the Newsletter.
People were
asked if they had any questions for the Manager. There were no questions.
The Trustees
also thanked Harry, the Manager’s husband, for his hard work in looking after
the Cellar and keeping it in order and the fact that he does not get paid for doing
it.
The Chairman
thanked the Residents for coming to the meeting, it then closed at 8.45pm.