Meeting held on Wednesday 18 July 2018 in Claxton Village Hall at 7.30pm
In attendance: Mrs Pat Clare (Chair, presiding), Mrs Mary Button, Mr David Hamblin and Ms Sarah Kennedy (Councillors), Mrs Carla Petersen (Clerk). Also attending: 7 Parishioners.
18.54 Approved absences – Mr Jason Cantrill.
18.55 Declarations of Interest – there were none. (more…)
A reuse and recycling event will be held in Hethersett Village Hall, Back Lane, Hethersett, NR9 3JJ on Monday 13th August 2018. The Give and Take event is an opportunity to reuse/recycle your unwanted items or go along and take something away. More details can be found on the poster below.Give-and-Take-event-13-August_compressed
MINUTES OF THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING HELD ON 12 JULY 2018
Present: Julia Kaye, Lesley Hamblin, Mike Balmer, Sarah Carter, Robert Ellis, Mary Button, John Ford, Rosie Gidlow and Andrew Mussell.
Apologies: Jo Bissonnet
Others present: Pat Clare
The minutes of last AGM held on 20th July 2017, having been previously circulated, were read, agreed and signed.
Chair’s Report
Julia began by thanking fellow officers Lesley and Mike for their work. She also thanked all the other committee members who have helped the Village Hall in so many ways during the past year. She thanked Jo who has taken over the bookings and introduced an online system which can be accessed by all committee members. Special thanks were given to David Bissonnet who has guided and advised us through a difficult time of refurbishment. The past year has concentrated on this refurbishment to hopefully bring the hall up to standard and make it one of the best in the district. She welcomed new members Rosie Gidlow and Andrew Mussell who joined the committee at the beginning of the year. Sam, our new cleaner began work a few months ago and is doing a great job.
Julia went on to report that this year we have installed a CO2 detector and updated the fire alarm system. We have had a full electrical report and a health and safety report has been carried out and we will be implementing their recommendations when finances allow. An asbestos survey showed no problems. The hall has been revalued and is now well insured. Acoustic panels have been installed, part funded by a donation from the Fair on the Yare. Hopefully these will improve the previously poor acoustics. Further improvements will be made as and when we are able.
Jo Bissonnet has been running an Art Class on a Monday morning which is very popular, but unfortunately has had to be postponed until Jo is in better health. Mike is running a computer class on Wednesday mornings which Julia reported has been very helpful. Yoga sessions on a Thursday morning with Caroline continue to be enjoyed. The Community Café continues to be held on the second Tuesday of every month and is proving to be a good way of village networking. The Social Club meets every Friday evening and also the last Saturday evening of every month.
In September a Macmillan Coffee morning was held where photographs of the two villages were displayed and the most popular chosen for the calendar which was sold to raise funds for the hall. Mike has set up a 200 club with currently 56 numbers sold. The draw takes place monthly at the Community Café, with the first one in May. Rosie, Lesley, Andrew and Mike produced a questionnaire which was delivered to every property in the two villages. We had hoped for some useful feedback to find out what people want from the Village Hall, but the response has been very disappointing. Last month the annual quiz was held which raised almost £500. Julia thanked quizmaster Mike.
Julia reported that bookings have been a little down, but hopefully this will improve.
Treasurer’s Report
The full (unaudited) Financial Statement for the year as well as complete Bank and Cash Transaction Sheets have been sent to all Trustees.
We started the year with a balance (Bank and Cash) of £4,054.25 as well as £5,371.21 in our Savings and Improvement accounts, making an overall balance of £9,425.46.
Aside from normal/regular expenditure in the year we have spent almost £4,200 on “one-off” items, as follows:
| Hall Revaluation Report | £ | 510.00 |
| Fire Safety Report | £ | 361.70 |
| Asbestos Survey | £ | 492.00 |
| Acoustic Panels | £ | 2,834.53 |
| TOTAL | £ | 4,198.23 |
It is therefore pretty remarkable that at 31 May we ended the year with an overall balance of £6,625.46, made up of the following elements:
| Current Account | £ 889.36 | ||||
| Unpresented cheques | £ 0.00 | ||||
| Unbanked receipts | £ 0.00 | ||||
| Savings Account | £ 4,000.00 | ||||
| Improvements Account | £ 1,000.00 | ||||
| 200 Club Account | £ 609.00 | ||||
| Cash | £ 127.10 | ||||
| TOTAL | £ 6,625.46 |
However the total in the new 200 Club account (above) is slightly misleading as the lottery year runs from April to March the next year, and cuts across two Hall financial years. We’ve paid one prize of £26 in the year and £291.50 from the above balance will go in prize money, with £317.50 going to the Hall.
That indicates an in-year surplus of £1,106.73 (£6,625.46 + £4,198.23 – £9,425.46 – £291.50).
In advance of meetings every Trustee receives an updated Financial Statement and Transactions List so that Trustees can ask for any clarification.
We took out Silver membership of Community Action Norfolk this year at a cost of £50. That outlay not only gave us a discount of over £100 on our insurance, but also gave us free access to their series of Village Hall Information Sheets. We so far have 19 of these downloaded and available for Trustees to see. We now have an online Dropbox storage account for the Hall, to which have been uploaded the Information Sheets and a sizeable amount of financial and management information.
Staying on online issues we have also set up an online Bookings Calendar which Jo uses regularly and which also serves as a maintenance schedule going forward. It is checked regularly and other Trustees find it useful to be able to check on bookings and availability at any time.
At this point the committee stepped down for the Election of Officers.
Chair, Julia was proposed by Sarah and seconded by Lesley.
Treasurer, Mike was proposed by Julia and seconded by Robert.
Secretary, Lesley was proposed by Sarah and seconded by Julia.
The rest of the committee remained in place.
Meeting closed at 7.45.
You may have seen the forecast of unsettled weather over the next few days with heavy rain and lightning affecting parts of the East and South East of England.
UK Power Networks are currently monitoring the weather closely and are in regular contact with the Met Office as the forecast develops.
The electricity network is built to be resilient but extreme weather can affect overhead and underground power lines, resulting in some customers losing their electricity supply. Where this happens the aim is to restore power as quickly and safely as possible. Additional staff have been organised in the UK Power Network contact centre to help customers whose electricity supply might be affected by the predicted weather and have called-up additional engineers to carry out repairs to the electricity network.
You will be able to find regular updates on website www.ukpowernetworks.co.uk and social media @UKPowerNetworks throughout this period.
Anyone experiencing a power cut should:
Public are urged to stay well clear from power lines and anyone spotting a damaged power line needs to report it to UK Power Networks immediately by calling 105 from a landline or mobile phone.
If they see electricity lines that are down or causing significant risk to the public call 999.
UK Power Netorks provide extra help to customers on their Priority Service Register during a power cut. Households with older or disabled people, those with children under five, or where someone uses medical or mobility equipment that requires electricity as well as other reasons can join the register. You can find out more information about Priority Service on their website: ukpowernetworks.co.uk/priority.
If you would like to share information about preparing for the extreme weather or the priority service register on social media you might like to use the following:
@UKPowerNetworks has extra staff on hand 24/7 to deal with the impact of the current extreme weather. Call 105 to report a power cut and visit https://www.ukpowernetworks.co.uk/storm-centre-prepare
Do you, or someone you know, need extra support during a power cut? @UKPowerNetworks provides free services to vulnerable customers. Visit https://www.ukpowernetworks.co.uk/power-cut/priority-services-register for more information.
Major Derek Swithin Allhusen, CVO (9 January 1914 – 24 April 2000) was an English equestrian who was a 54-year-old grandfather when he rode Lochinvar to team gold and individual silver medals at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico.
Derek Allhusen was born in London and educated at Eton and Trinity College, Cambridge. In 1937 he married The Hon Claudia Betterton. He served throughout the Second World War with the 9th Queen’s Royal Lancers, being awarded the American Silver Star in 1944.
On returning from Germany he brought back 
two horses with him and settled in Claxton, Norfolk. He rode one of the horses, Laura, when representing Britain in the pentathlon at the 1948 Winter Olympic Games. He eventually took up eventing in 1955, riding Laura’s daughter Laurien on two European Championship teams, winning a team gold medal in 1957, then team silver and individual bronze in 1959. In 1961 he bought Irish-bred Lochinvar and rode her in two winning European Championship teams (in 1967 and 1969) as well as the gold and silver at the 1968 Summer Olympics. He was awarded an MBE for his achievements but declined it, feeling his team-mates Richard Meade, Jane Bullen and Reuben Jones also deserved recognition.
On his retirement from the sport he continued as a breeder and Laurien’s son Laurieston was ridden to team and individual Olympic gold medals in 1972 Games in Munich, with Richard Meade in the saddle. Allhusen was president of the British Horse Society from 1986 to 1988.
Allhusen was appointed Commander of the Royal Victorian Order in 1983.
In November 1955, 1956 and 1957 he was nominated as a High Sheriff of Norfolk.
“The Major” lived with his wife at Claxton Manor from 1947 until his death in 2000, though the Manor remained in the family until its eventual sale to the current owners in 2010. The Major was a universally popular figure who allowed villagers fairly free rein to roam his land, whether on foot or horseback, and is still regarded with great affection by villagers who knew him. He is buried in Claxton churchyard.
The Village Hall will be holding its first 50/50 Auction in several years on Sunday 16 September. This is a chance for you to make some money by selling unwanted items, and also to pick up a bargain.
The schedule for this event is:
Saturday 15 September – items can be brought to the Hall between 10am and 4pm.
Sunday 16 September – viewing starts at 10am
Sunday 16 September – Auction begins at 11am and ends by 4pm
Items must be of saleable quality and any unsold must be taken back by the owner.
50% of the sales price of each item will go to the owner and the remaining 50% will be retained by the Village Hall.
More information to follow, including about electrical equipment and refreshments.
South Norfolk Council will be attempting a World Record on Friday 27th July at Whitlingham Country Park to celebrate Norfolk Day. An attempt will be made to break the record for the largest gathering of people dressed as hares! The attempt will be from 1 pm to 2 pm as part of the Totally Broads Family Fun Day – which is a free event running from 11 am to 3 pm. There is a current world record of 1119 hares which they need to beat!
At last night’s Village Hall AGM the Trustees approved the accounts for 2017-18, which are shown below. A record of the AGM will appear on these pages in the coming days.
They also considered the responses received to the recent two-village questionnaire and will be publishing their response shortly. Look out for this in a future post.VH Full Year 2017-18
Sunday 16th September sees the return of the 50/50 Auction and we will be welcoming Edgar Hoddy who has agreed to be our auctioneer. This should be a good day for both buyers and sellers and an opportunity to raise money for both you and the Village Hall, while getting rid of all those unwanted items you may have cluttering up your home, shed, garden or garage! The Village Hall will be open from 10.00 – 4.00 on the day before the auction (Saturday 15th) for you to bring and register your items. (Any unsold items must be taken away after the sale). On Sunday 16th, viewing will take place from 10.00 am, and the auction itself will begin at 11.00 am. For more information contact Robert Ellis on 01508 480914 or Julia Kaye on 01508 480527.
We are delighted to announce that Claxton & Carleton St Peter Community Café has been awarded the highest possible rating of 5 stars by the Government Food Standards Agency. This can be viewed on the food.gov.uk/ratings South Norfolk website. It is good to have our high standards officially recognised in addition to the many compliments regularly received from café regulars. The café is held at the Village Hall on the second Tuesday of every month, from 10.00 – 12.00 with everyone welcome and also features the monthly draw for the 200 Club.
Our very popular Quiz Night took place on Saturday 17th June and was a great success, raising £473.80 for the Village Hall funds. The Woodlarks were the worthy winners coming a whole 7 points ahead of their nearest rivals and a delicious two-course home cooked meal was enjoyed in the half time break. Many thanks to quizmaster Mike Balmer who, as always, did an excellent job of challenging and amusing us with his questions!
