Below are the last available ‘minutes’ of Trustee Meetings
Rhoose Community Library
Trustee Board Meeting
Wednesday 7th November 2018, 6pm
Attendees: Rob Barratt, Sian Davies (Treasurer), Jeff James (Chairman), Vicky Reynish, Ian Robinson (Minutes Secretary), Sheila Williams.
Apologies: were received from Chris Price and Rachel Oxley-Green.
Minutes
1. Trustee Board Membership.
1.1 Ian Robinson was welcomed as a member and has agreed to take on the duties of Secretary to the Board.
1.2 Chris Economedes has stood down as member of this Board but will continue as a RCL Volunteer.
1.3 Sheila Williams is a RCL Volunteer and a member of the Fundraising Group. As previous practice of this Board, she agreed to become Chair of the Fundraising Group as required to replace Chris Economedes.
1.4 Sian Davies announced that she would stand down as Treasurer after Christmas 2018. Jeff James gave grateful thanks on behalf of the Trustees for her hard work and efficiency. Discussions concerning future Treasurer duties are minuted under section 2. Below.
1.5 It was agreed that the Chairman will inform the Charity Commission of changes to the Trustee Board and supply necessary details.
Action I.R. to provide personal information necessary to J.J. Action J.J. to inform Charity Commission as required.
2. Finance
2.1 Sian Davies presented the current Financial Statement* including fundraising detail to date.
2.2 The Fundraising group are optimistic that with planned events they will be able to achieve their projected target.
2.3 The projected outturn assumes that all restricted grant is spent or repaid.
2.4 There is a significant amount remaining from the Lottery Grant for the printer. This could be used, if permitted, to purchase a replacement till. It was agreed that a costing is required before enquires to the Lottery fund.
Action J.J. to cost a suitable till and discuss options at next meeting.
2.5 Sian Davies will stand down as Treasurer from Christmas.
2.6 Monica Lucas, who is a RCL Volunteer and assists Sian, particularly with library expenditure through the till, will also be standing down from those duties.
2.7 The loss of these key roles will obviously produce major difficulties for RCL.
2.8 Sian had developed the Financial Statement via an Excel spreadsheet, which is now well established and could be handed over, so that the Treasurer role need not be too challenging.
2.9 Chris Jakeway was mentioned as a possibility to take over Income Analysis.
Action J.J. to broach subject with C.J.
2.10 Rob Barrett has experience of business accounting and might take on the responsibilities for the till and Treasurer duties but would need to be aware of the requirements.
Action S.M to supply R.B. with the Excel spreadsheet. R.B. to liaise with S.M. and Monica to learn requirements. Timeline, next meeting
2.10 Monica is responsible for the Petty Cash. The procedures may need to be reviewed but no Action was assigned.
2.11 Sian Davies and Chris Price are responsible for HMRC accounts and Gift Aid. Vicky Reynish was willing to take on this task.
Action V.R. to liaise with S.D. and C.P. to establish requirements. Timeline, next meeting.
3. Library Operations Report. November 2018 *
3.1 The purpose of Volunteer Reviews was unclear to the Trustees: were these advised by Glamorgan Voluntary Services (GVS)? The review procedure was part way through and the reception to these had been mixed, with significant disquiet in some cases.
Action J.J. to discuss progress of Reviews with Sandra Cooper, to find out if the purpose of the reviews is being fulfilled.
3.2 Discussion took place on the morale of the Volunteers. The till seems to be a particular problem area, as recognised by the Board.
4. RCL Fundraising Group Meeting Minutes 6th November 2018 *
4.1 The trustees recognise the most valuable contribution and hard work of the Group members.
4.2 It was considered that a Newsletter in a one-page format might be most suitable. A Standing Order form and/or a GiftAid form may usefully be part of this Newsletter.
4.3 A “100 club” was thought to be an excellent suggestion, which the Trustees would support as appropriate, perhaps part of the Newsletter
Action J.J. to liaise with Bronwen Hughes and draft a Newsletter for distribution at forthcoming Christmas events. Timeline, before Christmas events
4.4 The Trustees agree to invite other community library volunteers to a properly structured meeting to discuss fundraising and other shared matters of interest. It is important that the invited libraries know what they may gain from the meeting. Celtic Way CC would be a suitable venue: timing would be end of January, as suggested.
Action J.J. to draft an agenda and contact other libraries.
5. Property
5.1 Extension: no progress noted.
5.2 Security call out 20/10/18. Vale Security responded but could not reset system as they were not aware of a password. Dragon Security attended as an Incident at an indicated cost of £110 plus VAT.
5.3 Procedures were reviewed by Ian Robinson and Dragon were contacted to confirm procedures. These should be communicated to the Volunteers.
Action: I.R. to raise this at the next Volunteers’ meetings(s). Next, 15th Nov.
5.4 An email from Dragon Security suggested that the Incident would not be charged, so we should await an invoice prior to any payment.
5.5 A form was sent from Vale Security requesting keyholder information. Ian Robinson volunteered to be the contact in case of further incidents.
Action I.R. to complete and return the form. Timeline, by next meeting.
6. Grants: New and Progressing
6.1 Vicky Reynish is progressing the Tudor Trust grant and is taking time to ensure that wording is precise. She has an appointment with Helen Blackmore from the Vale of Glamorgan Council, regarding Strong Communities Grant, next week (w.com.12 Nov).
7. Utility Warehouse scheme progress
7.1 Chris Price is leading this project and therefore discussion on progress was limited.
7.2 RCL may use U.W. for their phonelines, although it is not clear if the security line would be included in any package.
7.3 RCL is not paying for its Broadband use, as this is a VOG library function.
Action: review using U.W. for telephone lines when existing costs can be compared with U.W. prices. Timeline: next year.
8. Defibrillator Progress.
8.1 Chris Price is leading this project and therefore progress could not be discussed in his absence.
9. A.O.B.
9.1 Health and Safety: this will be an agenda item in future meeting as Ian Robinson is RCL safety representative.
9.2 Fire Service visit 31/10/18: Ian Robinson met with the service representative. The RCL Fire Risk Assessment was generally well received but with some constructive criticisms concerning testing of alarms and lack of Fire Drills. A report will be sent to the Trustees and actions acted upon, as appropriate, when received.
Actions: pending report.
9.3 Portable Appliance testing (PAT): this is due in November. It was carried out last year by VOG in conjunction with the moving of workstations. PAT is expensive when carried out by electrical contractors. Ian has carried out testing in his previous work but needs a refresher certificate before re-qualification. There are few pieces of apparatus requiring annual testing.
Action I.R. to contact Cardiff University to enquire about PAT refresher courses. Immediate.
Action J.J. to contact Chris Edwards to see if PAT will be carried out as last year (i.e. at no charge). Timeline: Important.
10 Next Meeting
10.1 The meetings are generally held on the first Wednesday of the month. Rob Barratt requested the time to be slightly later than normal.
The next meeting is scheduled for Wednesday December 5th at 6.30 pm.
Meeting closed 8.30 pm
Minutes recorded by Ian Robinson