MINUTES OF AN EXTRAORDINARY MEETING OF THE LYDFORD YOUTH CLUB
Held on Monday 11th October 2004 at 7.00 pm in the Nicholls Hall
Present: Youth Club Committee Members - Mrs S Friend (Treasurer) and Mr J Friend. Members of the Public: Ted Potter, Ted Lyon, Steve Powne, Mrs L Huggins, Mrs C Davies, Mrs M Jacobs, Mrs C Douglas, Mrs S Holland and Mrs S Powne (Minute Secretary).
Apologies for absence were received from Mr David Evans and Mrs M Calvert.
In the absence of the elected chairman who had resigned during the year, Mr Friend took the Chair. In the absence of the secretary, Mrs Powne agreed to take the minutes. Mr Friend explained that of the original committee only he and Mrs Friend remained and support from parents was virtually non existent. At the end of the Youth Club year in July only nine children were attending, three of which would not be attending in the future. It takes a minimum attendance of 6 1/2 children’s subscription every week to make Youth Club viable and cover the costs of the insurance and rent. Parents had been very reluctant to help with the duty rota, and despite Mrs Friend’s best endeavours she had been unable to generate interest amongst parents or children. As Mr and Mrs Friend no longer had any children attending Youth Club themselves it was their wish to either hand over the running to others or wind up Youth Club at this meeting.
Discussion ensued amongst the four parents with young children attending about the viability of running Youth Club between themselves. They were reminded that every adult involved with children would need child protection police checks at a cost of £40 each and the committee would need to have implemented staff vetting policies, a Health and Safety Policy, have completed a Health and Safety Risk Assessment, and insurance would only be available if all these requirements were in place. When asked by the Chair none of the parents present felt able to make such a commitment. Mrs Calvert had written to Mr and Mrs Friend that day saying that she would be prepared to take over, but those parents present were reluctant to hand over unless they were confident she would be able to fulfil all the requirements and children would actually attend. Whilst grateful for her offer, the mood of the meeting was that a decision had to be made at this meeting and not delayed any longer. It was the consensus of all present that the only sensible course of action was to wind up the Youth Club. Mr Friend proposed the resolution and all agreed.
The meeting then moved on to discuss the disposal of monies and assets. It was agreed that the final say should be left to those who had been actively involved with Youth Club and not those members of the public who were there to act as witnesses. Mrs Friend (Treasurer) stated there was £1,032 in the bank which had been acquired as a result of subscriptions, tuck revenue and fund raising via the Summer Ball. She felt strongly that the money should go to the benefit of the village children. She stated she was reluctant to keep money back in the hope that others might wish to restart Youth Club at some point in the future. She had already received a request from the Cricket Club for help with purchasing cricket nets. As Cricket Club had been active in running the Summer Ball and their colt team was thriving, she suggested giving Lydford Cricket Club £250 and the balance should then go the Friends of Lydford School. Having phoned the insurance company and enquired about the possibility of a rebate (as the policy still had time to run), any additional monies would be added to the balance. As the Secretary for FOLS was present she felt sure the money would be most gratefully received. Everyone present appeared very satisfied with these suggestions and it was agreed the money should be disposed in this manner. The minute secretary was instructed to write to FOLS.
Assets consisted mostly of art and craft materials, play equipment (which included a plastic croquet set, bean bags, indoor hockey sticks, table tennis bats, a basket ball stand and net etc). The remnants from the tuck store had been either been sold off already or thrown out as it was out of date. It was agreed that the art and craft material and the majority of the equipment be donated to Friends of Lydford School, and if space was limited at school, Mrs Holland (representative of the Nicholls Hall Committee) felt sure it could be stored with the school equipment in the Nicholls Hall. Any table tennis bats be donated for use at the table tennis sessions at the Nicholls Hall. The snooker table was without balls and efforts to purchase the correct size balls had proved difficult. The treasurer stated she had received a bid for the snooker table of £100 and it was agreed this should be accepted.
As the business for the evening was finished the Chair thanked everyone for attending and closed the meeting at 7.47 pm. All attending felt a sense of sadness that there would be no more Youth Club, but accepted there was little alternative. If the demand returned in the future, the meeting felt confident that it could be regenerated.