Community Association Committee

Minutes of meeting - 7th May, 2003 at 7.30pm

Welcome
Caroline opened the meeting by extending a welcome to all those attending.

Presentation to Kirsty
Ann Marie, on behalf of the Committee presented Kirsty with a bouquet, as a token of thanks for all her efforts in driving forward the purchase of the new kitchen and organising its installation.

Attendees and Apologies
Attending the meeting were 12 committee members. Apologies for non-attendance were accepted on behalf of Stephen Renton, Liz. Canning and Evelyn Ritchie. Stephen mentioned he hoped to be able to attend the June meeting.

Acceptance of Previous Minutes
The Minutes of the previous meeting were adopted on the motion of Kirsty Donnelly and seconded by Ann Marie Cockburn.

Treasurer's Report
Finlay in his report, reported that at present he had not yet finalised things, however he went on to give an estimated view of how the finances stood for the year to the 31st of March. At present it appeared that the figure to that date would be a surplus of £8,800. He stressed this was 'a ball park figure' which was yet to be finalised. This included the contributions from the various user groups, lets etc., and also included profit from the Wemyss Bay News, which was roughly around £1,000. The Treasurer explained that the 'News' revenue had dipped slightly. Phyllis asked him if we were needing more advertisers? Finlay said not necessarily, as we had increased the advertising prices. Phyllis said that to date none of the advertisers had complained about the increase. She also intimated that she had posted quite a lot of Wemyss Bay information on the Inverkip and Largs web-sites and also on the Fairlie and Skelmorlie sites. Phyllis also mentioned that Bill Armstrong of Skelmorlie and Wemyss Bay Parish Church, had indicated that if more space in the Village News could be available for Skelmorlie news, he would be interested in contributing to the production costs. A discussion took place regarding this subject, various suggestions were made and Phyllis agreed to talk to the minister on the matter again. Finlay also stated that last year's Gala had finished with a small profit of £615. He also highlighted that this had mainly been achieved because of local sponsorship of £750. The income from the bouncy castle was also mentioned, Finlay reckoned that to date this was around £600, which was well on its way to paying for the purchase of the equipment. The Secretary said the 'castle' would probably require a service after the Gala.

Secretary's Report
George in his report mentioned that the Council Grants Committee, had donated the sum of £1,750 towards the expense of this year's Wemyss Bay Gala. It was agreed to delay official acknowledgement of this grant in the local press until after our sponsorship appeal to the local business sector. The Secretary read a reply from Alan Gillespie of the local Spar Store, who once again had indicated his excellent support towards the Gala. He would again pay for the Ceilidh Band (£350). As requested he would also supply the bar with whatever stock was needed on a sale or return basis. He also offered to donate soft drinks for the football competition on the Sunday afternoon. The committee were unanimous in their praise for this magnificent response again from Alan Gillespie.

The Secretary read a letter from the Parks Department, indicating that the bushes at the front of the Centre had now been trimmed as requested. The plastic surround beneath the roof had also been replaced with metal. This just left the two benches to be removed from the rear of the Centre. He also reported that there had been a problem with the alarm at the Centre. This had now been fixed. It had been caused by faulty sensors on the fire doors.

Letting Report - Kirsty
Kirsty said lets for parties had fallen away slightly. However they were now showing signs of picking up again. The Drama Class were now doing another hour on a Thursday. Caroline enquired about a parent, who had shown an interest in getting involved with helping to organise activities for the youths in the area. Finlay said he had heard about this and she had been told about tonight's meeting and had not attended the Community Council meeting on the previous evening. Phyllis said that the woman had 'phoned her and said that she had a boy of 16 and a girl of 14 and that with the help of some of her neighbours, they were willing to open the Centre from 10-11.30p.m. to give the youths in the area somewhere to go. Caroline spoke about a community grant that could be applied for to fund activities for the youth section of communities. She outlined the scheme to the Committee and said she would endeavour to do a costing of what it would involve. Sarah and Laura both felt that the problem nights were mainly Fridays and Sundays. After discussion it was agreed, if the funding was available that the costing of transport and venues should be discussed and with the assistance of some parents the project should be given serious consideration.

Kirsty reported that she had a 'phone call from Tom Rodgers of Inverclyde Carers, wanting to hire the hall or the back room on a Thursday in June. However as the Nursery are on, she had asked him to talk to the Education Department to see if this would create a problem.

Gala Report - Ann Marie
The Gala Convenor reported that she had managed to get the Ceilidh tickets printed and also Gala Posters. The Committee were very impressed with the posters and were of the opinion that as many as possible should be displayed, depending on the cost. Ann Marie distributed Ceilidh tickets and balloon tags to members of the Committee. She also felt we needed 'bouncers' for the Ceilidh and also someone to be on duty in the Community Centre, because the toilets would be in use. George mentioned that the 'Occasional Licence' covered us from 6p.m. to 11p.m. on Friday, from 11a.m. until 10p.m. on Saturday and 1p.m. until 6.00p.m. on the Sunday. It was stressed that if possible at least one male be on the bar whenever it was open.

Ann Marie said she was urgently needing volunteers to help out on both Friday and Saturday. Volunteers were also needed to help with the 'Clean up'. John said the football section would appeal to their boys' parents to try and get some to help out. Ann Marie said if possible between 4p.m. and 10 p.m. on the Saturday.

A general discussion followed regarding filling in the various job spots for the weekend. Caroline proposed that we order the same amount of 'Real Ale' that we ordered last year. Stocking the remainder of the bar was discussed and it was agreed that we take a selection of spirits from the Spar as it was on a sale or return basis anyway. Ann Marie mentioned she was trying to get the loan of optics for the bar. It was agreed that the soft drinks should be sold in cans. Five boxes of crisps of various flavours to be bought from the Spar. All drinks had to be served in plastic containers. John outlined what they hoped to organise on the Saturday. Namely an 'Old Crocks' match against the older youths in the area, who called themselves 'The Young Guns'. This would hopefully kick things off around lunchtime.

It was also hoped that Stephen would be available to organise the 'Beat the Goalie'. It was also mentioned this year it was hoped to have a Gala Queen and two attendants.

Drug-free your Kids
Caroline reported that we had managed to locate someone to attend the seminar on this subject. His name was Kenneth Ferguson, from Seamill. She explained he had 16 years experience in dealing with drink and drug abuse and runs a drop-in centre in Largs. He was also part of our local Alpha Group. We were hoping he would hold a couple of local meetings on the subject perhaps around September or October this year.

Broadband - Finlay
Finlay explained that as Broadband was about to be available in the area from June, we could have it available on the Centre's computer for a fixed monthly amount. This would mean that it would be always available at any time for the various user groups in the Centre. He also discussed the possible purchase of a 'router' which would give the Centre the opportunity to operate five or six other computers within the system, to perhaps set up classes. The committee discussed the subject at length and unanimously agreed that we should go for the deal that was on offer and get the computer on line as soon as possible. Phyllis mentioned that she knew of someone who was selling a printer which was still in its box brand new. She would let Finlay have his 'phone number.Caroline said we had to be careful, as there were some good bargains available at the moment at retail outlets.

Any other business
Sarah and Laura spoke about the Disco equipment. They were concerned about the security of the equipment. The subject of new CD's and wallets to store them was discussed Sarah and Laura were given the £50 to purchase the necessary items.

Date of next meeting
It was agreed that the date of the next meeting would be Wednesday, 4th June at 7.30p.m.

George Anderson, Secretary