Reading Room AGM - 13 May '26

Minutes of AGM, May 13th, 2026, 6pm.

1.    Apologies: James Carpenter, Charles Street, Mary Cochrane and Janie Campbell-Johnson.

2.    Present: 11

3.    Minutes of the last AGM: The minutes of the last AGM (18.6.25) were read and signed as correct.

4.    Matters Arising:

• The voting booths are still in the RR.
• Film nights are not viable due to the expense of a licence and little interest as there are now so many home viewing options.

5.    Election of Committee and Officers: The Committee members were all willing to remain except for Claire who wishes to resign due to her other increasing commitments. Anika, Olivia, Sarah, Nigel, Nicky, Fiona, Sally and Christine were all proposed en-block by Bill Hiscocks and seconded by Christine and carried by all.

Anika as Secretary, Nicky as Chair and Fiona as treasurer were proposed by Claire and seconded by Nigel, all were in favour to vote us in again, Fiona will retire sometime during the year.

James Carpenter had said he was willing to stand as a committee member and trustee and he sent a confirming email. We are delighted. Nicky proposed him and Christine seconded him, and it was carried by all.

Nicky thanked James for joining the committee and to the whole Carpenter family for the successful Chocolate Bingo. Nicky also thanked Claire for all her work on the committee over the last 10 years.

Thanks also went to Nigel for his work with the RR bookings which he has done since 2022 and to Christine for taking  on the bookings from him.

6.    Reports:

• The secretary’s, treasurer’s and chair’s reports were all read, please see attached.
• The treasurers report will be posted onto the village website.

7.    Building and Maintenance:

• Olivia and Christine offered to help Sally paint the loo and lobby walls this summer when they can find the time.
• Nick Buxcey iwill be mending the render on the roadside wall and will start in late June.
• We want to replace the strip lightbulbs with LED ones. We have tried to swap the ordinary strip light with LED but couldn’t get them to work. Nicky has asked Nigel Arnold to have a look at them and hopefully solve the problem.
• We demonstrated that there is already the option of having one light near the entrance door on, while the other two are off, for the purposes of clearer vision of the screen when it is in use.
• Wessex Internet is fully installed, and the access code is pinned to the notice board above the kettles.
• The front door handle broke a few weeks ago, thanks go to Tim Bailey for fixing it.
• Two more fire exit signs have been put where they can be seen from all angles, and a battery-operated smoke detector has been installed. Also, a security light, also battery operated, has been fitted above the key safe. Thanks to Christine for organising and fitting these.
• Bill appreciated the fact that the RR looks so much better than it did 5 years ago and asked if we would still like to receive the £500 precept. We thanked him and said yes to the precept money as there is always maintenance needed for the old fabric of the building.

8.    Events and Fundraising: 

• The RR finances are stable due to the events that we already hold. Art talks, Christmas fair, yoga, chocolate bingo and room hire, along with the precept cover the daily costs. We may do a social event for the village, for example cheese and wine.
• Nicky has sent the new hiring information to Neil to put on the website. Bill asked about the charges, these are now on the website. We have some flexibility for locals.
• We now own a Sum Up machine to take payments electronically. We need to have it fully set up by 23rd May for the Art Exhibition.

9.    AOB: 

•  The committee will organise a meeting shortly to properly welcome James.

 

The meeting closed at 6.35 pm