A date for your diary

Save the date 12th September 2020 ' Fundraising Celidh' to be held at Upton upon Severn Memorial Hall, which will help us maximise ticket sales and profits, check out The Burdoch Band https://www.theburdockband.co.uk/

The Burdock Band - Award-winning Ceilidh Band | Midlands, UK An Award-winning Ceilidh band based in the heart of England, perfect for weddings, corporate events and parties. Book us for your special day! www.theburdockband.co.uk

January NEWSLETTER.

Hollybush Village Church Room Newsletter February 2020

Dear All,

Sending you an update as we did not have our usual opportunity to get together for our annual 12^th Night party, I think we speak for everyone when we say how we all missed it and the opportunity to see our friends and neighbours.

We now plan to hold a ‘Spring Equinox Bring and Share Supper’ so save the date: Saturday 21^st March 2020 about 19.30hrs.  It’s the day before Mothering Sunday for anyone who needs a gentle reminder!

You will be aware that Jerry Fryman secured the offer of a grant £2000 (via the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty/Defra), the grant can only be claimed upon completion of works and evidence of monies spent so far, which is required to be submitted by 10th March 2020.

Unfortunately, the start of works was delayed due to ill health, but we are pleased to say that work is now being undertaken in earnest and we are on schedule to meet the target claim date.

A local Builder has made temporary repairs to the leaking roof.  The leak has been getting gradually worse over the years and has caused significant wet and dry rot.  Already, a large amount of structural timber, wall cladding,  joists & flooring and the stairs have had to be replaced.

Bob and Sam and Josh Pettigrew have been working throughout the last two weeks.

The hall also awaits electrical works to ensure certificated for use.

Any help would be gratefully received as the immediate jobs to be done include, creating the housing for the portaloo and creating a pathway leading from the back door to portaloo. If anyone does have a few hours to spare, please let Bob know 01531 650809.

Unfortunately, the annual bills and overheads are still to be paid e.g. insurances, electric, water and fire extinguishers service. We must, therefore, maintain a sustained fundraising effort. We would really appreciate your ideas and support for other events.

We have however, organised the following;

Fundraising:

We have purchased tubes of Smarties and will soon be sharing these colourful sweets with every household and supporters; the empty tube is ideal for collecting 20pence pieces or even £1 coins.  We would like to challenge everyone to collect their loose change over next few weeks, use your imagination, parents may wish to challenge your children to earn pocket money towards the hall funds. Have your friends over for a coffee morning etc. etc. We will either collect the tubes from you at our next meeting or we can collect, just give us a ring or drop us an e-mail.

Save the date: 12^th September 2020. ‘The Burdock Band’ 3 professional musicians and a caller have been booked to play at a fundraising Ceilidh. We have opted to hire Upton on Severn Memorial Hall which has a good capacity and dance floor. Tickets will be on sale from April onwards and will include a Pie & Peas supper and entry into a raffle. We propose it will be a ‘Bring your own alcohol’.  Tea, coffee and soft drinks will be on sale.

Anyone know of a good printer we’ll need tickets and advertising fliers/posters (Cheap) !

We would like to thank, Sheryl and Herman, Roger Gillard and Roger Dobson and Shirley for keeping, the hall and grounds tidy over the later days of summer 2019.

Hope to see you all on 21^st March,

Tracey (Lynch)

GENERAL MEETING AT HOLLYBUSH VILLAGE CHURCH ROOM

Thursday 19^th September 2019

Time:   19.30hrs

Hollybush Community now hold the lease for

Hollybush Village Church Room.

The work starts here to bring this 1912 building 

back into community use.

Please come along for an update, we need your support and ideas.

August :- Developments and some action.

Following Bob's illness and hospitalisation (we wish him a speedy recovery) the team has been reconstituted. This will allow Bob to take a back seat and recover properly.

The following people now have been co-opted onto the subcommittee and will form a working group.

Assistant Chair   Robin Pettigrew,
Fund Raising and communications Jerry Fryman 


I will keep this blog updated and post you regular reminders.
I will also start some initiatives that will help to rais money.

• It was decided to purchase a new portable toilet. This can be positioned in the shed to rear of the building where it can be locked up / or not.
  
  
• Some minor modifications to the old toilets and the tin should yield some spare tin sheeting that can be used to repair the roof and building.
  
  
• Ex residents of Hollybush John and Paul Fearnside have agreed to take on the task of improving and certifying the electrical wiring. An experienced electrician John will add some up to date kit and ensure that the installation is as flexible as possible, expandable and as discrete as possible.
  
  
• John has promised to come up from Bristol in September. He will survey the building, making any suggestions.
  
  
• Take a look at the WISH LIST. We will post a wish list of items that we want. (apart from money).

• We don't just need stuff, we also need advice. Advice on how to remove the paint from the ceiling and restore it to an acceptable appearance. Shabby chic is all very well, but this is too shabby!
  
• We need advice on the correct paint to use on the building to avoid the problems that have ruined the ceiling. Modern paints/stains should be OK but technical advice would be welcome.
  
  
• We need a specialist joiner to repair the windows. The wood is pitch pine and actually very durable. However, one or two windows will need some extensive repair.
  
  
•  There will be more ....

An initial survey.  

You may remember I thought we that should take advice as to the structural integrity and historical validity of the building before spending money and making any big effort.
David Armitage from the AONB put me in touch with Prof George Demidowicz.
He was a listed building officer, retired, and is researching the Kings Thirds on the commons, The Shire Ditch and the hidden field boundaries. 
We had a great afternoon tracing the remains of the Shire Ditch at Hollybush, the boundary at Wintercoombe and some of the field boundaries.

We also took a quick survey of the Hollybush Church Room.

Although the building has not been used for some time George was impressed by its state and condition.
Indeed the building is very well preserved and unspoiled, almost in ‘as-built’ condition. 
Although there is evidence of some damage it is modest and limited.
A roof leak can be traced to a blocked valley gutter. Some of the ground levels has encroached over the foundations.

The main anxiety was the condition of the metal cladding. This proved to be in excellent condition, the metal has been well galvanized and we could not find any evidence of rust beyond the expected minor surface rust on the inside of the seams.
Even the porch on the north side is in good condition although it looks rough.
Several cuts and alterations had been made in the outside skin, but these could be easily repaired and improved.

The wood cladding inside the building is in excellent condition. Particularly the floor and the walls. 
The ceiling had unfortunately been painted with an unsuitable paint, the varnish was rejecting it, with some unsightly peeling and flaking.
Most of the wood is pitch pine. A strong rot-proof wood. There is no smell of rot or damp.

The windows are the characteristic shape and style for this type of building. Again they were constructed from high-quality wood and although six had unsightly evidence of rot on the cills. They could easily be repaired, the cills replaced and restored to the original condition.

We discussed the buildings anticipated use. As it would be used intermittently, the insulation would not be cost-effective or necessary. It has already survived many winters.

A great asset to the building is its foundations. These are in excellent condition and all the air bricks seem clear and provide good underfloor ventilation.
There is no sign of movement or stress in the building.

The structure is supported on a metal framework, a series of metal trusses that use an innovative system of wrought iron tie bars, these give lateral strength and prevent the building spreading. Again these are in excellent condition.

In conclusion, the building is in very good condition and modest repairs will bring it back to use. 
This Church Room has withstood may winter and freezing conditions without significant damage, there seems no reason why it should not continue to do so for the foreseeable future.

Any improvement should focus on repair and restoration. This should be modest and that would allow the main efforts/ money to be put into adding facilities and decoration.

A very positive outcome. Justifying any work and expense we incur.

POTENTIAL FUNDING INFORMATION

Project Viability Grant and Project Development Grant – Architectural Heritage Fund

The Architectural Heritage Fund (AHF) which supports the conservation and re-generation of historic buildings, has two further grants available:

• Project Viability Grants – grants up to £7,500 are available to fund studies to look at potential uses for a building and at its current condition, and produce a Viability Report to a standard template.
• Project Development Grants – grants up to £30,000 are available to assist an organization to cover some of the costs of developing and co-ordinating a project and taking it towards the start of work on site.

The deadline for applications for both Project Viability Grants and Project Development Grants of up to £7,500 is the last day of each calendar month. Project Development Grant applications for more than £7,500 go to Trustee Grants Panel meetings for decision. The deadline for the next meeting is 23 April 2019.

http://ahfund.org.uk/grant/

Minutes Meeting 15th February 2019

Hollybush Village Churchroom 

Meeting Minutes

15^th  February 2019

1. Call to order

Mr. Bob Lynch called to order an informal meeting of the community of Hollybush Villagers and trustees at 19.00hrs on 15^th February 2019 at Hollybush Village Church Room.  

1. Persons Present

Robert Lynch (Chair), Tracey Lynch (Secretary), Shirley Williams (Treasurer), David and Libby Allen, Roger Gillard, Roger and Sue Dobson, Robin and Sam Pettigrew, Jerry and Jenny Fryman, Herman and Sheryl Veldboer, Margaret Osbourne. Guest: Mr Richard Timney (ACRE ‘Community First’).

Apologies: Mike Wakefield, Kath and Johnny, Steve and Sharon, Pete and Emma. 

1. III.Minutes from previous meeting hand delivered to community and formed Agenda for discussion
2. IV.
1. Chair: Thanked those present for giving time and support. Apologies were given.  Those present were asked to sign permissions (Data protection) in order that group emailing could be used to share minutes and information.
2. Chair:  The Hollybush Village Church room will have charitable status as per charity commission rules: the trustees, chair and secretary form the management committee for the first year, at which point it will be expected that all resign and opportunity to vote in a new or the existing management committee. 
3. Treasurer gave a balance of £1,197 plus profits earned from 2019 12^th Night BYO £107; a further balance held on behalf of Hollybush Village Church Room in PCC accounts around £1000 (Historical donation via the Albright Trust).  To be verified.
4. Update of events: lease now signed by all trustees, with solicitor Mike Huskinson once dated becomes active. Mr Huskinson has been on holiday and therefore at this stage it is not known if the lease is signed. 
5. The first task of Management Committee is to form a ‘Constitution’ which forms the basis of rules guidelines and purpose of the Hollybush Village Church room for the benefit of the building and Hollybush Village community and people of the surrounding area. Since last meeting the Management committee had met on Tuesday 12^th February 2019, to start this process. The Chair provided copies of example constitutions if anyone present wanted to see. The management committee plan to reconvene in around 2-4 weeks to progress the writing of a constitution.
6. Since the last general meeting Bob Lynch had met with Mr Richard Timney (Community First) (ACRE) and through a generous donation from trustee Sheryl Veldoboer £50.00 membership to ACRE had been submitted which allows access to ACRE templates which also include sample constitution.  
7. Re the proposal to aim for Registered Charity Status it was discussed that in most cases access to grants are only available to those charities which are registered. Chair had new information, in order to become a registered charity an annual income of £5,000 needs to be demonstrated. The registration process takes around 3 months. 
8. Sheryl Veldboer provided a short synopsis of the visit from her acquaintance Richard who had taken time to travel from South Wales to visit Hollybush Village Church room, he had background of taking on a similar project. Some points taken from Richard (the potential of removing external tin cladding, which is perishing due to the 100year plus history) removing external sheeting would preserve internal wood paneling, allow inspection and insulation therefore improvement of building, he advised aiming for big requests for funding grants. Grants only followed a request for improvement rather than repair.
9. Sam Pettigrew was in receipt of two quotations for replacement of windows with wooden double-glazed units, quotes in from Shane Howells £12,222.50 with additional £18.00 per window for triple vent. Mark Walsh £ 9,295 plus VAT plus £160 per day to fit and paint windows.
10. Jerry and Jenny Fryman raised consideration of repairing existing window frames, rather than replace; with intention of preserving rather than renovating, thus maintaining the historic building charm. It was requested that quotations for the repair of windows should also be obtained to assess the cost feasibility of preservation rather than replacement. Jerry has suggested grants may become available from Heritage Lottery Fund and it should be assessed if the heritage lottery would favor the sympathetic repair of building. Jerry suggested a local carpentry service Burns and Chute Churchill who may provide a quotation for repairs.
11. Guest Richard Timney indicated that signed lease 25 years offered value as ‘an asset’ which would be considered as a monetary value therefore gaining registered charity status may be achievable without have £5000 in bank. 
12. Jerry Fryman asked Richard Timney if in his opinion could Hollybush Village Churchroom have the potential of becoming an annexe of Castle Moreton Village Hall (which already has charitable status) the thought being Hollybush is in the civil parish of Castlemorton. Richard Timney indicated in his experience and opinion this would not be feasible as Castlemorton Hall’s own constitution would not allow for this. Richard Timney raised idea that if PCC commisioned work and paid this would attract benefit of VAT deduction.
13. Mike Wakefield not present due to prior engagement not available to feed back regarding ECO toilet information.
14. Chair thanked Jerry Fryman for producing a portfolio of information and photographs of Hollybush Village Church room, the intention being it would be of value when making grant applications in future.
15. Jerry discussed with group the idea of creating a blog i.e friends of Hollybush Village room.  Richard Timney added that many Halls had Facebook page. A google search could then bring up the hall to anyone searching for Hollybush or halls. It was thought an ‘Interest Group page’ would probably attract most following.
16. Jerry recapped to group, his emailed discussions (provided in printed format at meeting) with David Armitage of Malvern Hills Area of outstanding natural beauty.  MH AONB also had grants to donate in sums around £500-£1000 a time. David Armitage himself is on committee of local Mathon Village Hall, he had offered to talk to Hollybush Village residents, he was also keen to offer support.   The next grants would be available from April 2019 onwards if Hollybush church room is in position to apply. The benefit of Hollybush Village Church room would give access to area of outstanding natural beauty.  All present appreciated the offer of meeting David Armitage.

Chair formally introduced Richard Timney and thanked him for offering his time to introduce his role with Community first and ACRE and offering to answer questions and guide the Hollybush Village Church room community. Community First (Malvern Office) provides support in an advisory capacity to over 340 village halls over two counties Hereford and Worcestershire.  He went on to discuss the advice he is able to offer on matters such as health and safety, Insurance matters, repairs, investing and fund raising. Offering up examples of halls that were central to the community and ‘cornerstone’ usually those with driving force of individuals, he contrasted with evidence of halls that were failing, villagers in dispute etc. He talked in terms of the hall as ‘box’ where activities take place. It was management committees’ responsibility to get ‘all ducks in a row’ and ensure safety of hall users and ensure safe and lawful procedures.  ACRE membership affords access to 50 plus documents and templates, to ensure safe and lawful operating procedures.  The first task and requirement is the ‘Constitution’ Many halls have constitutions dating from 50’s 60’s and 70’s which still hold legal weight today, there are procedures to take via charity commissions to amend them so it is important to get the detail right.  Ie, the area of benefit and objectives.  He named the accountabilities such as election s for trustees etc. He advised the importance of naming the charity to run the hall and suggested most management committees met 6 times per year to run a hall, this committee may need to meet more regularly. He went on to raise some considerations such as conflicts of interest and of the signed lease, recommending the trustees may wish to undertake their own legal advice, highlighting that the lease has been drawn up by solicitor working on behalf of the Church.  He drew on examples of church halls with similar contracts listing lengthy waits for permissions to carry out works i.e. going through easement process and charges for visits from faculty architect on behalf of landlord.  A single visit may be a accost greater than £300 and multiple visits are often required, examples of Berrow,  Pendock and  Birtsmorton were mentioned. He recommended consideration of requesting clarity of process.  Chair indicated part to his requirement during process was to submit a schedule of works which had been accepted.

1. Mr. Timney recommended obtaining numerous quotations to effect all types of repairs, obtaining permissions to undertake such works, writing bids for multiple grants in bursts of 4-5 applications. ‘Improvements, upgrades, insulation all attracts grants.

‘Awards for All’ was suggested as a starting point for applying for grant for feasibility study. Ie. Drawing up plans, structural safety, electrical testing etc. Jerry Fryman is agreeable to looking further at ‘Awards for all application system/process’

1. The Chair and those present thanked Mr. Richard Timney for taking the time to visit and for his expert knowledge and input to our meeting.

1. Adjournment

Mr. Bob Lynch adjourned the meeting at time.21.00hrs.

Next Meeting to be arranged.