Sannox Christian Centre
Annual General Meeting – 18 June 2016
Present:
George Hazel (Trustee and Chair)
Stuart Carr (Trustee)
Moira Shirreff (Trustee)
Francis McFall (Member)
Jim MacKay (Member)
DG Weir (Member)
Stuart Yates (Member)
In Attendance: 13 Others
George opened the meeting with prayer.
- Welcome and Introduction: George welcomed everyone to the meeting.
- Minutes of the 2015 AGM and Matters Arising: The minutes of the 2015 AGM were proposed for acceptance by Francis, seconded by Moira, and approved by the meeting.
- Report by Chair on the activities of the Charity / Company: George reported on a number of developments
New Board member: In light of the considerable support that had been given to the centre from Strathendrick Church, it had been suggested that they might propose a Board member. Strathendrick Church has recently provided both the Celtic Cross and the new caravan. Stuart Yates had agreed to become a board member and he had been appointed as such by the trustees at their earlier meeting.
Management and Admin systems: Various groups are working on this:-
IT support: Our IT support is to be provided by Pete Kirkwood in future. Pete is a Sannox supporter and lives in Edinburgh.
Hosting system: A community of hosts is being developed who will greet visitors, welcome and care for those using the centre, and maintain the Rhythm of Prayer. 20 individuals or couples have already expressed interest.
Future Events: A number of things are happening over the summer – training weekends for potential hosts, a music and worship weekend, Arran Open Studios, Hearing the voice of Heaven, Burn 24/7
Grant Application: An application has been made for funding to help with the renewal of the church roof and bell tower.
Gatehouse: The gatehouse is being re-organised as a prayer room and office
The Cross: This is now in place, visibly establishing God’s fingerprint on the site
Laundry: Plans are in place to convert the toolshed to a laundry
- Accounts Report: Jim presented the annual accounts that had been previously circulated. They were in a new format this year because of changes in regulation. There was more information incorporated, and the layout was different. The auditors had done the necessary reformatting. There were two typos in the circulated version of the accounts which would be corrected for the final signed version.
Our income was around £75,000 with about 2/3 from regular giving and 1/3 from one-off gifts
All but the two smallest interest free loans should be paid back by the end of June and all the loans will be cleared by the end of the year. These totaled, over the years, £265,000
The accounts were proposed for acceptance by D G Weir and seconded by Stuart Carr. The meeting approved the accounts.
Thanks were expressed to Jim for his work
- Appointment of Auditors: Jim proposed, with Francis seconding, that we re-appoint Hollis Accounting as our auditors. The meeting approved this.
- Financial Controls: Jim reported that there had been two fraud attempts on our Bank Account. In view of this we have tightened our procedures with Jim now being the sole authorised person who can make payments on our behalf, with Ken Burns as a backup. Otherwise people could make payments personally and claim these back from Jim, but the various chequebooks and cards that had been in circulation had been recalled.
In response to a question Jim said that the Building Account was now closed down, but indicated that if we were successful in our grant application for the church roof a new account would be set up to handle these monies.
- Report on building and development:
Condition of the buildings: Stuart Carr pointed out that in our original planning application we committed to redeveloping the buildings already on the site, and that deterioration of these building was continuing.
The Cross: Stuart indicated that though the cross might seem quite small in the open it will appear a prominent centerpiece of the courtyard.
Demolition: A question was asked as to whether, in planning permission terms, there was a time limit on the demolition of the outhouse. Stuart replied that the time limit was later this year with a possible three month extension. We could re-apply but it would be preferable to move ahead with this, and it was suggested that this might be tackled in November.
- AOCB
1. George told us that a coffee table for Dundarroch was being made by a local craftsman from a local oak tree. This had been donated by a local couple.
2. An electric piano was being donated by Abigail McFall and she was thanked for this gift.
3. George encouraged those present to read the comments in the two visitor’s books for our encouragement and spoke of the couple who had had profound experiences at Sannox. This kind of thing was at the heart of our work.
4. David Hemmings offered to carry out a health and safety audit in July. This was David’s area of expertise. David lives locally. Such things as childproof blank plugs for sockets were still required.
5. A request was made that the Board explore the possibility of the monthly Arran prayer meeting being held in Dundarroch rather than in people’s homes. This would give greater clarity about venue and promote fellowship. The Trustees will consider this.
- Close: Moira closed the meeting in prayer