Howgate Village Hall Association Meeting
16th January 2017
Attendees
Tom Schofield (Chair), Sarah King (Treasurer), Karen Bennett (Treasurer), Sue Gracie, Irene McConnell, Shirley Murray,
Alistair Proctor, Isobel Alford, Caroline Hughes
Apologies
Sheena Dawe, Pat Gordon
1. Previous minutes
The minutes from our November meeting were approved
2. Debibrilator
Caroline Hughes is a Howgate resident and an A&E Nurse at ERI with some contacts in the field of defibrillators
for community use. She has been communicating with Sam Grieve in the Community Resilience Team (CRT) who
can provide refurbished ex-NHS defibrillators. Caroline has also spoken to Shottstown Miners’ Club in Penicuik
and Eddleston Village Community Council who have this equipment available and looked online at typical cost of
sourcing such equipment independently (approx £1720 for defib and accessories, plus another £720 for the
heated cabinet to hold it). The CRT would be able to provide the same equipment for approx £1600 total cost, so
it was agreed that this would be the best route to go down. We asked Caroline to go back to CRT and have a unit
and a cabinet set aside for us. It is recommended that we place the unit in a prominent position on the front of
the village hall where it cannot be missed.
The equipment comes with a training module, and provides full verbal instructions for use once switched on.
There is a safety mechanism included which means that the defib will not administer a shock to a patient unless
it detects actual heart failure, so cannot be misused.
Caroline has offered her services in training residents with use and has volunteered to be our contact for
ensuring all the accessories are kept updated and within their expiry date.
Next steps are to approach Howgate Community Council and Howgate Kirk to agree how this will be funded. We
would propose to pay for the defib upfront with cash in the bank and fundraise retrospectively, as we believe
the defib should be acquired as a matter of urgency. Tom will contact Colin Bennett (HCC) and Irene Hobbs/Ian
Cathcart (Howgate Kirk). Isobel Alford will also bring it to the Kirk Session for immediate attention.
3. Treasurer’s report
All transferring over from Alan Burnett (previous Treasurer) is almost complete. Sarah proposed we move our
account online in order to make things more efficient and will allow us to offer hall users to pay electronically if
they want to. All agreed to this.
There is approx. £10k in our account. We are still waiting on HMRC to pay money owed back to us.
New signatories are being added (Irene and Tom), but Jan and Alan have agreed to continue signing cheques if
required.
4. Hall report
Private bookings are still coming in. Shirley is transferring the role of hall bookings to Irene.
Agreed we need to make a note of all known keys circulating.
Tom has a back door key
Karen/Colin has front and back
Pat has front and back? Check
Sue has front and back
Shirley has back door
Isobel has Church key, front and back
Sarah is to get Jan’s (if she has them)
Sue thinks she has Alan’s keys (should include Church key)
Irene to check Rosemary, Donna, Pauli.
Karen to check Nicola.
Isobel to check Kirk Session.
Tony our handyman and his successor were discussed as Tony has more or less finished up. Some suggestions
were made. Lee Darker from Peebles, John Folley from Peebles or Dave Campbell from Romano Bridge. Agreed
to stick to Tony’s rate of £20 ph, about 1 hour pw. Shirley to approach John first and pass on Tom’s number.
Kitchen – new kitchen has now been installed. Cupboards need restocking and an inventory made out to keep
tracks. Sue is going to see how much she can complete this week and let everyone know. Sarah to check if
Bridge club have deducted the discount offered for January.
When the new dishwasher was installed it was pointed out that the plug socket should be placed elsewhere as it
is potentially a fire hazard and perhaps causes the dishwasher to jut out somewhat. Tom to discuss with Brian
McPhillips.
Boiler pressure issue. Believe it is being caused by the leak in the ladies toilets. Sue thinks oil providers can put
us in touch with someone to provide a maintenance contract for central heating. She will ask Robert Brown from
Oilfast if he knows of a good service engineer. Sarah can also phone oil providers she knows. Tom to ask Tony if
he can look at the leak itself and repair it.
Isobel to check with the painter that attends Church whether he can paint the kitchen for us. Will confirm to Tom.
Refurbishing the outside noticeboard can be one of the first jobs for the new handyman.
Cheese and wine event – email to get forwarded on to Donald Cameron (website maintenance).
Alistair suggested a feedback form for hall users – especially private bookings. Would be helpful to know what
people like and don’t like, e.g. flooring?
5. Fundraising
Gin tasting is TBC
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Wine tasting date agreed as 17 March – Alistair and Tom to run. Ad in next newsletter.
Sarah suggested a Scots Night Quiz – any date
6. AOB
We have planning permission for 3 years for the portacabins. Tom to speak to Sheena about getting the power
disconnected.
Maintenance list – Karen to amalgamate this with the contacts list and reissue. We need to agree new contacts
for roles as many have left.
Neighbourhood planning/Glebe development – Karen confirmed she won’t be leading any development projects
as sits better with Kirk/HCC. HVHA happy to input into this if need be. She has spoken to Rosemary on behalf of
Kirk and Colin Bennett for HCC.
Newsletter – agreed to include a piece for Rosemary and Alan in next newsletter and to buy a bunch of flowers for
Rosemary and wine for Alan, Jan, Nicola, Pauli and Sarah to say thanks for all their contributions to HVHA.
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Date of next meeting Monday 20 February 2017