St. Andrew’s Kirk, Glass
Trust Members
Minutes of Meeting No. 9, 8th May 2023
at Glebe House and Glass Church
Present:
E Andrews (EAA)
Marc Day (MBD)
The minutes of the 8th meeting held on 29th November 2022 were approved.
Matters arising: Minutes of meetings of the church charity and the Glass Community Website. EAA pointed out that there was now no reference to the church on the community website and asked if this was a new policy. MBD assumed that it was a mistake on the community website and that he would enquire.
EAA stated that the advertising suggested in the meeting should be put on hold until the toilet work was completed.
The window repairs already committed to and funded are due to commence with a site visit by the repairers on 15th May to discuss arrangements for scaffolding etc.
EAA presented the treasurer’s report together with a cash flow forecast for the next 3 months. This forecast indicates that the trust is able to meet its commitments for the period. The previous forecast stating that insurance was expected to rise to about £2700 was in reality an underestimate by nearly £500 reflecting the state of the insurance industry as nothing had changed in the trust’s conditions and no claims had been made. The possibility of asking for outside help in funding this insurance was discussed and it was agreed that enquiries would be made.
The need for a drainage engineer’s report had been investigated by EAA with the architect and it was confirmed that none was needed given the agreement to link into an existing septic tank, this being reflected in the cash flow forecast.
It was pointed out that Gift Aid had been successfully claimed from HMRC and the monies received in the trust’s bank account.
HMRC had notified the trust that they required a tax return for the calendar year 2022. EAA stated that he felt it beyond his ability to produce such a return and that he had asked about 7 accounting firms to provide a quotation for doing this. Two larger organisations replied refusing and one other quoted a price of £270 to carry out the work, nothing was heard from the remainder. It was decided to proceed with the firm that had responded.
Discussion about the quotations received for the work on the proposed toilet took place. The formal planning permission had been given by the council and communicated to the trust on 28th March nearly 3 months later than expected owing to extra requirements for tree surveys made belatedly by the council. The tree survey recommended that all the trees in question (surrounding an old mill pond and the site of the existing septic tank to be linked to) be cut down for safety reasons. This was done at the land owners cost.
The planning permission came with the usual building conditions but also included a condition requiring the employment of an archaeologist to be on site during any excavation work. Requests for estimates for the construction work had been put in place after receiving the building warrant and requests for quotations for archaeological services had been made on notification of the condition. The relative merits of the estimates received were discussed and the approaches needed for grant applications were also discussed.
Amongst the talk regarding fund raising, the potential sale of books and prints (a large number have already been gifted to the church) was discussed together with the possibility of combining this with fund raising with the hall committee. The conclusion was that it would be better to delay any sale so that it could be held in the church but with possible help from the GCA in the form of voluntary refreshments and other help perhaps over 2 days in the church to show off the new facilities. Perhaps a talk or display about the history of the church might be an attraction. This should be raised and discussed with the GCA.
The trustees then adjourned to the church in order to ensure that potential funding would cover all the intended works. Several items were raised and it was agreed that further estimates would be sought.
Any Other Business: None was raised
It was agreed that the next meeting should be held when progress had been made
There being no further business, the meeting was closed.