Chairman Remarks 24th February 2010

Good evening and welcome to this our fourth AGM of Crocketford Community Initiative.
We are holding this AGM later this time as our yearly accounting is to the end of January and we felt that completed accounts could then be presented.

The format for tonight`s AGM will be slightly different than in previous years in that late last year we amended the Constitution to allow Directors to serve for three years before coming up for re-election. Therefore there will be no Director elections this evening since the current Directors are happy to continue in office. However should any of CCI members wish to become directors they can approach us regarding being co-opted. We are allowed to co-opt a maximum of 3 additional directors. Our new directors (Annie Wilson and Heather McSkimming) who came on board at the last AGM have entered into the spirit of things wholeheartedly and have been a great asset to CCI. I am sure if you want to speak with them they will give you a bit of background and hopefully some encouragement.   Anyone in the hall who is not already a CCI member and wants to become one can pick up a membership form, available from Maggie Hopkins tonight.

Highlights of the Past Year

The Christmas Advent Calendar (December 2008, yes we are going that far back) proved to be a big success. The draw took place on Sunday 21 Dec. At our Very Merry Christmas Coffee event ???
Our Spring Fayre in May once more proved very profitable with large numbers of customers buying plants grown by Mr Greenfingers himself Bob Riddick. Other stalls also did good business and I must give thanks to all Directors and Members who worked very hard to make it such a success.
We know that our valued modest member Rita Riddick does not like to have her name mentioned in despatches but I would like to extend a big thank you to Rita and her outside catering team who were again, over the last year, in action at The Spring Fling for Amanda Simmons Corsock Glass in May and again at the Barfil Open Doors event the last weekend in September. These events demanded a lot of work and time from the volunteers and bakers involved and generated substantial sums toward the hall renewal programme.

On Sunday 21 June 2009 Crocketford Community Initiative (CCI) organised “a bit of a do” to mark the achievements to date in the Anderson Memorial Hall renewal project.   Amongst those invited to come along and see the improvements to the hall were local residents; representatives of firms who had worked on the project; local councillors and community councillors and people from statutory and non-statutory organisations who had assisted the CCI to reach this stage. Everyone who attended seemed impressed with the significant progress that had been made.

From June to September we once again held our Sunday morning coffee mornings. Thanks to the “barbecue summer” weather that was predicted, and failed to materialise, we only managed about three mornings outside. This however did not stop people from coming and having a good old chinwag. Many thanks to all who baked, served and attended these enjoyable get-togethers which we will continue this year. We hope the weather this year is kinder but whatever the climate throws at us the welcome will be warm.

We had a well attended Homemade Bread, Soup & Sweet luncheon on the 6th December 2009. Various soups were provided and all were delicious – the sweets were equally good. I`m sure many of us (including Jimmy Gemmel) could not face our tea that night after eating what we had. Many requests were made for a follow up event to be held and we will try to organise this. Thanks to all who provided and all who consumed.
The Sunday before Christmas found us gathering at the hall for seasonal cheer and the drawing of the Christmas Raffle. We had a good turnout and a good time was had by all.

In Jan this year Graeme and Brian, ably assisted by Averill, Carolyn and team held another very successful and extremely well attended quiz night. Winners this time were the Numbskulls (known to you as the Botel`s and the Hamilton’s). I think we need some handicap system in future. The sum of £105 was raised. This quiz has proved very popular and we have received many requests to make it a regular event. Since we always bow to popular opinion Graeme & Brian and team have kindly agreed to put on another quiz on Friday 23 April - further details to follow.

At the beginning of this year there was considerable anxiety around the completion of returns for The Office of Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR). They had changed the format of their annual return to quite a complex form. Since we are a Company as well as a Charity our return was much more complicated than in previous years. We were not immediately notified of this and had to work hard at short notice to meet a tight deadline for this return and I would like to thank the group involved in facilitating this (Kathy, Christine, Maggie, Ann and Beth).   Having completed this paperwork this year we know what is required next time round which will make it easier for all.

WEBSITE

Each successive year I find myself realising what an important contribution member Richard Hopkins plays in our communications within CCI. Not only does he maintain and regularly update our website, he also photographs all our events, sets up the computer and projector for our race nights and is setting up a sound system in the hall, He even allows his better half to be our secretary. Again thank you Richard. www.crocketford.org

Progress to Hall Renewal

Are you feeling comfortable and warm? Yes – good - then that means the new heating system is working. Vice Chair Ann Botel spent many hours developing the application for grant funding through the Energy Trust and as you can see came through for us as usual. The system is very efficient and also extremely cost effective. We have also re-roofed and re-insulated the side of the hall above the toilets and kitchen as well as lowering and insulating the main hall ceiling. To this end we are greatly indebted to John Baxter, joiner, who in respect to his family’s ties to the village gave an excellent quote for these jobs. Interesting fact – while we had the strip lighting down we replaced all the tubes and starters – the first time this had been done since they were installed 40+ years before and no one remembers having to replace a tube in all that time. As you can see the hall has had a paint facelift as well due in the main to the Hamilton family and weekend paint party volunteers. Great job, well done - to strange musical accompaniment!!
So what`s left to do – well - floor in main hall is the next priority and GOOD NEWS – Ann (again) has helped secure a grant of about £7,500 from D&G Council which we will match fund ourselves and the new floor should be completed this summer. Once the big job of the floor has been undertaken the only major work still to be completed is the hatch (oh sorry, that just slipped out) actually it is the upgrading of our toilet facilities.

Organisations Using the Hall

The hall is used by Rural, Guid Cronies, Urr Community Council, Dumfries and Galloway Council and of course ourselves. In addition we have a weekly Dance Group and the small cloakroom at the front of the hall is now home to the Post Office twice a week. Once the floor is renewed and the toilets refurbished I feel we should actively promote the hall for hire for conferences, training and the like since local provision has recently reduced. Our Hall can easily accommodate 100+ people.

Future Events

We hope to organise a dance early in the year
Quiz Night 23rd April
June Jamboree will replace the traditional May Fayre.
We hope to have a further race night in the not too distant future
There has been interest registered in resurrecting Crocketford Gala – anyone interested in this please make arrangements to attend a CCI meeting and we can work out what support we can give. Perhaps CCI could organise a dance to coincide with the end of a Gala week or something.
If you have any suggestions for other activities or events please pass these on to one of the Directors.
I should like to thank team CCI for all their help and support over what I think you will agree has been a very successful year.