Chairman’s Report
It was 12 Months
ago that we finally became a Trust with the ambition of finally
taking full control of the East Neuk Centre Complex before this AGM.
And believe to or not we are very nearly there.
The lease is ready for
signing and we are putting the final touches to our grant
application. Barring unforeseen hiccups we will be a voluntary
centre on 1st April 2012.
Through the year
the three halls have been used more and more. Not only by our
regulars but increasingly by a wide diversity of our community.
As well as our regulars we
have hosted a
number of one off events including weddings, funerals and birthday
parties. One of the most
memorable weddings was a Muslim wedding of the daughter of well a
known local businessman.
We have also hosted a number of funerals, including Humanist
and Quaker. I mention
this purely to demonstrate that our Centre is used for a diverse
range of activities and events in the community.
One thing we
always do after every event is ask the customer what they thought of
the service we give and is there room for improvement. Unanimously
we are told on every occasion that everyone involved gives their
utmost to provide what is asked for. The halls are spotlessly clean,
the service is exceptional and the staff cannot do enough to please.
None of this is down to the trustees or the management committee.
The high standard of service we provide to our community is due
entirely to Lindsey and her team and they deserve our thanks.
However things
have not all been rosy. In January the Trust met with Fife Council
officers who informed us that Centre Supervisors post would be
withdrawn from all Community Centers in Fife and if we wished to
employ our own Centre supervisor/ manager we would receive a grant
equal to only 50% of that persons wage.
Not long after, all seven community centers in Fife that had
centre supervisors met to fight this decision.
We were all grateful for the support of a number of
Councillors and Helen Rorrison from VONEF. However this change has
gone through. What does
this mean for us? Basically
we need to work harder to raise funds to cover this unexpected cost.
But it is a challenge we
take on willingly because we believe that we deserve the very best
community centre and we will do all we can to make it so.
The accounts look
a little different to normal and I will talk on them in detail
later. Basically before 8th August we were the East Neuk
Community Association and after 8th August we are the
East Neuk Centre Trust. Hence two sets of accounts.
At this stage I would like to thank Chris Smith BSc LCIE who
made sense of the figures, producing two sets of accounts and has
provided invaluable guidance on our finances.
As for the
future, we continue to work with other groups and individuals in the
community, other hall committees and many others to further develop
the Centre so we can truly say that we are putting the heart back
into our community.
Finally I would
like to thank Cllr Elizabeth Riches for putting up with my many
increasingly frustrating e
mails signed by” rant over” ,
for Gus who is so patient when we get
yet another form to fill in and finally my fellow trustees
who put so much voluntary time in behind the scenes and for no
thanks.
Martin Dibley,
Chairman East Neuk Centre Trust