Minutes of Annual General Meeting of New Milton Memorial Centre

Charity no. 1200325

 

Held at the New Milton Memorial Centre on 30th April 2025 starting at 19.00

 

Present;               Peter Parslow (PP) – Trustee

Neil Stevenson (NS) – Trustee

Tony Almeida (TA) – Trustee

 

49 members of the public, 43 of whom signed up on the day to be members, in addition to the three trustees.

Note: The other six stated they live outside the electoral area of New Milton and are therefore welcome but not eligible to be members and vote.

 

Apologies received from:  Matthew Beavan, Centre Manager

 

Note: numbered items in these minutes correspond to the numbered voting items in the agenda.

 

Welcome and introduction

NS welcomed attendees to this first AGM of the “new” charity which had been operating the centre since 1st April 2024.

PP explained the membership and voting process and introduced the first vote, which was needed as an item had been added to the agenda since initial publication.

 

  1. Vote: The members accepted the revised agenda by a show of hands.

 

As Alan Watson had resigned as chair of trustees some months ago, PP proposed Neil Stevenson as chair for the meeting.

 

  1. Vote: The members appointed Neil Stevenson as chair for the meeting

 

PP explained the constitutional arrangements for trustees, that 1/3 stand for re-election at each AGM and that given this is the first AGM, Neil Stevenson would stand down – as the longest serving trustee of the predecessor charity – and had indicated his willingness to be re-elected.

 

3a. Vote: The members appointed Neil Stevenson as a trustee for three years by a show of hands

 

NS explained that the trustees had appointed Anthony (Tony) Almeida as a trustee in October 2023. Such appoints are only valid until the end of the next AGM. Tony Almeida indicated his willingness to continue.

 

3b. Vote: The members appoint Tony Almeida as a trustee for three years by a show of hands

 

Financial presentations

 

In the absence of a treasurer, PP presented an overview of the finances of replacing the roof which had taken place from August to November 2023, and the 2023-24 accounts, which had been externally examined and submitted to the Charity Commission.

 

PP thanked Aaron Lawford and Carole West for their work to prepare the accounts.

 

PP thanked Michael Minton for his work in securing six grants towards the roof replacement, which had covered some £52,000 of the £77,000 cost, with a further £3,000 coming from local donations and specific events. PP also thanked Alan Watson and NMSB for agreeing a discount on materials. He explained that the trustees had decided to meet the balance of £22,000 from the reserve to avoid expectation of shutting the facility after storm damage that winter.

 

PP explained that there had been a further £6,000 reduction in reserves that year, spent on replacing the fire doors, which had been highlighted during a fire risk inspection. He thanked Pete Davis for his voluntary work in the centre as chair of the management committee and doing a lot of repairs and improvements voluntarily, keeping other repair costs down.

 

This had left a balance of just £18,000 at the end of March 2024.

 

PP presented an initial view of the accounts for 2024-25 highlighting that expenditure on salaries and on general maintenance had increased due to the loss of key volunteers such as Pete Davis. This had taken the reserves further down to about £10,000 at the end of March 2025.

In answer to a question: the 10% increase in rental income was about half a price rise and half an increase in usage.

 

Vision and relaunch

 

With Matt Beaven absent, NS presented the vision: to maximise use of our key asset, the Memorial Hall, while retaining facilities for a wide range of community events and bookings. The events programme will operate under the new brand “New Milton Hub” reflecting it being a step towards the Neighbourhood Plan vision of a “cultural and community hub”. So far, eight events are scheduled over the next six months.

 

New Life Church partnership

 

PP presented ongoing discussions with New Life Church regarding a partnership, explaining that this currently focuses on the possibility of a 25 year lease on the upstairs rooms in return for a substantial cash injection to use on necessary and desirable improvements to the structure of the centre. New Life Church would also provide stable regular income through a service charge and regularly renting the Memorial Hall (the main room), every Sunday except Remembrance Sunday.

 

This proposal had been positively received by New Milton Town Council at their meeting in early April, by representatives of the Royal British Legion, by the chair of the New Milton Residents Association (NMRA), and by most of the current hirers.

 

Cllr Alan O’Sullivan confirmed that having looked at the proposal, the council looks forward to the success of the hall’s development.

 

  1. The trustees proposed:

 

“The members agree to authorise the trustees to lease part of the building for 25 years to the New Life Church”

 

Several members expressed a number of concerns:

  • insufficient information to vote on this resolution now
  • insufficient consultation in advance, for example that NMRA had not had time to consider it beyond the view of their chair.
  • 25 years is a long time; perhaps there should be a regular formal review, and/or a shorter lease

PP pointed out that a shorter lease may not be acceptable to the church and would result in much less capital income.

  • New Life Church having exclusive use of both rooms upstairs would reduce available space for other meetings

PP pointed out that only one current hirer of that room could not be accommodated elsewhere at a time convenient for them. From the floor, a church member pointed out that their activities in the centre would increase the use and the diversity of users.

  • A couple of members expressed some concern about letting part of the building to a faith group.

 

Due to these concerns, the trustees withdrew the motion.

 

The meeting agreed that the trustees should consult more widely and provide more detailed information in good time ahead of an Extraordinary General Meeting to be held in a couple of months to re-consider this issue.

 

Update on funding application

As members were beginning to leave, Tony Almeida offered to brief any interested members on the other options including application to the National Lottery Community Fund. Some members stayed to hear that.