Brook Farm Residents Association

Neil & Debbie Thomson, Frank McGowan, Lorraine & Andy Rodway, Ian Tickle, Alison Norman, Terry Barrow and Brenda Gibberd.

Apologies were received from Kurt Norman and Tracy.

Frank circulated a copy of the October accounts which had not changed very much since last month.  We have a current bank balance of £553.61 to which should be added some petty cash, making a total of £711.64.  Lorraine mentioned she has a further £20 which is to pay for the burgers used at the Hubbards/Bright Close party.  There may be a small amount to come from membership fees, but almost everyone has now been canvassed.  Andy said he and Lorraine would go back to several houses which were missed in an attempt to get a few more members on board.

Neil and Debbie have purchased sweets and soft drinks for the children’s Halloween disco together with the bottle of whisky and two bottles of wine for Barry to give to Andy, the caretaker at the Market Hall. Their total spend is around £110 and they will let Frank have the receipt for reimbursement.

So far it looks as if we have sold about 64 tickets for the October Music Night. Concern was expressed that we could find ourselves unable to pay for everything, but the general opinion was that ticket sales on the door and the income from the bar would provide more than enough for our needs.  We need to have £500 for the band and £150 for the bar staff. We also need enough in the bank to pay for the beer – 1 keg of premium lager, 2 of normal Carling or Carlsberg type lager and one keg of Adnams Ale, e.g. Broadside.  Tracy will order this and any spirits that are required.  Terry will telephone Tracy shortly to discuss what stock we still hold from previous events and what she feels we need to buy.  We have not paid a deposit to the band so the whole £500 will be needed on the night. To ensure funds are available for this, it was suggested that Tracy be given a £200 float and a further £100 would be held by one of the committee members.  The balance will come out of door and bar takings. We also need to find £95 for the Halloween Disco. Frank will raise a cheque.

AR & LR

BJ

TB

FM

4.1

4.2

Terry has been worried about our poor financial position and the meeting discussed whether there was any more we could do to promote the Music Night.  It was suggested that we have an A-board outside the Market Hall on the day. We have one of these stored in our lock-up. Debbie undertook to ask if the Primary School Newsletter could contain something about the Music Night as well as the Halloween event for the children.  Tracy has e-mailed Brenda to confirm she is available to set up the bar on Friday night and she needs to know at what time we will have access to the Market Hall. Barry has said that he will ensure there is access to the hall the night before to set up. We also need to clarify who are the bar staff. Terry will talk to Tracy about this when he speaks with her.

In view of the state of our finances, there was a discussion about whether or not we should increase the price of a pint from its present level of £2.50 and also put up the price of spirits and splits.  It was decided, however, that one of the attractions of the Music Night is the cheaper drinks and we would keep prices at the present level. To make sure we get the best possible margins, Frank undertook to contact Adnams to query whether we are getting a preferential price, as originally agreed with them.

Halloween

Neil and Debbie have matters in hand and will be assisted by Hayley, Tom, Holly and Alison on the day.

Summer  2010 Event

There was a brief discussion about the possibilities for this but as we have several other events before that time it was agreed any decisions should be deferred.  Terry pointed out that if we decide to have some form of music, we need to be careful that we do not get involved in performing rights charges. We could still have music but not of a formal nature, e.g. Amateur groups would be acceptable.

DT

TB

FM

Ian had nothing to add to his report last month and, as stated in the Treasurers Report above, it is hoped we may be able to secure a few more members.

6.1

6.2

Frank has received an approach from a lady involved in the raffle at the October Music Night.  She indicated they would like to do something a bit different  and something along the lines of “pass the parcel” was mentioned.  The meeting felt the latter suggestion was a bit impractical, but if the raffle organisers want to vary from a

standard raffle format, we have no objection in principle.  Terry said he will give her a ring about this.

Parking in Brook Farm Road

Since the last meeting, we have all received the survey questionnaire from the Council. As it it a good idea for BFRA keep themselves informed as to what is going on (if anything), Neil will look up the Council’s web site to see if they elaborate about what is their reasoning behind the survey and if he finds nothing there he will give them a ring.

TB

NT

7.

Date of next meeting

Tuesday 17^th November 2009, 8pm at The Bell.