Glusburn Institute

Chairman’s Report 2009

There’s good news! Especially in view of the general effect of the current recession on the voluntary sector. The activities in the building are going from strength to strength.  Last year we had the North Yorkshire Adult Learning Service coming  to use us as a Centre & this year we are expecting the Homestart Charity to have a South Craven base with us, in the Autumn.  In addition we have had an increase in productions from the Glusburn Youth Theatre & the establishment of Weightwatchers as a weekly activity.  Also we have a programme of Sure Start activities aimed at  young families being held in Glusburn Institute, again a new venture for the area. We have been concerned that the Ceilidh Club were moving to Addingham but there is a breakaway group that wants to keep going here, so all being well we won’t lose out.

I think this all really shows the need for a community centre that has a large amount of space and good stage facilities in this part of Craven. With all the local plans for increased housing in due course, this need can surely only increase.

In terms of staff, as a committee, we had to make a decision to cut staff hours in order to balance the books at the end of the financial year.  This was only done for purely financial reasons and as a committee we know we need more hours not less. However Tamsin Headey, as Development Officer, wanted to work fewer hours for family reasons, so that meant we all benefited. Val Harrison also had her cleaning hours cut, but she has been most understanding about it.  We have been really grateful for all the effort & help that Tamsin, Mick, Paula & Val have continued to give us over the year. I’m just sorry we can’t be more generous in our remuneration to them.  Jennie & Danny Wood have also given a tremendous amount of their time to running the bar for events and we are very grateful to them.  The future of the bar management is uncertain at the moment, as Jennie & Danny would like others to come on board.

As trustees, we have been very pleased to welcome Natalie Baxter from Surestart, Margaret Golightly from the Parish Plan Committee and recently Mick Owthwaite who comes from a farming & conservation background.  It is really great to have others on board, to help keep the Institute going as a thriving concern.  We hope they will enjoy working with us.  Other changes are that Philip Ramsden is standing down as Treasurer this year. He has had a very difficult task in keeping us solvent especially when some of us have plenty of ideas for spending money!! I am most grateful to him for keeping us on the straight & narrow for the five years! He has put in a huge number of hours of work on behalf of the Institute & up to finishing in March, I don’t think he ever missed a Management meeting.  I am also very grateful to Roy Attwood as Vice Chairman for all the help & support he has given. He actually has set me quite a challenge, getting my paint brushes & roller cleaner than his!! I’m sure he has some secret formula! Bernard Peel, who has acted as our Secretary, has also done a fantastic job in keeping us organised with the agendas & minutes.  He was responsible for not only most of the arrangements for the really successful Heritage Days but also compiled an excellent book last year on the history of Glusburn Institute, which was launched during the September weekend.  Andy Glen & Spencer Watson are another two volunteers who have given a great deal of their time to helping us in various ways, Andy, with the admin & stewarding, Spencer in winding up the clock every week. A big thank you.  A tremendous amount of volunteer time has again been given by the staff organising the Glusburn Theatre School, Dev Swan is amazing in his enthusiasm & in the commitment that he has given to the young people involved and I’m sure that it will be of great benefit to them as they get older.  Mick & Carole Gott & the rest of their family have also given a huge amount of their time to ensure the success of productions.  Again I can only say how much we appreciate all their help & commitment.

On the building development front, it has been difficult to make really significant progress.  Again we are grateful for the grants from Glusburn Parish Council, Craven District Council & North Yorkshire County Council that has enabled us to start work on renovating the Ground Floor windows and hopefully we will soon go ahead with re-wiring the Ground Floor areas. Every window in the building has had to be separately drawn up, to apply for Listed Building permission in case we need to replace the window itself.  The cost of just replacing all the windows was around £100,000 so we have to do a mix of repair & replacement. Its fantastic though to see what a big difference it makes, when a bit of money has been spent, as in renovating the entrance canopy in Institute Street   We have also received £500 from the Duke of Devonshire Trust that we have earmarked for replacing the ceiling tiles in the main entrance.

Currently we are awaiting the results of applications to Awards for All, which is a bid for £10,000 towards restoring the chapel floor and putting down a covering suitable for dance, the Foundation for Sport & the Arts, which is for £30,000 towards the complete renovation of the chapel, the Arts Council which is for £90,000, partly to subsidise existing arts related activities but also to replace our very inefficient heating system, upgrade the toilets, decorating and other maintenance tasks to keep up the quality of the fabric of the building. This is an unusual grant criterion in that it is aimed at helping arts companies & venues, survive the recession. Normally grants are geared up to developing new activities and therefore are aimed at the greater involvement of local people.  We are also awaiting news from the local Coulthurst Trust.  However In view of the difficulties many local firms are having, we haven’t gone ahead with our ideas for sponsorship this year, although we are applying to Skipton Building Society Charitable Foundation, for an individual microphone system for the theatre school.

In terms of making the building more energy efficient, we have had two sales representatives around to discuss the installation of biomass boilers, which sounds like a good idea.  However to go for the larger & cheaper wood chip option would need a very large space for a boiler, which here would need a new outbuilding to house it.  The second option of a boiler using wood pellets, could possibly fit into the existing boiler house, with the old swimming pool space being used to store the pellets but they recommended that we would still need a back up gas system for flexibility. The outlay for these boilers would be around £60 to £70, 000, approximately double that of a gas system, although of course running costs would be less. The other possible idea would be a ground source heat pump, but again there is a huge capital outlay and there are problems with using up the heat source.  We have currently discounted solar panels & a wind turbine, as it is a listed building.  However we could fairly cheaply & easily put insulation above the ceilings in the halls & probably the chapel, so I will research the possibility of grants for doing this in the near future.

Obviously trying to become more energy efficient is highly desirable & it seems crazy it is so difficult to get grants to cover the complete replacement of the system. Small grants of 10% or so, are really of minimal advantage since most of the money has to be found elsewhere.

Recently, I contacted the Craven District Council Director in charge of Community Strategy and said that the Council should be allowing for infrastructure grants in its budget, as trusts expect this kind of building cost to be a District Council responsibility.  I feel it is one thing for volunteers to take on running & developing activities in a public building, but the District Council must also accept its own financial responsibilities regarding funding basic work needed for access and health & safety.

I personally think that if only we can smarten the place up more & get the building in a better condition, there is plenty of demand going to come in for more activities. To date we have several enquiries for space that we have not been able to accommodate.  Hopefully, since we are normally able to generate our own revenue, unlike other some voluntary groups that are totally dependent on grants, we will be able to survive the recession. However some assistance from the Arts Council and the other funding agencies towards our sustainability, would be invaluable.

We had a bit of a flutter in May & entered a Times competition for having a makeover for a community space. Just under 200 community buildings were nominated and we came 10^th in the national voting. We also had some very nice comments put on their website, which was very encouraging.  We have been represented on the Glusburn & Cross Hills Parish Plan Committee that has been meeting here for the past 18 months.  We have had a very good response rate, over 30% returns, to the questionnaires sent to every household in the village.  I’m hoping that when all the results have been collated, that this will give us the evidence of local support that we need in our bids for grants for this building.

Again I’m really grateful for all the support you’ve all given me in my role.  I think we have had a year with lots to be pleased about!

Gill Birks

Chair