By: HAA Admin
MINUTES OF THE ANNUAL MEETING HILLINGDON ARTS ASSOCIATION
18TH JULY 2023, AT THE CIVIC CENTRE, HILLINGDON
1. PRESENT
Lydia Holland, Trustee, Chair H.A.A, Hillingdon Philharmonic Orchestra
Sylvia Taylor, Trustee, Acting Minute Secretary, Argosy Players
Fred Davis, Trustee, Web Master and Membership Secretary
Jenny Thorne, Trustee, Hillingdon & Harrow Embroiderers
Sheila Scoates, Trustee, Hillingdon U23A Singers
Richard Fremantle, Treasurer
Daivd Pearson, Proscenium Players
Sheena Rosser Hillingdon Artists
Lyn Kauffman, Ruislip Lions
Joan Scoates, Pastiche Musical Theatre
Michelle Needleman, Uxbridge Coral Society, Sine Nomine Singers
Ron Webb, Voices in Accord
Gloria Webb, Voices in Accord
Maggie Warren, Pastiche Musical Theatre
Gaynor Lasch, Ickenham, Art Society
Wolf Lasch, Ickenham Art Society
Tim Leman, Argosy Players
Susan Harman, Argosy Players
Keith Webb, Argosy Players
David Axtell, Argosy Players
Esther Watson, Guest
Gerri Green, Argosy Players
2. APOLOGIES
Jan Scurr – Harefield Amateur Dramatic Society)
Barbara Porkett – Society of Ruislip Artists) –clash of meeting clash
Joyce Carpenter – Society of Ruislip Artists)
Judy Kelly – health (going to hospital)
TP Singh – Punjabi Theatre Academy
Pam Currin – away on Holiday
3. WELCOME
Lydia Holland welcomed His Worship the Mayor Councillor Shehryar Almed-Wallana and Honorary President of the H.A.A and invited him to present Certificates of Merit to Sheila Scoates, Award Officer the H.A.A and David Axtell of Argosy Players respectively for their outstanding contributions to the organisations nominating them for this year’s Awards.
4. PRESENTATION OF MERIT AWARDS
Sheila Scoates, Arts Award Officer read the Citation for David Axtell, a long time members of Argosy Players whose contribution to the Society included designing sets, making props, assisting in the production of sets, performing, writing sketches and a full length play for the society to perform immediately after Lock Down. He has designed posters and costumes for plays and pantomimes and is currently writing a Pantomime Pinoccio to be performed by the Society in 2025. Argosy wished to publicly recognise his outstanding contribution to the club and for his humour, warmth and support of others.
Jenny Thorne, former Awards Officer, read Sheila Scoates Citation which recognised her stirling work in producing Minutes of all meetings of the Association when she was able, and following injury to both wrists had taken on the organisation of refreshments for meetings, and more recently the Parking permits for those attending meetings. For the past two years she has taken the role of Award Officer and the Trustees are delighted to recognise her most supportive role as a Trustee and members of the Executive Board of the Association.
Following the Presentations the Mayor welcomed members of the HAA and proceeded to Chair the Annual Meeting of members.
4. NOMINATIONS OF TRUSTEES
The retiring Trustees and Officers of the Association, Lydia Holland, Sylvia Taylor, Sheila Scoates, Jenny Thorne, Fred Davis and Richard Fremantle all indicated their willingness to stand and were re-elected nem com.
Sylvia Taylor will continue to act as Minutes Secretary but would be very pleased to relinquish the role if someone could be found to replace her.
5. MINUTES OF THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING HELD 11TH JULY 2022
Copy of the Meeting having been circulated to Members present were approved nem com. A copy of the Minutes will appear on the HAA website.
6. PRESENTATION OF ACCOUNTS FOR APRIL 2022 to MARCH 2023
Unfortunately the Accounts presented to the meeting were not those up to the year end but for the period ended 31st December 2022. These Accounts did not show the amount of £10,000 which has now been placed in a Lloyds Deposit account which, unlike in recent years, is now showing interest, not more recent income and expenditure. The Secretary apologised to the meeting for this error and promised to forward the correct Accounts as soon as possible.
However, the Treasurer Richard Fremantle, having been unable to have the End of Year accounts scrutinised by the Examiner as she had been indisposed of late, said that before circulating the correct Accounts he will have them examined so members can be assured of their accuracy.
The members present confirmed the appointment of ………………………… to be Examiner of the Accounts.
7. CHAIR’S ANNUAL REPORT 2022/23
Trustees
Last year we reported that Jenny Thorne would be leaving the borough, but her plans changed and she has not moved away, so we have been very pleased that she has agreed to remain as a Trustee as long as she continues to live here. Sheila Scoates, who took on the role of Awards officer last year, has continued with this and Sheila also arranges the meeting rooms for the Quarterly and Annual meetings. As reported last year, Fred Davis continues to manage the database, assisted by his son Steven. Sylvia Taylor has decided that she needs to cut down a little, so has resigned as Joint Chair, but instead has taken on most of the Secretary duties. Fortunately Richard Fremantle has agreed to continue as Treasurer and has been working on managing the HAA’s capital, as earning interest once again becomes possible. Lydia Holland is therefore de facto Chair and for the last few months has been able to send important information to members using a mailing list supplied by Fred.
Membership
The website records 49 member societies and there are also some individual members. As reported last year, subscriptions were suspended during covid, but have been payable again for the year ending 2022-23. We will continue to encourage societies to join and pay a subscription through the current year.
Meetings
Quarterly meetings have been held and the minutes are available on the HAA website.
Relationship with Hillingdon Council
Hillingdon Arts Association has been very greatly saddened by the recent actions of Hillingdon Borough Council. We all know that there were many unforeseen expenses brought about by covid, but we did imagine that as the country pulled itself out of the mire of lockdowns, the voluntary sector would get some help from the authorities to support all that we do to engage and support residents, whether as creators, as participants, or as audience. It is very well known that £££s spent for the community through voluntary organisations go further and produce better financial results than money that goes directly to professional providers, because, by definition, volunteers provide their time, their expertise and experience for free.
In Hillingdon our Council has decided to hit all the voluntary sectors very hard.
In our sector, the Arts grants that have been available for 40 years have been withdrawn – and we know that other charity sectors have suffered in the same way.
Charges for hire of Council premises including meeting rooms and theatres, have been raised by 30% since April 2023. This is overwhelming and outrageous, greatly above the level of inflation. Many performing societies, in particular, have to plan their budgets years in advance. These sudden changes, only hinted at late in 2022, have been crippling, even fatal, for some organisations.
The most recent cruel change, only recently revealed, is that while HAA member societies are charged the “residents’ rate” for theatre hire – this is the commercial residents’ rate. We are not allowed the “concessionary rate” as this is now only available for events put on by the Council – eg events organised by the Library. This change is beyond comprehension. All HAA performing societies should be offered the concessionary rate because of the public service we offer; but there is simply no excuse for not offering it to registered charities.
We have been at a loss to understand why the Cabinet seemed so unaware of the damage they are causing. However, on closer examination, the reason leaps out: there is no Arts Strategy. The new LBH Council strategy manages to mention Arts and Culture on the front page, but there is nothing further in the document and at the time of writing (July 2023) not even a start has been made on the first, simple step of setting out the strategy. Of course the Arts do not fit into any of the silos of council management – because they have a part in every aspect of our lives, including mental and physical health, education, buildings, events and of course planning and finance. There is thus “no one” employed by the Council who can prepare the strategy. This is very sad, because there are a number of excellent officers who are doing what the Arts Strategy would include every day of their working lives, and who have both the ability and the knowledge to write it – if they were allowed to.
The HAA would be only too happy to collaborate and draw together all the excellent inputs that are available.
As a first step, members are encouraged to note AGM Agenda item 8 “Member Societies are invited to present their Statement Post Covid and Loss of Arts Funding by Hillingdon Council and the Impact on their societies (Written Reports to be no longer than 500 words)” and submit an impact statement.
Lydia Holland thanked the Mayor for Chairing the 2023 Annual Meeting and hoped he would support many of the musical, theatrical and artistic events organised by HAA members and the voluntary Arts Sector.
LMH July 2023
7. The date of the 2004 Annual Meeting is July 2024
8. This concluded the business of the 2021/2022 Annual Meeting at 8.55 pm. After a short refreshment break it was followed by a Quarterly Meeting of the Association.