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Midsomer Norton & Service Vehicle Trust (Registered Charity No 276166)

Minutes of Annual General Meeting held on Thursday 8 November 2018

Held at Midsomer Norton Methodist Centre

Present

Melvyn Johnson (Chairman), Nick Rogers (Vehicle Manager), Dick Whittington (WERN), Ralph Plummer (Driver Rep), Tony Walsh (Driver), Paul Riley (Driver), Carol Price (Midsomer Norton Methodist Church), Natalie Freeth (Secretary), Mary Byrne (Radstock Luncheon Club), John Bowell ( Methodist Church), Derek Livsey (Lions), Valerie Humphries (Peasedown Meth. Lunch Club), Rob Porter and Reid Speirs (Rotary) and Margaret Johnson (Minute Secretary)

Apologies

David Shearn (Secretary/Treasurer), Debbie Gunfield (Co-ordinator), Stephen Powell (Committee Member and Trustee), Keith Pursey, Golden Oldies, Paul Craddock, Timsbury Over 60’s, Chris Freeth, Andy Strong, Hazel Bowell, Catherine Whybrow, Sally Bown.

1. Minutes of AGM held on 26 October 2017

John Bowell proposed and Derek Livesey seconded that these were a true record.

2. Matters Arising

There were no matters arising.

3. Chairman’s Report

Melvyn welcomed everyone to the 2018 Annual General Meeting, whether they were a user, a driver, a sponsor or a supporter. He thanked everyone for coming and taking an interest in the trust and the minibus we ran. He also welcomed Ron Hopkins, Vice Chair of Westfield Parish Council who had agreed to say a few words about the work of the council and related matters at the end of the formal business.

Melvyn reported the loss of a couple of drivers during the year but two new drivers had come on board and he thanked Colin Hobbs and Tony Walsh for volunteering.

The minibus was present at the Midsomer Norton Town Fayre, with the hope of publicizing ourselves and hoped it would be an opportunity for any drivers that had thought about volunteering to have a chat. The bus was manned all day by Debbie our Co-ordinator and at various times by other members of the committee. The response for drivers was very small and at the end of the day we failed to attract any new drivers, but the day had not been wasted as Natalie, the wife of Chris, one of our drivers, agreed to assist with the secretarial duties.

As regards the clubs we served sadly one had to close and another was in jeopardy. New business was welcomed and we aimed to help as many clubs and groups as we could.

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Melvyn was invited to attend The Somer Valley Forum, a meeting of local councils, associations, and the various local transport groups, who were asked to give a small presentation on their role in local transport. Melvyn also attended a presentation on the proposed Clean Air Zone for Bath, to be implemented in 2020, and what impact it might have on local transport groups.

David, our Secretary/ Treasurer, having found someone to assist with the secretarial duties was now looking for someone to take over the Treasurer’s job, so if anyone knew of any budding Chancellors of the Exchequer, could they point them our way.

Finally Melvyn thanked members of the Committee for all their hard work, all the drivers for their time and effort they put in and users, drivers, sponsors and supporters of the minibus scheme now in its 52nd year.

4. Co-ordinator’s Report

Although Debbie was absent she had sent her report which was read out by Melvyn.

Debbie reported that for the months of July and August the minibus had travelled a total of 755 miles, made 25 journeys and was used by 13 organisations which resulted in 6,311 passenger miles.

It had been a difficult summer with many drivers on holiday and having to cover regular bookings but, thankfully, now there were two new drivers things would be easier.

There was now a total of 12 drivers, six driving for regular groups and six to cover all other driving jobs that came in.

5. Vehicle Manager’s Report

Nick read his report as follows:-

Our minibus is approaching its fourth birthday and has covered just over 16,000 miles. There have been no surprises in relation to servicing, maintenance and repairs in the last year.

We have a tried and tested system of inspection and maintenance in place which consists of: a) a prescribed vehicle condition check by the driver prior to each use with any faults found being brought to my attention for investigation and rectification; b) a safety inspection (similar to an MOT test) carried out every ten weeks as required under our Section 19 Operating Permit; c) an annual service in accordance with the manufacturer’s recommendations; d) an annual MOT test as required by law; e) inspection, maintenance and weight testing of the passenger lift every six months as required by the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998; f) inspection and testing of the fire extinguishers every twelve months as required under our Section 19 Operating Permit; g) ad-hoc inspection by myself;

In November last year the minibus sustained damage caused by a large piece of timber which we can only assume fell from a passing lorry. Whilst an alarming situation for both our driver and passengers thankfully no one sustained any injuries. Repairs were required to the front end body work and a

3 replacement radiator was required. Regrettably, this meant that we had to disappoint a few of our clients whilst this work was carried out. We are however thankful to our insurers and their appointed repairers for getting us back on the road in just over a week. Unfortunately, this did cost us the excess on our insurance policy of £150. During the year I have arranged for new drivers joining us to be assessed and for existing drivers to be re-assessed every three years under the Minibus Driver Awareness Scheme (MIDAS). This is a national scheme operated by the Community Transport Association (CTA) to ensure that drivers are competent and remain so. These assessments are kindly carried out for us by Bath and North East Council to whom we are grateful. In addition, I have delivered in-house familiarisation training for new drivers and refresher training in the use of the passenger tail lift where required.

I keep up to date on matters of legislation through the Community Transport Association and where appropriate provide information and advice to the management committee and to drivers. Driver licence checking is carried out every six months and at the same time drivers are invited to sign a declaration to declare, amongst other things, that they are medically fit to drive and are conversant with their responsibilities and conditions of use as determined by the Section 19 Permit under which we operate.

Other areas of work this year include the ongoing review of health & safety and risk assessment, preparation of policies, procedures and privacy notices under General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR), preparatory work on setting up a web site to improve access to information by our volunteers and routine updating of the Driver’s Handbook.

6. Secretary/Treasurer’s Report

David had sent his report which was read out.

Copies of the Full Accounts were available on application.

Hiring income was reduced, partly due to bad weather and the occasional driver unavailability. However, the vehicle and administration costs were reduced thus achieving a break even for the financial year.

An unexpected donation of £5,000 had been received from the Medlock Trust which, by agreement, was put into the minibus replacement reserve.

We were grateful for Bath and North East Somerset Council for continuing to give us a small grant which helped with the cost of insurances. In line with local authority pronouncement, this would be reducing in following years.

The Investment with COIF Charities had performed well, in line with market conditions. As explained last year, this was a medium term investment to go towards the purchase of the next vehicle in 4 – 5 years’ time.

More legislation had affected us, and most charities, in the form of the General Data Protection Regulations which Nick reported on.

We were sad to learn that the longstanding Thursday Club had recently ceased. The Club was a regular hirer since the Trust’s formation and this will have an effect on future finances. More regular and one-off bookings were needed.

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The process of updating the Trust history had come to a halt but was hoped it would be available before Christmas. The usual Newsletter should also be available.

David had agreed to continue for one more year as Treasurer but the Trust needed to be looking for his successor. Natalie Freeth had agreed to be our new Secretary. He thanked Natalie.

7. Adoption of Accounts for the Year ended 30 April 2017

Ralph Plummer proposed and Carol Price seconded that these Accounts be adopted.

8. Election of Officers 2017-2018 (Trustees: Melvyn Johnson, John Bowell, Stephen Powell, David Shearn, Carol Price)

Proposer Seconder

Chairman Melvyn Johnson Carol Price John Bowell Co-ordinator Debbie Gunfield Derek Livesey Carol Price/ Mary Byrne Vehicle Manager Nick Rogers Paul Riley Carol Price Secretary Natalie Freeth Carol Price/ John Bowell Valerie Humphries Treasurer David Shearn Natalie Freeth Carol Price Committee Members Voted en bloc Valerie Humphries Peasedown Lunch} Club } Derek Livsey Radstock and MSN} John Bowell Mary Byrne/ Lions Club } Natalie Freeth Ralph Plummer Driver } Carol Price Midsomer Norton} Methodists } Independent Paul Craddock Melvyn Johnson Ralph Plummer Examiner

10. Any Other Business

There was no other business.

After the close of business, Ron Hopkins, Vice Chairman of Westfield Parish Council congratulated the Community Vehicle and hoped it would long continue. It was used frequently in the Westfield area and was a boon to lonely people. Westfield was the newest Parish Council being formed in 2011 and was the first Council to be awarded the Quality Award Neighbourhood Plan of 2011. Following Ron’s talk, discussion between Ron and various attendees took place covering various topics regarding Westfield and community transport. Melvyn thanked Ron for attending and the meeting closed.