Community Meeting - Minutes
9th February 2010

NOTES OF THE COMMUNITY MEETING HELD ON:

Date: Tuesday, 9 February 2010
Time: 7.00 pm
Venue: Action Deafness, Welford Road, Leicester

TRUSTEE REPRESENTATIVES:
Kevin Watts (Chair), Colin Henson - Trustee, Craig Crowley - Chief Executive, John Duddington, Roland Hilton

APOLOGIES:
Alison Hicking, David Mumford - Trustee, Eric Waweru - Treasurer, Austin Reeves

IN ATTENDANCE:
John Lee (Interpreter), Peter Shilston (Interpreter)

  1. WELCOME
    The Chair welcomed all to the meeting and asked attendees what they would like to discuss and the best way to proceed following on from the meeting of 26 January 2010.

    1.1 Trustee Appointment
    It was noted that Andrew Neil had been accepted for appointment as a Trustee. His application was currently being processed.

  2. BUSINESS OF THE MEETING
    David Sly indicated that representatives from the various User Groups had given feedback following the last Community Meeting on 26 January 2010. He added that some attendees had been angry and confused following the meeting and had requested clarification on various issues.

    2.1 Draft Minutes of the Annual General Meeting (12 January 2010)
    DS referred to the draft Minutes of the Annual General Meeting of 12 January 2010 and requested that they be amended. Colin Henson confirmed that a footnote could be added to the Draft AGM Minutes and DS undertook to forward a form of words to be incorporated to reflect the feeling from the floor that the deaf community had preferred a deaf Chair and that Kevin Watts had taken the Chair for the AGM. ACTION: DS

  3. NEW PREMISES
    David Sly referred to the discussion at the last meeting at which it had been stated that Action Deafness would be moving in six months, despite the lack of consultation with the deaf community. This had raised numerous queries:
    • How £1.1M has been spent over the last three years?
    • Steve Crump stated that he had raised £1M for projects; this has caused confusion inasmuch as this is seen as available finance for Action Deafness.
    • The Deaf Club feel they have a right to know about financial issues and about Action Deafness Ltd.
    • The Special Needs group (Wednesdays) will close

    4. The deaf community would like assurances that Action Deafness will continue and their needs will be met.

    Colin Henson confirmed that the deaf clubs that use the premises would not close and that for commercial reasons, in order to safeguard the services provided, Action Deafness needed to save money. The Treasurer was currently preparing information, that would be shared with the deaf community, to explain how and why Action Deafness had arrived at the current financial situation, taking into account the significant drop in revenue as a result of losing major income from the Local Authority.

    Colin Henson confirmed that Action Deafness had approximately £300K in reserves. He confirmed that Trustees were volunteers and were not salaried and did not receive expenses for attending meetings. The meeting referred to the current financial situation and why the deaf community were not made aware of the situation before. CH stated that he could not answer on behalf of the previous Board but that the current Board had recognised the dilemma and had taken the necessary action resulting in the current consultation with the deaf community and the hope that the situation would be resolved to everyone’s satisfaction. It was noted that the salary bill had been reduced considerably over the last two years.

    David Sly asked that the deaf community had some involvement in the Company's finances once the building had been sold. Colin Henson stated his hope that by 2011 the Company would be in a break even point but would strive to reach that point as early as possible. He added that the deaf community would be kept well informed if this was not possible to achieve. CH referred to the income generated by Steve Crump and explained that this was for specific projects, not for Action Deafness generally. He added that Action Deafness Ltd is a company limited by guarantee which means it is a limited company in its own right and Action Deafness as a charity would not be affected should the business not succeed.

    Colin Henson referred to the sale of the building and stressed the need to sell as soon as possible so as to remove the current financial burden and then take the opportunity to move forward. However, Action Deafness needed to market the property as widely as possible to ensure the best possible price and would certainly not take the first offer made. An agent was about to be appointed and it was hoped that Action Deafness would realise in excess of £1M (noting the current depressed economic climate). It was noted that Leicester Tigers may show an interest.

    David Sly had notified CH of the requirements of the various user groups which would be discussed with the working group (ie, size, location, facilities, Health and Safety requirements). The deaf community had discussed and agreed that facilities on one level would be preferable, however, office accommodation, for example, might be located on a second floor.

    Colin Henson stated that whoever bought the building would decide on its future, ie, whether it would be knocked down.

    Colin Henson confirmed that Action Deafness staff would move to the new premises. However, their location and the location of the user groups would very much depend on the suitability of premises and facilities. It was hoped that the sale and rent/purchase of alternative premises would take lace in tandem so as to continue operating.

    Working Group: The Working Group, which will meet more regularly than the Community Group, will be made aware of developments as early as possible and they can then disseminate all the information as widely as possible within the deaf community. CH confirmed that the purpose of the working group is to listen to the requirements of all user groups, collate their responses and endeavour to meet their requirements in the new premises. David Sly welcomed the opportunity for the deaf community to be part of the working group. He suggested that five representatives would be adequate and that they were happy to meet every two weeks, in addition to the community meeting because there would still be issues to be discussed by the wider deaf community. DS undertook to let CH have the names of the representatives who would attend the working group meetings. CH also undertook to provide to DS the names of Trustees who would be involved in the working group, including Kevin Watts and John Duddington. ACTION: DS/CH

    The Church: The Archdeacon had been contacted with regard to the Church and it was hoped that a representative would attend the community meeting on 2 March 2010.

    Social Services: Had also been contacted, it was noted that they required three months notice but were currently undergoing a restructure themselves. A meeting had been arranged with the Director of Adult Social Care and it was hoped that a representative would attend the community meeting on 2 March 2010.

    Reserves: Colin Henson confirmed that agents' fees would need to be paid upon the sale of the building and that these would be negotiated in terms most favourable to Action Deafness so the reserve fund would not be utilised.

    Pick Everard: Colin Henson confirmed that one of the Trustee is employed by Pick Everard, but that this did not have any bearing whatsoever on decisions that the Board had made or will make in the future. He also confirmed that there is no conflict of interest in this situation. Should such a conflict of interest arise in a meeting the Trustee in question would be excused.

  4. DATE OF NEXT MEETING

Date: 2 March 2010 (changed to 9th March at request from the Community)
Time: 7.00 pm
Venue: Action Deafness, Welford Road.

A meeting of the Working Group would take place prior to this meeting.

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