The Midlands Churches of Christ

MINUTES OF THE TRUSTEES
THURSDAY 2ND DECEMBER 2004

ATTENDEES: Scott Bryden, Marilyn Dean (chair), Jimmy Ogunshakin and Andrew Torbet
IN ATTENDENCE: Helen Torbet (secretary)
APOLOGIES: none

The meeting began at 7.40pm and opened with a prayer.

  Topic Action
1. Approval of Previous Minutes  
  The Minutes from the previous meeting held on 21st October 2004 were agreed as slightly amended and duly signed by Andrew Torbet who acted as chair for that particular meeting.  
2. Matters Arising  
 
  • A new venue was still to be visited.
 HT
 
  • Books for Trustees - still to be purchased. Two books were chosen - 'A Practioner's Guide to Advising Charities' by Lexis Nexis and 'How to Run a Charity' by ICSA which could be purchased with 'The Charity Trustee's Handbook' at a discount. AT to purchase. Other books could be purchased to fill the gaps at a later stage.
 AT
 
  • CCPAS - Sati Odusanya had gone through the draft policy document and amended in pencil. AT produced this and confirmed that he had yet to fill in a CCPAS application form. HT to retype/amend and pass to Jimmy for proof reading. HT suggested she would delegate this to somebody else for typing, which was agreed
 HT
 
  • It was noted that first aiders were required in the congregation. Volunteers and a suitable course would be sought.
 SB
 
  • Nightsafe - Lloyds had confirmed to SB that they no longer offer the nightsafe facility to new customers. It was agreed that a suitable safe should be acquired in the meantime by HT to allow the short term storage of money (ie until the next working day).
 HT
 
  • Letter to Trevor Dennis - AT confirmed that this had been hand delivered and TD had acknowledged receipt and accepted resignation from the trustees.
  
3. Trust Documentation  
  The amended document was duly signed and witnessed.   
4. Shepherds Items  
  Minutes had been received from the Shepherds Group meetings. It was noted that with regard to the joint meeting due on 4th December, Steve Sharples and Roger Spence had been invited and were expected to attend. An agenda for this joint meeting was then agreed as follows:
1. Wolverhampton Initiative
2. Plans for 1st Quarter of 2005
3. Shepherds Group
4. Staffing Issues
5. Doctrine issues 		 
5. Finances  
  Marilyn Dean raised the issue of her accessing the bank account on-line for the purpose of viewing the statements from the Leicester congregation point of view. However, MD suggested that this was onerous as she had discovered that online banking would allow her to process items on the account, thereby breaking the two-signature authorisation rule. This was something MD did not feel comfortable with and it was therefore thought not a good idea and would not be pursued.  
  MD presented a draft cashflow made up on Excel. A document had also been produced by Ade Desalu, but they did not match even though the same data had been used. This would be looked into. MD
  Various amendments to the headings on the spreadsheet were suggested and a discussion on how we would like to see the accounts set out on paper. This would be fed back to Ade. MD
  The issue of petty cash requirements was raised. A limit of £50 was agreed. Any figure above this would need authorisation by two trustees.  
  MD also brought up the issue of a deposit account being opened to make the best use of our current surplus. Options considered were Lloyds TSB and Stewardship Services and JO would also seek a third option. The results of these enquiries would be discussed at the next meeting. MD/JO
  It was acknowledged that independent accounts would probably need sourcing for auditing purposes at a later stage.  
6. AOB  
 
  • The Shepherds would be asked about the length and schedule of the Christmas Carol Service
 

Helen Torbet
Church Secretary

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