Annual Report presented by the Secretary to the AGM held on Tuesday 23rd February 2010.
Annual Report March 2009 - February 2010.
Activities:-
Regular room hire continues with Tae Kwon Do, Exercise classes, Little Stars Pre-School, Lighthouse Centre, Adult Learning classes, Town Council meetings,
poker group, table-tennis group & gaming group. Occasional room hire for a self-defence course, Road Recovery meetings, and Natalie Nail Techniques has brought
in welcome additional income.
Snooker, pool and table tennis continue to be well used Monday to Friday as well as the popular senior snooker group sessions twice a week. Thanks to all
the seniors, especially those that open and lock up, make the tea and generally help the group to thrive.
‘Stute Teams continued to enter the Hinckley Times Snooker
League, thanks to the organiser of this John Iddon. Team captain’s Alan Liddle and Adam Percival have each lead their teams to a final in a cup competition, well
done to all concerned.
A Snooker Tournament was again organised with a good response from members. The final was a family affair with nephew Jordon Armstrong beating
his uncle Steve Pickering in the final 3 frames to 2 in a close final frame. Thanks to Geoff for organising this.
In recent weeks the gaming group used a Saturday, Geoff Taylor organised to open the snooker hall to coincide with this and it went very well.
Comings and Goings:-
It was with some sadness that we said goodbye to the Montessori School in July 2009, the group operated on 5 mornings a week. The group had run successfully
for 17 years with Mary Statham at the helm.
A new Pre-school called Little Stars has now started, initially on 2 mornings, and now 3. We wish them every success.
Management of the facility continues to be by a small group of volunteers along with just 2 paid staff. We are indeed fortunate to have dedicated and willing staff
in Geoff Taylor and Pearl Berry.
This year volunteer Committee member Alan Liddle has been trained in general day-to-day running of the Stute and provides cover when needed. Geoff Smith is also very
willing to help out and additional room hire was possible with his help. Thanks to both men for the time and efforts.
The local Labour Party donated £30 towards the Stute, receiving donations not only benefits the ‘Stute with the actual money but also with the fact that some-one
somewhere appreciates what the Stute and the committee does.
As usual building and facilities maintenance has occupied the committee- Snooker tables have been re-furbished, to prolong their life the chairs in the front
meetings room were mended, radiators & toilet fans have been mended. A donation of 6 chairs was received from DeMontfort University to help with the dwindling stock
of good chairs in the front meeting room.
Lead was stolen from the flat roof over the cellar, an insurance claim was successful and the lead was replaced with a non-lead product. Thanks to Paul Statham
for dealing with this.
Thanks go to Brian George who has made a new notice-board for outside, replaced floor boards in the snooker hall as well as other odd jobs. The usual PAT
tests and boiler servicing has been organised along with a few other jobs that either committee volunteers or paid trades-people have completed.
Time was spent on pursuing the main roof repairs attended to after the work completed by Shaun Holdsworth in 2008 did not stop the leaks. After many phone
calls and letters he failed to respond, as did his father. With the roof still leaking work to repair the roof was finally undertaken in February 2010 by Burbage
Roofing. A ten year written guarantee is being given.
Centenary Year:-
2009 was the Centenary Year of the ‘Stute’s own purpose built building in late 1909, celebrations were organised and enjoyed and hopefully raised awareness of
the ‘Stute and its facilities in the area.
The first celebration was a great success!
On Tuesday 16th June a highly entertaining evening was provided my Mark Selby, the renowned snooker player, or as he is affectionately known 'The Jester from
Leicester'.
The Management Committee expresses its gratitude to the following companies for their sponsorship of this event:-
Choice Vehicles, Supreme Tools Supplies & Bond Engineering.
Appreciation also goes to The Earl Shilton Constitutional Club for their assistance with extra furniture. To Geoff Kenny & Reg Warland for their efforts in
acquiring Mark Selby and promoting the event, to G Worral for refereeing the matches. To Halls for the donated snooker cue raffle prize and to all who bought
tickets. The raffle raised £136. Thanks must go to John Iddon who got this event up and running.
A second successful celebration!
An Open Weekend & Exhibition was held on Saturday 12th & Sunday 13th of September in conjunction with the National Heritage Open Days. Many ex-members,
local people and interested parties visited the Institute to see what had been 'going on' over the last 100 years.
‘Stute Treasurer Paul Statham did the initial preparation for the Open weekend by communicating and filling in the forms with National Heritage and the local
Council. The building was open to look around.
On display were many photographs, newspaper articles and memorabilia put together by secretary Julia Pittham and Webmaster Brannon Cope , thanks go to Mitch
Irving who shared his collection of press reports from over 30 years.
As part of the celebrations a small booklet was produced giving a brief history of the Institute's 100 years - the building - the people.
Brannon and Julia put
this together and thanks go to the Earl Shilton Building Society for their support with a £50 donation towards printing costs.
Thanks also to the Co-op for their donations of Freetrade products for Tombola prizes.
The dates of the Open weekend were set nationally. Several people that had wanted to attend had been unable to, mainly due to being on holiday.
A Coffee Morning and Bring and Buy Sale to raise money to help with the costs incurred by the Centenary Celebrations was organised by the ladies of Julia’s
exercise classes. It was decided to hold the Open Day exhibition again to give people a second chance to attend. The women made jam, crafts and donated lovely things
for sale. Committee members from the 1970s along with a previous steward, ex and current senior members, many of the exercise ladies as well as some children also
enjoyed the exhibition and the chance to chat to old friends.
Without the ladies this event wouldn’t have happened:-their donations, time spent making refreshments, helping on the day and/or turning up to support.
£268 was raised so many thanks to all who attended, especially Angela Di Santo & Maureen Judd who were the key planners.
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Our Website www.thestute.co.uk continues to provide a valuable service and means of obtaining information, it is updated regularly by volunteer Webmaster
Brannon Cope. It includes photos of the centenary celebrations mentioned above as well as many items of both current and historic interest, thanks go again to
Brannon for all his help and support of the ‘Stute.
This has been a different year, a good year, reflecting on and appreciating the value the Stute adds to the community and the village. If anyone would like
to know more or to help organise activities or events please get in touch with any member of the committee below, we welcome any interest.
Geoff Smith
Brian George
John Iddon
Paul Statham
Alan Liddle
Julia Pittham - Tel: 01455 457696
Steward Geoff Taylor - Tel: 01455 457696 Monday to Friday 5:00 – 10:00pm
Or contact by email at sec@thestute.co.uk
Or on the website www.thestute.co.uk