Donaghadee Heritage Preservation Company
 
 

MINUTES OF THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
held in Donaghadee Sailing Club at 7.30 pm on
Wednesday 26^th March 2025

Wesley Martin (Vice Chair) took the Chair.

1.     Apologies for absence

Apologies were received from Alan Couser (Chair), who was absent on business. The Secretary said that he had received apologies for absence and proxy voting forms from Glynis Crawford, Fred Green and Elizabeth Barron. Apologies were also received from Stephen Dunne MLA, Roberta and Peter Miskimmin, John Wallace, Tony Skeats and Jim Brown. Local Councillors sent their apologies because the meeting coincided with a full meeting of Ards and North Down Borough Council.

2.     Minutes

The minutes of the last AGM on 27/03/2024 were approved (Dawn Petrie and Stephen Cairns proposing).

3.     Annual Report

The Chair made a statement (attached below) commending the Annual Report to the Meeting. The Annual Report was adopted (Noel Johnston and Kenneth Walsh proposing).

4.     Accounts for 2024

The Treasurer presented the Accounts for 2024 and circulated the Independent Examiner’s report on them. She noted that, apart from the Heritage Fund grant, which had enabled us to expand our activities significantly, other grants had reduced in 2024, and our investments had also suffered a setback recently as a result of international uncertainties. We therefore, as the Vice Chair had said, needed to manage our spending carefully in the coming year. It would be essential to continue to account accurately for our spending out of the HF grant. She paid tribute to our accountant, Donna Davison at Stanley Woods & Co, and to Robyn McAllister, who had given her invaluable help with the payroll. The accounts for 2024 were approved (Maurice Campbell and Tom Johnston proposing).

5.     Appointment of auditors

The meeting re-appointed Stanley Woods & Co, accountants of Newtownards, to be our auditors for the current year (Noel Johnston and Stephen Cairns proposing). The Vice Chair said that the Company was most grateful for their generous assistance.

6.     Re-appointment of Directors

Peter Martin MLA took the Chair for the elections.

The Meeting re-appointed Wesley Martin and Shirley Cochrane as Directors (Kit Chivers and Patricia Burgess proposing).

7.     Appointment of Officers of the Company

Alan Couser was re-appointed as Chair, Wesley Martin as Vice Chair, Kit Chivers as Secretary and Patricia Burgess as Treasurer (Dawn Petrie and Stephen Rafferty proposing).

The Secretary thanked Peter Martin, not only for officiating this evening but for all the help he had given the Board in the past year, and particularly for the doors he had been able to open for us in the Executive.

8.     Any other business

There being no other business the Vice Chair closed the meeting shortly after 8pm.

KC 27/03/2025

Annex: Summary of remarks by the Vice Chair, presenting the Annual Report for 2024

Alan Couser has summed up the past year in his Foreword to the Annual Report. As he says, the year has been shaped by the Heritage Fund grant we received at the end of 2023. The grant enabled us to put a new fence round an expanded site, build a new temporary building, which we call our Exhibition Room or ‘Cabin’, and to employ a paid part-time Outreach Worker, Liz Barron. 

The £45,000 we received and spent in 2024, and the £36,000 which we have received for 2025, have transformed our finances, and our Outreach Worker has enabled us to step up our engagement with schools and community groups. Sadly, Liz has left us for another job and we are currently in the process of recruiting a successor. We are indebted to her for the videos she made with the assistance of John Rodgers. You can view them on YouTube.

But we have to keep our feet on the ground and avoid delusions of grandeur. That generous grant will not be repeated, and when planning for the future we have to be realistic about the resources under our control. We can always seek funding for a specific project from a range of sponsors, but when it comes to day-to-day survival – or ‘sustainability’, if you like – the reality is that we are a company that generates income of only about £7,000 a year and probably costs slightly more than that to run. So, we have to be careful about how we manage our funds and look for ways to increase revenue.

That said, we have some money in the bank, and we have some space in the Sir Samuel Kelly compound that we are not yet utilising, so we have applied for planning permission to put up another cabin, connecting to the first, which we shall use to broaden our offering and give visitors a wider perspective on the history and heritage of Donaghadee. 

And we shall continue to press the Council to grant us a long lease of the current site or an adjacent site, so that we can plan in earnest for a permanent home for the Kelly. Until we have a longer lease, we cannot begin to raise the funds to install mains electricity, water and sewerage, and until we have those we are severely limited in what we can do. We received strong support from a Council Committee in January, and we hope to receive a positive decision from the full Council in the course of this year.

So, these are our resolutions for 2025:

1)     Open on at least 150 days (probably more) and provide varied exhibitions for visitors

2)     Reach out to a wide range of schools and community organisations

3)     Recruit and train ten additional volunteers

4)     Develop an Education Programme for primary schoolchildren

5)     Recruit at least one new Director to the Board

6)     Enhance the SSK display with new audio-visuals and boat models

7)     Install additional signage on site and obtain street signage

8)     Make good the tarmac surface inside the compound

9)     Decide whether to go ahead with an extension to the cabin

10) Apply to D/Economy for funding for a feasibility study

11) Negotiate terms of a new lease for the future permanent home of the SSK

12) Discuss with the Council a wayleave for bringing infrastructure into the site

13) Apply for outline planning permission for the SSK Visitor and Heritage Centre

14) Improve our budgeting and manage cashflow actively

It is an ambitious programme of work for a volunteer organisation, and it will place significant burdens on everyone. That is why we are keen to recruit one or two new Directors who can take responsibility for specific areas of work. I have to thank all my fellow Directors for their work over the past year, and especially Alan our Chair, who performed that role with distinction at the same time as running a demanding business. 

Thanks to our auditors, Stanley Woods & Co, who continue, very generously, to give us invaluable help. Thanks, too, to all our volunteers, whom we could not manage without, and to our generous sponsors – especially this year the Heritage Fund, of course, but also the Coop Community Fund and UPS, who have paid for our banners. And special thanks to John Moore, our painter, Ross our electrician and Neil our carpenter for the excellent work they have done for us. We are fortunate indeed to have so many skilled helpers.

Thanks, finally, to our Councillors and other elected representatives, and to the Council Officers who are very generous of their time and do all in their power to help us, at a time when all public sector organisations are strapped for funds. We do appreciate t