14 December 2011: MCSC Managers' Meeting

Notes on MCSC Managers’ Lunch

Friday 2 December 2011

Attendees: Action For Children (Jill Plummer), Grove Green Christian Fellowship (Josh Cordray), KCPS (Christine Bartlett), Maidstone Mediation (Pam Crooks), MCSC ( Mike Evans, Richard Swainston, Jackie Avery), Rubicon Cares (Sandie Turner), Tomorrow’s People (Tammy Hillier), VAM (Charlotte Osborne Forde, Liz Tredget, Danny Hewis) Voiceability (Ann Standen).

Apologies: Cruse, CSV, Fernleigh Consulting, HOPE, Kent Counselling For Men, Maidstone DPG, Marie Curie Cancer Care, Rethink Advocacy.

Mike Evans (MCSC Chair) welcomed everyone attending. He then invited each person to introduce themselves.

Notes of last meeting: These were agreed as an accurate record of the last meeting.

Matters Arising:

• ·         Secondary glazing of the annex area has now been completed. A total of 45 windows are now done. Only 120 to go! RS welcomed suggestion as to which area to attack next. PC (MMS) said a big thank you and what a difference it makes.
• ·         Andy Hanscomb, the MCSC HR Director, has welcomed the idea of a Centre-wide HR group that could help or advice on HR matters. He is aiming to set this up early next year and further information will be available nearer the time.
• ·         The MCSC Filmclub started in September with a steady stream of children in attendance. However, there is still room for more children. Members were asked to let friends and colleagues know if they had contacts that could benefit from this programme. RS said that, unfortunately, the couple that were currently running the club are now unable to commit the time needed. RS said he was interviewing again and the club would relaunch in the New Year. TH (TP) said that RS should speak to Karen Constant as there are families in Park Wood that would be interested.
• ·         RS said that we now have a new telephony provider, Gemini Solutions. Prices have been fixed for the next 3 years and calls to mobiles have been reduced from 8.9p per minute to 6.5 p. He encouraged the few remaining groups not currently using the system to consider trialling it.
• ·         RS said that KCC now rent the main kitchen but have kindly agreed to allow other groups to continue to use it out of hours. RS said that he would like to remind members that the kitchen is of a commercial nature and that it should be left as it is found.
• ·         The advanced Excel course has not gone ahead as there was not enough uptake to make it cost efficient. ST said that she would be interested at a more basic level and others echoed that comment. On that note, RS said that if anyone was interested in any training but wanted to join forces with other Members to let him know.
• ·         RS said that there had been no more issues with noise between the 2 interview rooms. ST (Rubicon Cares) said that she found the Halls noisy. RS said that the problem with the current situation was that, however good the acoustic screens were, sound travelled under the floor. Plans were afoot to install new acoustic screens that extended down to the cellar. Obviously this is not a cheap solution and will not be happening straight away. ST said that the meeting rooms were really hot too in summer. RS said that portable air conditioning is being considered for those rooms to help with the temperature as it was a real issue.
• ·         As Kenward Trust was not at the meeting RS informed Members that Kenward had not tendered to continue their alcohol project. This may mean that they will be leaving the Centre in March 2012.
• ·         RS said that at the last Managers’ Meeting there was disquiet about the lack of members’ involvement in the Kent Ambassadors day to be held at the Centre by VAM. RS said that he was pleased to report that the event was a huge success and that every effort had been made to highlight the work of ALL member groups.

MCSC Update:

• ·         ME informed Members that MCSC was conscious of the difficulties facing some member groups. MCSC was on a sound financial footing itself and this had enabled the Board to decide not to increase licence fees for offices, car park, storage or sessional hire for the coming financial year. He said he wanted to make it clear that this gesture was for the financial year 2012/13 only and came at a time when our own costs were likely to be increasing by some 5% in the coming year. He said that he hoped this would help all groups weather potential financial difficulty but that if groups were still struggling to talk to RS as we are always willing to help.
• ·         ME said that, despite the above, the building maintenance programme would remain on schedule and would still leave us with a surplus and the end of the year. He said he was pleased that our office spaces were still 100% occupied and that sessional hire was going from strength to strength.
• ·         ME informed Members that the MCSC Continuity Plan Policy made it clear that member groups were responsible for their own continuity planning in the event of the building not being fit for use as a result of fire, flood or other catastrophic event. ME said that, of course, MCSC would try to find alternative accommodation for offices should the building flood or burn down but that it was ultimately members responsibility to put plans in place for such an event. Copies of the Continuity Policy were available should Members wish to see it. RS added that it would make sense for members to look at the whole area of contingency planning at the same time eg the backing up of data, loss of key members of staff etc and that he was happy to help with this planning process.
• ·         ME said that the Trustee Evening held in September had been a good evening even though the turnout wasn’t huge. He said that he felt another one should be held next year. CO-F (VAM) said that she is working with Whitehead Monkton who specialised in working with charities to offer a workshop/networking event for Trustee in May 2012 and welcomed MCSC involvement. ME said he thought this was a very good idea as a lot of trustees don’t realise what their responsibilities are when they sit on a board.
• ·         ME said that the MCSC Board are looking at opening up reception to make it more welcoming. He wondered what views people had on it. On the whole, people thought it was a good idea as long as security, a waiting room and maybe a badge system to identify visitors were addressed. LT (VAM) said she liked the idea of the Cafe being more accessible and that it should be open longer hours with more healthy options available. RS said that the whole cafe concept needed reviewing and that this would be done in the New Year.
• ·         ST (Rubicon Cares) and AS (Voiceability) said that there was still issues with people trying to gain entry to the building out of hours. RS said that a staff review was being held imminently to look at reception/caretaker cover out of hours. He said he would report back when a decision had been made as to the best way forward.
• ·         RS said that the new website was a huge improvement on the old one along with the new booking system. He said he hoped Members would feel able to contribute to the News Feed feature and if they wanted something to display to please let reception know. He said it also had a situation vacant page so if any jobs are going in the centre they could be advertised here as well. He also said that we now had a Facebook page and a Twitter account which could be followed should Members so wish.
• ·         RS said that the internet recently went haywire in the building and this was traced to a router being inadvertently plugged into our system. He urged Members not to plug routers or other such devices into the system without chatting to us first. He also asked that member groups make sure that all computers were protected by a firewall and up to date anti-virus programmes to aid privacy within the MCSC network.
• ·         RS said that whilst the building would not be staffed from end of play 23 December until 3^rd Jan 2012  the building would still be open for use and still accessible via the electronic fob and more importantly the heating would be on. Over the Christmas period he,  Mike Brook and Jax were on call to assist should there be any problems.

Members’ News and Issues:

• ·         ST from Rubicon Cares said that they are now a registered charity and everything is great.
• ·         TH from Tomorrow’s People said that their Park Wood project had really taken off and all was well within their organisation.
• ·         PC from Maidstone Mediation said that funding for them was not too bad.
• ·         AS from Voiceability said that all was well with them.
• ·         CB from KCPS said that they have 2 additional counsellors who have joined them and the 4 workshops which they have hosted have been well attended.
• ·         JP from Action For Children said that her six month posting as Manager would end in March 2012. All is well with AFC.
• ·         Danny Hewis from VAM BFG said that they desperately need drivers for the Boxing Day Lunch that is being held at the Centre on Boxing Day. He said that if anyone could help to please let him know.
• ·         Charlotte Osborne-Ford said that VAM’s AGM was 8 December 2012 at 2pm and all were welcome.
• ·         Liz Tredget from VAM Volunteer Centre said that on 13 December 2012 at 12 there is a Network Lunch. The Volunteer Centre is now open in the Town Hall from 10-4 daily.
• ·         JC from Grove Green Christian Fellowship said that they have had a really good year. He said they are offering ESOL courses here at the Centre as of January 2012. LT (VAM) said that she could help find volunteers should he need some also for JC to speak to Rethink as they ran ESOL for adults in the past.

AOB:

•  RS said he would be sending out the annual Licencee profile shortly and that it was mandatory for all Members to complete it.
• CO-F asked if all offices were occupied as they may be looking for extra space. RS said that it was 100% occupied and that, fortunately, he had groups on a waiting list to come into the Centre. However, all parties interested in space would be considered.
• JC said that at the weekends the rooms are quite often in a mess and need sorting out before the next group can use them. RS said that weekends were an increasingly busy time and that this was an area being covered by the staffing review and he would report back but in the meantime an email would go out to all weekend users asking them to tidy up after themselves.
• AS asked if used stamps could be put into the box on the coffee table in reception. This was for a rabbit welfare group which one of her staff supports.

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