Chairman's Report 2007-2008

Looking back over the last year I can honestly say I am extremely proud to have been the chairman of a Committee who have worked so well together.

The Committee has had a very busy year undertaking in the region of 30 bars, Funday, Bonfire Night, Robbie Valentine Party Night, Tina Turner Summer Party Night, Zac Bauman's Halloween Special Party Night, and The Blues Brothers New Years Eve Party. We were hired to do two race Nights for the Village Hall and a further two for other organisations outside the village.

This year has seen record breaking donations to organisations and groups within Sutton to benefit the villagers, details of which are contained within our hard working treasurer's report.

We are very grateful as a committee to the volunteers who are also willing to give up their spare time, setting up and working the many events we undertake, it would be near impossible for us to stage as many professional events as we do without their help. So I give my most sincere thanks to each and everyone of you who has given their help over the past year and look forward to your support in the future.

Also to all of you who support our events – buying tickets to the Party Nights, Donating on the gates at our outside Events and for all the raffle and Tombola prizes you so generously donate. Thankyou to you all.

This year on a negative point the committee has had to change to some degree as regards the loaning of our equipment, due to insurance risk assessments and potential incidents which could jeopardise the future of our insurance. This in turn could seriously affect our ability to provide the events we do for the village, i.e. Funday and Bonfire Night.

Also we have to pay for professional assistance in certain areas, such as putting up and taking down of the Christmas lights, the setting, wiring and firing of the fireworks for bonfire.

All of this has a huge financial cost which with your continued support and generosity we can continue to strive for the best events in a village for miles around, with a Funday, Bonfire, New Years Eve Party, Christmas lights, and producing a village newspaper four times a year.

The Bar facility in the Village hall has gone from strength to strength. This year we will be having a complete refurbishment of the bar, enhancing our facility for all hall hirers. Everyone who works the bar does so Free-of-Charge. With no wages to pay all proceeds raised from the bar go directly to support the Funday, Bonfire Night and Christmas Lights. I would also like to thank Graham at H.B. Clark for his very generous and continued support.

Funday was a huge success with the new layout and the generous donation from Mr Leonard Thompson of his Field to allow the larger thrill rides to come to Sutton. The New Fair and top quality catering units serving local fresh produce gave the quality we were looking for. The procession which was the best supported for years gave a kick-start to a fantastic day. The addition of the arena area enabled many local groups to showcase their talents. Funday is also a day which gives all local fundraising organisations a fantastic opportunity to raise funds for their cause. A new addition this year which proved to be very entertaining was the Monday Club with their Ducking Stool supporting their own village alongside raising funds for the Scouts and Manorlands.

I look forward to seeing even more entrants into the procession and to keep improving this event with your support and look forward to seeing you all there again this year on Sunday 15th June.

Bonfire Night was again huge success, supported by thousands of people. This event took on a huge overhaul with a re-location to Thompson's Field, a change of date from the 5th - a first in Sutton due to us all having full time jobs but it proved to be the right decision resulting in the largest attendance ever. Mr Leonard Thompson stepped in and saved the day with his very kind donation of his field after the risk assessment failed for holding this event in the park.

The Bringing in of professional Pyrotechicians to stage the fireworks display was a definite plus, the comments from the audience were very positive including comparing them with the likes of Disneyland Paris. The large bonfire kept everyone warm and glowing; Kay's Catering was again another plus.

We desperately need more help with the staging of the event, building of the bonfire, putting up lights and getting power around the field. Also on the night the manning of gates and marshalling of the field for this event.

This event literally broke even. With spiralling costs of staging such a large scale event and to continue with the improvements to the Night we really do need your generous donations in the buckets. Following the huge attendance this year's event will be held on Sunday 2nd of November again in the larger venue of Thompson's Field.

The village committee was able to assist with the Remembrance service in the Park by providing a P.A. system for the event and once again I was proud to lay a wreath on behalf of the Village Committee.

This year saw the further expansion of the Committee's Christmas Lights Display through the village adding a further 8 decorations, bringing the current total to 30 fixtures, giving Sutton a excellent festive feel – to the envy of other villages and even towns! I feel the committee as a whole wants to continue with this project to benefit the villagers over the coming years.

This year our Events Co-ordinator – Christine Young really did push out all the stops, with top acts in the country performing for us! Both myself and the committee are proud to work alongside these performers. Over the year we have enjoyed the talents of –

• Tony Lewis as Robbie Williams – As seen on BBC1's 'The One and Only...' for Valentines.
  
  
• Nicky Brown with her tribute to Tina Turner in the summer.
  
  
• Zac Bauman - back by popular demand with a Halloween Special Show specially commissioned for the Village Committee providing a fantastic evening of Comedy and Song.
  
  
• Illinois Blues Brothers along with Stateside, back by popular demand brought in the New Year.

And the new year holds further fantastic party nights kicking off with 'Mercury & May a tribute to Queen' brought to you with the sponsorship of Graham @ H.B. Clark to enable us to bring this No.1 Tribute to Sutton.

A Big Big thankyou has to go to Christine Young our fantastic events co-ordinator for sourcing, staging and working so hard to give Sutton fantastic party nights to remember. Along with all the volunteers who give their time to ensure the success of these fundraising evenings. I applaud each and every one of you.

Finally in closing, a special thankyou to Garry, Val, James, Christine, Bob, Jackie and Roy all who supported me over the last twelve months and to everyone who has helped in any way whatsoever in supporting the Village Committee and the Village of Sutton-in-Craven.

David Harrison-Young

Chairman's Report 2006-2007

This year has been one that has seen fundamental change in the Village Committee. Stuart Robinson felt that he could no longer continue as Chairman, and tendered his resignation. We thank him for all his hard work in all aspects of the committee’s work, but particularly for his impressive organisation of Bonfire Night. He leaves me a hard act to follow and I for one am pleased that he continues to be a member of the committee.

Paul Wilkinson has relinquished his post as editor of the Newsletter, and we thank him for his work. Garry Petersen takes over from him and we wish him well in his new role. Richard Smith our minutes secretary felt that he needed to commit more time to his accordion group and as such has moved to pastures new, and we welcomed Jackie Dickinson aboard as our Secretary.

The Village Committee has had an active year. The Fun Day was well supported, and contributed towards our financial success. Bonfire Night was a great success both financially and socially, except of course for Chris Riley! He is now fully recovered, and has continued as one of our volunteers.

Regards our volunteers we have seen an increase in helpers and associates including a number of younger villagers. As chairman I am proud that the younger generation is willing to help both my self and the committee at our events to provide all the services that we do which take a lot of hard work and time, all of this is greatly appreciated.

Alongside this I was able to lay the wreath on Remembrance Sunday, a first for myself which was a proud moment.

Our Bar Service has continued to raise money, not only for the Village Committee but in a wider context. The Village Committee’s constitution precludes us from giving donations outside Sutton, but it has helped other charities indirectly via the bar as it was used at several functions where funds were raised for various organisations including -

• May School of Dance – two Awards evenings
  
  
• Football Club
  
  
• Angela Riley for improvements at the Village Hall
  
  
• Tommy Tots fund raiser
  
  
• Kidney dialysis
  
  
• Hospital in India
  
  
• Stoma care and ICU (donation from a 40th birthday party)
  
  
• Multiple sclerosis (donation from a wedding party)
  
  
• Accordion Society – two fundraisers
  
  
• Scouts fundraiser
  
  
• Children’s ward at Airedale
  
  
• Manorlands (donation from a 60th birthday party)

The bar was used on more than 30 occasions during the year, which involved a huge time commitment from the committee and volunteers in erecting and dismantling the bar and serving on of an evening entirely unpaid.

However the Village Hall committee’s generous offer of letting the Bar structure remain in situ for the last three months has saved many man hours in taking it down and and re-assembling it for our volunteers.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank Angela Riley the booking secretary and caretaker at the village hall for being so supportive and a pleasure to work alongside. Thanks also to our volunteers without whom we’d be unable to provide such excellent events and services for the village to enjoy. I would also like to say a personal thanks to our committee of officers and members which give so much in time, hard labour and support to ensure everything we do is professional and well co-ordinated.

The party and theme nights go from strength to strength. The New Year’s Eve Party was enjoyed by all, including the entertainer Zac Bauman who will be returning for another evening of top class entertainment in the future. The New Year’s Eve Party 2007 and our Mercury & May, a tribute to 'Queen' Party Night – February 2008 are both sold out already with a reserve. The American Party Evening in September, a return visit by 'the Blues Brothers' tribute was again a sellout, as was the party evening with 'Robbie'.

A considerable amount of time and effort is needed by volunteers and committee members to make these events possible, but the support and feedback is overwhelmingly positive. Our thanks go to Christine Young for all the behind the scenes organisation and obtaining first class acts for these evenings.

The decision was made to purchase Christmas lights for the village – our most considerable contribution to a single project to date. It was thought that this would be a good way for the whole village to enjoy some of the money we had made, but turned out to be a controversial move. Some of the views on the Village website verge on the vindictive, but we can only emphasise that the work we do is in the best interests of the village at heart hoping that the silent majority were happy with our efforts to brighten up the village over the festive period. I can only reiterate that we are only volunteers and all have other jobs and commitments, but we do our best. It is certainly true that you can’t please all of the people all of the time!

All our events and services for the village throughout the year have meant financial success, details of which are collated by our hard working Treasurer Chris Todd – thanks for all that you do and your support since I took over as chairman.

This has enabled us to make numerous donations to a large number of groups within Sutton to help them accomplish their own projects throughout the year. Coverage of our donations is contained with the treasurer's report.

In conclusion my thanks go to the people that help to raise funds at all our events and in doing so donate money to many causes within the village helping to ensure that our community continues to grow. These include the volunteer helpers and in particular the members of the committee who give so much of themselves to ensure present and future success. I hope we can continue to do our best over the the forthcoming year for our fantastic village.

David Harrison-Young

Treasurer's report for year ending 31 January 2007

The financial health of the committee continues to go from strength to strength and we were able to make donations at a record level.

The village news made a small loss following further increases in the cost of printing albeit we can now produce the paper in multi-colours.

The bar hire in the village hall continues to grow and this funded the expenditure on new equipment without having to resort to funds raised at Funday or Bonfire night.

Funday was once again a great success even though it decided to rain for the first time in years. The profit along with the surplus from other events was donated to organisations as mentioned later in this article.

Bonfire night made slightly more profit than last year but we had signficant increases in crowd control and firework costs. Fortunately Chris Riley made a full recovery and hopefully we can continue to put on a premier show in the park. As ever we continue to have problems with underage teenagers who think they are grown up by drinking alcohol but just confirm how immature they are once they get a drink inside themselves.

Yet again our events secretary Christine Young pushed the boat out and held a Casino night, American theme night and New Year party. These events were extremely popular and all tickets were sold. Once again despite the heavy costs in both money and effort we were able to make a profit. As these events are now heavily subscribed we continue in our ability to 'punch above our weight' in the quality of acts who are willing to come to the village hall.

We undertook several race nights and casino nights to help other organisations and raised a total of £2,000 for these groups.

Despite what some people seem to think, this year we were able to donate a massive £8760, the largest amount ever given away by the village committee in its entire history. Money was given to the parish council (£6,330 to assist with purchase of Christmas lights and plants in the park), junior football club (£200), women’s institute (£60), both schools (£1460), the playgroup (£200), allotment society (£60), E. Longbottom (£100) pavilion toddlers group (£150), Tommy Tots Playgroup (£50) and the girls brigade (£150). A fantastic effort and well done to all committee members and helpers.

Finally after 8 years as Treasurer I feel it is time for a fresh input and new ideas and so will be standing aside for a new officer. I would like to put on record my appreciation to everybody who has been involved during this time and wish the Committee continued success in the years to come.

Chris Todd (Treasurer)

Annual Report for the Period
February 2005 to January 2006

Yet another Year has gone by and once again I have to put pen to paper and write my annual report. The Village Committee has had what could be described as one of the busiest and fullest years that the committee members can remember, it was my intention to write about all the events covered over the past year but this would have generated a report the size of a small book, instead I would like to cover what the Village Committee is all about.

Firstly a brief history, the Village Committee was first formed in the 1950's and ran a gala day to generate some funds to provide a News Letter for the villagers of Sutton. From that day the committee has continued through thick and thin and has grown from strength to strength to what we are today where we produce a variety of events to raise money to benefit the villagers of Sutton in Craven. The Committee is made up of a cross section of Suttoners who are all volunteers and give up a considerable amount of their time to put on all these events. Some of the committee members very kindly do share their time with other organisations in the village such as the Parish Council, the Village Hall Committee etc. At this point I would like to say that the Village Committee operates totally independently of any other organisations in the village, but would also like to point out that we do continue to work very closely with these other organisations in order to stage our events. Over the last year we have successfully held a variety of events which included: Casino nights, Race nights, Funday, Bonfire night, Themed party nights, Village Christmas trees and decorations and over 20 bars in the village hall supporting local people celebrating birthdays, anniversaries or indeed organisations raising their own funds.

In monetary terms the committee has had a good year, details of which are contained in the treasurer's report. I am pleased to be able to say that financially we have been able to help groups such as the Girls' Brigade, the Amateurs, the Parents and Friends Associations of both primary schools, Mums & Toddlers and are currently sponsoring a large area in the bottom of the park and several other requests are currently awaiting a decision. Whenever the committee receives a request for financial assistance I can assure you that we give it our full attention and consideration before a decision is reached, the committee do want to help in any way that we can, however we do not have a unlimited amount of funds to give and where necessary we may grant part or all of a request presented.

As I stated earlier we are all volunteers and this committee relies heavily on other people to help on our major events, there are too many people to mention individually but a very big thank you goes out to you all if you helped in any way shape or form, no matter how big or small you contribution your help is invaluable and very much appreciated.

As I near the end of my report I would like to thank the committee members' families for putting up with us disappearing off to committee events all the time. A special thank you must go to Mick Herpe who was a founder member of the committee and has decided to retire this year. Mick has been instrumental in the development of the committee over the years so from us all Mick Thank You. Finally the biggest thank you must go to all the committee members themselves for their work, their input and ideas all of which enable us to stage excellent and safe events for all to enjoy so thank you to you all!

Stuart Robinson (Chairman)

Treasurer's report for
Year Ending 31 January 2006

The financial health of the committee continues to go from strength to strength and we were able to make donations where appropriate once again.

The Village News made a small loss following further increases in the cost of printing, albeit we can now produce the paper in multi colours.

The bar hire in the Village Hall continues to grow and this funded the continued big expenditure on new equipment without affecting our ability to continue making donations. An added major benefit to this is the additional hires that are made in the Village Hall.

Funday was once again a great success and having sorted the problems with the fair a fantastic day was had by all. The profit along with the surplus from other events was donated to organisations as mentioned later in this article.

Bonfire night as ever is difficult to describe in words and the letters of thanks were very much appreciated. The event made a profit but we had significant increases in crowd control and firework costs. A memento of the night is available on video and DVD by contacting the Treasurer or Chairman at a cost of £5.00. Unfortunately, if the minority of mindless idiots continue to drink alcohol in the park, despite our best efforts, and then believe they have the right to abuse anyone and everyone, the event is clearly under threat.

This year our events secretary Christine Young really pushed the boat out and we held a Valentines party, Casino night, Spooky Do and New Year party. These events were extremely popular and all tickets were sold. Once again, despite the heavy costs in both money and effort we were able to make a profit. As villagers are now supporting these events enthusiastically and tickets are sold within days of issue we are able to obtain the services of quality entertainers which would previously been beyond our means.

We undertook several race nights and casino nights to help other organisations and raised a total of £4300 for these groups. All this for the minimal cost of £100 for the race night and £300 for the casino night. These must be the best fundraisers in the area.

This year we were able to donate £3830 in total. Money was given to the park, the Village Hall, both schools, Girls' Brigade and two toddler groups.

Finally, it is only through the dedication of the committee members and group of volunteers that we are able to undertake Funday, Bonfire night, Themed Parties, Kids' Discos, Christmas trees and fund raising nights for others. If anybody would like to join this vibrant organisation, give something back to the village and have an enjoyable time then please contact any member of the committee.

Chris Todd (Treasurer)

Annual Report for the Period
February 2004 to January 2005

It has finally come to that time of year again when I have to put pen to paper and write my annual report. The last year seems to have flown past and as I look back over it I can honestly say that I am proud to have been the chairman of a committee who have worked together exceptionally well as a team and have produced some quality events such as New Year's Eve, Bonfire Night, Funday and many more besides. They have all been very successful and reflect the true dedication and enthusiasm of those members and non-members who work so hard and volunteer their services free of charge to ensure that the villagers of Sutton can attend good, safe and enjoyable events in the village.

At this point I would like to say a special thank you to the large number of volunteers who turn out in rain or shine to assist the committee at the vast majority of events that we undertake. It is without a doubt that without their help the committee would struggle to stage some of the events in the first place, so a massive thank you to all of you and I trust that the committee and myself can look forward to your continued support over the next year.

The bar continues to grow from strength to strength and has undergone phase two of its refurbishment with the third and final phase planned for later this year. As most of the bars the village committee do are in the village hall the village committee and the village hall committee reach an agreement to licence the village hall and Chris Todd, David Harrison, Christine Young and David Harrison-Young all successfully completed the licensees course during the last year, so congratulations to them as it is a difficult accreditation to achieve. This all means that we are now able to provide a fully licensed bar in the village hall without having to apply to the courts on each and every occasion the bar is used thus ensuring that the people who hire the hall have the bar facilities available to them should they require a drink or two at their function.

Funday planning started in February, with the emphasis leaning towards making improvements to the procession. It was decided that as an incentive for people to enter floats, the prize money should be increased and this seemed to work drawing in a few extra floats into the parade - so thank you to all who entered. The procession set off on time and went without a hitch following the usual route around the village and into the park. All the stalls, refreshments and fun fair were set up and the crowds flocked in to have what seemed to be an excellent day.

The fair that attended last year was smaller than we had liked due to a misunderstanding, however this problem has been rectified and the fair should be bigger than we have had before. For years we have been blessed with the weather and this year it looked as if we might get a bit wet on the day. Thankfully the weather did hold off long enough for people to have a good time and just as we started to pack up the rain arrived. Not deterred we got on with the task in hand and cleared the park in record time.

The year very quickly moved into November and of course Bonfire Night. I felt it was important to try and revive the old tradition of making guy fawkes so a best guy competition was held and the prize money increased, again this did the trick with eleven guys entered and the judge had a difficult time in picking the winner but a winner was picked and placed on top of the bonfire and at 6.30pm was lit. The refreshment stall was busy all night and eventually sold out. The highlight of the evening, even though I say it myself was the firework display. This year a new format was introduced which proved to be much better culminating in a spectacular three minute finale to music. My only concern is how to improve on this event and produce an even bigger and better display but I am sure we will manage. The event itself was a credit to the committee who worked so hard to get it right with the safety of the audience been paramount so well done.

We then moved into December and with Christmas looming ever closer the village was decorated with trees and lights and the festive spirit once again started to move. Again the conservation group assisted Santa to get around the village, much to the delight of hundreds of children. With Christmas done it was onto New Year's Eve and the party in the village hall. Tickets were sold out, the bar set up, entertainment booked, food provided and the hall decorated. It is a great delight that 140 people should decide to celebrate the arrival of the New Year at this event and from the reports that I have received it was a good night. This event seems to be growing from strength to strength each year which is brilliant.

It is not normally my intention to report on negative aspects which have occurred over the last year, however I feel that the cancellation of the evening disco held three times a year should be included and the reason as to why. It is sad that a few individuals should deem it necessary to ruin what was an evening generally enjoyed by the majority, by trying to be big and clever and sneak alcohol in to a junior disco. More importantly it was the verbal abuse and threatening behaviour that followed which caused a unanimous decision to cancel any future evening discos for the 11 – 15 year olds. It is important to stress that every one on the committee give up their time free of charge to stage events such as these. I cannot and will not allow the committee and volunteers to be subjected to this kind of behaviour and abuse.

Finally in my closing statement I would like to say thank you to Betty who has sadly retired as secretary, and welcome two new members in Neil and James - I hope you really do know what you are letting yourselves in for. And a special thank you to, in no particular order, Roy, Mick, Peter, Bob, Christine, David & David, Paul, Christine, and last but not least Chris, all of whom have supported me as chairman over the last twelve months. It is them that deserve the real credit for all the success of the year, their tireless effort and dedication is to be commended and I would like to thank each and every one of you for your commitment and contributions over the last year. Thank You!

Stuart Robinson (Chairman)

Treasurer’s report for
Year Ending 31 January 2005

Once again, 2004 proved to be memorable in financial terms. Turnover has now grown to over £27,000 p.a. having been just £8,000 four years ago, albeit we are now starting to see a sharp drop in the year on year increase.

The bars in the village hall still account for just over half of this figure. As they are still undertaken on a voluntary basis (except for drinks) they provide a substantial surplus which enables us to continue the funding of equipment purchases without having to resort to money raised on Funday or Bonfire Night. This year our major equipment purchases were the storage container and glass washer.

Funday came and went and, despite the problems with the fair, we once again made a healthy profit. This year, weather permitting, I anticipate we will do just as well.

The other main outdoor event is the Bonfire. What a night! This has to be the best free entry display in the area and we really need to make sure people are aware that it can only get better if everybody gives a reasonable donation (£1) as opposed to the present estimate of 50p per person. The magnificent turnout made the event profitable, with Bonfire Night falling on Saturday this year hopefully this can be repeated.

The final event of significance was New Year’s Eve. With better stock control on bar purchases this event turned in a good profit. Congratulations to everybody who helped and in particular Bob, Christine and David.

On the downside, the number of marquee hires dropped substantially, but the marquee has already more than paid for itself. The number of race nights that Stuart and I undertook has also gone down, but the new casino venture will hopefully turn in a profit over the next 18 months.

It is pleasing to report that all the profit from Funday and Bonfire Night was donated to good causes with the O.A.P.s, Girls’ Brigade, Park and Conservation Group all benefiting.

I am looking forward to the year ahead with our tried and trusted events plus St Valentine’s dance and bars already booked. We could make a substantial surplus this year depending on the donations made.

Finally, may I thank everyone for their efforts over the year and a special thank you to Stuart for his continued support and assistance.

Chris Todd (Treasurer)

Did you know that the Village Committee can provide a fully licensed bar at no extra cost!

In conjunction with the Village Hall Committee, we have acquired an "On Licence" from the Magistrates at Skipton. This allows bars to be run for any type of function without having to apply in advance for an occasional licence.

In the past the Village Committee required at least five weeks notice to acquire an occasional licence which the Magistrates granted at only ten sessions per year.