An original poster advertising a series of talks at the LSi in 1835 was discovered by architectural historian Tim Connor while browsing in Bridport Old Books in 2023
Minutes of the Annual General Meeting of BADT
held at Bridport Town Hall on Thursday, November 14th, 2024, at 6pm
Present
Directors (Trustees)
Phyllida Culpin (Chair), John West, David Lee, Ian Bark, Michael Collard, Andrew Cook, Marek Wakar (Secretary).
Other Members
Sarah West, Trevor Ware.
1. Apologies for absence
Richard Toft, Glenn Crawford, Anne Rickard, Mike Carter, Ian Johnson.
2. Minutes of the Annual General Meeting held at the Literary and Scientific Institute (LSi) at 6pm on Thursday 16th November 2023.
The 2023 minutes were accepted as a correct record of the meeting.
There were no matters arising from the minutes.
3. Report on the Literary and Scientific Institute (LSi), West Bay Discovery Centre (WBDC)
Literary & Scientific Institute: Phyllida Culpin gave the current status of the tenants and the challenges we faced with the building: rising utility costs and floods from more extreme weather. David Lee talked about the community engagement, including the regular users of the hot desks and the companies and charities that operate from the building. He also mentioned the open day for Dorset Architectural Week and the wide range of regular and one-off events.
Discovery Centre: On the day of the meeting it was announced officially that the Discovery Centre had won the King’s Award for Voluntary Service for its work and engagement with the community. The members present congratulated those working at the WBDC for this fantastic achievement and recognition.
John West described a successful year: informing, educating and entertaining people of all ages. The WBDC held workshops, special exhibitions, activities and hosted a range of visitors. Twenty-seven thousand people visited in the year, including the WBDC’s one-hundred-thousandth visitor.
With the WBDC well-established, the Trust has now handed over ownership and responsibility for running it to Bridport Communities Trust (BCT) and Bridport Town Council respectively, with the volunteers’ voice represented through a Friends charity.
Ian Bark and Trevor Ware led the thanks to John and Sarah West and congratulations on their achievements.
4. Annual Report and Accounts
John West presented the 2023/4 Report and Accounts, which had been circulated before the meeting.
There was a small overall deficit of £2,521 this year, but this masks the underlying financial issues with LSI (up to now supported by a surplus at the WBDC). There was a fall in the LSI reserve of £11,225 (13%) to £76,210.
The LSi has faced the impact of rising utility, repairs and maintenance costs. In the current financial year, the financial position has worsened due to tenancy void and unscheduled repairs, which could result in a deficit of around £16K this year rising to £30K in 25/26 unless full occupancy at a commercial rental is achieved.
Resolution 1: The Report and Accounts were accepted by the meeting (proposed by Sarah West and seconded by Michael Collard).
5. Election of trustees: there were no new Directors for the meeting to appoint, and resignations mean that none needed to retire by rotation. Phyllida Culpin announced that her resignation as a Director/Trustee and Chair, which she had shared with the Board, would be effective from the end of the AGM. Following the successful transfer of the WBDC, John West also announced his intention to resign at an appropriate future date.
5. Summary of the Year and Future of the Trust
Phyllida Culpin started by celebrating the successes: transfer of the WBDC and the LSi community involvement managed by Crowdfunder.
However, the LSi remains problematic: the flood damage can be covered by insurance, but the loss of a tenant (in a market with weak demand) and rising utility and maintenance costs puts pressure on the Trust’s finances. Added to this is the demands of building management which, even with the work done by our managing agent, puts demands on the trustees which stretch their knowledge and experience.
This brought us on to the motion proposed by Trevor Ware. Trevor described the Trust’s value in the early 2010s as it took on the LSi, in the absence an organisation such as the BCT, and the transformation work that BADT had done with both the LSi and WBDC. He proposed that the WBDC model of transformation and then sale/transfer was the right one for the Trust to pursue for both the WBDC and the LSi, and that in the absence of new opportunities the Trust had fulfilled its function.
The meeting discussed the wording of Trevor’s motion. It was agreed, by both the trustees and the proposer, that the Resolution should read: “Having placed the building on a secure footing with regard to its overall condition, that the Trustees consider the sale or transfer of the LSi to the Bridport Communities Trust or another body.” This was proposed by Trevor Ware; a similar motion was proposed by Glenn Crawford by email so the Secretary seconded the motion on Glenn’s behalf. The motion was passed unanimously.
The meeting then closed.
Click on the link below for details of community engagement with the LSi.
