Minutes

1. Welcome and Apologies for Absence:

Present: Ann McIntosh, Chair (AM), Dorothy Jones (DJ), Ewen Honeyman (EH), Marnie Gauld (MG), Dave Ferguson (DF), Colin Crawford (CC), Neil Rodan (NR).
Apologies: John Cowie (JC),

2. Minutes of the previous meeting were agreed and signed.

3. Treasurer's Report £10,075.56 in our account. Approx £4000 due to EDF (They want £6000 but NR has calculated actual cost). Around £1000 for Tote Bags / Pens and vinyl flooring. Meaning we have approximately £5000 in hand in reality. We need to apply for more funding going forward - DJ/AM/CC to apply toi Gannochy Trust, Postcode Lottery etc.

4. First Report to March. All of the £17800 has been claimed and work has been paid for even if not completed.

5. External Repairs:

6. Opening Displays NR mentioned that a Project Manager is required to manage all the tasks needed to get to 3rd May opening. Proposed DJ for this role and unanimously agreed. Trustees to meet on Tuesday 9th April at OTH to plan displays. The following items were mentions:

• Get Provost Chair from Library
• Get keys for display cabinets
• MG to order shelves
• £72 for Ian & David Robertson books.
• David Campbell may be able to give us some ideas.
• There is a tapestry of the history of Crieff done by the Soroptimists which may be at Morrisons. It would be good to borrow / obtain that. CC to talk to Morrisons Head to find out if that would be possible.
• Drover Cut-out (Pedro?)

7. Accessioning. In progress. We have started putting the boxes in the cellar. DF has 2 boxes of items from Alex McCabe. We have a souvenir coronation coach, given us by Andrew Rodger’s mother.

8. Opening Date: 3rd May. Aim to open on Friday / Saturday and possibly Sunday. NR to do a Mailchimp.

9. Trifold Leaflet. JC is organising this. Work in Progress.

10. Membership: £12/year for membership. Founder members get 2nd year free. Plaque for Founder Members.

11. Business Plan: CC has worked up a Year 1 and a Year 2 business plan. No point in Year 3 until we know we are staying in OTH.

12. Running Costs: NR has applied for exemption on Water Charges as we are a charity. Estimate £5000 / year for electricity.

13. Contact with Lalique They have a History of Glenturret. We should try to get some items from them for display..

14. Purchase of Stock for Selling. Mhairi Urquhart spoke to NR and said she’d give us a written quote. NR could not remember the exact prices. Could we sell Blanche’s cards? Which books? No conclusive decision.

15. Volunteering Update: NR to send out Mailchimp to supporters calling for volunteers.

16. Benefits in Kind: AM 6 hours, DF 15, NR 10, DJ 15, JC 10

17. AOCB:

• Archaeological Society. AM to contact Colin Carr that we are too busy to take on any more just now.
• DF has asked Andrew Rodger if, as our building advisor, he’d agree to check out the Old Congregational Church in the event the Board wants to follow this up. Andrew has agreed he would.
• John McGregor collection. Andrew happy to continue with this.

Minutes

1. Welcome and Apologies for Absence:

Present: Ann McIntosh, Chair (AM), John Cowie (JC), Dorothy Jones (DJ), Marnie Gauld (MG),Dave Ferguson (DF), Colin Crawford (CC), Neil Rodan (NR).
Apologies: Ewen Honeyman (EH).
Note: The Trustees present signed a card of condolence for Charlotte, Martin Boyle’s niece.

2. Minutes of the previous meeting were agreed and signed.

3. Treasurer's Report £10,942.06 in hand. Company Tax Return has been submitted. Electric supply is in the process of switching to another supplier. Business Stream has been contacted regarding removal of one of the water meters - so far no response. NR to follow up.

4. Project Costs: Review expenditure and remaining charges to March 2024.:

5. (Item 6 on Agenda) EOI for CLLD funds 2024/25

6. (Was 5 on Agenda) Preparation of Opening Displays

1. Lady’s Room etc. Lady’s Room.. Discussion about whether it’s a bedroom / boudoir / salon. Need a mannequin - DF to put a message on Facebook. AM to bring the rest of the Martin Boyle items to OTH. Lorna Ramsay will help AM with this display. CC will talk to David Campbell about interior design ideas.
2. Justice / Punishment. MG to make display / posters. She will try to get the provost’s chain, show the Burgh Tartan and the Arms of Crieff.
3. Drovers. DF has text which needs to be edited - All to help DF with this.

7. Business Plan Activity 2024/25. CC has been populating the templates he previously produced. He has policies on Health & Safety, Safeguarding, Volunteers etc. CC to meet with NR on w/c 18th March to discuss finances.

8. Trifold Leaflet: JC has been in touch with Alan at Crieff Camera Club to take high-res pictures. This will include monuments and photos of children enjoying the Museum. MG to write up the text. AM to set up Danscot a/c.

9. Membership Policy. Extensive discussion regarding types of membership, costs, what members will get in return, the idea of Founder Members. Consensus appeared to be that for “normal” members we should not ask for more than £12 per year. AM/DF to write up text for NR to send out to membership list on Mailchimp.

10. Offer of Volunteering We should talk to Katie ASAP to find out what her expectations are. JC is going to Glasgow soon and will see if he can meet her for a coffee. DF has been in touch with Nicola Sutcliffe who will meet some trustees at the OTH ( NB This already happened with what appears to be a positive outcome!)

11. Book Purchase

1. Perthshire Booklets (David Robertson) - we should buy 6 of each
2. Burns in Perthshire buy 6 of these.

12. Running Costs

1. Electricity and Water. NR has arranged to switch from EDF to a new supplier, UGP. Their estimate based on actual usage since we moved in on 6th Sept is £4966. We hope we will use less than this. NR has contacted Business Stream to enquire about removing one of the water meters. They have not yet responded - NR to follow up.
2. Insurance: JC has arranged a non-profit policy with Zurich. Cost £157. Paper copy of the certificate to be kept in OTH.

13. Perth Museum Opening Reception AM has been invited to the opening reception and will attend.

14. Networking. Michael Aldridge, Factor at Drummond Castle.has always been supportive. If we have an opening party we should invite Lady Jane. AM is meeting Lucy who works at Lalique and may be able to help us develop a relationship there.

15. External Repairs No update from Mearns. Alan Murphy’s pal can sort the slates on the cells free of charge - just a thankyou on our Facebook. JC to ask lawyers what our recourse we have in view of the terms of our lease.

16. Upcoming Events

1. CCC Spring Fair. We have no resource for this. AM to send Brian Wilton an email apologising for our inability to attend.
2. AGM 24th May at 11:00 upstairs in OTH. AM to put notice in Herald, DJ to put in Quair.
3. MG and DF are going to do a history walk at Trowan on 12th May.

17. Accessioning: Almost done. We will seal the concrete floor of the cellar to keep down the dust.

18. Benefits in kind: DJ and NR 12 hours each. JC 6 hours. DF 8. Total for February = 38 hours.

19. AOCB:

• BOLD will do a design for our sign.
• Networked sensors are too expensive
• Can BOLD arrange a design for our website? Cost?
• Peter Flett thought he had arranged to meet AM - he hadn’t. Still plan to meet him.
• Tanning Display should be done later on.
• DF to get printer from Andrew.

Minutes

1. Welcome and Apologies for Absence:

Present: Ann McIntosh, Chair (AM), John Cowie (JC), Dorothy Jones (DJ), Dave Ferguson (DF), Colin Crawford (CC), Neil Rodan (NR).
Apologies: Marnie Gauld (MG),Ewen Honeyman (EH).

2. Minutes of the previous meeting were agreed and signed.

3. Treasurer's Report £7074.21 in hand. £765 received from CLLD. £3800 claim made for CC & joiner for January. We have to do a Company Tax return by 29-Feb. NR has applied for a code which HMRC send as a letter. Once received NR will do the return. CC offered to advise if necessary.

4. Project Expenditure Review Committed Funds to March 2024:

5. Project Plan 2024/25

1. Accelerate OD Report The outputs of Margaret O’Connor’s Accelerate report should feed into
2. Business Plan / Business Development Plan. Which should consist of:

• Short term action plan covering the next few weeks
• Medium Term covering next 6 months.
• Longer term for next year.

3. We should wait to make our plan for EOI as we still have some time for that. We should also look at other sources of funding such as Gannochy, Awards For All etc.

6. Branding Review. NR to download branding assets per link from Annie at BOLD. We should look at having Tote Bags and Mugs made up in time for opening. CC arranged for Ken Campbell who is in that business to meet some trustees at OTH at 10:30 on Tuesday 20th. DF to contact David & Iain Robertson regarding possibly selling their books and also giving a talk.

7. Preparation of Opening Displays.

1. Lady’s Room etc. DJ was of the opinion that there was not enough exhibits of sufficient quality to make a lady’s dressing room and perhaps a salon-style display would be better.
2. Justice / Punishment. MG not present.
3. Drovers. DF to arrange some interpretation boards using the material he has developed.

8. External Repairs. No update. NR to check on cost of obtaining a dehumidifier. AM to try to get Meanrns to fix the slates. There was some discussion on having it done ourselves and billing the council.

9. Building Management:

1. NR to contact Scottish Water to ask them to disconnect one of the water meters. NR to complain to EDF about their incompetence. Consider switching our energy supplier.
2. Lorraine is going to put JC in contact with the insurers directly.
3. Fire Alarm Zone 5 has been disconnected. Needs a new battery / alarm.

10. Forthcoming Events

1. Better Place to live fair. We have asked for the same stall as last year. We should have our branding in place. We should get more membership forms filled out.
2. Spring Fair It is at Taylor Park. Will we get a gazebo?
3. John Harding Edgar Talk This talk could be a fundraiser for us. AM to ask him for suitable dates in the autumn.

11. Building Advisor The arrangement with Andrew should be left as-is
12. Tartan Registration/Purchase. JC spoke to Nicky in House of Tartan. You can get 6 sashes from 10m of cloth apparently. We will order 30m lightweight tartan with selvage edging. MG should write up the story of the tartan - meaning of colours etc.
13. Purchase of VueScan Software. DF to go ahead and order this.
14. Accessioning We need a team effort to clear the shelving areas in the cellar so we can store accessioned items. We also need to purchase plastic storage boxes to put items in. We will start work on the cellar at 10:00 on Ruesday.
15. AGM To Agree Arrangements. The 22nd or 23rd May. In upstairs room at OTH.
16. Benefits in kind: DJ and NR 16 hours each. JC 10 hours. DF 4, AM 6 hours each.. Total for January = 52 hours.

17. AOCB:

1. J & H Mitchell Solicitors are running a talk in Perth for charitable trustees. DJ, JC and (possibly) DF to attend.
2. Peter Flett who is involved in immersive technology at Stirling University would like to meet us. AM to arrange a couple of dates.
3. Jane & Cindy can advise us on accessibility issues. DF to arrange access after work is done.
4. DF can borrow the projector for his signals group.
5. Roddy MacDonald (joiner) has offered to lend us some artefacts for our displays.

• 1)  Welcome and Apologies for Absence:
  Present: Ann McIntosh, Chair (AM),Marnie Gauld (MG), John Cowie (JC), Dorothy Jones (DJ), Dave Ferguson (DF), Colin Crawford (CC), Neil Rodan (NR).
  Apologies: Ewen Honeyman (EH).
  
• 2)  Minutes of the previous meeting were agreed and signed.
  
• 3)  Treasurer's Report £12700.31 in hand. £765 claimed from CLLD. £2400 to
  CC and 1400 to joiner in progress.
  
• 4)  Project Expenditure to March 2024:
• 
  a) Review Committed Funds: Revenue funding of £9000 is available
  leaving £8800 for capital. We have a quote of £2100 from our painter and we will buy a bolt of our tartan for £1500. The joiner has requested an advance of £1400 to buy materials. We have also spent £500 on display cabinets and £265 on the joiner to secure the land outside and the fire exit. This amounts to £5765 committed / spent so far.
• 
  b) To decide on further charges in 23/24:
• -  David Campbell. We decided we would not contract David but once we have come up with an overall idea of what we want we may ask him to guide us on the finer points if he is agreeable to an ad-hoc arrangement.
  
• -  Interior Designer. We will not employ one at this stage.
  
• -  Temporary Sign. We should go ahead with this once we see what BOLD have come up with. Approx £400.
  
• -  Tech Drawings. DF to check with Andrew before we pay the council £35 for a copy.
  
• -  Storage / Other. We need to store items in boxes in the basement. We have some Museum-quality boxes.
• c) EOI 2024/25. Deferred. .
• 5)  Development Day 17 January
• a)  After meeting with BOLD on Tuesday 30th we should meet in the OTH to come up with strategic priorities / agreed vision etc.
  
• b)  JC to arrange suitable date / time for Margaret O’Connor session on Stakeholder Mapping and Risk Management.
  
• 6)  Community Engagement Event. We should participate in the Better Places event at The Campus.
  
• 7)  External Repairs. JC to draft letter to Mearns pointing out PKC obligations per lease. AM remarked that we should be getting our local councillors involved.
  
• 8)  Accessioning. DJ & NR to attend at AM’s house on Thursday 1st 10:30 to accession items in AM’s possession. .
  
• 9)  Utilities / Service Access: We are experiencing a number of occasions when people want to read meters / test electrics / test water etc. It is inconvenient and sometimes impossible to allow access at such short notice. Also, AM has received an email from EDF whereas JC had put his name down for that. JC had emailed EDF with our concerns and they told him they were “working on it”.
  

• AGM-towardsendofMay-JCtoincludeinminutesfornexttime.
  
• DFtoarrangeaDrover’sDisplay/writeup.
  
• JohnMcGregorCollection-NRtopassonexternaldrivetoDFfor
  scanning software.
  

• 1)  Welcome and Apologies for Absence:
  Present: Marnie Gauld (MG), John Cowie (JC), Dorothy Jones (DJ), Dave Ferguson (DF), Neil Rodan (NR). Ewen Honeyman (EH), Colin Crawford (CC).
• 
  Apologies: Ann McIntosh (AM)
• 
  Thanks to Ewen for hosting us.
  
• 2)  Minutes of the previous meeting were agreed and signed.
  
• 3)  Treasurer's Report £7838 in hand. £128.35 payment to JC outstanding awaiting AM authorisation.
  
• 4)  Project Plan to March 2024:
• 
  a) Capital / Revenue Split and procedure for accessing funds: Split has been changed in agreement with Laura. 30 days for CC will amount to £9000. Leaving £8,800 for capital works. NR to take on funds reclaiming process.
• 
  b) Joinery/Paintwork etc: Alan Murphy is happy to do the paintwork. Pedro may also be available. MG is going to ask John Jack, an experienced builder, to take a look at the building and offer advice.
• 
  We need to get all the work done by end of February or we will lose out on the funding.
• 
  We need to get a proper project plan together - DJ suggested the possibility of subgroups being formed to push this forward.
• 
  We need to develop our vision of what kind of Museum we want. We need to have a flexible space. Do we want to display lots and lots of objects or focus on a few?
• 
  We agreed we could only do the basics in the current plan then look at further development as we get more funding.
• 
  Order a big roll of “our” tartan.
• 
  BOLD may refine our website as part of their branding exercise.
• 
  We can ask Pedro to do a “Story of Strathearn” board for display in the entrance.
• 
  We discussed the damp / drains issue and whether we should get a specialist company to send a camera down the drains to find out what we are dealing with.
• It was suggested to put a secure letter box by the front door rather than cut into our new doors.

• 5)  Feedback / Actions from Branding Workshop. The group agreed it was a very good session and we look forward to seeing what BOLD come up with. Ongoing.
  
• 6)  Christmas Fliers/Poster: Poster done - MG to put it on display.
  
• 7)  Development Day 17th January. Programme is finalised and distributed. JC will bring his portable router so we have wifi on the day. The main outcomes will be a Business Plan and a Development Plan.
  
• 8)  External Repairs. AM has written to Mearns who is “taking instructions”
  
• 9)  Electricity / Meter Readings. JC to take and send reading to EDF. EDF are
  communicating via JC’s personal email. It would be better to use a Museum
  address. Also EDF have still not told us what their tariff is.
  

• 14)AOCB:
• -  There is a Heritage Trust Network Mentoring scheme. Probably not for us at this stage.
  
• -  MG mentioned that the new hospital will have been open for 25 years in 2025. There are some old chairs from the 1906 hospital which could possibly be displayed in 2025.
  
• -  Andrew accepted some old McNee Jam Jars for us...
  
• -  Glenturret sponsorship - could we tie up with them on a display?
  
• -  Meeting next month to decide what we want to display initially.
  
• -  Highland Games have a lot of artefacts which we may be able to help them with.
• 
  Next Meeting: Wednesday 25th January 14:00 at OTH .