Kincardineshire Development Partnership
AGM – Thursday 19th June 2025 at 7 pm
The Dickson Hall, Laurencekirk, AB30 1BE
Minutes
Attendees:
George Cruickshank – Newtonhill, Muchalls & Cammachmore Community Council (Chair)
Bridget Scott –Bettridge Centre
Ian Hunter – Stonehaven Community Council
Eeva-Kaisa Arter – Catterline, Kinneff & Dunnottar Community Council
Starkeeper Morton – The Haven
Henning Wagner – Mill of Benholm
Duncan Grassick – Catterline, Kinneff & Dunnottar Community Council
Cat Govan – The Haven
Charlie Roberts-McIntosh – Johnshaven Heritage Hub Museum
Julie Gray – The Community Collective
Elma Wylie – Skateraw Hall, Newtonhill
Heather Hopkins – Skateraw Hall, Newtonhill
Carol Hutton– Johnshaven Community Café
Lesley Robertson – Aberdeenshire Council
Councillor Alan Turner
Councillor Dawn Black – K&M Youth Clubs
Councillor George Carr
Hilary Fleming – Aberdeenshire Council
Jane Mitchell – Mearns & Coastal Healthy Living Network
Michael Bennett – Benholm & Johnshaven Community Council
Karen Traill – Edzell Woods Community Trust
Morag Mitchell – Laurencekirk Rotary
Gloria Potter – Wee Gaitherin
Sarah Byres – Inverbervie Burgh Hall
Frieda Fowler – The Community Collective
Aida Sorgentini – Edzell Woods Community Trust
Beryl Mowat – Auchenblae Community Café
Tom Campbell – Brighter Bervie
Teresa Middler – Milltown Community
Eve Mosher – Gourdon Community Council
Poppy Morton – The Haven
Marion Montgomery – Paws on Plastic
In Attendance:
Mairi Eddie – Development Officer
Margo Titmuss – Windfarm & Funding Officer
Apologies:
Tim Stephen – Aberdeenshire Council
Reid Hutchison – Aberdeenshire Council
Councillor Shirley Burnett
Councillor Alison Evison
Councillor Sarah Dickinson
Andrew McDonald – Mearns Community Council
Cath Allwood – Johnshaven Community Café
Mairi Gougeon – MSP
Jackie Bruce – Panthers Basketball
Niamh Carr – Hutton Institute
Cherry Lawson – K&D Befriending
Tony Peters – Kinneff Old Church Preservation Trust/Kinneff Village Hall
Jane Cruickshank – The Bellman
Peter Folkhart – TRAK
Maria Metson – Johnshaven Community Cafe
- Welcome
George Cruickshank welcomed all members, Trustees, Councillors and staff, and thanked them for attending the KDP AGM. Apologies were noted.
- Previous Minutes
The minutes of the AGM of 20th June 2024 were presented. Their approval was proposed by Bridget Scott and seconded by Henning Wagner.
- Matters Arising
There were no matters arising.
- Motion to change Constitution
An explanation of the proposed change to the constitution was presented within the meeting paperwork.
It involved clarifying the qualification for KDP membership to groups rather than individuals.
Those present voted unanimously to accept the amendments, and therefore the changes will be made to the Constitution and will be sent to OSCR.
- Chair’s Report
I am delighted to present KDP’s Chair’s Report for 2024 – 2025; it exemplifies what the partnership has been up to over the last 12 months and the progress that has been made in that period.
Yet again the trustees are indebted to our staff, whose conscientiousness, dedication and enthusiasm have been crucial to the survival and development of the organisation. Times have undoubtedly been challenging for the organisation, with funding uncertainties. We are still reliant on attracting grant funding, but will continue to work diligently on finding ongoing funding and to expand the range of work that we undertake.
We continue to increase our membership numbers and do our utmost to provide a varied range of help and support to these groups. Our bi-weekly Bulletin is a valued source of information and is distributed to more than 250 local contacts. Plus, there has been an increase in help and advice available on our website.
We received fabulous feedback from a recent member questionnaire; it was rewarding to hear that our member groups appreciate what we do, and benefit from the information and support we provide.
Some of the highlights for the year have been the continued support for our various networks. We hosted an Afternoon Tea at Drumlithie in September for our community café volunteers, and we continued to support our Hall Network with an event recently in Laurencekirk, and through a dedicated newsletter. Our new ’K&M Growing Network’ has already seen local community growing groups collaborate to grow 4000 plants for community planters.
We facilitated a volunteer recruitment day at Mearns Academy, bringing together local organisations that were looking for volunteers and people seeking volunteer opportunities. We’ve continued to be active in the Community Planning Partnership, which has led to our involvement in several interesting research projects such as finding solutions for local transport issues and a better understanding of food access problems.
KDP also remain engaged with all aspects of Place Planning, from involvement with new Academy Catchment Place Plans to support for Community Action Plans.
We are optimistic that KDP has a bright future; our principal challenge is to acquire core funding to allow our key activities to continue. Please be assured that our dedicated staff and the members of the board will make every effort to achieve this and are prepared to grasp the opportunities when they appear.
- Treasurer’s Report
The financial story of KDP is somewhat difficult to unpick from just looking at our annual accounts: which show total income of £129,273 and total expenditure of £126,861. This is because it includes all the income and expenditure associated with the administration of three windfarm community funds.
Our job is to ensure that KDP as an organisation is in good financial health, so it’s important to exclude this from our calculations. This gives us a total of £50,525 income (which includes the Aberdeenshire Council SLA as well as project funding) and £48,571 expenditure (which covers the cost of administering KDP, paying staff wages and running projects).
We’re delighted to say we’ve turned around last year’s £26K loss to a small profit of £2K. This has been enabled by keeping a tight rein on expenditure and by a lot of hard work to source funding from Awards for All and for projects such as the production of a Community Action Plan Toolkit/Guide.
While we’re very grateful for the project funding we’ve received (and we’re applying for more as we speak) – we’re very aware that our essential mission is to continue to provide the invaluable support service we offer to local community groups. Finding core funding to give us the financial stability to make sure this continues is our priority for the coming year, and we’re optimistic that this is achievable.
KDP runs a very tight ship, and our running costs are minimised by not having an office. This means that Mairi and Margo work from home the vast majority of the time, and have to contend with the difficulties of isolation, particularly in the winter.
However they get out and about and meet with community groups wherever possible, and it is to their credit that they achieve so much and remain so deeply embedded in our local communities, with a very hands-on approach to supporting the many projects they have initiated.
We hope that with Mairi and Margo’s hard work and dedication and the backing of a strong board, KDP will not only survive, but thrive, for many years to come.
- Development Officers’ Report
Mairi Eddie, Development Officer and Margo Titmuss, Windfarm & Funding Officer highlighted some of the activities undertaken over the last financial year. In summary:
- Use of KDP Website, Facebook page and fortnightly Bulletins
- Networks
- Community Cafes
- Halls
- Grassroots
- Growing
- Community Planning
- Place Planning
- Community Action Plans
- Edzell Woods
- Windfarm Community Funding
- Member Feedback
- Future Projects
- Third Sector Forum
- Further Web Development
- Continued Network Support
- Community Action Plans
- Place Planning
- Transport Study Development Officer
- Community Wealth Building
- Appointment of Board of Trustees
As per the KDP Constitution, all Community Council and Community Group representatives are deemed to remain as Trustees until such time as they resign. Accordingly, the following Trustees all remain in place:
Newtonhill, Muchalls and Cammachmore – George Cruickshank
Stonehaven & District – Ian Hunter
The Bettridge Centre – Bridget Scott
Henning Wagner, who was previously a co-opted Trustee, was elected to the Board of Trustees, representing Mill of Benholm Enterprise. He was proposed by Michael Bennett and seconded by Carol Hutton.
The following were also elected to the Board:
Cat Govan – The Haven
Proposed – Starkeeper Morton Seconded – Bridget Scott
Duncan Grassick – Catterline, Kinneff & Dunnottar Community Council
Proposed – Henning Wagner Seconded – Bridget Scott
Charles Roberts-McIntosh – Johnshaven Heritage Hub Museum
Proposed – Henning Wagner Seconded – Michael Bennett
The following Trustees retired from the Board:
Eeva-Kaisa Arter – Catterline, Kinneff & Dunnottar
Starkeeper Morton – The Haven
- Any Other Business
No AOCB
- Presentation
Marion Montgomery gave an inspiring talk about Paws on Plastic. Illustrating how wide-ranging impact can stem from one person deciding to make a difference.
- Thanks and Close of Meeting
George thanked everyone for attending the meeting, Marion Montgomery for her interesting presentation, the staff for their hard work and trustees, past and present, for their support.
George Carr gave a vote of thanks, and the formal session was concluded.
The meeting closed at 8.15pm.
Minutes taken by Margo Titmuss
