ANNUAL REPORT – JIGGI SCHOOL OF ARTS INC. – 2023

1 December 2023

Acknowledgement of Wijabul Wia-bul people of the Bundjalung Nation

I would like to start my report by stating that the Jiggi School of Arts Inc. acknowledges the Wijabul Wia-bul people of the Bundjalung Nation, the traditional owners of the land. We pay our respects to elders past and present and recognise the relationship and continuing connection they have with the land, water and community. We acknowledge that the land has never been ceded. We acknowledge when the Bundjalung and other Nations say that it always was, always will be, Aboriginal land.

2023 has been a busy year for the Jiggi School of Arts Inc. Committee (Hall Committee). The AGM held in February resulted in three new committee members including a new Treasurer. There was still a lot of work to be done as a result of the flood in 2022 and ongoing grant obligations to be fulfilled. The Hall also continued to support the Jiggi Valley Emergency Radio Network which had been set up in the wake of the 2022 flood to ensure better outcomes for the area in the event of future disasters.

The Hall Committee were contacted by the Community Recovery Officers (Justin and Nicki) from Lismore City Council early in the year to find out what they could do to help the Jiggi, Georgica and Mountain Top communities to recover from the effects of the flood. As a result of this contact, a number of events, including a Community Day in May and a Ping Pong Pizza and Preparedness event in November, were held at Jiggi Hall to assist people to be more prepared in the event of another natural disaster. The Community Recovery Team also provided funding for a First Aid and CPR course to be run in September and will fund both a Mind Your Mates and an Accidental Counsellor course in 2024.

At the end of tonight, there will be a new Hall Committee ready to face the challenges and triumphs of 2024. Next week is the annual Christmas Party and then it will be time to commence the planning for next year to ensure that the Jiggi Hall continues to be the hub of the community.

Hall Hire

Hall Hire was similar in 2023 to 2022. There were a couple of larger events during the year, most notably a New Year’s Eve Party, a local wedding, the Winter Feast and the Radical Faeries Glitter Ball. There were a number of local birthday parties and other private events throughout the year as well as a number of community events including a Book Launch by Gary Davis who grew up in Jiggi and a Back to Jiggi and Georgica Day organized by Julie Haigh and Bill Ward. Classes such as yoga and Pilates ran on a regular basis during 2023. A Table Tennis Competition commenced on Wednesday nights and fortnightly Meditation was introduced and facilitated by Jason. The Sunday Lunch recommenced in March and has been going strong ever since.

The year will culminate in the annual Christmas Party and the announcement of the Community Hero Award which is a new innovation created by Jason and supported by the committee. The Community Hero Award will potentially become an annual award and is presented to someone in the community who has gone above and beyond in their support of the community. A sub-committee of community members has been put together by Jason to work through nominations and determine a winner.

The Hall Committee continues to value add to the hall hire by offering catering as part of the package to people/organizations hiring the Hall. This continues to be successful and has resulted in further business from Lismore City Council on more than one occasion in the past year as they often find it difficult to obtain a rural venue for training that can be hired and offers catering as well. The Hall continues to be hired on a regular basis by people from within Jiggi, Georgica and Mountain Top and also by the wider Northern Rivers community.

Grants

JSOA has continued to expend the two current grants in 2023. The first one was from the Foundation for Rural and Regional Renewal (FRRR) and was provided to upgrade the kitchen and came through in March 2021. This grant was fully expended and acquitted in September. The kitchen is now a very functional space and has the capacity to cater for larger groups of people at events. The second grant was from Service NSW and its purpose was to cover some of the flood damage to the Hall and was obtained in 2023. This grant has been utilised to purchase a new stove to replace the damaged one, replace the vinyl in the kitchen, purchase new musical equipment, have the septic pumped out and repaint the Hall.

The Hall committee made a conscious decision to only use flood effected businesses to purchases the goods and services required and were able to do so successfully. The opportunity arose to apply for further flood funding  from Service NSW and JSOA intends to use this further funding to fix the major structural issues in the kitchen roof as well as a couple of other small items that fit the criteria of the grant and are within the amount available. This work will all be completed and finalised by mid- December 2023.                                                          3.

Communications

We have been working on the Jiggi Hall website and intend to expand it with more functionality over time. The website is jiggihall.com.au We encourage everyone to visit the website and provide feedback on what else you think it might need to make it more user friendly.

Jiggi Hall Facebook page continues to be a main communications place, together with Jiggi Post and the Jiggi Post Discussion Forum.

We have commenced a regular “What’s on for the Month” flyer which is emailed to the Jiggi Hall email list as well as being displayed at Goolmangar Shop and Jiggi Hall. We also send separate emails regarding specific events that are occurring at Jiggi Hall. If you would like to be part of this email list please contact us at jiggihall@gmail.com

Membership

We are always keen for new members and volunteers. One of our goals is to increase the number of Hall members. We intend to do this by encouraging people at Hall events to become a member. Our membership fee continues to be $2 per year. Membership provides a discount for Hall hire and the opportunity to vote in committee members and for general resolutions. Membership allows people to have a say in how our community hall is run. Membership is open to all residents of Jiggi, Georgica and Mountain Top. If you would like to become a member you can do so by contacting us at jiggihall@gmail.com and we will provide you with the bank account details for deposit of your membership fee.

Maintenance.

There were a number of maintenance issues during 2023 that needed to be addressed including replacement and repair of toilets at the cottage and the pre-school, repairs to the Hall pump, replacement of new pump (under warranty) at the cottage and a number of electrical repairs for all three buildings. The storm insurance claimed in 2022 after the flood for damage to the Hall finally came through and the barge boards and outside light were able to be repaired and replaced.

The TPS applied for a grant to rebuild the ramp on the Pre-School and build a cover over it. This work was recently completed by Chris and Sue who did a great job. It will be painted during a working bee early in 2024.

It has been an expensive year again with only a proportion of the costs covered by either insurance or grants.

The Hall is cleaned regularly by a cleaner and the lawn and edges kept mowed and tidy by the grounds person

Events and Activities

During 2023 the Hall Committee held three main fundraising activities – a Pizza and Pasta Night in June, a Trivia Night in September and the Majestic Ball in October. There will also be the annual Christmas Party in December. The committee and volunteers also provided catering for a number of community focussed events including the Lismore City Council Community Recovery Team funded Community Day, First Aid and CPR Training and Ping Pong, Pizza and Preparedness Night. Catering was also provided to two specific Lismore City Council events – the Tarwyn Park 5 day Workshop and the Property Planning Workshop. Catering for private and public events continue to positively supplement the income of the Hall which in turns allows for more maintenance to be provided and equipment purchased. The Lismore City Council Recovery Team also funded a Grant Writing Workshop in Lismore that was attended by members of various community halls including Jiggi Hall.

The fundraisers in 2023 were geared towards the purchase of a defibrillator for the Hall. After a kind donation from Mick the electrician who came across a defibrillator during a demolition job and offered it to the Hall via Keryn, we now have a defibrillator for the Hall. We used the money we raised to purchase a new battery for it and it is now available for use if needed. It is situated on top of the fridge in the Hall kitchen.

A Working Bee was held in April and was well attended. A number of people from Jiggi Landcare attended and planted native trees supplied by Greg Jakes from his nursery around the perimeter of the property which in time will help to reduce the noise of events at the Hall.

Sunday Lunch made a welcome return in March 2023 and has been well attended since it recommenced.

Yoga and Pilates happened on a regular basis throughout 2023 and will continue into 2024. The choir – Jiggi Sings for Joy happened on an ad hoc basis throughout most of 2023. It is now being held consistently on the first and third Fridays of the month. A Table Tennis Competition has commenced on Wednesday nights and will also continue into 2024. Meditation with Jason has become a regular activity every second Tuesday. The Hall has become a busy place with events and activities happening regularly.

Kate continues her work as an official volunteer with the Hall. Kate volunteers 15 hours a week and does a wonderful job at keeping our Community Library organized as well as undertaking a range of other activities that benefit the Hall. Kate has quickly become an asset to the Hall and we are very grateful for the work she does.                                                           

Thank You

Our aim is to be inclusive, resilient and social and to share our time, experience, skills and talents. We aim for the Hall to provide a venue for our community to socialise, share stories, share experiences and learn from each other. The Hall is also a place to relax. Jiggi Hall could not achieve all of this without the help and support of all the volunteers from the local community. Without this support, Jiggi Hall would cease to exist.

Thank you to everyone who has contributed in 2023 to help make Jiggi Hall the great venue it is.

Thank you to Louise, who has continued to provide assistance with checking and auditing our finances.

Thank you to Ellen who has continued on as the Public Officer in 2023 as well as providing continuous support with the organizing and finalising of the grants as well as providing assistance to the new Treasurer.

Thank you to Matt, Michael and Jo for all the work you have all put in at the fundraisers and working bees in the last year especially with firing up the pizza oven and cooking the pizzas for a number of different events. Your assistance has been invaluable.

Thank you to Paul, Chris, Kenrick, Kate F, Julie R.and Jamie and Amie for providing live music to the community. It has been greatly appreciated by all.

Thank you to Deb, Ellen, Faye, Wormie, Michael, Garrett, Julie, Jo, Bec, Cathie, Rachel and Mark, Kate F., Keryn, Maree, Zena and Paul, Carolyn, Sharon, Steve, Lily, Ros, Kate B., Guy, Rodney, Abe, Jerry, Grant, Stephen, Tobias, Charles, Katie and anyone else that has helped out during the last year with any of our fundraising events or working bees. We couldn’t have done it without you.

Thanks to Taya for giving her time to lead the Jiggi Sings for Joy choir and to Jason for providing a no-cost regular Meditation time for the community. Both of these activities have been invaluable for the mental health of our community.

Thank you to Kirstin and her staff at Goolmangar Shop for all your support in providing prizes for our events and letting us advertise all our events at the shop You are one of our biggest supporters and we really appreciate all you do for us.

Thank you to Bec and Keryn and the rest of the team on Jiggi Post who have advertised our events and helped us with promotion on social media.

Thank you to the Lismore City Council Recovery Team, the Jiggi RFS and the Lismore SES for their contributions to the recovery and resilience events held at Jiggi Hall this year.

Thanks to Gerry and the team at the Tower Pre-School for all their assistance in maintaining the pre-school building by obtaining grants where possible to contribute.

Thanks to the cottage tenants and all nearby residents for their ongoing support of the Hall and tolerance of both Hall functions and private events.

Thank you to all who have supported our little library by borrowing and donating books, CDs and DVDs. And to those who have brought their excess produce to share with others.

Thank you to everyone who has made food for our events.

Thank you to all who have contributed to our events and activities, who have participated, attended, and helped to make Jiggi Hall such a valuable asset to our community.

Thank you to everyone who has come to our working bees and helped us to improve our Hall.

Thank you to Katinka and Greg who will not be renominating for the 2024 committee. The commitment and hard work you have both put in during your time on the committee has been invaluable.

We have tried to thank everyone, but if we have missed you, please accept our thanks. I know there are people who turn up to events and help to set up and clean up. We appreciate your help in making our events and activities successful.

Thank you to previous Hall Committees, for all of your hard work over the years. It has contributed to making this Hall a great place for Jiggi, Georgica and Mountain Top communities.

And from me, thank you to our current Hall Committee, for your community commitment, for your ideas, for your hard work and for all of your support. Each person has brought their own skills, expertise and enthusiasm to our work during continued difficult times in the last year and I appreciate all of the effort you have put in to keep the Hall functioning during this time.

The Future

To our new JSOA committee members, a welcome to you in advance of the election. Thank you for being willing to contribute to your community by becoming a part of the Hall Committee.

We hope to continue to provide and support activities and events that encourage more people to become involved and to help raise funds for our community hall.

We hope there are lots of opportunities in the coming year to build our community, to build our resilience, to socialise, to share and support. Your involvement in our community hall is vital. After all, you can’t have a community hall without a community.

Marina Fitzhenry – President

Jiggi School of Arts