2020-09-30-accounts

Toddington Village Hall Association

Registered Charity Number 1001875

CHAIRMAN’S REPORT 2020

At the start of our financial year on 1 October 2019, and leaving aside our medium to longer term ambitions, we expected to be faced with pretty much “business as usual” in operational terms. We began the year on that basis, but the weeks after Christmas brought rumours of virus transmissions from the other side of the world and our expectations inevitably began to change. Before we knew it, Covid-19 became an unwelcome reality, everyone’s life changed beyond recognition, and any certainty about what the future might hold began to fade away.

Business as usual came to a grinding halt towards the end of March when, following detailed guidance from the Government and Action with Communities in Rural England, the Village Hall was effectively mothballed. Like many others we were in lockdown - a new territory, with no clear prospect of returning to “normality”, and we took on a range of precautions to safeguard our employees and the public; to contain operational costs as far as possible; to meet the needs of our insurers; to make frequent and regular inspections of the site and the property to ensure that the needs of maintenance, health & safety and security were met.

We looked carefully at what might happen when restrictions were eased in July, when the overall guidance from Action with Communities in Rural England was: “Do not re-open until you have identified the necessary safety, compliance, management, and operational issues through a COVID19 risk assessment and established a plan to address and mitigate them. You are not obliged to reopen immediately and it would be unwise to do so if you have not been through that process.” We concluded that we simply didn’t have the resources to ensure that the Hall could be operated safely and managed effectively, and found that other church and community premises in the village were taking the same approach. As we reached the end of the financial year the situation was still uncertain, and the Hall remained closed pending further Government guidance being formulated.

My report in the previous year had mentioned that we needed to conserve and review our financial resources, but there were still bills to be paid for some operating costs including licensing, insurance premiums, fees and maintenance and, with no income from hire fees, there were concerns that too many of our funds might be consumed. Fortunately we became eligible for the Small Business Grant from Central Bedfordshire Council which boosted our finances sufficiently to cover unavoidable costs. We were also able to apply for, and benefit from, the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme which allowed us to place our loyal employees on furlough and make them eligible to receive a substantial proportion of the wages they would have expected to receive in normal times.

What will happen as we move forward into another year is anybody’s guess, and while we’ve no doubt that the consequences of the pandemic will remain with us for some considerable time, we’ll still be aiming to meet our objective of providing facilities ”for the benefit of the inhabitants of the Parish of Toddington” in whatever ways prove possible.

Doug Dix

Chairman, Toddington Village Hall Association November 2020

FINANCIAL STATEMENT

for the year ended 30 September 2020

Numbers annotated in brackets relate to the notes on the following page The Hall was closed from 22 March 2020 in accordance with Covid-19 restrictions

RECEIPTS	30.09.19	30.09.19	30.09.20	30.09.20
(1) Hire fees: Individual Regular (2) Sundry income (3) Interest on investments (4) Rent Special deposits taken (5) Small Business Grant (6) Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme Grants TOTAL RECEIPTS			3186.75 8074.50	11261.25 55.00 69.60 900.00 10000.00 4334.80 26620.65
	6730.75
	16094.65	22825.40
		86.00
		108.21
		900.00
		50.00
		23969.61

PAYMENTS	30.09.19	30.09.19	30.09.20	30.09.20
Fixtures, furnishings and equipment Operating Expenses (7) Consumables (8) Insurance and licences Miscellaneous Stationery and postage (9) Telephone and voicemail charges (10) Utilities (11) Wages and NI contributions (12) Waste disposal Website and e-mail hosting (13) Repairs, construction and maintenance (1) Hire fees & deposits returned TOTAL PAYMENTS		186.99	571.88 2822.76 52.00 67.33 706.02 4172.37 10760.50 953.49 583.71	20690.06 2514.27 609.50
	947.40
	2605.44
	559.30
	236.23
	781.61
	5545.26
	12528.33
	1494.18
	378.60	25076.35
		878.97
		434.00
		26576.31		23813.83
BALANCE OF FUNDS		30.09.19		30.09.20
Brought forward from previous year Net receipts and payments for current year (14) Carried forward to next year		22918.84		20312.14 2806.82 23118.96
		-2606.70
		20312.14

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 SEPTEMBER 2020

1. Hire Fees: Income reduced as a consequence of Hall closure. Fees refunded to hirers whose events were cancelled because of the pandemic are shown under Payments.

2. Sundry Income: Hire of PA System (£15.00) and ex gratia refund from Anglia Water (£40.00).

3. Interest on Investments: Business Deposit Account.

4. Rent is received from Toddington Parish Council ( see ASSETS below ).

5. Covid-19 Support Grant made to village halls by Central Bedfordshire Council

6. Our employees were furloughed under the Job Retention Scheme and claims made under the Scheme rules. Amounts received from HMRC were used to offset Wages payments (Item 11).

7. Consumables: the amount relates primarily to janitorial supplies, the majority of which are purchased in bulk at preferential rates through Herts FullStop (a County supplies service).

8. Insurance, licences and fees cover: Premises, contents, and public and other liability insurance (Aviva VillageGuard Policy for Village Halls) PPL PRS licence fees for playing and performing music (calculated at 2% of annual hire income) Fees of Local Accountant who is contracted to operate the PAYE package.

9. Telephone and voicemail charges: the Association maintains a dedicated telephone and broadband facility for the use of the Bookings Secretary.

10. Utilities: (2019 amounts in brackets) Gas £2,291.92 (£1,921.30) ; Electricity £905.03 (£929.12) ; Water £975.42 (£2,694.84) .

11. Wages and NI contributions - the Association employ a Bookings Secretary, a cleaner and a caretaker. Additional cleaners are engaged ad hoc to cover peak periods and absences.

12. Weekly collections of commercial waste by F&R Cawley Ltd (authorised contractor).

13. Repairs, construction and maintenance: boiler & heating maintenance (£260.00); upgraded Security Lighting (£1004.69); PA System (£271.58); Window Repairs (£414.00); Emergency Plumbing (£90); Fire Equipment Maintenance and replacement (£474.00).

14. Balance of funds carried forward consists of Santander Business Current Account: 12,562.10 Santander Business Savings Account: 10,556.86 .

The Association uses its accounts with Santander for normal transactions. Reserves are held on deposit, and are primarily earmarked as “designated funds” for significant future repairs and replacements.

ASSETS

The land in Leighton Road, Toddington on which the Hall is built (described in a Conveyance dated 29 June 1987 between Toddington Parish Council and Bedfordshire County Council) is held by the Parish Council as Custodian Trustee of Toddington Village Hall Association, as witnessed by Deed of Declaration of Trust dated 22 January 1991.

The property is subject to a Lease dated 31 July 2002 to Toddington Parish Council in respect of that part of the Hall used as a Parish Office. To meet its statutory obligations the Association is required to charge rent at a level proposed by a qualified Surveyor and with the approval of the Charity Commission. The current annual rent is set at £900 (subject to a five-year review). The Lease expired on 31 March 2017 and is in the process of renewal.

The insurance premiums reflect a valuation carried out in August 2008 (and inflation linked) to cover  buildings (including boundary walls, fences, car park and landscaped areas) £656,920  contents (including equipment, furniture, fixtures and fittings) £30,269

A new professional valuation has since been completed and cover increased to £1,300,000 and £33,535 respectively.

LIABILITIES

The Association’s accounts have been compiled on a receipts and payments basis, and are not adjusted for accruals or prepayments. Liabilities other than normal operating expenses are restricted to the deposits mentioned at (3) above.

The Association’s accounting records are maintained by the Hon. Treasurer. This Financial Statement has been prepared by the Association from those and other records.

An independent examination of the accounts, to meet the recommendations of the Charity Commission has been carried out by Geoff Hanson, 88 Derwent Road, Leighton Buzzard, Beds, LU7 2XT, who is competent for the purpose.