Annual Report
and Accounts
for the year ended 31 December 2024
www.welborne.org.uk
Registered Charity No. 1086084
Reference and Administration Details
Charity Name Welborne Village Hall
Charity Registration Number 1086084
Address Welborne Village Hall c/o Mrs. Lesley Webb Hill Farm Welborne Norfolk NR20 3LG Trustees Kevin Rumsey (Chairman) Lesley Webb (Secretary) Sue Lishman Tracey Palmer Tina Redshaw Nick Grant VACANCY
Treasurer Mike Webb
Bankers The Co-operative Bank and Shawbrook Bank
Structure, Governance and Management
The Old School Room, Welborne was established as a charity on 9 August 1999. The governing document has subsequently been amended several times, with the agreement of the Charity Commission.
The objectives of the charity are ‘the provision and maintenance of a village hall for use by the inhabitants of the area of benefit without distinction of political, religious or other opinions for the advancement of education, the provision of recreation and leisure-time activities and for the religious and other charitable work of the Church of England with the object of improving the conditions of life for the inhabitants’.
There are now seven trustee positions which are elected at the AGM of Welborne Village Hall by residents of Welborne:
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At least five will be residents of Welborne;
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Two may come from outside the geographical boundaries of Welborne;
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Trustees stand for an initial term of 4 years and may only be re-elected once;
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Trustees will retire by rotation.
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The Trustees meet quarterly.
The main activities of the charity are:
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The maintenance and development of the village hall itself;
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Planning and delivering a programme of events;
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Maximising use of the hall through lettings.
Achievement and Performance
Well, another year has passed, and it has been an incredibly busy and rewarding year. The hall goes from strength to strength in terms of the bookings and frequency of use. It is not uncommon for the hall to be used at least 3 or more times per week now. Sometimes it is booked out all day for courses, other times in the evening for bands to practice or at weekends for parties and once for a wedding reception. It is a pleasure to see it being used more than ever. Having raised our fees very modestly last year to cover the cost of living increases it is unlikely we need to adjust fees at this moment in time.
One of the main things that happened in 2024 was the installation of the playground. As a listed building we had to apply for planning consent which at times was both frustrating and tiresome. Eventually common sense prevailed within South Norfolk planning and within six weeks of planning being granted work began on the installation and was completed within a week. No mention of this project would be complete without a huge vote of thanks to Tina Redshaw for her determination and diligence. The project did highlight an unexpected problem when a rusty manhole cover to a septic tank was unearthed. The area has been made permanently safe subsequently.
The other main activity in 2024 was the biennial beer festival which involved all trustees and many other volunteers in the community. Although the day was not the bright sunny summer’s day we all hoped for, it remained dry and a large number of attendees enjoyed an excellent day. The age range present showed that the festival appeals to all elements of the community and set out just what we wanted to achieve by bringing everyone together for a fun filled afternoon and evening. The event raised £3,700 towards the village hall. Our thanks go to so many people but in particular to Tommy Harvey who chaired the committee.
Our events weren’t just centred around the beer festival. We had a very successful quiz in Spring and, although the Autumn quiz date was postponed at the time of writing, we have sold out of tickets for the February 25 quiz night proving the appeal of such an event. At Christmas we held our ever-popular Christmas Fayre. The 2024 event proved to be an absolute highlight with many new faces, now a timehonoured tradition of not just fund raising but moreover a meeting place to socialise and meet new faces whilst conversing with familiar ones too. As an event it made an unprecedented £950 towards the village hall.
All of this sounds very impressive, and it truly is but it is all delivered by a band of unbelievably hard-working volunteers. I am truly humbled to chair the trustees. I have already made mention of Tina and her tireless actions. Tracey and Sue deserve special mention for their work with the website and managing bookings. Sue’s flair and creativity is so obvious in all we do. Tracey too brings so much to the charity. Nick helped greatly with the children’s marquee at the beer festival. Lesley continues to be a stalwart of the trustees with her knowledge and wisdom. Her work as secretary does not go unnoticed or unappreciated. We have, during the year also filled our last vacancy on the trustee board. Kevin Cooper, having moved back to the village has decided to join us and will be formally appointed at the AGM. We are delighted to have Kevin on board – especially me as it helps to balance up the number of each gender!
The trustees have also worked extremely hard on the maintenance of the hall and garden area. The lighting has been improved, modernised and updated. The hall got a thorough clean ‘top to bottom’ with windows, light shades and other areas getting a makeover. In the garden too the metal railings, once repaired were wire brushed and treated with Hammerite. The work on picket fence has begun with the first section thoroughly cleaned and then stained ahead of the safety notices being attached. There are plans to finish this work in Spring 25 once the weather allows. All of this requires much time and effort and as the work is done by trustees and friends of trustees it costs a fraction of what it would if we were to hire in labour.
At this point I would like to thank the Friends of the Trustees notably, but not exclusively, David, Jim, Jackie, Karen, Ian, Sharon, Kerri. My final thanks in this section belong to Mike our treasurer. I work closely with Mike on the fiscal side of our charity and his help and guidance are invaluable. I would also like to thank Mike for the years of grass cutting he has undertaken at the village hall, single handedly and he now takes a very deserved retirement from this role and others have already signalled their intention to carry on the good work.
Finally, I would like to turn my attention to the fiscal side. We continue to enjoy a very strong balance sheet. The hall in 24 made a modest ‘profit’ but this was to be expected given it was beer festival year. As the hall continues to enjoy more bookings the need for fund raising to cover day to day cost becomes slightly less critical. That said it then allows the trustees to look at other projects that will further improve the hirer experience and appeal. At the present time a number of potential projects are being looked at. The charity should have already had a reserve policy but I have addressed that this year in conjunction with Mike Webb. The draft policy is attached to this report at Appendix A. It very clearly sets out what the reserves are for, the amount careful analysis suggests we need to hold and therefore what surplus/deficit there is. I am pleased to report there is a modest surplus that should allow us to look in some detail at the aforementioned projects.
In summary I believe as a committee of trustees we are delivering against the stated aim of the charity to improve the conditions of life for the inhabitants of Welborne and surrounding villages. I believe this is core to our activities and how we act.
Kevin Rumsey Chairman
Financial Review of 2024
Income
I recommended last year that we should regard our annual fixed costs as £4,000 and aim to raise at least that amount each year. These accounts show that this was achieved in 2024 with a surplus of some £1,200. The surplus was largely thanks to £3,650 raised by the biennial Beer Festival and £1,000 from the Christmas Fair. Without the Beer Festival, in particular, there would not have been a surplus and the Trustees are aware that it is necessary to generate a similar amount in alternate years.
The income from lettings has increased to the most ever - some £2,300. This is not only encouraging in itself, because it means that the Village Hall is being used a lot, but the income from lettings now makes a significant contribution to overall income.
A summary of events promoted by the Trustees is attached at Appendix B and shows an overall contribution of almost exactly £5,000.
Interest rates remained high for most of the year and total bank interest was nearly £500. The last of the interest from HSBC, our previous bank, is included in these accounts.
As Treasurer, I can say that our new Co-op bank accounts are easy to manage as well as being ‘free’, unlike HSBC. I have also found the bank to be very helpful when asked. It should be noted that the Co-op bank has now been taken over by the Coventry Building Society. It is to be hoped that the benevolent attitude towards charity accounts will continue.
Expenditure
Last year I referred to the general increase in costs and my recommendation was to regard our annual fixed costs as £4,000. However, in practice, these accounts show that annual fixed costs were actually £4,500 (after excluding Non-Domestic rates, which are currently 100% met by South Norfolk Council, and also exceptional website costs).
We still have over £26,000 in our bank accounts. I said last year that we should only keep a reasonable level of reserves without good reason and that the Charity Commission requires a Reserves Policy. A Reserves Policy has now been prepared (Appendix A) but not yet adopted by the Trustees. This will be reviewed and updated annually in the light of experience.
Other issues
I need to mention the very significant impact on the accounts of the new Play Area. This project cost some £20,000 but was almost completely covered by a massive grant from the National Lottery. The Village Hall only had to contribute £1,000 to the project.
In any future large projects such as this, I suggest that we need to ensure that …
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The project plan and the decision-making process are clear in advance and that decisions made are carefully minuted.
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We allow a % budget contingency for ‘unexpected and unknown’ costs.
Steve Pye & Co have marginally increased their charges to £588 for the 2024 accounts. However, the Trustees continue to believe that it is in the charity’s interests to be completely transparent about our accounts and to have them independently examined. It is also important for the charity that my work as Treasurer is independently scrutinised.
Mike Webb Treasurer
Reserves Policy
All charities are required to have a statement of their charity’s reserves policy within the annual report under the Charities Statement of Recommended Practice (SORP). The annual report is prepared under the Charities Act 2011. As such the policy below fulfils this requirement.
It is recognised that The Welborne Village Hall charity has reserves and as such these can be described as unrestricted funds. On occasion the charity may hold restricted funds by exception. In 2024 one such exception existed when a national lottery grant was obtained for the sole purpose of part funding for a play equipment area on the site of the charity. Those funds were restricted and spent in full on the project.
The funds held by the charity can be divided into 2 distinct needs:
The need to maintain and run the village hall and the area
surrounding it. The accounts show that the current cost of this is around £4,500 per annum. In the event that the hall could not accept bookings and received no other income then allowance has to be made for the charity to continue. Of course, as recently as 2020 this happened when the global pandemic effectively curtailed all activity. The trustees collectively believe in a cautious and measured approach to all matters to do with financial discipline and therefore a reserve of two years is deemed to be appropriate; thus two years at £4,500 totals £9,000.
The second area that funds are deemed to be needed for is centred around the building itself. The charity commission are quite clear that special attention should be paid to charities with property and consider its long-term upkeep and preservation. This area can be sub-divided into 2:
Contingency for an emergency e.g. catastrophic boiler failure, sudden ingress of water etc.
Long term projects e.g. planned roof repairs, window improvements etc.
To allow for these two areas the trustees propose a reserve of £5,000 each, so £10,000 in total, that would allow for immediate repairs and go some way to any longer term planned repairs or updates and allow some match funding to any grants that may be available at that time. Currently there are no long-term repairs planned but such is the nature of listed buildings of the age of the village hall these can occur at any time and without warning.
The proposed reserves can be summarised as:
| £ | |
|---|---|
| Maintain the village hall | 9,000 |
| Long term projects | 5,000 |
| Contingency | 5,000 |
| Total reserves | £19,000 |
From now on, it will be prudent for us to consider at times where the accounts show a surplus above these figures where such a surplus may be spent by means of a ‘wish list’ of items to improve and enhance the charity’s appeal and offering to the local population and users of the hall. It also highlights that if the reserves fall below the reserve figure that consideration is taken in how to return the reserves to this figure.
Adopted by the Trustees 7 April 2025
Appendix B
Financial Summary of Events in 2024
| Event | Notes | Income £.p |
Expendi- ture |
Surplus/loss £.p |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| £.p | |||||
| 9 Dec 2023 | Christmas Fair late income | 4.00 | 0 | 4.00 | |
| 9 March 2024 | Quiz and curry - entrance | 317.34 | 158.56 | 359.16 | |
| Quiz and curry- bar | 1 4 | 200.38 | 0 | 0.00 | |
| 13 July 2024 | Beer Festival - meeting food + drink | 178.91 | 0 | ||
| Beer Festival - sponsorship | 1398.31 | 0 | |||
| Beer Festival - all other income | 7159.79 | 0 | |||
| Beer Festival - band refund | 105.00 | 0 | |||
| Beer Festival - infrastructure | 0 | 2434.07 | |||
| Beer Festival - licence + insurance | 0 | 189.00 | |||
| Beer Festival - drink purchases | 0 | 1446.77 | |||
| Beer Festival - sundries | 0 | 69.13 | |||
| Beer Festival - cash for floats | 0 | 300.00 | |||
| Beer Festival - damaged gazebo | 0 | 150.00 | |||
| Beer Festival - cash for bands | 0 | 555.00 | 3698.04 | ||
| 15 Nov 2024 | Quiz night (cancelled) | 0 | 24.42 | -24.42 | |
| 7 Dec 2024 | 2024 Christmas Fair refreshments | 256.55 | 0 | ||
| 2024 Christmas Fair Craft | 103.00 | 0 | |||
| 2024 Christmas Fair Produce | 262.96 | 0 | |||
| 2024 Christmas Fair Weight cake | 43.00 | 0 | |||
| 2024 Christmas Fair Tombola | 117.50 | 0 | |||
| 2024 Christmas Fair Raffle | 140.00 | 0 | |||
| 2024 Christmas Fair Sweets in a jar | 19.00 | 0 | |||
| 2024 Christmas Fair Church donation | 50.00 | 0 | |||
| 2024 Christmas Fair expenses | 0 | 34.14 | £957.87 | ||
| Total Events 2024 | 10355.74 | 5361.09 | 4994.65 |
Notes
*1 Bar costs shown do not include the cost of bar stock carried forward from previous events. Similarly, some bar stock is carried forward to future events.
- *4 Includes purchase of drink.
WELBORNE VILLAGE HALL
STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES
YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2024
----- Start of picture text -----
2024 2023
Undesignated Designated Total Total
Funds Funds Funds Funds
INCOMING RESOURCES: £ £ £ £
Incoming Resources from generated funds
- -
Voluntary Income: Grants 19,050 19,050
-
Activities for Generating Funds: Fund Raising Events 10,628 10,628 2,017
Investment Income: Bank Interest Received 468 - 468 275
Incoming Resources from Charitable Activities
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Rentals and Hiring 2,322 2,322 1,110
Other Incoming Resources
Miscellaneous Income 2 - 2 25
Grants Received
Donations - - 181
TOTAL INCOMING RESOURCES 32,470 - 32,470 3,608
RESOURCES EXPENDED:
Cost of Generating Funds
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Costs of Voluntary Income : Events 5,347 5,347 1,353
Charitable Activities
Donations - - - -
Governance costs
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Light, Heat and Water 1,146 1,146 1,036
Insurance 814 - 814 797
Repairs and Maintenance to Premises 1,101 - 1,101 640
Printing, Stationery and Office Supplies 105 - 105 44
Website and Advertising 1,285 - 1,285 463
Independent Examiners Fee 558 - 558 558
Sundry Expenses 2 - 2 -
Subscriptions - - - 100
Bank Charges 10 - 10 76
Depreciation 930 - 930 1,001
TOTAL RESOURCES EXPENDED 11,530 - 11,530 6,466
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NET INCOMING/(OUTGOING) RESOURCES 20,941 20,941 (2,859)
Gross Transfers between funds (19,967) 19,967 - -
NET MOVEMENT IN FUNDS 973 19,967 20,941 (2,859)
Total funds Brought Forward 12,137 91,671 103,808 106,667
TOTAL FUNDS CARRIED FORWARD 13,111 111,638 124,749 103,808
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WELBORNE VILLAGE HALL
BALANCE SHEET
AT 31 DECEMBER 2024
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2024 2023
Note £ £ £ £
FIXED ASSETS
Tangible assets 2 98,409 78,162
CURRENT ASSETS
Stocks - -
Debtors - -
Deposit Accounts 24,814 24,231
Current Accounts 1,845 1,225
Cash 200 200
26,859 25,656
LESS: CURRENT LIABILITIES
Amounts falling due within one year
Creditors and Accrued Charges 519 9
Bank Overdraft - -
519 9
NET CURRENT ASSETS 26,340 25,646
CREDITORS
- -
Amounts falling due in more than one year
NET ASSETS 3 124,749 103,808
FUNDS
Designated Income Funds 4 111,638 91,671
Undesignated Income Funds 13,111 12,137
Total Funds 124,749 103,808
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……………………………………………………… (Chairman)
Approved by the Trustees on ………………………………………….
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WELBORNE VILLAGE HALL
NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS
YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2024
Note
1 Accounting Policies
These accounts are prepared in accordance with the Statement of Recommended Practise - Accounting by Charities (Charities SORP FRS102) and applicable accounting standards.
(a) Tangible fixed assets and depreciation
Provision for depreciation is made at the following rates:-
Office Equipment 25% reducing balance Land and Buildings No provision
(b) Taxation
As a charity Welborne Village Hall is not liable to corporation taxation.
2 Fixed Assets
| Cost Balance at 1 January 2024 Additions Disposals Balance at 31 December 2024 Depreciation Balance at 1 January 2024 Charge Disposals Balance at 31 December 2024 Net Book Value Balance at 31 December 2024 Balance at 1 January 2024 |
Furniture, Land and Total Fixtures & Building Fittings 14,751 75,171 89,923 729 19,967 20,696 15,480 95,139 110,619 11,760 0 11,760 930 0 930 12,690 0 12,690 2,790 95,139 97,928 2,991 75,171 78,162 |
|---|---|
Included within land and buildings is an amount of £75,171 which relates to the build cost of the village hall. The hall, excluding the play area, was valued in April 2024 at £746,405.
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WELBORNE VILLAGE HALL
NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS
YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2024
3 Analysis of Net Assets by Funds
| Fixed Assets Current Assets Current Liabilities |
Undesignated Funds £ 2,790 10,359 (519) 12,629 |
Designated Funds £ 95,139 16,500 - 111,639 |
Total £ 97,928 26,859 (519) 124,268 |
|---|---|---|---|
4 Analysis of Designated Funds
| Land and Buildings Building Repairs and Maintenance Future Capital Needs |
2024 95,139 7,500 9,000 111,639 |
2023 75,171 7,500 9,000 91,671 |
|
|---|---|---|---|
The trustees have elected to designate £75,171 of the General Funds to cover the net book value of the hall and the hall extension and a further £19,967 to cover the net book value of the new play area.
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Independent examiner's report to the trustees of Welborne Village Hall
I report on the accounts of the Welborne Village Hall for the year ended 31 December 2024 which are set out on pages 10 -13.
Respective responsibilities of members and examiner
The charity's members are responsible for the preparation of the accounts. The charity's members consider that an audit is not required for this year under section 144(2) of the Charities Act 2011 (the 2011 Act) and that an independent examination is needed.
It is my responsibility to:
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examine the accounts under section 145 of the 2011 Act;
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to follow the procedures laid down in the general Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the 2011 Act; and
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to state whether particular matters have come to my attention.
Basis of independent examiner's report
My examination was carried out in accordance with the general Directions given by the Charity Commission. An examination includes a review of the accounting records kept by the charity and a comparison of the accounts presented with those records. It also includes consideration of any unusual items or disclosures in the accounts and seeking explanations from you as members concerning any such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required in an audit and consequently no opinion is given as to whether the accounts present a 'true and fair view' and the report is limited to those matters set out in the statement below.
Independent examiner's statement
In connection with my examination, no matter has come to my attention:
(1) which gives me reasonable cause to believe that in any material respect the requirements:
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to keep accounting records in accordance with section 130 of the 2011 Act; and
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to prepare accounts which accord with the accounting records and comply with the accounting requirements of the 2011 Act
have not been met; or
(2) to which, in my opinion, attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.
Mr L McHugh Steve Pye & Co Chartered Certified Accountants
Unit 10 Aylsham Business Park
Richard Oakes Road
Aylsham, Norwich Norfolk NR11 6FD
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