The New Pavilion Trust Annual General Meeting
28 October 2021
Chair’s Report
The Trust’s aim is to provide a meeting space for the community of Great Cheverell’ It is incumbent upon the Trustees to ensure that the Pavilion is well maintained and meets all legal requirements to make it a secure and safe space for the whole community. Most of all we must create a space that is welcoming to everyone.
Whilst the Pavilion has been closed for the best part of 18 months there has been much to do to ensure that we were able to open safely and to ensure that the significant financial losses that the charity would suffer, were minimised.
The Trust is a member of the Wiltshire Village Halls Association which has enabled us to access national guidance on the impact of the pandemic on community halls and gain advice on what need to be in place before we could open our doors again.
The Association also gave information and advice on government grants available to us, which John will give more information about in his Treasurer’s report.
We undertook a risk assessment and provided a template risk assessment for hirers alongside additional conditions of hire to ensure all users of the hall met government guidelines.
Many of those restrictions have now been removed by government but we have updated out risk assessment to reflect a more cautious approach to give confidence to our community that we are taking their safety seriously, one of these has been additional cleaning between each use. Our fire risk assessment has been updated and all equipment tested.
The Pavilion is owned by the Parish Council but the building is leased to the Trust to manage. We are an independent charity with a lease, much as any business would lease a building. However in applying for grants last year we found out that the lease had not been finalised by the lawyers acting on the parish council’s behalf. We are therefore in the process of drawing up a new lease with the council which should be in place in the coming months.
The Pavilion has been open for over 10 years and we have taken the opportunity of re-opening to give the building a facelift. We have had a refurbishment of the outside of the building and now are having a complete re-decoration inside. There is still work to do to bring all the facilities up to standard and we will be concentrating on that in the coming months.
We are also doing a facelift of the Trust itself, we will be undertaking a skills assessment of trustees. We will see what gaps there are in skills and knowledge and
be able target our recruitment of new trustees to take the charity forward into the future.
For over a decade, since we first opened our doors, Amber Hayward has been our Bookings Secretary, the first and last port of call for hirers. She has done an amazing job, particularly in the last months having to cope with the additional paperwork and explaining to people the new restrictions and charges. She has decided that it’s time for a well deserved rest from the job. On behalf of the Trustees I would thank her for her commitment and hard work to make sure that hirers have all they need, she will be a hard act to follow. So hard in fact that we have had to set up a digital system to replace her.
Our new website and bookings system will be on line shortly and we are putting a temporary system in place until it is up and running.
Great Cheverell New Pavilion Trust
Income & Expenditure - year to 31 March 2021
| Income Contributon from Parish Council Hiring fees -General Parish Council Events Fundraising Proceeds Grants & Donatons Social Club Other (Insurance claim, interest etc) Payments Utlites Maintenance Insurance Cleaning & Materials Equipment etc Sundry Purchases Social Club Film Licenses Social Club discs Social Club refreshments etc Events Surplus/(Deficit) Surplus Brought Forward Surplus Carried Forward |
2019/20 Actual 12 months £ £ 4,204 - 4,204 269 - 3,460 2,241 - 10,174 1,574 1,251 691 1,415 1,314 50 584 206 506 - 7,591 2,583 13,348 15,931 |
2019/20 Actual 12 months £ £ 4,204 - 4,204 269 - 3,460 2,241 - 10,174 1,574 1,251 691 1,415 1,314 50 584 206 506 - 7,591 2,583 13,348 15,931 |
2020/21 Actual YTD £ £ 517 120 637 - 110 30,532 - - 31,279 809 187 703 87 4,274 50 259 - - - 6,368 24,911 15,931 40,842 |
2020/21 Actual YTD £ £ 517 120 637 - 110 30,532 - - 31,279 809 187 703 87 4,274 50 259 - - - 6,368 24,911 15,931 40,842 |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 31,279 | |||||
1,574 1,251 691 1,415 1,314 50 584 206 506 - |
809 187 703 87 4,274 50 259 - - - |
||||
| 7,591 | 6,368 | ||||
2,583 13,348 15,931 |
24,911 15,931 40,842 |
J Brace Treasurer
----- Start of picture text -----
Great Cheverell New Pavilion
Summarised Statement of Assets and Liabilities as at 31 March 2021
£ £
Cash b/f 1 April 2020 £15,930.84
Surplus/(deficit) year to date as above £24,910.90
Current cash/reserves available £40,841.74
Adjustments: (None)
Cash held in Santander Account £39,938.43
Pavilion Club cash (held by Kath Hannavy) £503.31
Cash float (held in cash by John Brace) £400.00
£40,841.74
Restricted Reserve - Building Maintenance fund (Santander) £5,000.00
Total funds £45,841.74
J Brace Treasurer
----- End of picture text -----
Great Cheverell New Pavilion Trust Financial Report – Year to 31 March 2021
Unsurprisingly the Pavilion remained closed for much of the year due to COVID related lockdown restrictions, so hiring income in the period was greatly reduced. However, while the hall was closed, COVID grant applications were submitted to Wiltshire Council who were able to support the Trust with several grant payments totalling £30,532.
This significant support is hugely appreciated as without it we would not have been able to cover our ongoing costs without drawing on our reserves. It has also provided a very significant financial buffer which will help to support the Pavilion’s operations in the coming months and years.
It should be noted that our future operating costs will be increased due to additional cleaning and sanitisation responsibilities as the hall will need to be sanitised between each hiring rather than just weekly. It may also take some time until we to return to our previous levels of hirings. Therefore it is expected that the Trust may continue to operate at a deficit for some time until the pandemic recedes and we are able to return to more normal income levels. However the reserves in place now give a very high degree of confidence that the Trust will be able to meet all financial obligations for many years to come.
Hiring Income
- Income of £349 from 3 private hirings in March 2020, and a further £120 from the Parish Council also for 2020, was received after the previous year’s accounts were drawn up and so is accounted for in this financial year. The only income from hirings in the year amounted to £168 from ballet classes that were held between lockdowns. Therefore total hiring income in the current period was £637.
Social Club
- There were no Social Club activities in the year.
Other income
-
As noted, COVID/Lockdown grants of £30,532 have been received from Wiltshire Council.
-
Other donations, from generous parishioners, amount to £110. Again, their support is hugely appreciated.
Expenditure
-
Electricity and water costs amounted to £809. The refuse collection service was suspended whilst the Pavilion was closed due to lockdown. Cleaning and materials costs were £87, mainly COVID compliance materials etc. Insurance costs amounted to £703.
-
Maintenance costs were £187, being the annual service of the air source heat pump heating system.
-
Equipment costs of £4,274 were incurred installing the hearing loop. (N.B. Part of this cost was effectively covered by grants of £2,000 from Wiltshire Council and £500 from Great Cheverell Parish Council received in the previous year.)
Cont…
-
Summary
-
With total income of £31,279 and costs of £6,368 the result for the year is a surplus of £24,911.
-
However, it should be noted that most of the income relates to one-off grants that will help to support the Trust through the more difficult operating environment in the coming years.
-
Financial Position
-
The Trust now has an accumulated surplus of £40,842.
-
In addition there is a Restricted Reserve of £5,000 for Building Maintenance costs, originally donated by Great Cheverell Parish council.
-
Total funds therefore now amount to £45,842. Of this, £903 is held in cash as a float and working capital for the Social Club, the remainder is held at Santander Bank.
Operations update
Some maintenance issues had accumulated over the lockdown and the previous year and these have now been receiving attention. Since the financial year end all external decoration has been carried out together with some necessary woodwork and drainage repairs. Internal decorations are also under way, having started in October. A thorough deep clean will be commissioned as soon as the decorating is complete.
The Pavilion is once again open to hirers, and the restrictions relating to its use are gradually being relaxed. The Social Club has recommenced film screenings and so it has at last been possible to test the installation of the hearing loop, which was delayed due to COVID: the loop was found to be very effective. Work is also under way to develop a new on-line bookings and invoicing system that should simplify these processes and make the Pavilion’s availability visible to all users, via a new website. It is hoped these will be operational soon.
Naturally there is still some uncertainty about the future income projections. However the COVID grants received have grown the reserves to a point where we can be very confident that the Trust will be able to meet all financial obligations for some considerable time. Once the future trading position becomes clearer Trustees will need to consider how best to apply the reserves in accordance with the Trust deed and our charitable objectives.
J Brace, Treasurer
20 October 2021