Hutton Henry & District Community Association
2025 AGM – Chair’s Report
Thank you everyone for coming along this evening, I’ll try and keep this summary of the past year as brief as possible whilst hopefully capturing our main achievements. I would also like to give you an idea of some of our future plans.
First of all I’d like to say an official welcome to Lynn Pain who joined us as a trustee earlier this year. Lynn has been volunteering with us for quite some time and brings a lot of experience from the other organisations she has been involved with.
Last year one of the things we were focusing on was increasing our offerings to the younger members of our community so we introduced the Family Night Discos, a Toddler Group and the reduced rental charge for a child’s birthday party. I’m pleased to say that the parties are still proving popular, especially as we can accommodate the larger bouncy castles and have all this wonderful space for the children to run around in. Unfortunately we had to close the Toddler Group after five months due to lack of numbers. Everyone attending the Family Night Discos seem to have a great time however, to be honest, we need to increase the numbers attending because the events are currently running at a loss. This is something for us to review at the end of this year.
On a more positive note, our monthly coffee mornings continue to be the backbone of our main events, giving everyone the chance to pop along and have a chat. We even get people from outside the village calling in to enjoy the friendly atmosphere and of course the delicious baked treats. In the last twelve months we have hosted some very successful events including Ladies Day (thank you Hazel and Joyce for your organisation of that), band nights and wreath making to name but a few. We have cut the number of band nights for
2025 to reduce the amount of behind the scenes admin for our volunteers and because numbers attending were falling. We hope by having fewer dates in the diary we can tempt more people to come along to each one. Don’t forget, if you have seen an act elsewhere that you could recommend please get hold of their contact details for us.
The hall is available for private hire and I’m pleased to report that we had a steady number of bookings throughout the year. As well as the usual happy events like birthday or anniversary parties we have had an increasing number of enquiries and bookings for funerals and wakes. There is pressure to get things right for the families at such a sad time but it’s also a privilege to be involved in something so personal and this hall is the perfect setting for such an occasion.
Over the winter months we were lucky enough to get a grant from Point North to help us with the heating and lighting costs of the hall. Without this there was the real possibility that we would have had to close the hall through those coldest months because of the huge increase in utility costs. Thankfully due to the funding and by using the timers on the heaters we managed to keep the hall a lot warmer than normal and continue with our events. I want to say a particular thank you to our secretary, Pauline, and our other trustees for the work they do behind to scenes to secure the funding for us. Going forward we are hoping to purchase more efficient heaters and yes, look at the possibility of solar panels but that is a few years away yet. A new back door is also on the wish list.
The Hutton Henry History & Heritage Group, the Indoor Carpet Bowls and the Topical Talks Group (formerly Ladies Club) have all continued to flourish. Thank you to everyone for your continued support of these sections.
Last summer saw the return of the Hutton Henry Summer Fair, organised by Vicky, to mark the first anniversary of her and Steve taking over at The Plough Inn. Not only did it raise considerable funds for Macmillan, it was lovely to see the village coming together and the hall being used for many of the activities. Thanks to Vicky and Steve the hall was also used for the recent Scarecrow Festival, with the proceeds this time going towards the purchase of an AED Defibrillator for the hall. We hope it will never need to be deployed however
hopefully it will give those attending events or living at the top end of the village peace of mind that it is there in an emergency.
Thank you to everyone who has volunteered this year. As usual we couldn’t run events or manage the upkeep of the hall without your time and dedication. In March we marked National Village Halls Week by carrying out much overdue maintenance jobs so, an extra thank you to everyone who sorted, cleaned or decorated the hall and container. It’s amazing what can be achieved when we all work together and certainly having our volunteer WhatsApp group has improved communications and speeded up setting up times for events etc. Please let me know if you are not on the group so that I can add you as a member.
Finally, there are a number of events to look forward to over the coming months. We have our ever popular Ladies Day next month, Born Villains are returning to play for us in July, then in September we are hosting our first ever Murder Mystery Night. The run up to Christmas will be as busy as ever with an Evening Shopping event, a separate Craft Fair, Wreath Making and of course Carols Round the Christmas Tree. We look forward to seeing you there.
Andrea
Andrea
Independents Examinerfs Report on Accounts Report to the trustees/members of Hutton Henry & District Community Association (Registered Charlty No. 1154083) On accounts for the year ended 31st December 2024 The Charit¢s Trustees are responsible for the preparation of the accounts. The charitWs Trustees consider that an audit is not required for this year under section 144 of the Charities Act 2011 (the Charities Act) and that an independent examination is needed. It is my responsibility to: examine the accounts under section 145 of the Charities Act to follow the procedures laid down in the general directions given by the Charity Commission (under section 145 (5)(b) of the Charities Act,> and to state whether particular matters have come to my attention My examination was carried out in accordance with general directions given by the Charity Commission. An examination includes a review of the accounting records kept by the charity and 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 the Trustees 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. In connection with my examination, no matter has come to my attentlon: l. which gives me reasonable cause to believe that in, any material respect, the requirements: to keep accounting records in accordance with section 130 of the Charities Act; to prepare accounts which accord the accounting records and comply with the the accounting requirements of the Charities Act have 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. Signed: /k- Date: 01/0512024 Name: Natalie Currer (MAAT) Relevant qualification{s} AAT Level 4 Accounting Technician Address: CIO The Eco Centre, Windmill Way, Hebburn, Tyne and Wear NE31 ISR
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