Great Aycliffe Village Hall Association, a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO)
The Trustees present their annual report and audited financial statement for the year ended 31 December 2023 and confirm they comply with the Charities Act 2011, as amended by the Charities Act 2016.
Charity name Great Aycliffe Village Hall Association
Charity Registration number
1158767
Address North Terrace, Aycliffe Village, County Durham, DL5 6LG
Trustees
David Gordon Lewis (Chair) Pauline Welsh Alan Harley (Vice Chair) David Baker Susan Mariana Hindle (Treasurer) Bryan Matthews Alastair Patrick Griffith Welsh (Secretary), died19//11/23 Margaret Lenahan Katherine Elizabeth Ward, resigned 13/03/23 Jacqueline Craft Patricia Johnson Carl Joseph Robinson (12)
Auditor
David L J Blair
Bankers
Barclays Bank PLC & Lloyds Bank PLC
Report of the Trustees for the year ending 31 December 2023
Governance, Structure and Management
Governing Document
A Charitable Incorporated Organisation with voting members other than its charity trustees. It is governed by a Constitution dated 14[th] September 2014.
Organisational Structure
The charity trustees are responsible for the general control and management of the charity. The trustees give their time freely and receive no remuneration or other financial benefits.
There must be a minimum of three trustees and a maximum of twelve. The day to day running of Aycliffe Village Hall is controlled by the trustees.
Recruitment and appointment of trustees
At every Annual General Meeting one third of the trustees shall retire by rotation. They are eligible to stand for re-election along with any other volunteers and the vacancies so arising are filled by the decision of the members. In selecting new trustees, we seek to identify people who regularly attend events and functions organised by the charity and are willing to volunteer to help in the broader community.
Premises
The freehold of the property is owned by Durham County Council and it is leased to the Great Aycliffe Village Hall Association by a lease dated 27[th] November 2014 for a period of 30 years. Under the terms of our lease, building insurance is arranged by Durham County Council and charged to ourselves. We had a service level agreement in place until 31 March 2023 with Durham County Council for the service of the gas heating boilers and tightness testing of gas distribution pipework.
Following receipt of quotes, it was agreed to replace Durham County Council with private company, Gas Service Industrial, for service of the gas boilers with effect from April 2023.
Annual facilities inspections by Durham County Council were suspended during the Covid crisis but the survey took place in February and three matters required attention following his Inspection Report.
Repairs & Improvements.
Following remedial work to the entrance lobby near the end of 2022, new plastic skirting was fixed and new carpet tiles laid in January and a new notice board was mounted.
In February the main hall floor was professionally cleaned by Aycliffe Cleaning Services and the floor resealed.
A new Google Nest heating control system was installed in March with temperature controlled via a smartphone.
As required by Durham County Council a risk assessment was carried out for Legionnaire’s Disease on 17[th] April.
In May a community working group from local company 3M cleared most of the plants from the front garden and laid a membrane and gravel. They cut back other shrubs, cleared moss from the rear yard and painted the small fence on the north side of the premises with a Ronseal stain.
In September the three remaining wood framed single glazed windows were replaced with double glazed UPVC window frames.
In November a noisy extractor fan in the gents’ toilets was removed, cleaned and reinstalled.
A number of trustees have met at the Hall each Monday morning to carry out cleaning duties; any minor repairs that may be required are dealt with or scheduled for repair at a later date. This equates to at least 750 volunteer hours a year.
Activities
A variety of activities take place within the Hall including Beavers/Cubs/Scouts, Dancefit, Darlington Video Makers Club, Social Club, Local History Society, Women’s Institute, Pimm’s & Needles Group, Pilates, Yoga and the monthly Breakfast Club. The Hall has been available to hire for private parties and to the public and private sector. St Andrew’s PCC were able to use the Hall for their meetings.
Finance
During the year difficulty arose with Barclays Bank regarding the status of our account as to whether it was classified as a business account attracting bank charges. A problem arose in trying to add a new signatory. It was agreed to seek an alternative bank. A new account has been opened with Lloyds Bank PLC but as at 31 December 2023 we still await closure of the Barclays Bank accounts and transfer of funds to our new Lloyds Bank PLC account.
On the 1[st ] January 2023 total funds held were £36,740.68, by the year end 31 December 2023 funds in hand totalled £35405.36. Finances are being controlled and carefully monitored.
David Gordon Lewis (Chair), on behalf of all Trustees. 22 March 2024.