**The Street, Caston, Attleborough NR17 1DD** www.castonvillagehall.co.uk Registered Charity Number 1164836 **Secretary: Sue Tanner.Buttress Well, Mere Road, Stow Bedon, Attleborough, Norfolk. NR17 1HP** ## **Caston Village Hall** 2023 – 2024 Chairmans Annual Report ## **Overview** Having completed the new room and Bar facility, the hall has been able to use its new facility for several functions and community events. Use of the Village Hall has gradually increased over the year and is now once again a valuable center for the village’s social life. ## **Activities** Caston Camera Club never restarted following Covid shutdown but most other activities are running regularly again. The Friday morning Coffee “Drop In” is now fully operational again thanks to the many volunteers who man the event and Kay Farmbrough who oversees the rota and supplies. Yoga Club is again meeting on Monday Mornings. The Women’s Institute meets every month and some private events use the hall on a regular basis. Thanks to the keen input from Dawn Hill, John Hill, Lynsey and Phillip Doughty we were able to offer full English Breakfasts on the first Saturday of each month during the winter which has proved to be very well supported. It is planned to reintroduce them again in the Autumn. Apart from the regular events, the hall has offered regular quiz evenings, Whist Drive's and special commemorative events. Booking Secretary, Dawn Hill, manages many private bookings as well. We have been very grateful to the organisation done by Lynsey and Phillip Doughty together with John and Dawn Hill, supported by other committee members, who have made these evenings possible. A first event of a horse racing evening was well supported and much enjoyed. Thanks to Lynsey helped by John and Phillip for running that. Sadly, our Bar Manager, Steve Farmbrough, has been somewhat incapacitated this last year so John and Dawn have overseen the Bar. ## **Building and Structural work** Following the completion of the new extension, we have levelled and surfaced the car park and made good the access path to the north of the hall thus enabling folk to walk from the car park into the hall without using the vehicular access. An extensive fire and safety survey has been carried out and the hall is routinely checked monthly for a safety survey. All results are recorded. A new automatic smoke alarm has been fitted in the main hall and is ganged with those in the kitchen, foyer and extension. **Management and Finance** Sadly, three of our Trustees resigned during the year – Bridget Hall, Graham Penfold and Malcolm Valentine. They had been trustees for many years and we were very sorry to lose them but have been grateful for their valuable input and support in the running of the hall. We were grateful that Phillip Doughty took on a trusteeship of the hall in August 2023 and very much welcome Phillip’s valuable contribution. The trust now has five trustees who are registered with the Charity Commission Financially, we were able to pay off three thousand pounds from our charitable loan and it is expected that a second tranche will be paid shortly and the loan cleared later this year. ## **Summary** Many activities are being planned for the coming year. The management and running of the hall is achieved by volunteers to whom I am extremely grateful. The committee members, Secretary Sue Tanner, Treasurer David Leach, Lynn Leach, Lynsey Doughty, Wendy Chapman, Kay Farmbrough, Steve Farmbrough and Stephanie Blincow, together with the trustees, give tremendous support and service to the Hall Trust which enables us to keep Caston Village Hall as an essential facility for the social life of Caston Village. _David Blincow, Chairman, Caston Village Hall Trust_ _May 2024_ & Ins 1057<¢ 7411.71 gJsKoI .?iii