## **Annual Report of Meole Brace Peace Memorial Hall Charity Reg no. 1170090 January 1[st] to December 31[st] 2020**
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**Address:** Meole Brace Peace Memorial Hall, Upper Rd, Shrewsbury SY3 9JP **Trustees:** Urszula Baugh (as Chair – resigned July 2020, as Trustee resigned December 2020), Jane Williams (Treasurer), Andrew Hulme (Facebook), Anne Davies, Peter Dunhill (Chair from July 2020 and Meole Brace Garden & Allotment Club Rep), Barbie Holden (Booking Secretary and Trustee from June 2020) **Management Committee Attenders:** Barbie Holden, Maggie Jones (Minutes Secretary – died March 2020), Ruth Jones (Nobold WI Rep), Frankie Crane (Minutes Secretary from June 2020)
**Contact for bookings:** Barbie Holden 07944 673648, email meolepeacehall@gmail.com
**Banking:** Nat West, Telford Town Centre, Telford
**Insurance cover:** Village Guard (Allied Westminster) – Property Damage, Employers Liability, Public Liability, Legal Expenses, Trustee Indemnity **Local authority areas:** Shropshire Council and Shrewsbury Town Council - - - - - - **Facebook page:** https://en gb.facebook.com/pg/Meole Brace Peace Memorial Hall 538869346237711/about/
**Website:** https://sites.google.com/site/meolebracememorialhall/home
## **Our facilities**
The main hall (12.5 x 6m + Stage: 4.8 x 6m) is equipped for a variety of uses including film-shows, dance, drama, parties, luncheons and indoor recreation
- Stage with lighting and curtains.
- Side dressing/green room
- Adequate supplies of tables and chairs.
- Maximum Capacity: 100 people standing, 90 seated
- Wide door and wheel chair access
- Heating
An entrance lobby
A meeting room (4 x 5.7m) that is suitable for committee meetings or refreshments - a partition wall can be opened onto the side of the main hall,
A modern fitted kitchen with
- Hot water boiler for drinks
- Fridge
- Electric Cooker
- • Microwave
Toilets (male, female, accessible for people with disabilities) and cloakroom area
Plenty of storage space
Off road parking for 7 vehicles + on road parking – we are located in a built up area
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## **Chairman’s Foreword**
This year has inevitably been overshadowed by the Covid 19 pandemic and associated lockdowns of various degrees of severity which has resulted in the Hall being closed between early March and mid September. When we did re-open there were restrictions in place and the number of bookings was seriously reduced. Financially we were able to keep our head above water thanks to a government support grant of £10,000 and a grant of £500 from Shropshire RCC.
Not everything stopped though and we have made progress with our plans to consult our local geographic and ‘hirer’ community about options for either refurbishing or rebuilding the Hall which though much loved is ‘tired’, to use a kind word.
I took over the role of Chairman from Sula Baugh in June. Sula has now moved to Much Wenlock and resigned as a Trustee in December. My thanks go to her and her husband George for everything they have done for the Hall over the years.
On a sadder note I must also pay tribute to Bob Mills and Maggie Jones who both passed away at the beginning of the year. Bob had been an active and practical Chairman in both heart and soul for many years preceding Sula’s tenure. Maggie had been our Minutes Secretary for two years and was also a creative inspiration when it came to decorating the Hall and running fund raising craft courses. Both will be greatly missed.
I am delighted to have been able to welcome Barbie Holden as a new
Trustee, Frankie Crane as our new Minutes Secretary and also the practical advice of local resident Jane Pittaway who has extensive architectural experience as a former employee of Shropshire Council.
In order to re-open the Hall in September we ‘deep’ cleaned certain areas of the Hall, put limits on the type and levels of occupancy (17 in the main Hall and 8 in the side room – also no parties), drafted some additional terms and conditions and a risk assessment, and provided instructions and signs to ensure physical distancing. In addition we purchased adequate supplies of hand sanitiser and sterile wipes for Hall users.
This Annual Report also features the unravelling of a bureaucratic knot concerning the Land Registry, some impressive pieces of DIY maintenance and an ‘Antiques Roadshow’ style booking.
As I write this we are in our second lockdown but we are optimistic that the roll out of the vaccination programme will give both local residents and The Peace Memorial Hall a welcome shot in the arm.
## **Peter Dunhill**
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## **History**
Meole Brace Peace Memorial Hall was the product of many years’ work by a committee formed to try to create a Peace Memorial in memory of the sacrifices made by local people during the First World War.
Early Committee minutes from 1920 record the failure to raise sufficient funds a very ambitious proposal –spare cash for donations was short at the time
The plan was then changed to building a hall on a piece of land opposite The Sycamores (now known as Millford Lodge) to be donated by the Bather family - Lords of the Manor for many years who had provided the vicars of Meole Brace almost continuously between 1778 and 1931. On the back of this donation it was not long before £180 had been raised.
The committee agreed to purchase a hall built of concrete from a Mr Edwards at a cost of £650. It would contain a room 60ft x 20ft wide, a 20ft x 20ft square club room adjoining, a kitchen equipped with a boiler, and ladies’ and gentlemen’s cloakrooms with lavatory accommodation.
**Bell ringers in Meole Brace c 1920**
The building was soon erected and an opening concert arranged for Thursday
October 20[th] 1921 followed by a whist drive and dance on Friday 21[st] October. Invitations were sent out to all householders and ex-servicemen who had lived in the area.
There was a dispute with Mr Edwards about a significant disparity between the original estimate and the final cost. Eventually the matter was resolved amicably through negotiation.
The list of committee members over the years includes the surnames of many well known Meole Brace families: Aris, Ashton, Bather, Burd, Chambers, Cox, Edwards, Evans, Griffiths, Harris, Jones, Massie, Purslow and Tanner
This is an A-Z of just some of the groups and functions that the Hall has hosted over the years:
Alexandra Players - Art Classes - Arts Alive - Auction Sales - Boy Scouts - Bridge Club - Child Welfare Clinic - Choirs - Coronation parties for children - Dancing Classes - Gardening Club - General and Local Elections - Girl Guides - Jazz Band - Martial Arts - Men’s Institute - Play Groups - Rummage Sales - Salinka Stars - The Women’s Institute - Whist Drives
In 2002 many of the Hall Trustees had lost heart and it seemed as though the Hall might close. Even though there were plenty of bookings this was not matched by any enthusiasm to contribute to the running of the Hall. However a public meeting resulted in the election of a new committee and a great number of improvements were made especially to the entrance and cloakroom areas which had a new concrete floor and also to the heating system.
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## **Hall usage**
## **Regular Users**
_Meole Brace Garden & Allotment Club_ – Normally club talks and Committee meetings during the year plus the big Garden Show in August
_Nobold Womens Institute_ – Normally 11 evening meetings a year
_Watercolour Art Classes_ – Normally 10 Autumn morning sessions and 10 Spring morning sessions
_Tap, Ballet and Private lessons_ Normally one evening per week during term time _Craft meeting_ – one session (1.30-3.30) per month
_Salinka Stars_ (young and teenage dance troupe) – Normally 4.00-9.00 pm every week
_Shrop Sings_ – Normally evenings, weekly, term time only
_Puddles Playgroup_ – Normally one morning (Friday) every week
_Shropshire Musical Singers_ – Normally one evening per week (Sept till end of June)
_Anderson Art Group_ – Normally every Friday
## **New Users this year**
Italian for children - weekly Yoga (2 different sessions Zumba – weekly
Action for Children after school club – weekly Antiques valuation day
## **Occasional Users**
The hall is used as a _polling station_ for local and general elections Normally 4 x _Severn Hospice_ events – Severn Hospice is our special charity and we give 4 free bookings per year Normally 25 x _Parties_ including New Year's Eve
Normally 2 x _Fund raising event_ for the Hall – Shropshire Musical Singers/1940s group
Normally 3 x _Arts Alive Shows_ (subsidised touring entertainment)
2 x _Music practice/rehearsal_
1 x _Music concert_ from a private teacher 1 x _Macmillan Cancer Support_ coffee morning
## **Closure**
While the Hall was closed we complied with our Insurer’s requirements by undertaking weekly inspections.
## **Booking rates (to be reviewed in 2021):**
_Groups:_ £ 7 per hour, £21 for half day /evening session
_Parties, events (eg Arts Alive):_ £28, 12 hr session: £50, double (2x 3hrs) session: £35
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## **Maintenance + Cleaning**
Over the course of the year repairs and maintenance work has been undertaken on, the sliding doors, the toilets and drains, the emergency exits, the heating and the kitchen. Peter Williams (husband of our Treasurer Jane Williams) has made a particularly active contribution this year in sorting out the external lights, replacing a rare internal fluorescent tube and mending persistent leaks in our front guttering. Thanks must also go to local resident Wendy Taylor who scraped up barrow loads of moss from the car parking area and down the sides of the Hall. Rumour has it that the Chairman occasionally turns his hand to miscellaneous repairs.
Anne Davies has, as ever, been a stalwart in overseeing the supply and distribution of cleaning, refuse and hygiene materials
## **Plans for Hall improvements**
Having replaced the floor and ensured that the Hall could safely continue to be used for regular and occasional bookings we have now turned our attention to a major refurbishment or rebuilding project designed to ensure the structural stability of the building, improved energy efficiency and comfort and in general creating a modern and welcoming
ambience while retaining the traditional feel of a village hall.
At the end of last year we commissioned architect Steve Hayward to produce outline drawings, both internal and external, for consideration. He has attended three meetings to date and we now have a general committee consensus on both the proposed internal layout and also a new entrance. We have been able to finance this work thanks to two grants (£750 and £250) from Shrewsbury Town Council. We are grateful for the support that Gwen Burgess, our local Councillor, has given us.
Currently we have sent our draft plans to Shropshire Council as a ‘pre-application submission’ to garner some early feedback before embarking on a local area wide consultation about the proposals. Following appropriate amendments we will begin to seek funding and support. A conservative estimate of around £250,000 has been suggested as a likely target.
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|**Payments**|2020|2019
£
966
2142
538
774
361
708
1200
800
361
297
**_8147_**
5202
7577
**_12779_**
130
96
**_21152_**|
|---|---|---|
||£|£|
|Electricity|818|966|
|Gas|1774|2142|
|Water|414|538|
|Insurance|762|774|
|Licences/Subs|189|361|
|Maintenance/Repairs|138|708|
|Renovationcosts|1540|1200|
|Cleaning|790|800|
|Fundraising costs|161|361|
|Admin/Printing|548|297|
||||
|**_Total expenditure_**|**_7134_**|**_8147_**|
|Current account c/f|13549|5202|
|Reserve account c/f|7584|7577|
||||
|**_Total carried_**
**_forward_**|**_21133_**|**_12779_**|
|Cash in hand c/f|264|130|
|Stock held|-|96|
|**_Overalltotal _**|**_28531_**|**_21152_**|
## **Land Registry**
Having completed the labyrinthine paperwork to transfer the Land Registry registration from the old unincorporated charity trustees to the new Charitable Incorporated Organisation, we are optimistic that the new registration will be in place early in 2021. Our case was hampered by the unnecessary imposition on the Hall of the formal status of an ‘Asset of Community Value’ which we undoubtedly are but did not need the legal complexities that this brought with it. That issue was resolved by dogged perseverance in pursuit of common sense and a Conveyancer’s certificate.
## **Summary of Annual Accounts**
**Receipts** 2020 2019
We are grateful for the expertise of our volunteer inspector of accounts – Gary Howorth.
|**Receipts**|2020|2019|
|---|---|---|
||£|£|
|Hire of Hall|3604|6710|
|Donations|10|121|
|Interest|7|15|
|Fundraising|370|1248|
|Electricitymeter|35|35|
|Grants/other|11500|36|
|**_Total income_**|**_15526_**|**_8165_**|
||||
|Current account b/f|5202|5260|
|Reserve account b/f|7577|7562|
||||
|**_Total brought_**
**_forward_**|**_12779_**|**_12822_**|
|Cash in hand b/f|130|146|
|**_Overalltotal _**|**_28531_**|**_21153_**|
The full inspected accounts are available as a separate document and can be viewed on request.
Income from Hall hire has dropped as a result of the COVID 19 pandemic. The impact of this was alleviated by grants from the government via Shropshire Council and the Rural Community Council.
Our Gas and Electricity is now supplied on a fixed rate deal rather than the variable rate that applied during 2019.
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## **The Meole Brace Peace Memorial Hall**
_(Registered Charity Ref 1170090)_
## **Financial Statement for the Period 1 January 2020 to 31 December 2020**
|**_Receipts_**
Hire of hall receipts
Donations received
Interest received
Fundraising proceeds
Electricity Meter
Grants/Other
**Total Receipts**
**_Bank Balances brought fwd_**
Current Account
Reserve Acccounts
**Bank totals brought fwd**
Cash in hand brought fwd
Stock held
**Grand Totals**|**_2020_**
**_2019_**
3,604
6,710
10
121
7
15
370
1,248
35
35
11,500
36
**15,526**
**8,164**
5,202
5,260
7,577
7,555
**12,779**
**12,815**
130
172
96
**28,531**
**21,152**|**_Payments_**
Electricity
Gas
Water
Insurance
Licences/Subscriptions
Maintenance and Repairs
Renovation Costs
Cleaning
Fundraising costs
Goods & Consumables
Admin Costs/Printing
Expenditure from Grants
**Total Payments**
**_Bank Balances carried fwd_**
Current Account
Reserve Acccounts
**Bank totals carried fwd**
Cash in hand carried fwd
Stock held
**Grand Totals**|**_2020_**
**_2019_**
818
966
1,774
2,142
414
538
762
774
189
361
138
708
1,540
1,200
790
800
161
361
-
549
297
**7,134**
**8,147**
13,549
5,202
7,584
7,577
**21,133**
**12,779**
264
130
-
96|
|---|---|---|---|
||||**28,531**
**21,152**|
## _Notes_
Income from hall hire has dropped this year as a direct impact of the COVID19 pandemic, forcing the hall to be closed from mid March.
The hall temporarily re-opened during Sept to December with only a small number of regular hirers returning, and no parties were held
Prices were last revised in 2014, price review being considered now
Cash held - Bank and in hand totals £21,352, an increase of £8,443 from the end of 2019. Main reason is despite hall closure we received grants of £11,500 from Shropshire Council and RCC in response to the pandemic
Stock held from recent events - stock held of £136, less £48 wine purchased by Trustees and the remainder valued as £88 was written off in the accounts as no further events can be held and stock expiry dates do not allow to be kept