Annual Report of Meole Brace Peace Memorial Hall Charity Reg no. 1170090 January 1[st] to December 31[st] 2022
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Address: Meole Brace Peace Memorial Hall, Upper Rd, Shrewsbury SY3 9JP Trustees: Peter Dunhill (Chair), Jane Williams (Treasurer), Andrew Hulme (Website/Facebook), Anne Davies, Susan Luther (until Sept 2022), Helen Smart Management Meeting Attenders: Ruth Jones (Nobold WI Rep), Clive Goodwin (Meole Brace garden and Allotment Association Rep) Contact for bookings: Peter Dunhill 01743 246574, 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 meetings slide/powerpoint shows, dance, drama, parties, lunches and indoor recreation
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Stage with lighting and curtains.
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Side dressing/green room
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Plenty of stackable tables and chairs.
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Maximum Capacity: 100 people standing, 90 seated
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Wide door and wheel chair access
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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 fitted kitchen with
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Hot water boiler and kettles for drinks
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Fridge
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Electric Cooker
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• 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
The start of 2022 saw us cautiously coming out of Covid restrictions and regular bookings resuming. At the end of 2021 I had taken over the role of booking secretary and so I was able to get a first hand ‘feel’ for how the Hall functions and to meet the Hall users.
An early task was to introduce a new set of hire charges. We had prepared the ground in advance and the fact that there had been no increase since 2014 meant there were no complaints. In one or two instances we exercised our discretion with groups which were struggling financially. In this way we have put ‘serving our community’ ahead of a strict ‘make ‘em pay’ policy.
We responded to concerns expressed at our ‘Revitalise the Hall’ consultation day held the previous September by instructing our architect – Steve Hayward – to moderate and modify his refurbishment proposals for what was widely considered to be an overlarge external porch and to reconsider certain elements of the internal layout. We then commissioned a Heritage Impact Assessment and a Preliminary Environmental Assessment both of which were needed to secure Planning Permission for our proposals.
In October we were delighted to receive that Planning Permission – there had been no objections at all.
The Art Group, one our regular hirers, responded to the Russian invasion of Ukraine by holding an exhibition with paintings, prints and objects for sale to raise money for Ukrainian refugees. The Group raised over £1200 and the Hall played its part by offering our facility for free and helping with the refreshments on offer.
Susan Luther (left) with former Hall chairman Sula Baugh
We were very sad to learn of the unexpected death of Susan Luther in September. She had joined our Trustee body in April 2022 and brought with her a wealth of experience, humour and local knowledge from her time as chair of the Meole Brace Village Residents Association. She is sorely missed.
The Village Survey, conducted by our local Councillor Bernie Bentick revealed a lot of support for the Peace Memorial Hall as well as many suggestions for activities for young and older people which we will be delighted provide a venue for.
Two Foil Embossing workshops raised over £350 for the Hall refurbishment
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 during 2022
– Meole Brace Garden & Allotment Club
Club talks and Committee meetings Nobold Womens Institute –11 evening
meetings a year
Salinka Stars (young and teenage dance troupe) –4.00-9.00 pm every Thursday Puddles Playgroup –one morning (Friday) every week
Art Group –Monday mornings Keep Fit – Friday afternoons Puppy Clases –Saturdays/Sundays Yoga – Wednesday mornings/Friday evenings Pilates – Thursday mornings Dance classes – Tuesdays and Thursdays Tai Chi – Tuesday evenings Girl Guides – Thursday evenings
Meole Brace Garden and Allotment Club Annual Show to be reinstated in 2023
Setting up the Frost Faye November 27[th] 2022
Occasional Users
The hall is used as a polling station for local and general elections Severn Hospice events Childrens Parties 1940s Dance Nights
Arts Alive Shows (subsidised touring entertainment) Frost Fayre Play rehearsals – A Carpenters Tale, Dickie Whittington
Tap dancing classes
Booking rates in 2022 ( increases in
2022 in brackets ):
Groups: £9 per hour, £27 for half day /evening session
Parties, events depending on time: £35 - £60
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Maintenance + Cleaning
Over the course of the year repairs and maintenance work have been undertaken on the guttering, 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 kitchen lights, and cleaning out the gutter between the two pitched roofs. Rumour has it that the Chairman occasionally turns his hand to miscellaneous repairs. We have also had the front entrance properly patched up thanks to the Paz – partner of Trustee, Helen Smart
In December Lorna, our cleaner for the last 15 years let us know that she had been offered extra hours at the school where she works and that she would have to give her notice to the Hall. She had done an amazing job in keeping the Hall – a challenging environment – clean and tidy. After a couple of false starts, we have now allotted an extra hour to the task and taken on two local people to undertake the task.
Our planning Permission notice
Plans for Hall improvements
During the year we focussed our attention on our major refurbishment project. Our architect Steve Hayward’s design has ensured the structural stability of the building, improved energy efficiency and comfort and in general created a modern and welcoming ambience while retaining the traditional feel of a village hall.
Inspections
The Hall has complied with the legal requirement to have annual (electrical) Portable Appliance Tests and a commercial gas installation examination. The latter revealed a minor leak in the pipe connecting the meter to the boiler and heaters. This was immediately rectified. The five yearly electrical inspection will take place in early 2023.
We have now reached the ‘technical design’ stage where the general concept of the refurbishment has to be translated into a scheme that can be approved by the Council’s Building Regulations Department and offered to a local Quantity Surveyor who has volunteered his time for free to give the Trustees some realistic estimates to be used when submitting grant applications.
The Trustees will also need to consider the various heating options bearing in mind costs and energy efficiency.
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Summary of Annual Accounts
| Payments | 2022 | 2021 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| £ | £ | |||
| Electricity | 324 | |||
| Gas | 583 | |||
| Water | 796 | |||
| Insurance | 796 | |||
| Licences/Subs | 116 | |||
| Maintenance/Repairs | 495 | |||
| Renovationcosts | 2012 | |||
| Cleaning | 643 | |||
| Fundraising costs | 224 | |||
| Consumables | 219 | |||
| Printing/Banners | 272 | |||
| Total expenditure | 6479 | |||
| Current account c/f | 13505 | |||
| Reserve account c/f | 22585 | |||
| Total carried | 36090 | |||
| forward | ||||
| Cash in hand c/f | 19 | |||
| Stock held | 118 | |||
| Overalltotal | 42706 |
| Payments | 2022 | 2021 £ 324 583 796 796 116 495 2012 643 224 219 272 6479 13505 22585 36090 19 118 42706 |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Receipts | 2022 | 2021 £ 4546 31 1 635 0 16097 21309 13549 7584 21133 264 42706 |
£ | £ | ||
| Electricity | 324 | |||||
| £ | £ | |||||
| Gas | 583 | |||||
| Hire of Hall | 4546 | |||||
| Water | 796 | |||||
| Donations | 31 | |||||
| Insurance | 796 | |||||
| Interest | 1 | |||||
| Licences/Subs | 116 | |||||
| Fundraising | 635 | |||||
| Maintenance/Repairs | 495 | |||||
| Electricitymeter | 0 | |||||
| Renovationcosts | 2012 | |||||
| Grants/other | 16097 | |||||
| Cleaning | 643 | |||||
| Total income | 21309 | |||||
| Fundraising costs | 224 | |||||
| Consumables | 219 | |||||
| Current account b/f | 13549 | |||||
| Printing/Banners | 272 | |||||
| Reserve account b/f | 7584 | |||||
| Total expenditure | 6479 | |||||
| Total brought forward |
21133 | |||||
| Current account c/f | 13505 | |||||
| Reserve account c/f | 22585 | |||||
| Cash in hand b/f | 264 | |||||
| Overalltotal | 42706 | |||||
| Total carried forward |
36090 | |||||
| Cash in hand c/f | 19 | |||||
| Stock held | 118 | |||||
| Overalltotal | 42706 |
| Receipts | 2022 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|
| £ | £ | |
| Hire of Hall | 4546 | |
| Donations | 31 | |
| Interest | 1 | |
| Fundraising | 635 | |
| Electricitymeter | 0 | |
| Grants/other | 16097 | |
| Total income | 21309 | |
| Current account b/f | 13549 | |
| Reserve account b/f | 7584 | |
| Total brought | 21133 | |
| forward | ||
| Cash in hand b/f | 264 | |
| Overalltotal | 42706 |
This summary is purely indicative. The full inspected accounts are available on request.
An Arts Alive production in November 2022
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The Meole Brace Peace Memorial Hall
(Registered Charity Ref 1170090)
Financial Statement for the Period 1 January 2022 to 31 December 2022
| 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 |
2022 2021 8,634 4,546 10 31 53 1 1,138 635 28 - 2,670 16,097 12,533 21,309 13,505 13,549 22,585 7,584 36,090 21,133 19 264 118 48,760 42,706 - |
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 closing Reserve Acccounts closing Bank totals carried fwd Cash in hand carried fwd Stock held Grand Totals |
2022 2021 564 324 1,273 583 354 796 813 796 198 116 1,118 495 5,286 2,012 709 643 123 224 163 219 251 272 10,852 6,479 12,223 13,505 25,638 22,585 37,861 36,090 2 19 45 118 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 48,760 42,706 |
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Notes
Income from hall hire increased by £4,088 (90%) as the hall was fully open in 2022 and prices were increased from January 2022
2022 net income (less expenditure) is £1,681. Total bank and cash reserves now total £37,863.
There was a grant received from Shropshire Council in February 2022 for £2,670. No further grants are expected.
Fundraising - there were two hall run events held during 2022. A 1940s night held in February raised income of £190 from bar takings alone, and the Frost Fayre in November raised £593 (2021 event raised £310)
Renovation costs include 2 payments to Architects - £1700 plus £2400, and payment to Winterborn Heritage of £560, as welll as an environmental survey of £360
Gas and Elect prices have increased, although have been tempered with a fixed price tariff