KIRKBY FLEETHAM VILLAGE HALL Registered Charity No. 1172318 Trustees’ Annual Report
2020 – 2021
COMMITTEE 2020 - 2021
Names of Trustees
Mike Dillon Chairperson
Ian Woodcock Vice-Chairperson
Susan Chilton Treasurer
Linda Lodge Secretary Lynda Dillon (Co-Opted) Assistant Treasurer
Lesley Bottomley (Co-Opted) Bookings Secretary Fran Artley
Anthony Barker
Ann Herbert
Sheila Minto Jean Morley Margaret Osler (Co-Opted)
Rob Perkins
Governance
Kirkby Fleetham Village Hall was established as a charity by a Trust Deed and Lease dated 7[th] December 1973. On March 29[th] 2017, it was entered on the Register of Charities as a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO), No.1172318. The original charity is now dormant (see below). The Village Hall Management Committee is responsible for keeping the building in a good state of repair.
Trustees
Number of trustees. There should be not more than 10 trustees with the remainder of the management committee comprising not more than 3 co-opted members and not more than 1 representative of each of the hall’s user groups. Appointment of trustees. The constitution states that trustees will retire by rotation, one-third each year. Those to retire shall be those who have been longest in office since their last appointment or reappointment, thus 4 trustees will automatically retire and this process shall continue at every subsequent annual meeting. If the number of trustees is not three or a multiple of three, then the number nearest to one-third shall retire from office, but if there is only one trustee, he or she shall retire.
Reappointment of trustees. Any person who retires as a trustee by rotation or by giving notice to the CIO is eligible for re-election by simple majority vote of members.
Policies and Procedures
To guide the Management Committee in exercising its duty of care to committee members and users of the hall, the following policy statements have been adopted: Meetings Policy; Finance Policy; Hiring Policy; Health & Safety Policy; Safeguarding - Child & Vulnerable Adults Policy; Equality Policy; Environmental Policy, Age Verification Policy and a Data Protection Policy. Copies of these policies are included in a Management File in the Village Hall and in the Trustees’ Welcome pack. Where appropriate, they have been updated. Trustees have revised and extended regular maintenance check lists and a detailed check list for the contract cleaner.
Hiring Agreement
The village hall uses an on-line booking system. Each booking is subject to a Hiring Agreement to which all hirers must agree before any booking can be made. The hiring agreement sets out the conditions of hire and identifies the respective responsibilities of each party.
Licences
The hall has a Premises Licence, including the sale of alcohol. The hall is licensed by the Performing Right Society and Phonographic Performance Ltd . for live and recorded music and has a Public Video Screening Licence.
Risk Management
Insurance
Trustees took advantage of the offer of a re-evaluation report from their insurers and acted upon recommendations. As a result, the village hall is insured with respect to property damage (buildings insurance) by Allied Westminster Insurance Ltd (£532,145 cover). It is insured with the same company with respect to loss of revenue (£7,000); public liability (£10,000,000); employers’ liability (£10,000,000); legal expenses (£100,000); and furniture, fixtures and fittings and all other contents (£12,514). The Management Committee recognises that it is under a legal obligation to protect the building, its volunteers, its users and any employees through adequate and appropriate insurance.
Building Issues A building condition survey is undertaken at 5-year intervals as is the mains electrical installation, both by qualified professionals. A Fire Safety Risk Assessment is updated annually by the Committee’s own Fire Safety Officers as required by law. Firefighting appliances are inspected annually under contract with the supplier. Volunteers from the Committee carry out other regular maintenance checks. A portable appliances check is carried out annually by a qualified electrician.
Objectives of the Charity
The objective is the provision of a village hall for the benefit of the inhabitants of the Parish of Kirkby Fleetham with Fencotes without distinction of gender, sexual orientation, age, disability, nationality, race or political, religious or other opinions. Use of the village hall is for meetings, lectures and classes or other forms of recreation and leisure time occupation in the interests of social welfare and with the object of improving the social conditions of the life of the inhabitants. The Trustees consider these objectives to be consistent with Charity Commission guidance on providing for the public benefit and these objectives have been pursued in the activities of the charity this year.
P rincipal Activities in pursuit of Objectives
Under better circumstances the hall would have been in use most days of the week for a variety of activities including Ballroom Dancing; Book Lovers’ Group; Bridge; Carpet Bowls; Church Coffee mornings, Gardening Club, The Village Hub, Keep Fit & Aerobics, Luncheon Club; Yoga; Community Cinema; Speakers and Women’s Institute meetings. It has previously hosted the annual Parish Lunch, Church Christmas Fayre, Fleetham Players’ Murder Mystery Production and regular Wirework Courses. The community library would usually be open at any time when the room is not in use by other groups. In addition, the village hall would usually be used for meetings of its own committee, of the Parish Council and of the Feast Committee and is also hired, increasingly so, for private functions / presentations. It has continued to be used by Hambleton District Council as a polling station. In line with National Guidance, all activities at the hall ceased, at first on March 23[rd] 2020 and subsequently for almost all of the past reporting year. However, as required by our insurers, the required weekly check of the premises has been carried out by the Committee. In addition, the contract cleaner continues to work on a weekly basis in order to deep clean and maintain the cleanliness of the premises.
. Funding Strategy
The underlying funding strategy of the Trustees is to manage the revenue budget on a self-financing basis. The impact of closures arising from Covid has interfered with this approach but our overall funding philosophy remains the same. Generous and much needed grants from local government have helped us to meet our financial obligations, and our carefully managed reserves have enabled us to use the enforced downtime to improve and enhance our facilities.
Volunteers’ Effort
Management costs are kept to a minimum through, where possible, the use of volunteers for regular maintenance. Our commitment to retaining the excellent condition of the hall ready for reopening led to Trustees’ decision to continue employing our contract cleaner throughout lockdown to service the building on a weekly basis. Our cleaner has willingly turned her hand to other tasks, such as repainting the main hall and kitchen.
2020-2021 Achievements
During the past year we have of necessity focused on managing the maintenance and infrastructure of the village hall during closure at a time when government restrictions have meant even management meetings have been restricted to on-line Zoom events. These have worked well even though on-line technology is not accessible to all members of the Committee. Members have risen to this challenge through the establishment of a Continuity Board that enables key decisions to be taken by a subgroup of the Committee with defined delegated powers. Through this we have successfully applied for several grants that have been important to our in-year revenue stream during closure.
The plant stall outside the Willows, now in its 7[th] successful year, continues to raise considerable funds for the village hall, perhaps drawing some rare advantage from the impact of Covid last year when garden centres were closed. The quality and value for money of plants at the stall draws local and not-so-local gardeners in their hundreds to purchase its fare.
Trustees continue in their intention to support other groups who work hard for our community – although of course lockdown has prevented much practical opportunity for this during the past 12 months. For several previous years use of the village hall has been free of charge for Feast Day, for the Parish Lunch and for ‘ Book Lovers’ – the little group which meets monthly and keeps the library in good order for us all to use and enjoy. Trustees have previously been pleased to support Fleetham Players’ by offering a reduced hire charge for their rehearsal / performance time, and we hope to do all of this again in the future.
Although the village hall had to close during lockdowns, the Committee continued to keep the local community informed and involved through its monthly newsletter, ‘Social News’. This included important information about local support and services available for elderly and vulnerable people, and those isolating during the pandemic. Other articles were included from the parish council and local activities to boost morale and support a sense of community at a time when people may have felt lonely or isolated.
All necessary legal arrangements for the transfer of Assets to the new CIO are in hand and are being dealt with by Hunt & Wrigley (Solicitors, Northallerton). Trustees completed the Vesting Document in 2019 and this has been lodged with the Charities Commission. Remaining Assets will be transferred to the new CIO and the ‘old’ charity merged with the CIO once the current pandemic situation allows. As last year, the Land Registry is dealing with urgent cases only. Once this issue has been resolved, we will be in a position to apply to the Charities Commission to merge and then remove the old charity. Currently, however, it is the new CIO, which, running alongside the old, is responsible for all the organisation and running of the Village Hall.
As part of the management of the village hall as a community facility, the Trustees produce a management plan. Trustees revisit the plan annually in order to prioritise the component parts of the next phase of development. (See below: Future Plans)
Reserves Policy
It is the Trustees’ policy to maintain unrestricted reserves of between 100% and 150% of annual revenue budget expenditure.
Future Plans
The Trustees’ efforts over the coming months will be concentrated on:
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Further defining the roles and responsibilities of Trustees and co-opted members
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Installing an Electric Vehicle Charging Point for the use of villagers and visitors
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Extending the paved area of the carpark, including a marked areas for users of the planned charging point.
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Building on the work of the Development Day and our Making a Difference Grant application that flowed from those discussions, devising the delivery of a programme of social and cultural activity to enhance village life
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Installing a Hearing Loop in the Main Hall.
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Installing Acoustic Panels to the ceiling of the main hall
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Improving our facilities to support musical and theatrical performances
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Increasing the security of the village hall in line with the investment of recent years and the need to demonstrate due diligence to our insurers
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Continuing to work collaboratively with our community partners in ways that add value each to the other and which make clear our separate mission and responsibilities.
The Trustees declare that they have approved the Trustees’ report above.
Signed on behalf of the charity’s Trustees
Signature(s)
Date
Independent Examiners Report on the Financial Statements
- KIRKBY FLEETHAM VILLAGE HALL CHARITY NUMBER 1172318
Receipts and payments accounts 1st April 2020 to 31st March 2021
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Restricte Unrestrict 4/19-3/20 5/18-3/19
d Funds ed Funds total total
(£) (£) funds (£) funds (£)
RECEIPTS
Hire of hall by user groups 8,627.48 8,627.48 6,307.11
Private hire of hall or equipment 4,197.75 4,197.75 1,389.65
Fundraising events 945.30 945.30 603.50
Other (miscellaneous) 387.98 151.50 539.48 7,220.02
Donations and grants
Gift Aid
Donations 3,188.00 3,188.00
Grants 1,500.00 1,500.00
Other Income
Interest
Petty cash
TOTAL RECEIPTS 1,887.98 17,110.03 18,998.0 15,525.28
1
Restricte Unrestrict 4/19-3/20 5/19-3/20
d Funds ed Funds total total
(£) (£) funds (£) funds (£)
PAYMENTS
Hall Running Costs
Energy - oil/elec 1,866.57 1,866.57 1,271.33
Water 335.54 335.54 241.52
Insurance 677.75 677.75 620.04
Improvement, Repairs & 1,500.00 7,620.32 9,120.32 6,347.14
Maintenance 4,457.62 4,457.62 510.37
Miscellaneous 100.00 100.00
Accounting
TOTAL PAYMENTS 1,500.00 14,957.80 16,557.8 9,090.40
0
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Total Receipts less Total Payments 387.98 1,972.23 2,440.21
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Restricte Unrestrict 4/19-3/20 4/19-3/20
d Funds ed Funds total total
(£) (£) funds (£) funds (£)
ASSETS
Cash at bank and in hand
Current Bank Account 387.98 8,496.11 8,875.09 6,434.88
Petty Cash
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| RESERVES Balance brought forward Net Surplus Balance carried forward |
387.98 | 8,496.11 | 6,434.88 2,440.21 8,875.09 |
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