2021-12-31-accounts

Lechlade Village Hall and Recreation CIO (charity number 1175718)

Report of the Trustees for the year ended 31[st] December 2021

The trustees present their annual report and financial statements and confirm that they comply with the Charities Act 2011, the constitution of Lechlade Village Hall and Recreation Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) and the Charities Statement of Registered Practice SOPR (FRS 102).

Section A: Reference and Administrative Details

Charity Name: Lechlade Village Hall and Recreation CIO Charity Registration Number: 1175718

Principal Office Address: Lechlade Memorial Hall, Oak Street, Lechlade GL7 3AY

Names of the CIO trustees who manage the CIO

Trustee Name	Office (if any)	Dates acted if not for the whole year	Name of person (or body) entitled to appoint trustee (if any)
Brian Britton			Lechlade Art Society
Neal Cotton			Lechlade Gardening Club
Alwyn Davies
John Elsey			Lechlade Bridge Club
Grenville King			Lechlade Community Cinema
Steve Hollock			Lechlade Scottish Country Dancers
Mike Keegan			Upper Thames Arts Society
Hilary Knight			Lechlade WI
Nigel Laing		Resigned April 2021	Lechlade Town Council
Jaime Maskell		Nominated April 2021	Lechlade Town Council
Tommy McLardie	Treasurer
Gay Oliver			Lechlade Tennis Club
Simon Paul BEM	Chairman
Gill Saunders	Secretary
Hazel Watkins			Lechlade Tuesday Club
Marian Winckles			Lechlade History Society
Simon Winckles
Ashley Wood

Section B: Structure, Governance and Management

Governing Document; Lechlade Village Hall and Recreation CIO is constituted as a Charitable Incorporated Organisation registered with the Charity Commission in November 2017 under charity number 1175718.

Trustee selection methods

The CIO maintains a list of “User bodies” (Lechlade based community organisations which use facilities provided by the CIO.) Each User body has the right to appoint one charity trustee. Up to six Trustees may be elected and a further three may be appointed as co-opted Trustees.

New Trustees are provided with an induction pack which includes a copy of the constitution and the most recent Trustee’s Annual Report and financial statements.

Organisational structure

The CIO trustees are responsible for the control and management of the assets of the CIO. Trustees give their time freely and receive no remuneration, expenses or other financial benefits.

A buildings group committee has responsibility for all building related activities, including the monitoring of work by the builder to complete snags as well as other work to maintain and improve the fabric and contents of the facilities.

Full Trustee meetings took place five times during the year, taking all decisions in relation to running the Memorial Hall, Pavilion, All Weather Pitch, skatepark and recreation ground as well as other activities organised by the CIO. At the start of the year, to comply with COVID-19 restrictions, Trustee meetings, including the AGM, took place online. Trustee meetings resumed in person, in the Memorial Hall in September 2021.

The CIO employs a booking clerk (part time).

There have been no party related transactions in the reporting period that require disclosure.

Section C: Objectives and Activities

The objects of the CIO are set out in the CIO constitution and are summarised as follows:

To manage the community facilities owned by the CIO including the Memorial Hall, Pavilion, All Weather Pitch, skatepark, car park and recreation ground for the benefit of residents of Lechlade.

The main activities of the CIO undertaken for public benefit are summarised as follows:

Trustees work to make sure that the facilities managed by the CIO are of high standard and continue to meet the needs of the local community. Trustees promote the use of these facilities through marketing leaflets, local magazines as well as online communications and social media.

Trustees have complied with their duty to have due regard to the Charity Commission's public benefit guidance when exercising their powers or duties to which the guidance is relevant.

Section D: Achievement and Performance

D1 Community Use of CIO facilities

Once again, the COVID-19 pandemic has had a severe impact on the use of CIO facilities. In compliance with Government Regulations and Guidance, all our community facilities, except for the recreation ground, had to close for prolonged periods during 2021.

In April, the Memorial Hall and Pavilion reopened but indoor group sport and exercise classes for adults were not allowed. Children’s activities, including sports were permitted.

In May, indoor adult group sports and exercise classes were able to restart. A limit of up to 30 people could attend life events and outdoor gatherings. In July, most legal restrictions relating to Covid-19 were lifted. Regarding measures to prevent the transmission of the virus, Trustees still encouraged Memorial Hall and Pavilion Users to maintain social distancing, the use of hand sanitiser and good ventilation. We continued to provide hand sanitizer and QR codes for the NHS Test and Trace App at the entrance to these buildings and Covid-19 notices and floor markers remained in place. Trustees took the decision that it was for hirers to decide if any additional measures, beyond legal requirements, were appropriate for their members/attendees.

Bookings increased throughout the period as restrictions were lifted. To encourage organisations and individuals to use CIO community facilities, Trustees agreed that there would be no increase in hire charges. By summer, the following regular activities had restarted: Yoga, Pilates, Badminton, History Society, Jolly Tots, Tuesday Club, Circuits Class, Adult Ballet, Ballroom Dancing, Tai Chi, Beavers/Cubs, Fitness Class, Martial Arts, Antiques and Vintage Market, Craft Barn, Gong Sound relaxation and Blood donor sessions.

We were delighted to host the Lechlade Art Society Summer Exhibition and the Lechlade Gardening Club Annual Flower and Produce Show, both of which returned after a gap in 2020. More regular activities restarted in September including: Lechlade Art Society, WI, Upper Thames Arts Society, Mother’s Union and Lechlade Community Cinema.

In December, due to the rapid spread of the Omicron variant, several Christmas/New Year events were cancelled.

On the morning of Saturday 24[th] July, a group of travellers with around 30 caravans decided to use the playing field to park their vehicles. That evening, with the assistance of a strong police presence, the travellers were served notice to leave the site by 7.00 pm the following day.

During the time they were in Lechlade, there was a lot of unpleasant, anti-social behaviour which caused many local businesses and pubs to close. A padlock on the gate to the tennis court was damaged and removed and a lock up box outside the clubhouse was damaged. When they left the site, there was a lot of litter but also human excrement in numerous places across the site including on the skatepark, on the All Weather Pitch, behind the tennis clubhouse and in the youth Shelter. We had wonderful support from members of the community who cleared up the litter and other debris as soon as the travellers had left the site.

A deep clean of the site, including all of the facilities and play/exercise equipment was carried out by Forensiclean on Wednesday 28[th] July allowing people to use the site

safely. We were very grateful for a grant from the Lechlade-on-Thames Heritage and Development Trust which covered the cost of this clean up work.

To prevent a possible further incursion, large bags of soil have been positioned across the access point to the playing field, as an interim measure. We are grateful to Hillier Garden Centre who donated 40 beech hedge saplings which, once established, will provide a natural barrier between the car park and the playing field. Trustees are consulting with Gloucestershire County Council Traveller Services team before deciding on more permanent measures.

Following the report of an individual seen using a metal detector around the playing field. Trustees reminded the local community about the archaeological significance of the site and that this activity is illegal.

In March, a member of the environmental health team at Cotswold District Council put up dog fouling signs at all the entrances to the playing field. Our thanks to them for doing this. Sadly, this is a persistent problem.

In May, Trustees agreed to a request from the Elections Officer to use the Memorial Hall rather than the pavilion as a Polling Station with the extra space used to provide greater social distancing.

We are delighted that two football clubs are now using the football pitch and changing rooms for their Home matches.

The CIO is a member of the Gloucestershire Playing Fields Association and the Fairford and Lechlade Business Club.

D2 Maintaining and Improving CIO facilities

In February, the remaining snags from the construction of the Memorial Hall were resolved and the final completion certificate was issued. The retained funds were transferred to Kings Builders Gloucester.

In April, Wiltshire Steeplejacks carried out a check of the lightning protection systems for the Memorial Hall and Pavilion. Both failed their inspection. For the Memorial Hall, Kings arranged for remedial work to be carried out, at their expense. For the pavilion, the buildings group commissioned Wiltshire Steeplejacks to carry out the necessary remedial work. This work was completed in October.

In June, due to a surge on the electricity network due to a contractor damaging a nearby power cable, the top set of light fittings in the Memorial Hall social room were damaged. Following contact with SSE, they confirmed that they were not liable for any costs caused by this event. Despite considerable efforts by Ashley Wood (Trustee and qualified electrician) to resolve this, we had to get the company, which originally installed the lighting system in the hall, to reprogram these lights to fix the problem.

In July, we had a substantial leak of water from outside of the pavilion. Due to contractors high existing workloads, summer holidays and Covid-19 impacts, there was a long delay in carrying out the repair work. The leak was finally fixed on 24[th] August but by this time, there had been a considerable loss of water (1900 cubic metres). We have made a claim for leak allowance through our supplier, Castle Water

but this has not yet been resolved. We are also investigating whether this event is covered by our insurance policy.

Our sincere thanks to a local roofer who replaced some broken roof tiles on the pavilion free of charge.

Following comments about a problem with echo on the hearing loop system in the Memorial Hall, this has now been resolved.

Work is underway, led by Lechlade Town Council, to develop the children’s play space on the playing field. This is at an early stage with more work required before firm proposals can be presented for community consultation.

A proposal has been received from a Lechlade resident asking Trustees to consider the installation of Electric Vehicle Charging Points in the Memorial Hall car park. With grants, it is possible that this may be done at no expense to the CIO and may generate some income. The preferred position would be adjacent to the electricity sub-station, in the area of land behind Jubilee Antiques. This would avoid the need to dig up any part of the car park. Trustees were positive about the proposal but wanted more detail before taking this forward.

Dealing with issues/complaints;

We continue to periodically receive complaints from a neighbour about noise from the skatepark. Trustees carry out checks to monitor this. The vast majority of skatepark users are very good and cause no problems. It is an excellent facility which is well used and provides exercise and something to do, for an age group which is not particularly well served by community facilities. However, it only takes a few individuals to cause problems which affect our neighbours. As well as a sign, which was installed in September 2020 saying, “No music is allowed on or near the skatepark”, Trustees approved the installation of an additional CCTV camera which will cover the skatepark. This camera is expected to be installed early in 2022.

Section E: Financial Review

The CIO Reserves Policy is to set aside the sum of £10,000 at the end of each financial year over a minimum period of 5 years from 2019, to go into a separate Reserves account, providing funds allow.

The principal sources of funding for the CIO are from lettings income and rental of the office space to Lechlade Town Council. We were also very grateful to have received £17,269 in COVID related support grants during the year.

The final Revenue and Expenditure figures at our year end of 31 December 2021, were £51,969 and £47,907 respectively, resulting in a net surplus of £4,062. Adding the net receipts to the cash balance of £76,435 at the beginning of the year plus £2 interest meant that the CIO had total cash in its Business accounts of £80,499 (comprises £50,489 in Business current account and £30,010 in Reserve account). The cash total of £80,499 is sub divided into £74,432 of Unrestricted funds and £6,067 of Restricted funds.

The CIO does not currently have any investments.

Declaration

The Trustees declare that they have approved the trustee’s report above

Signed on behalf of the CIO’s trustees

Signature:

Full names: Simon Colin Neil Paul

Position: Chairman of Trustees Date: 25 April 2022

CHARITY COMMISSION
FORENGI-ANDAND WAL[5	Lechlade Villaqe	Hall& RecreationCIO
				entsaccounts
	Unrestricted funds		RestrictedEndowment funds funds			Totalfunds	Last year
	to thenearest€		to the nearest€	to the nearestf		tothenearest€	to the nearestf
						28,289	24,054
						't't0	310
						18.387	15.150
						184
							35
						5.000	5.000
						I	q
						51,970	44,558
AZ ASSeIanq Investment sales,(see
table).
Totalreceip":l
Jtilities(gas,electnc,water)	6,514					6,514	9,374
rayroll	3,'t58					3,158	7,847
-icenses&Insurances	5,43					5,41{l	5,156
lallequip/repairs	9,336					9,335	1,710
Cleaning Materlals,Maintenance(inclAWP)	6,807					6,807	4,208
:xpenses	29					29	bJ
/y'aste	503					503	575
3ardening	954					954	762
felephone	975					975	1,186
fther	228		13,961			14.189	292
Subtotal	33,947		13,961			47,507	31,173
rotatpaymert"@		l-ieFEil		l-f	f------*sr'4		l-tl
Netofreceipts/(payments)	l-?dn-A	l-Tq.r6-il		l-1	l-66d		l-:Ed
A5Transfercbetweenfunds A6 Gashfundslastyearend Cashfundsthisyearend TransferfoReservesBi	r-;ar-rr,l	-il-rrrrrcd
Totatincash year"ndre				6^06?		l-l	I

			Unrestricted	Unrestricted	Restricted	Endowment
BlGashfunds	BARCLAYS COMMUNITY BARCLAYS PREMIUM RESERVE Total cashfunds		funds tonearestt	funds tonearest € t- .fi] t-:l t-___.l l-ttJJ		funds tonearestf
	(agreebalances	with receipts andpayments
		amunt(s))
			Unrestricted		Restricted	Endowment
			funds tonearestf		funds tonearest €	funds tonearest €
82Other monetary assets
					Cost (optional)
83Investment assets
			Fund towhich		cost(optional)	Current value
84Assetsretainedfor the	MEMORIAL HALL	LAND&BUTLDINGS
charity's ownuse	MEMORIAL HALL	FIXTURES&FITTINGS	RESTRICTED
	PAVILIONLANO&BUILDINGS
	PAVILIONFIXTURES&FITTINGS
	SKATEBOARDPARK
	ALL WEATHERPITCH
	YOUTH SHELTER
					Amountdue	When due
85 Liabilities
				t	'il		1
Signedbyoneortwo trusteeson behalfof allthe trustees	Signature			Print Name
						2310512022