DACRE ROOMS KIMPTON CHARITABLE INCORPORATED ORGANISATION
Registered Charity No: 1175741
REPORT and ACCOUNTS
For the year ended
31[ST] MARCH 2023
Registered Address: Dacre Rooms, High Street, Kimpton Hertfordshire SG4 8RA
DACRE ROOMS KIMPTON CIO
TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31ST MARCH 2023
Chairman's Report
The year ended 31[st] March 2023 covered the period when our community, and the country at large, began to emerge from the strictures of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. We returned to largely unrestricted opening and slowly our activities began to return towards the levels seen before the pandemic.
Initially, we witnessed the re-emergence of largely community-based activities. The Friday morning coffee and cake sessions were reinstated immediately and were welcomed back by the village. These continue to be the most popular events that we host and are attended by dozens of people each week. They enable the operators to raise money for their chosen charities or clubs and they provide a vital support network for many of our elderly residents. At the other end of the spectrum, we saw a resumption of activities designed to support mothers and toddlers as well as a long-established craft group aimed at the retired community. The Trustees were happy to support these activities for an initial period with grant money received during the lock-down period.
Commercial activities took longer to resume but by the end of the period we were witnessing the resumption of art classes, yoga and dance groups as well providing a venue again for private parties and events. The Rooms are used regularly again by the Scouts and Girl Guides and their junior affiliated groups and are often booked for business meetings.
Our charitable objects require us to provide a facility for Kimpton residents and the local authorities, voluntary and other organisations in an effort to advance education and to provide facilities for recreation and leisure in the interests of social welfare in the community. The Trustees and others involved with the running of the Dacre Rooms in Kimpton have worked hard throughout the year to ensure that we were able to deliver upon these objectives whenever legislation permitted.
The day-to-day operations of the Dacre Rooms are coordinated by the Management Committee. It comprises of a group of dedicated volunteers under the skilful management of David Pitcher. I wish to publicly thank them for their diligent efforts yet again this year.
Ted Frith Chairman
Trustees for the period were
Mr Charles Edward Frith (Chairman) Mr Simon James Thompson (Treasurer)
2
Mrs Anne Juliet Elizabeth Morton (Secretary)
Treasurer’s Report
The accounts for the period are shown on page 4.
They have been prepared on a receipts and payments basis in accordance with the Charities Statement of Recommended Practice (FRS102)[1] .
The period witnessed significant changes in the global macro economy which had a material effect at the micro level on community charity projects such as the Dacre Rooms CIO. For the first time in a generation we witnessed a significant rise in inflation and a dramatic tightening in monetary policy by the Bank of England. Power prices soared and the broader inflationary environment led to higher prices more generally. The effects can be seen in the expenditure section of our annual accounts action A3 below and most materially in the increase of utility bills to £2,867 (from £1,570 in the prior period). Other running expenses have risen sharply although in part due to our extended opening hours as well as the economic pressures.
Our aim remains to cover operating costs from the rental income and we came very close to achieving this. Income rose significantly to £5,295 (£1,965) and so, despite the rise in costs, we achieved an operating loss of just £218, a significant improvement on 2022 (where the loss was £1,680)
Capital grants from central government were not available during the period and so other income was restricted to small amounts of fundraising and interest on our current account.
Our prudent approach to managing the finances in prior periods provided us with a significant buffer and allowed us to weather the cessation of our activities during the pandemic. Our building is in an excellent state of repair and we anticipate only modest costs relating to building maintenance in the short term. Longer term expenditure is forecast to be covered from our healthy cash reserves.
The charity finds itself in a stable and healthy financial position with operating performance improving as we continue to recover from the pandemic. We are confident that we can fulfil our obligations to operate a venue for the public benefit to further our charitable objects.
Simon Thompson Treasurer
1 Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) (effective 1 January 2015)
3
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