## **Milborne St Andrew Village Hall Annual Report & Financial Statement** ## **January 2025 to December 2025** ## **Governance** President ## Eric Crichton Trustees and User Group representatives Linsey O’Neill - Chair – manages the bar and supplies. Ian Karley – Deputy Chair; special responsibility for internal maintenance advice and the Players representative Nigel Hodder - Treasurer Linda Wright – Secretary, Women’s Institute representative, church representative Gren Elphinstone Davis - special responsibility for grounds maintenance; Deputy Treasurer Susan Poet - Bookings Secretary Jenny Balcon (Wednesday Club) Non-trustees including additional user group representatives The Village Hall continues to be managed in accordance with Charity Commission guidance by a committee made up of trustees and user group representatives. Trustees are elected at the Annual General Meeting, with new members meeting informally with the committee prior to election. Many trustees also represent regular user groups, helping to ensure the hall continues to reflect the needs of the wider community. The committee includes nominated officers—Chair, Secretary and Treasurer—alongside members with specific responsibilities such as bookings, bar management, internal maintenance advice and grounds maintenance. ## **Committee and Meetings** The committee meets on a monthly basis. Meetings are informal but well structured, with an agenda circulated in advance. Key matters discussed include finances, maintenance, bookings and forthcoming events. Trustees vote on decisions as required, while non-trustee representatives are able to contribute on matters relevant to their user groups. Accurate notes are kept for each meeting and, once agreed, are published on the village website. Where necessary, Extraordinary Meetings may be called, and email discussions are used between meetings to agree actions when appropriate. ## **Administration and Safety** The committee remains committed to ensuring that the hall and its surrounding grounds are safe and well managed. All recommended inspections and risk assessments are carried out annually, including fire safety, electrical safety and general building checks. A comprehensive set of policies is maintained and regularly reviewed, covering areas such as safeguarding, health and safety, data protection, complaints procedures and codes of conduct. These policies are publicly available on the village website. ## **Objectives** The object of the CIO is the provision and maintenance of a village hall for the benefit of the inhabitants of Milborne St Andrew, without distinction, for meetings, social events, recreation, leisure activities and community use, with the aim of improving quality of life within the parish. ## **Achievements During 2025** Throughout 2025, the Village Hall has continued to be well used by a broad range of regular village groups, organisations and private hirers, as well as for one-off community and family events. Ongoing promotion and the continued efforts of the Bookings Secretary have helped to maintain a healthy level of bookings, supporting the hall’s ongoing sustainability. The development of the patio area was completed during the year with the addition of patio furniture, creating a pleasant and practical outdoor space that has been warmly welcomed by hall users. The monthly Community Café has remained a popular and valued part of village life, providing both a social meeting place and an important source of fundraising income. Its continued success is due to the dedication of the volunteers who organise and run it. Fundraising and cultural activities have once again played an important role, with events such as the Murder Mystery Night and Artsreach performances receiving excellent support and contributing both financially and socially to the life of the hall. We also held a very successful Christmas lights event, free of charge to the community, which was hugely popular and something we hope to make an annual event. The committee continues to be active and hands-on, with members carrying out much of the routine internal and external maintenance themselves. This ongoing commitment helps to keep the hall and grounds safe, welcoming and well presented. ## **Policies** The following policies are in place, reviewed regularly, and available on the village website: - Anti-Social Behaviour - Code of Conduct for Committee Members - Compliments and Complaints - Data Protection (GDPR) - Disciplinary - Equal Opportunities - Health and Safety - Risk Assessment - Safeguarding - Whistleblowing ## **Looking Ahead: Plans for 2026** The committee’s priorities for the year ahead are to continue maintaining the hall and grounds to a high standard, to further promote the hall to existing and potential new hirers in order to support its long-term viability, and to continue fundraising and seeking grant funding towards the creation of a new play area for the benefit of the community. ## _**Linsey O’Neill, Chair**_ **Financial Review 2025** We started this year with £17,837 in the bank, Thanks to prudent management of costs and other financial benefits via events, donations and utilities, we have achieved a surplus in 2025 of £5,248 thereby ending with £23,085 in our account. Rental income has increased by 17.5% year on year to £10,794. That said we believe it is prudent to review our hire charges for 2026 as they have been held at current levels for 2 years while maintenance and other costs continue to increase. Our income was significantly helped by the efforts of the Trustees who arranged community events throughout the year. The monthly “Milborne Movies” added £1,485 from its attendees in addition to bar and ice cream sales. Additionally, a Murder Mystery night contributed £1,188 from ticket sales alone; bar and ice cream sales in total were c. £1,854. Other donations including those from Artsreach and a local group who regularly use the Pétanque court (Boules Buddies) have helped swell the coffers for which we are always very grateful. Of course, there were some costs associated with these events but an excellent income stream none the less. It has been agreed with the organisers of the Community Café that while they donate their profits to the Village Hall, they will receive free use of the hall. Consequently, the Café has contributed £1,890 in the past 12 months. While we are grateful for future agreed donations of £800 p.a. (only £600 received this year due to different financial year end dates) from the Parish Council towards our ground maintenance costs, this takes no account of inflation, so we find ourselves having to contribute significantly more this year than in previous years. The PC also contributed £800 - 50% of the cost – towards the new benches on the patio, The solar panels continue to fully support our electricity costs to the extent we paid a net £4 during 2025. Last year I reported that the SEG payment had reduced to 8p per kWh. Well, in July it went back up to 12p. This will always be a variable amount determined by the energy provider, so nothing is guaranteed. We have benefited from the sunniest year recorded in 2025 – a significant contribution to the break-even outcome. Meanwhile, our gas bill has risen significantly when compared to 2024 but that is due partly to a £500 grant received from SSE in 2024 relating to previous years. We changed supplier to Yu Energy in October 2024 so some of this year’s gas costs really relate to the final 3 months of 2024. This makes a true comparison difficult, but we will watch the costs carefully and change supplier again should this prove necessary. Clearly, a cold winter does not help our gas usage at is mainly the fuel providing the heating of the premises when in use by our hirers. It should be noted that bar costs also include the purchase of ice creams most of which are claimed by our film night visitors as part of their entry fee, so while it looks from the figures as if the bar made minimal profit this is not necessarily the case. Bar prices were increased in 2025 to reflect the increased costs of buying stock. The costs associated with the cleaning and maintenance of the Hall were minimised, but we cannot be complacent. Fortunately, we have several Trustees and other volunteers who have the skill base (and time) to conduct several repairs themselves keeping costs down, but insurance, regulatory annual inspections and maintenance of equipment is always a factor. Despite support from the Parish Council (who have provided funding towards grass cutting and playpark inspection services) the maintenance of the outside community recreational areas in addition to the Hall itself presents a financial challenge. Any costs must be met out of the general budget. 2025 will prove to be even more challenging as the PC are only contributing £800 p.a. towards grass cutting for the foreseeable future. We anticipate that the enthusiasm and creativity demonstrated by the Trustees and “friends of the hall” in 2025 will continue into 2026 and that the considerable funds generated by the Community Café and other community activities along with Artsreach events, will be matched if not exceeded! This year’s surplus provides us with an opportunity to consider some significant expenditure in 2026 on the Playpark equipment and general outdoor space for the benefit of our residents and visitors to the area. The Statement of Assets below covers the financial year to 31[st] December 2025. The Trustees are grateful to Elizabeth Humphrey who continues to audit our accounts. ## _**Nigel Hodder (Treasurer)**_ Reulgtwe¢J ChadtyNo 1176828 2D14 8ul1dbw•Th&knndat￿%t èulldlfi8and I1￿￿ta￿l £ 1855.18 5thr¥) stt E2a.D84.59 £34039.77 50.QY) 5¢nttnderWrrental Yotslgiitts• 31.IL24 PLUs.5￿rPluY lo[￿ TalalA%MtE•31.12.15 £ 1*79125 E34039.77 £ #IDIg.77 20 ÉlQ794th £ 9.158.37 WtrtÈrrat*s 38285 £ 3.È8 E 1.116.82 É £ t3n.43 £ 2271.37 1614 E 751.50 313B2 E 2.￿.61 £ 3375.5P 3X9A2 £ 939. 316WI £ 51661 SSEPokir*Thta MI1￿m?￿￿￿e5 1.185.25 £ 1.034 £ 1.$27.50 £ S.n4.02 E 2.837.73 £ 1*01. E LM54.25 £ 1.641. G￿ Insvr4ncp 5undrl¢s FU￿￿￿￿￿8£xpeTrSe5 sh c￿￿1 £ L490.W É 151.91 £ 1.283 13 £ L476.86 90m £ Grounds malrtertin 247. 736.X8 £ 1.104 64 C￿￿e￿I￿￿tID Pa￿0 Fur￿￿vre 370AO E 14UI21 £ 21,È67.n 5J47.52 £ 1.34459 E 1g&IB.73 £ 523.13 ¥otwl Inrorni £19.5￿7$ EZU 13 Indiw￿￿￿￿VerffLe￿a53tn￿f¥ndf9Irr￿O￿Of IhE INome¥nd ExVndnureolMllboffleStP￿dl￿￿ Vll4yHwll Forthe￿ier￿J3tsI)•¢•mbtr1Ql5 andth•li atthitdate