## **WELTON VILLAGE MEMORIAL HALL Annual Report 2023** Welton Village Memorial Hall [ **The Hall** ] is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation [ **CIO** ], a form of charity which is overseen by the Charity Commission for England & Wales. Our Charity number is 1180894 and the Hall is situated at 33-35 Cowgate, Welton, Brough HU15 1ND and is run by the Trustees who are all unpaid volunteers. The aims of The Hall is the provision and maintenance of a village hall for the benefit of the inhabitants of the parish of Welton without distinction of political, religious or other opinions, including use for meetings, lectures and classes and for other forms of recreation and leisure time occupation, with the object of improving the conditions of life for the said inhabitants. The origins of the charity go back to the end of World War 2 when the local villagers were able to use money collected for a war memorial to acquire the Estate Manager’s house and Estate Hall from the Harrison-Broadley estate which was being sold off having owned most of the land locally for decades. Soon after the Welton Memorial Club [ **The Club** ] was created, as a means of generating a surplus which could be used to maintain the building, which dated back to at least 1890. The two entities eventually developed and became separately managed entities. In 1985 The Hall became a Registered Charity and then in 2018 the CIO was set up and, on 28 February 2020, all assets and liabilities were transferred from the old charity to the CIO. The Club had become a private members club and, subsequently, a private limited company but it still rents its premises from The Hall. The Hall continues to be a unique facility for the use of locals. The premises are rented to a variety of dance, drama, keep-fit and other activities for both children and adults on a regular basis as well as a venue for all sorts of celebrations, plays, cinema showings and meetings. Providing these facilities is how we meet our charitable purpose and benefit the public and, together with the Charity Commission guidance, is how the Trustees decide on how to develop the Hall. **WELTON VILLAGE MEMORIAL HALL Annual Report 2023 continued** ## **2023 Achievements** The year to 31 May 2023 saw most aspects of running the Hall return to something approaching normal after the disruption of Covid and most groups using the Hall returned to normal. Thanks to a generous grant from Welton Parish Council and a substantial donation from Wykeland Developments we were able to complete the last element of the refurbishment plan put together in 2018, which was an equipment store that lets us free up space on and under the stage. We continue to get very good comments from both regular and casual Hall users about the facilities provided. We have also been able to host a number of events to try and make full use of the Hall. These included a very successful New Year’s Eve party, a Beatles tribute gig and a murder mystery evening, as well as restarting Welton Community Cinema. These events raised a modest surplus for the Hall but the main purpose is to support the local community. We now have a small team of volunteers who help plan and run these events and we are extremely grateful to them for all their efforts. More events are already being planned for the coming year and we are always pleased to welcome anyone else who would like to contribute in any way. ## **Financial Results** This financial year saw continued expenditure on refurbishment and one-off income in the form of grants that enabled this, as outlined above. There was a small net deficit of £9,000 as a result of this work, without which we would have broken even. Regular income continued to recover as usage resumed normal levels. We were able to keep routine expenditure under control, but we do expect utility and some other costs to rise significantly. The net result left cash reserves over £50,000 at the year end, but we owed a larger than normal amount of £16,000 plus a further £16,000 for the loan we took out in 2021 to refurbish the carpark. This needs to be repaid over the next 6 years. That leaves us with around £20,000 which is needed to allow the Trustees to respond to any major repairs needed on this Grade 2 listed building and any other unexpected demands. This means that funds for new work are very tight but we have been able to have the entrance hall resurfaced. ## **Trustees** The Trustees are all unpaid. Five may be nominated by Welton Parish Council [ **WPC** ], one may be nominated by St Helen’s Church, and five are appointed the Trustees as a whole. Trustees meet regularly, usually around 10 times a year but some business is done using email. The Trustees are always keen to add to the team who try to make sure that the Hall is operating smoothly through using their skills and experience whether they become a Trustee or not. Especially useful would be anyone with social media, IT or people skills. Please contact any of the Trustees if you feel you could contribute in some way. Below is a list of Trustees and Officers throughout the year up till March 2024: **WELTON VILLAGE MEMORIAL HALL Annual Report 2023 continued** |**Name**|**Position**|**Period**|**How appointed**| |---|---|---|---| |Stephen Jibson|Chair|Full year|WPC| |Mike Thane|Vice-Chair|Full year|WPC| |Alan Henry|Trustee|Resigned 20/02/2023|Appointed| |Dave Russell|Treasurer|Full year|Appointed| |Dave Smith|Trustee|Full year [Resigned 08/04/2024]|Appointed| |Elaine Skinn|Trustee|Full year|WPC| |Lucy Khan|Trustee|Full year|Appointed| |Annika McIntyre|Trustee|Appointed 20/02/2023|Appointed| |Andy Coates|Trustee|Appointed 20/02/2023|Appointed| ||||| |Eileen Tucker|Secretary|Fullyear|Officer| |Colin James|Caretaker|Fullyear|Employee| Since 31 May 2023, Jeff Smith and Ian McNee have agreed to become Trustees 1t, 417 7J•B 15 141 17X•41 11J41 {0241 { iQ8&2J (IJ I Ir4710) ( I (&n4) 141Jl•) IIL .1 L￿Tr.AC￿E 110.T•J) 17.97Z) 45.1 116. 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