TrusteesAnnualReport2023.24 ## **Hougham Village Hall Trust Charitable Incorporated Organisation Registered Charity Number: 1181034 Trustees (Management Committee) Annual Report 1 July 2023– 30 June 2024** ## **1. Resignation of Chair** Although this report covers the financial year ending 30 June 2024 it is sad to report that Alison Barker resigned as Chair on 19 September 2024 and relinquished her role as editor of the Hougham Herald at the same time. Alison was elected as Chair in October 2022 and has worked hard to ensure the continued existence of the CIO and in particularly resurrected our local newsletter “The Hougham Herald”. This report reflects all she with her management committee have achieved over that period. The Management Committee would like to thank her for stepping into the breach and all that has been done. Peter Robinson has agreed to return to take on the role on a caretaker basis until the AGM in 2025 and was duly co-opted onto the committee on 17/9/24 and elected as Chairman at the same time. He is standing for election at this AGM. Allen Jones was co-opted onto the committee on 23/5/24 and is standing for election. Rozannah Ludlow was also co-opted onto the committee on 17/9/24 with special responsibility for children and youths. She also is standing for election at this AGM. ## **2. Names of Trustees** |Nominated|User Group/Office
held|Date if not
full year|Reason| |---|---|---|---| |Steve Green|Parish Council|-|-| |Mary Pressnell|Parochial Church
Council|-|-| |Elected||Term of
office|| |Alison Barker|Chair, Newsletter
Editor|-|Elected
22/10/22.Resigne
d 19/9/24| |Oliver Button|Trustee|-|Elected 22/10/22.
Completed 2 of 3-
year term.| |Christine Care|Functions sub-
group,100 Club,
Dover Lotto, Coffee
morning organizer|-|Re-elected
22/10/22
Completed 2 of 3-
year term.| |Colin Care|Functions sub-
group,100 Club,|-|Elected 15/10/23.
Completed 1 of 3-| 1 TrusteesAnnualReport2023.24 ||Dover Lotto, Coffee
morning organizer.||year term of office.| |---|---|---|---| |Carole Haines|Trustee, Minutes
Secretary|-|Elected 15/10/23.
Completed 1 of 3-
year term of office.| |Allen Maurice
Jones||Co-opted
7/03/24|| |Dianne Joyce
Oxenham|Treasurer/Secretary,
Building
improvement &
fundraising sub-
group, Functions
subgroup|Inaugural
appointee*.
1/3 years|Elected 15/10/23.
Completed 1styear
of 2ndterm of office| |Christopher
John Stephens||Elected
15/10/21|Resigned
27/06/2024| Name of Employees |Job|Name|Date started|Date Ceased| |---|---|---|---| |Cleaner|Gill Parker|2020|16/08/23| |Cleaner|Tina Jones|23/08/23|| ## **3. Sources of advice and support** Villagers of the Parish of Hougham Without Peter Robinson Hougham Without Parish Council Dover District Council Kent County Council Funding for All Mowll & Mowll Solicitors Dan Codrea, DC Architecture Ltd Streetz2Streetz ## **4. History** 4.1 The Hall, then known as the ‘Reading Room’ passed into private hands from the Kent Coal Fields Syndicate on 27 July 1886. It was purchased by Arthur Evanson on 30 March 1920 and subsequently gifted to the villages in remembrance of his son and other brave men of the parish who lost their lives in WW1. The original conveyance was drawn up in 1920, the Trust deed is dated 26 November 1935 and on 1 February 1972 a committee of management was appointed with the Trust formally entered on the Register of Charities on 30 September 1994 with the Registered charity number 1041193. 4.2 Initially there were to be 2 elected members and 6 representative members but as the number of user groups dwindled the committee resolved on 13 March 2017 that to ensure they had an adequate number of trustees 2 TrusteesAnnualReport2023.24 that there should be 5 elected members in addition to the nominated trustees; the existing provision also allowed for 2 co-opted members. ## **5. Governance/Appointment of Trustees** 5.1 On 22 August 2018 the committee resolved to become a Charitable Incorporated Organisation. The new constitution dated 18 August 2018 was accepted and registered by the Charity Commission on 6 December 2018 as a new charity named “Hougham Village Hall Trust CIO” with a new charity number 1181034. 5.2 The objects of the CIO are:- **“To establish and run a village hall and to promote for the benefit of the inhabitants of the parish of Hougham (area of benefit) without distinction of sex,orientation, age, disability, nationality, race or political, religious or other opinions the provision of facilities for recreation or other leisure time occupation of individuals who have need of such facilities by reason of their youth, age, infirmity or disablement, financial hardship or social and economic circumstances or the public at large in interests of social welfare and with the object of improving thrr conditions of life of said inhabitants.”** 5.3 Hougham Village Hall Trust was subsequently closed down and all assets, including the hall and land, were transferred to the CIO. 5.4 The new constitution says there must be a minimum of 3 charity trustees but does not specify a maximum. The existing trustees became the first trustees of the new charity serving terms of 4 years (2 members), 3 years (1 members) 2 years (1 member) to allow for a turnover of volunteers. Subsequent appointments by election or according to the ordinary practice of the management committee would be for terms of 3 years. 5.5 Also, one trustee may be nominated from each of the accepted user groups i.e Parish Council and Parochial Church Council to serve a term of one year. Representative members should be appointed not more than 1 month before the AGM where possible. Each organisation is required to notify the secretary of the committee of their representative. Any new or existing user group may apply for representation on the committee and may be appointed subject to the agreement of a two thirds majority of the management committee. 5.6 Apart from the inaugural trustees charity trustees must be elected at an AGM at which all inhabitants of the area of benefit of 18 years an upwards are entitled to attend and vote. At the first and each subsequent AGMs all elected trustees reaching the end of their elected term of service shall retire from office unless by the close of the meeting the members have failed to elect sufficient charity trustees to hold a quorate (3 members) meeting of the charity trustees. Trustees can also be co-opted but must be appointed at a duly constituted meeting of the charity trustees. 3 TrusteesAnnualReport2023.24 5.7 On becoming a trustee a member must sign a declaration of acceptance and willingness to act in the sole interests of the charity. 5.8 No member should hold any interest in any property belonging to the charity otherwise than as a trustee for the purposes thereof or receive any remuneration or be interested in the supply or works or goods a the cost of the charity. Any member adjudged bankrupt or who makes a composition or arrangement with his creditors or who is incapacitated from acting or who communicated in writing to the committee a wish to resign shall thereupon cease to be a member (but only if enough charity trustees remain in office when the notice of resignation takes effect to form a quorum at meetings). 5.9 At the first meeting after the AGM, the committee elects from amongst all the trustees the following office holders - Chair, Vice Chair, Treasurer, and a Secretary. 5.10 Full details about AGMs, elections, accounting, rules and trustee responsibilities are in the CIO constitution a copy of which can be found on our website. ## **6. Policies and Procedures** 6.1 To maintain quality standards and to guide the Management Committee in exercising its duty of care to members, contractors, and users of the hall we require a variety of policy documents. We have the following policy documents which are subject to regular review: - - 1) Administration Policy & Procedures - 2) Finance Policy - 3) General Fire & Risk Assessment - 4) Hiring Agreements (Revised 2021) - 5) Hougham 100 Club - 6) Insurance - 7) Licenses - 8) Current User Groups - 9) Charitable Objectives - 10) Conflict of Interest Policy - 11) Policy on General Data Protection Regulations - 12) Communication and Complaints - 13) Trustees’ declaration on taking up office - 14) Environmental Policy - 15) Reserves Policy - 16) Fire Safety Management Plan+ - 17) Key logbook – Procedures - 18) Safeguarding Policy - 19) Trustee Welcome Pack ## **7. Hiring agreement** 4 TrusteesAnnualReport2023.24 7.1 Use of the Village Hall is subject to a Hiring Agreement which must be signed by the hirer when booking. It sets out the conditions of hire and identifies the respective responsibilities of each party to the agreement. Anyone running exercise classes, fitness groups, yoga or other groups holding physical activities whether they be a commercial enterprise or run on a voluntary basis is required to hold their own stand-alone public liability insurance. 7.2 Bookings can be made on-line via the hall’s website; the rates are reviewed annually at the beginning of each year and the new charges come into operation on 1 April each year unless the need for an earlier review arises. 7.3 The hiring policy was recently revised as were all the relevant forms including application form, guides etc. The bands and charges are: - |Band description|Amount of charge| |---|---| |Villagers|£12.50| |Commercial|£20.00| |Daily rate|Negotiable| |Overnight rate|Negotiable| |Deposit (refundable)|From £50, dependent
upon type of Hall usage| ## **8. Licenses** 8.1 The Hall has a premises license (not including alcohol) and is registered with Dover District Council for small society lotteries i.e., 100 Club, has a Performing Rights Society and Public Performance license for live and recorded music, a TV license and a broadband license. 8.2 One Temporary Event Notice (TENS) was applied for during 2023/24 for running a bar. ## **9. Risk Management** ## **Insurance** 9.1 The Management Committee acknowledges that it is under a legal obligation to protect the building, its users and employees/ self-employed contractors through adequate and appropriate insurance. 9.2 The Village Hall is insured by Zurich Insurance with respect to property damage (buildings insu98rance), contents, public liability, employers’ liability, and legal assistance. The current annual premium is £509.00 which is cheaper than our previous insurer. ## **Health & Safety/Building Issue** s 5 TrusteesAnnualReport2023.24 10.1 Gas appliances and portable electrical appliances are tested by qualified person annually. Fire-fighting appliances are inspected annually under contract with the supplier. Volunteers from the Committee carry out other maintenance checks. A Fire Safety Risk Assessment is updated annually by the Committee’s own Fire Safety Officer as required by law. 10.2 A building condition survey was last carried out in 2011 but the refurbishment has allowed us to carry out a thorough review and a full survey is not now required until 2025. 10.3 We have a Safeguarding policy which closely follows that recommended by both the Charity Commission and ACRE to ensure the safety of vulnerable adults and children, although we always ensure that a parent acts as a responsible adult for any event solely for children. Both Health & Safety & Safeguarding are standing items on the agenda for all Management Committee meetings. ## **Risk Assessment** 10.4 Regular Risk Assessments have been carried out before any out-of-theordinary event. ## **11. Principle activities in pursuit of objectives** 11.1 The Hall is normally available for hire for private functions including children’s parties, wedding receptions, funeral wakes, village social functions and occasional fund-raising fayres. It is also used for meetings by Parochial Church Council, Parish Council, CIO and as a polling station. ## **12. Events** 12.1 The following charts detail and summarizes the use of the hall during the period of this report:- ## Summary of Activities i.e Events, Private Hires & Classes |Events|Events|Events| |---|---|---| |Date|Name of event|Total| |17/6/23|Guided walk|| |20/10/23|Musical Evening with Chris
Stephens|| |29/10/23|Children's Halloween Party|| |1/12/23|Quiz Night|| |6/12/23|Light Lunch|| |16/12/23|Children's Christmas Party|| |2/3/24|Quiz Night|| 6 TrusteesAnnualReport2023.24 |16/3/24
Ghost Walk
30/3/24
Children's Easter EggHunt
8/6/24
Quiz Night
31/5/24
PuP + CurryNight
Monthly
PopupPub
22
Private Hires|Ghost Walk|Ghost Walk|Ghost Walk|Ghost Walk|Ghost Walk||| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| ||Children's Easter EggHunt||||||| ||Quiz Night||||||| ||PuP + CurryNight||||||| ||PopupPub|||||22|| |Type|||Number of events||||| |BabyShower|||3||||| |Private Partes|||10||||| |Birthday Partes|||3||||| |Children's Partes|||13||||| |Christenings|||0||||| |Weddings|||0||||| |Band Practce|||0||||| |PollingStaton|||1||||| |Parish Council|||8||||| |Village Hall CIO|||7||||| |NHS Training|||4||||| |Other|||14|||63|| |Fitness Classes|||||||| |Type||Frequency|||Number for
year||Total| |Zumba||Twice a week|||44||| |Yoga||Once a week fnished
Oct 23|||13||| |Pilates & Chair Pilates||Once a Week|||20||| |DogTraining||Twice a Week|||30||107| |Overall total||Events,hires&classes|||||192| |TENS
Number issued
Date
1
20.10.23|||||||| |Number issued||||Date|||| |1||||20.10.23|||| ||||||||| ## **13. Funding Strategy** 13.1 It is the strategy of the Trustees to manage the revenue budget on a self -financing basis; hire charges are set to try to achieve this aim. Other out of course requirements are raised through grants and fundraising events. ## **14. Volunteers’ Effort** 7 TrusteesAnnualReport2023.24 14.1 Management costs are kept to a minimum using volunteers wherever possible. A prime example of this policy is Allen Jones who cuts the grass and keeps the plot tidy. Other tasks which often go unnoticed are supervising and arranging boiler servicing, gas safety and servicing, arranging insurance, licenses, grants etc. and often involve team effort and Peter Robinson, Steve Oxenham and Dianne Oxenham led this teamwork. 14.2 In addition, Trustees give in the region of 60 hours a month for meetings and an incalculable number of hours per annum organizing and running events. Also, most if not all stationery, printing ink for documents, photocopying, laminating etc., is donated free of charge. ## **15. Achievements 2023/24** 15.1 New website up and running. Purchased chair sashes (now charging for use), 3 filling cabinets, storage boxes & sandwich board. The attempts during 2022/23 & 2023/24 to raise funds to refurbish the driveway following the refurbishment are ongoing, although it has been hard to get support for an outcome which is not very promotable. However, the Parish Council has offered to contribute £5,000 if the rest of the funding is raised. ## **16. Financial report** See separate document ## **17. Reserves Policy** The reserves policy which we adopted in July 2020 is used to ring fence any grants we receive for building improvements. ## **18. Communications-Newsletter & Website** ## Website 19.1 The last website was created on behalf of Hougham Vilage Hall by Richard Turner and was hosted by SquareSpace on an annual subscription basis and a booking system run using Acuity (Square Space’s scheduling platform), enabling those who visit the site to book online for an event or hall hire. There are many benefits to having a website, which include convenience for those who like to book online and receive reminders of their bookings, reduced administration time for already overstretched Trustees, direct transfer of booking payments to the Hall’s bank account via the platform Stripe and principally, of course, as the site where anyone can find out, for example, information about the Hall as a facility, the Consitution of the Hall and the popular ‘What’s On’ section. However it was found that that particular website was quite expensive and did not suit our purpose and so it was agreed to move to a new website. The new website provided by a local Folkestone company whitefishmarketing.co.uk went live on 21/22 February 2024 at a cosof £720 which included a rebuild cost of £450 + VAT plus an annual web hosting cost of £240 + VAT. After a few teething troubles the website seems to be working well. 8 TrusteesAnnualReport2023.24 Website – wwehoughamvillagehall.co.uk Email: houghamvillagehall.dover.gmail.com ## Newsletter The Hougham Herald Newsletter was relaunched in October 2022 and was distributed as hardcopy through letterboxes in West Hougham, Church Hougham and Hougham for the first three months thanks to a generous donation from Majestic Freight. Subsequently, an electronic version of the Newsletter has been uploaded onto the Hougham Village Hall website and those who wish to receive it can also ask to be emailed a copy.Sadly, unless we can find a new editor no further issues will be distributed as our Editor Alison Barker has resign from the post on 17/9/24. The Trustees wish to thank her for all her efforts in relaunching and ensuring regular monthly issues were made available up to September 2024. ## Facebook Facebook posts are administered by Steve Oxenham on behalf of the CIO and have proved to be a very effective way of publicising the activities of the Hall and to communicate quickly with those who subscribe to posts, widening the number of people with whom the Hall communicates. This may include last minute information, including cancellations. The number of posts is presently about 20 per month and, as awareness grows and more people subscribe, the number of people reached in this way will grow. ## Hall Noticeboard & Sandwich Board The Noticeboard & new sandwich board outside the Hall is an important source of information and everyone is encouraged to take a look at it when they pass by the Hall or are there for an event or activity. There are important notices, such as the announcement of the AGM, and also posters promoting activities and events at the Hall. ## **20. Future** 20.1 Refurbishing the driveway and some tree surgeries are planned. It will probably be necessary to commission a building inspection survey in 2025 as it will be 5 years since the refurbishment took place. ## **21. Conclusion** The Trustees of Hougham Village Hall Trust CIO would like to thank everyone for their practical help and support throughout this reporting year. Without your active involvement we could not have done this, and we hope for your continued support. The Trustees declare that they have approved the above report. 9 TrusteesAnnualReport2023.24 Signed on behalf of the Charity’s trustees Signature: Peter Robinson Full name: Peter William Robinson Position: Chairman Date: 7 October 2024 10 Date Accounts 01.07.2023-27.06.2024 Income Hires.. Lottery Donations Pop up Pub Events Hougham 100 Club Miscellaneous Bank Interest Grants Total Expenses Insurance Energy Water Rates Business Rates Boiler Service & Gas Certificate Fire Extinguisher Annual Service PRS/PPL Licence Lottery Licence Cleaning Cleaning Materlals PAT Testing TV Licence Misc ACRE Membership TENS Licence Repairs & Renewals Petty Cash Website Hougham 100 Club Winnings Refurbishment Event Costs V-Fa5t Wifi Grant for Tables 2022 Total Nett ProfiVLoss Account 3644.00 811.50 432.00 215.00 1581.70 514.00 274.00 69.92 7542.12 0.00 509.98 940.36 246.07 172.17 83.40 163.43 20.00 1410.00 97.74 54.00 162.50 548.87 21.CM) 739.20 275.00 1457.94 1176.05 299.76 -1033.33 7344.14 197.98 Funds in Current Acc Funds in Deposit Acc Funds in P/Cash Funds in Zumba Pot Funds to Bank Total Di Owed £61.39 £530.52 £5,094.86 £26.50 £77.50 £127.20 £5,856.58