2020-12-31-accounts

Stoke Climsland Parish Hall CIO

Minutes for AGM held on 27[th] October 2021

Present: David Crawley, Geoff Giles, Sue Watts, Louise Power, Martin Howlett, Nigel Cooper, Bonny Lightfoot, Deri Parsons (trustees)

Brian Lupton (Bridge), Tom Davidson (SCATS), Jenny Turner.

Agenda

• 1) Welcome: David Crawley welcomed everyone to the AGM.

• 2) Apologies: Lynne Crawley (SCATS/Pop-up Cafe).

• 3) Minutes of the last AGM: It was proposed by Martin Howlett and seconded by Sue Watts that these were accepted. All agreed.

• 4) Matters arising: None

• 5) Chairman’s Annual Report: This was reported in the Old School News: You will already know that the planning application and listed building consent for the refurbishment and extension of the Parish Hall have been approved. Unfortunately, the constraints imposed by Covid on public meetings, displays etc have meant that it has been very difficult, if not impossible, to publicise the plans and activities as widely as we would like. But there has been a lot of ‘behind the scenes’ activity and, as we move into a post-Covid ‘normality’, you can expect to hear and get involved more. In the meantime, we’d like to take the opportunity afforded by the relaunched Old School News, to bring you up to date. Progress with the building and finalising the design The Prince’s Foundation team, in collaboration with the Parish Hall CIO Committee, have been working on the detailed technical design of the building. Part of this has involved consultation with the major users of the Parish Hall to ensure that internal fixtures and fittings (such as staging and kitchen design) meet user requirements. The intention will be to go out to tender to builders and test the market as soon as the technical design work is completed. At the time of writing, a timeline for project activities has not been finalised. Progress with transferring the Parish Hall from the Duchy of Cornwall to the Stoke Climsland Community via the CIO Discussions are continuing on the transfer of the ownership of the Parish Hall from the Duchy of Cornwall to the Stoke Climsland Community through the Parish Hall CIO. Progress with fund raising A key challenge has been that the building budget came back higher than anticipated. That combined with the current and continued rise in material and construction costs, the extremely difficult present fundraising climate, and the continued impacts of Covid have meant progress has been slower than expected but works continue to be undertaken to move forward where we can. The CIO and The Prince’s Foundation are committed to progressing

and will work together undertaking a value engineering process to reduce costs to make them more manageable, but also to make the proposition more attractive to funders generally. Part of these considerations and discussions will be potential options for phasing the works into smaller packages for as and when funding is available. The current budget construction cost of the project is estimated to be around £800,000, which has been the starting point for the value engineering process aiming to reduce this number to a more achievable amount for the project. Over and above this figure The Prince’s Foundation is making a very significant contribution in the shape of the skills and consultancy services which they have provided to the CIO at no cost. This includes the architectural work, the commissioning and undertaking of numerous surveys, payment for other specialist consultant costs which will be required moving forward as well as fundraising guidance and support. From these figures, it can be seen that there is some way to go to fund the project to completion. However, you will not be surprised to hear that Covid-19 and its sequelae are having a major impact upon fundraising activities. These are extremely challenging times as far as funding for capital projects is concerned. Investigations continue to identify potential funders and, when possible, to make the appropriate applications. However, there have been no major successes to date, and it is probable that the lack of a guaranteed funding stream will have a negative impact upon the progress of the project.

The last twelve months have seen little activity in the Parish Hall due to the lockdowns and restrictions placed on social gatherings by HMG and NHS guidelines. As soon as we thought we were getting back to some semblance of normality a further spike in national or local Covid activity caused further restrictions to be placed on us. However, we have been able to open our doors again in the last couple of months, and with users ensuring their group’s adherence to current guidelines, several clubs, societies and other users have been able to meet, with more opening their doors in the immediate future. Let’s all hope that 2022 will bring a more open social calendar, and that we finally begin to regain some sort of ‘normality’, whatever that may mean for the next few months or years.

At last year’s AGM we were awaiting the decision of Cornwall County Council’s Planning Department to our revised application submitted in early September. That decision was ultimately an acceptance of the plans, but only after some further changes were made at the behest of Historic Environmental Planning (HEP, aka Conservation Department), including the removal of the Photo-Voltaic panels from the roof of the building. Whilst it was extremely disappointing that this was forced on us, particularly with both the County Council and SC Parish Council declaring a climate emergency, it ended a long process that gave us the planning department’s clearance to proceed with the refurbishment of the hall, albeit without the ability to capture and utilise our own energy. Maybe a battle for another day?

The final acceptance of plans for the refurbishment enabled the process of updating the cost plans to commence. The Prince’s Foundation (PF) made the observation early in 2021 that on other projects that they are involved with, they were currently being advised of up to an additional 25% uplift on anticipated costs due to the Brexit impact on materials and supply chains, and that some funders were looking to see an enhanced contingency in cost plans to allow for this. This news, along with the Covid financial impact on many potential grant funds

and donors, placed an increased pressure on fund-raising, a pressure which continues to be felt moving forward. This has not been made easier by recent news concerning the Prince’s Foundation, and I’ll read a statement made by them to us in the last few days:

“ You may be aware that Douglas Connell stepped down from his role as Chair of the Board of Trustees of The Prince’s Foundation last week. He took this decision in light of the ongoing investigation into fundraising practices regarding individual donors. We are grateful to Douglas for his service as Chair and respect his decision to step down.

Dame Sue Bruce will assume the role of Chair on an interim basis. Sue is currently Vice-Chair and recently appointed as Chair of our Ethics and Standards Committee. Sue has held senior positions within local government over a career spanning 40 years and is a non-Executive board member of SSE PLC. We hope you feel reassured that the Board is being led by someone with a wealth of experience and expertise at what is a challenging moment for the organisation.

Despite some of the media attention we are currently receiving, I would also like to reassure you that the work of The Prince’s Foundation continues. As you know, we have a dedicated and passionate team of colleagues delivering exceptional courses and projects from our home at Dumfries House, nationally and internationally. It is this work, helped by partners including the Stoke Climsland Parish Hall CIO, that we are focused on delivering with humility and integrity.”

They have made it clear to us that their support is ongoing regardless of any difficulties, and I’d like to say on behalf of the CIO, that we are here to support them, and you, the users and all our parish inhabitants going forward. We may have thought at the beginning that this was going to be an easy and simple project, but things happen, and whether it be Conservation Departments, Listed Buildings, Brexit, Covid, Scaremongers, Anti-Royalist Media, or financial difficulties, this project WILL happen ………… it just may take a little longer than we all thought. BUT, it will be worth it!

There has been progress in the purchase of the Parish Hall from the Duchy of Cornwall. There is an agreed sale subject to Contract. We are finalising the Heads of terms with them and hope to conclude the sale in the near future.

6) Treasurers Report:

Income

Covid 19 has impacted the hall in several ways, the hall was largely closed for the most part of 2020. There was also a committee ratified decision to waive letting fees in the last 4 months of the year for those few who were able to utilize the hall. This was in recognition of the particularly difficult conditions at the time and in an effort to give something back to the broader community. The gross Income figure for the year stands at 12,059.83 which includes Covid 19 grants from Cornwall Council (£10,000) and Sport England (£347.00). The adjusted income figure of £1712.83 represents an approximate decrease of 70% previous year (£5,483.84) which is attributed fully to the closures related to Covid 19.

We are steadily supported by Latino dance and Pop-up Cafe together with our traditional

Hirers such as Bridge, Bowls, Gardening Club, Parish Council and WI very much loyally in evidence however our main hirer continues to be SJS Dance Academy (Ballet- Suzanne) although this has now dropped to 2 sessions per week rather than 3. We have attracted one new regular hirer (Callington Choir Sept 2021) and appear to have lost some of the Village show meetings including the twice Annual Jumble Sale (at Sept 2021).

Next year (2022) will also see the return of the SCATS Panto and attendant rehearsals. There continues to be a steady upturn in Private hirers, attracted by our lower rates and easy self-service approach.

Expenditure

Expenditure at £3740.90 was unsurprisingly down approximately 30% on the previous year, by £1,630.08, due to reduced costs generally with little or no maintenance or professional fees being attributed to the hall, including decreased internal and external cleaning costs. However, there was a notable rise in cleaning equipment costs attributed to the provision of PPE whilst the hall was open.

Most other Expenditure items including utilities have remained largely the same with small fluctuations across the board. The Parish Council kindly continue to cover all BT costs which will need to be reviewed in 2022 as agreed pre-Covid (AGM 2019).

General

The Hall remains a popular, cost-effective venue for all sectors of the community and continues to grow with little aggressive marketing and despite its obvious shortcomings and continuing deterioration whilst the PF Project continues. In 2021 there have been some short term improvements to the hall e.g Floor refinishing to ensure that the venue can still operate. The income it generates clearly supports itself with a small surplus each year.

The 2020 Accounts and associated records have been independently checked and signed off by Andrew Farr, FCCA, Dawe Hawken and Dodd.

Important Note: In late 2016 we applied to the Parish Council for and were granted a one-off payment to fix the roof/chimney of £2,895.00 which has been now reallocated (with PC agreement) to supporting professional fees for the establishment of a legal framework including charitable status and the preparation of a lease. These funds are still in the account, however £900 plus VAT (£1080.00) was paid to CRCC in support of CIO documentation in 2020.I would like to thank Clare Crichton for the deep clean and painting of the walls in the Hall.

It was proposed by Martin Howlett and seconded by Nigel Cooper that the accounts (see attached) were accepted. All agreed.

• 7) Booking Status: This is covered in the treasurers Report.

• 8) Grant Application Status: The fund-raising climate is difficult. Many of the major potential funders have switched to post Covid and post Brexit activities. There are few sources for capital projects, we haven’t identified any at present. We need a strong bid and are too small for most potential donors. Recent controversy within the Princes Foundation has also limited potential donors.

• 9) Election of Trustees: Sue watts has resigned as treasurer, Brian Lupton resigned as

secretary and Sarah Ross stood down when the chair of the Parish Council passed to Nigel Cooper. Martin Howlett stated that we would like to thank them for all their work.

The current trustees stood down. Sue Watts proposed the election of the existing Trustees, and Nigel Cooper as Chair of the Parish Council. It was seconded by Jenny Turner. All agreed. It was proposed by Sue Watts and seconded by Jenny Turner that Bonny Lightfoot and Geoff Giles are elected as Trustees. All agreed.

David Crawley agreed to act as Treasurer until we can find someone to fill that post, which needs to be done as a matter of urgency.

10) AOB;

Jenny Turner asked what money needs to be raised by grants and what do the Princes Foundation do to help this. David Crawley replied that the Princes Foundation’s main activity is to raise the funding for the Parish Hall, although the CIO is named on the application to ensure the money goes to the project. The CIO is looking at fund-raising for specific items, such as staging, from donors or individuals. The question was asked if there is any money coming in. David Crawley stated that there is £50,000 available for match funding. Jenny Turner noted that the Parish is under the impression that all the funding is coming from the Princes Foundation. This is not true as the fund-raising was always going to take place after the planning stage so the amount to be raised is known. There have been ideas put forward for raising money from individuals by sponsoring a brick or roof tile, listing individuals who have donated money or other fund-raising events. The amount would be in the region of 10,000. Jenny Turner noted that often the Parish has to show that they have invested in the project. David Crawley noted that it has been difficult over the past 18 months because of Covid but we will be putting forward ideas in the future. Deri Parsons noted that there had been community involvement prior to the planning stage. Martin Howlett pointed out that we are back in business and this can help going forward. Things have been going on in the background. Geoff Giles suggested that there will be more opportunities for groups to put on event to raise money in the future. Bonny Lightfoot asked about phased development. This is currently being looked at by the architect to see if we can build part of the Hall without affection the rest.

There were no more questions. The meeting was closed.

STOKE CLIMSLAND PARISH HALL ACCOUNTS 2020

2019	2019	INCOME	2020 2019	2020 2019	2020 2019	2020 2019	EXPENDITURE	EXPENDITURE	2020
£84.68	Ballet/Pinkum		£0.00		£1,121.28		Insurance		£1,127.69
£805.00	Ballet/Suzanne		£245.00		£557.38		Electricity		£452.42
£575.00	Short Mat Bowls		£112.50		£56.56		S W Water		£66.01
£587.50	Bridge		£112.50		£607.90		Gas		£589.01
£113.00	Flower Show		£0.00		£42.00		ACE		£66.00
£12.50	Neighbourhood Plan		£0.00		£121.20		PerformingRights		£129.29
£100.00	GardeningClub		£37.50		£742.50		Cleaner		£486.00
£348.50	Latino Dance		£76.50		£150.39	CleaningEquipment			£210.25
£285.00	KeepFit		£75.00		£217.00	window/ gutter cleaning			£90.00
£625.00	Parish Church		£50.00		£10.00	strimmimg			£0.00
£416.50	YOGA		£59.50		£15.59	Stationery,stamps			£12.42
£310.00	Scats		£236.00		£3.99	Equipment			£0.00
£560.16	Parish Council(BT bill)		£511.83		£560.16	BT			£511.81
£171.50	Parish Council		£112.50		£24.24	maintenance			£0.00
£130.00	Cornwall Council		£10,000.00		£60.79	PF Project Costs			£0.00
£140.50	W.I.		£37.50		£1,080.00	Professional fees			£0.00
£202.50	Private		£46.50		£0.00	Accountant			£0.00
£11.50	China & Table hire		£0.00
£5.00	Special Payment		£0.00
£0.00	Sport England Grant(Covid)		£347.00
£5,483.84			£12,059.83		£5,370.98				£3,740.90
Balance 1/1/20 Income			Surplus £14,546.14 Expenditure £12,059.83 Balance 31/12/20 £26,605.97						£8,318.93 £3,740.90 £22,865.07
									£26,605.97

The above accounts have been prepared from vouchers, records and books of Stoke Climsland Parish Hall and I certify that it is in accordance therewith.

ANDREW FARR, F.C.C.A. DAWE, HAWKEN & DODD Chartered Certified Accountants, 52 Fore Street, Callington, PL17 7AJ

15th June, 2021