## **The Downton Memorial Centre** (Registered charity, number 1183511) **Financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2023**
|**Page**|**Contents**||
|---|---|---|
|2 - 5|nnual report||
|6|Independent e|report|
|7|Receipts & payments account||
|8|Statement of assets & liabilities||
|9 - 11|Notes to the accounts||
## **The Downton Memorial Centre annual report for the year ended 31 December 2023**
**Full name** The Downton Memorial Centre CIO
**Organisation type** Charitable incorporated organisation
**Registered charity number** 1183511
**Principal address** Downton Memorial Hall, The Memorial Hall, The Borough, Downton, Salisbury, SP5 3NB
## **Trustees**
Susan Kirsten Barnhurst-Davies, Chair David Philip Mace, Treasurer Hilary Mace, Booking Secretary Jeremy Parsons Lesley Giles, from 01/02/2024 Andrew Philip Smith, from 01/03/2024 Christine Anne Pearce, until 02/01/2024
## **Independent examiner**
Units 1 & 2 North West, 41 Talbot Street, Nottingham, NG1 5GL
## **Governance and management**
The charity is operated under the rules of its CIO Foundation constitution adopted 21 May 2019.
Trustees are nominated by local organisations or trustees and appointed by the trustees.
Initially there were (Downton Memorial Hall, Charity No. 305507). Other trustees up to a maximum of 23 in number can be nominated by local organisations.
The trustees can also appoint up to 4 local residents as new trustees.
## **Objectives and activities**
The provision and maintenance of the Downton Memorial Centre for use of inhabitants of the parish of Downton in the county of Wilts and its immediate vicinity without distinction of sex or political or religious or other opinions, including use for:
- a) physical and mental training and recreation, and
- b) intellectual development through the medium of reading and recreation rooms library lectures, classes, recreations.
2
## **The Downton Memorial Centre**
## **Summary of the main activities undertaken for the public benefit**
The main activities of the Trustees are concerned with the operation of the Downton Memorial Centre to achieve the aims of the charity e.g.
- maintaining the fabric and services of the building,
- taking bookings for the hire of rooms and other facilities at the centre, managing the cleaning arrangements for the building,
- collecting hire fees and rent, and managing the finances of the charity, fundraising for items to improve the premises for the public benefit, and advertising in the local press, and the village website, to promote the facilities of the charity.
The activities of the charity enable its local community to have easy access to rooms with good facilities, in a safe, clean, heated environment, and at a very reasonable cost. The rooms and other facilities of the Downton Memorial Centre are hired by local residents, organisations, and other parts of the community, for a wide variety of different activities, in line with the aims of the charity, which include:
- physical exercise and development classes, recreational activities,
- intellectual lectures etc. and development, and
- entertainment in the form of film, theatre, musical performances and
The trustees wish to put on record their grateful thanks to the volunteers who help with the running of the Downton Memorial Centre, the fund-raising events and the improvements that continue to be made to its facilities.
## **Public benefit statement**
The Trustees confirm that they have complied with the duty in section 17 of the Charities Act 2011 to have due regard to the Charity Commission's general guidance on public benefit, 'Charities and Public Benefit'.
## **Summary of the main achievements during the period**
The Downton Memorial Centre CIO (DMC) was protected from the world-wide massive increase in energy prices in 2022 as it already had in place a 3-year fixed price contract for its gas and electricity supply. However, that contract came to the end of its term in April 2023. gas and electricity rates became approximately two and a half times higher than on its previous contract.
In anticipation of this large increase in energy costs the Trustees reviewed the fees which it charged for its principal source of income i.e. the room hire fees. The fees for using the old part of the building had not increased for at least 10 years. In that time, the Consumer Prices Index had increased by approximately 30%. Similarly, the fees for the meeting rooms in the new extension were still at the levels which were set when the rooms were first opened in 2018; the CPI in that time had increased by 18%. Taking everything into account, the Trustees decided to raise each of the hourly room hire rates of £10 and £15 by 10% to £11 and £16.50 respectively. This change was published in March 2023 and became effective from May 2023 room bookings onwards.
3
## **The Downton Memorial Centre**
years and, for the first time, exceeded the pre-Covid pandemic levels of 2019, as can be seen in the table below:
||2019|2020|2021|2022|2023|20231
(excluding
price rise)|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|Hire Fees|£21,566|£10,913|£8,553|£17,955|£25,552|£24,202|
|% change over
2019||-49%|-60%|-17%|+18%|+12%|
1. The final column has been calculated by having the room hires which took place since May 2023 be notionally charged as if the price rise from May 2023 onwards had not been implemented).
The increased usage of the Downton Memorial Centre reflected the increasing confidence of people to meet in public following the Covid pandemic. Notable bookings in 2023 included:
- The Snow Queen stage production, which was a very popular show, and a successful fund-raising event for the Projector & Screen Fund;
- the return of the biennial dance show by the local dance school, The Forest School of Dance;
- the return of weekly weight loss meetings by Slimming World;
- the start of Little Buds, a weekly class for new mums; and
- due to popular demand, increasing numbers of willow weaving and quilting classes which first started in 2022.
The Trustees policy on reserves is to maintain unrestricted cash reserves equivalent serve for emergency maintenance to the premises and facilities (£8,000), plus the Projector & Screen Fund (£3,820) making approximately £28,000 in total. The total unrestricted reserves at the 2023 year-end stood at £40,410. This appears to be a strong financial position. However, some of these unrestricted reserves will need to be earmarked for potential, future maintenance work (see next section) once those works have been fully identified and quantified. This planning work will take place during 2024.
## **Financial review**
The charity has two principal sources of income, namely:
- a) the hire fees charged for the use of its facilities and b) the pre-school rent.
The increasing level of room bookings in 2023 resulted in a healthy growth in the income from room hire fees. However, there were some on-going difficulties in 2023 with the receipt of rental income.
4
The Downton Memorial Centre
Following a vote at an Exlraordinary General Meeting on the 26th May 2023, the
Trustees of the Downton Comniunity PresGhool decided that they had no option but
to permanently close the preschool from the end of the 2023 summer term. The
Trustees of the Downton Memorial Centre were inforned that this decision was
made due to Ilie ever-worsening finanGial situation of the pre-school and in light of
the then national policies relevant to the early years sector. The fomal, six-month
notice to terminate the sublease was received on 12th June 2023 and hence the
sublease ended on 12th Dernber 2023. As at the end of 2023 some loose ends
remained to ba sorted out in 2024. These included:
some involS which were yet to be paid by the preschool;
some overcharged utility recharges whiGh needed to be refunded to the
preschool.
During the latter half of 2023 the Tru3tees' attempts to find a new tenant for the early
years part of the building were unsuccessful and so. at the year end. there was
uncertainty over the rental income whiGh Could be achieved in 2024.
Financial rlsks
Unexpected, unplanned maintenance costs.
The completion of the Memorial Hall XtenSIon project by Downton Pamsh Council
(DPCI in ltltg 2018 resulted in a new lease being agreed be¢en DPC and the then
Trustees of the Downton Memorial Centre CIO (DMC). In this new lease, the
responsibilrty for maintaining the external aspects of the building will transfer fiom
DPC to DMC once DPC ha8 completed certain remedial works on the building, the
most signrficant of these being the replament of roofs and guttering. Those works
have been in progress from 2019 onw¢iid&4 and ale due to be Gompleted in 2024.
It is @xpected that the newly replaced flat roofs, as is nomially the case with flat
roofs, will need to be redone in about 20 years, time. Now that the DMC is getting
back to normal after the pandemic, and this is expected to continue through 2024,
from the start of the 2025 financial year the Trustees will be earmarking some of the
reserves for a 'Roof Maintenance Fund, and with the intention of growing this fund
each year so that sufficient funds will be available to repla the flat roofs when
needed. Similarly, other maintenance items which have a signifiGant potential cost
will be identrfied, quantified and, where appropriate, reserves will be earmarked and
grown over time to ènable the Trustees to pay for such future maintenance as and
when the tlme arises.
Signed on belialf of the Charity's trustees-
Signed
Susan Kirsten Barnhurst-Davies, Trustee
Date
)24
Independent examiner's report to the trustees of
The Downton Memorial Centre
for the year ended 31 December 2023
I report to the trustees on my examination of the 2ccounts of The Downton Memorial
Centre (the charity) for the year ended 31 December 2023.
Rgsponsibilities and basis of report
As the trustees of the charity you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts
in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 {'the Act,).
I report in respect of my examination of the charity's accounts carrled out under
section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying out my examination I have followed all
the applicable Directions given by the Charty Commission under section 145(5){b) of
the Act.
Independent examiner's statement
I have completed my examination. I confirm that no matters have come to my
attention in connection with the examination giving me cause to believe that in any
material respéct..
accounting record8 were not kept in rospect of the charity as required by
qection 130 of the Act. or
2. the accounts do not accord with those records.
I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the
examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a
proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.
Signed
John O'Brien Msc,
CA, FCIE
Employee of Community Accounting Plus
Date
## **The Downton Memorial Centre Receipts & payments account for the year ended 31 December 2023**
|_2022_
Total
**Unrestricted**
Funds
**Funds**
£
**Note**
**£**
**Receipts**
1
Grants & donations
**2**
2
230
Fundraising events
1656
4219
Rental income
5514
18085
Sales & hire fees
25591
177
Bank interest
1171
1965
Utility recharges
2232
75
Key deposits
100
-
Damage deposits
200
24752
**Total receipts**
**36466**
**Payments**
45
Advertising/Promotional
45
5215
Cleaning
6238
21
Equipment
231
-
Fundraising costs
763
588
Insurance
726
50
Key deposits refunded
-
288
Legal & professional fees
-
50
Membership fees
50
132
Music Licence
139
202
Office & general admin expenses
216
3
Printing, postage & stationery
-
6043
Repairs & maintenance
7073
5411
Utilities
8686
808
Website
567
18856
**Total payments**
**24734**
5896
**Net receipts/(payments)**
11732
23282
Cash funds at start of this period
28678
29178
**Cash funds at end of this period**
**40410**|**Restricted**
**Funds**
**£**
776
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
**776**
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
175
-
-
**175**
601
500
**1101**|**_2023_**
**Total**
**Funds**
**£**
778
1656
5514
25591
1171
2232
100
200|
|---|---|---|
|||**37242**
45
6238
231
763
726
-
-
50
139
216
-
7248
8686
567|
|||**24909**
12333
29178|
|||**41511**|
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The Downton Memorial Centre
Statement of assets and liabilities
at 31 December 2023
20?2
2023
Cash assets
Bank accounts
Cash in harKI
29158
20
29178
41511
41511
Othermonetsry assets
Debtors
Prepayments
rpayment
3083
4386
856
1025
6267
3083
Assets retalned for the charity's own use
General equipmert
Liabilities
Creditors
AdvarKed receipts - Sales a 're fees
Refvrd2ble dÉposits PÈld
112351
1563}
{25S8)
(7751
625
3958)
(1798)
These financial statements are accepted on behalf of the charity by..
Signed
David Philip
Dated
rustee
## **The Downton Memorial Centre Notes to the accounts**
## **for the year ended 31 December 2023**
## **1. Receipts & payments accounts**
Receipts and payments accounts contain a summary of money received and money spent during the period and a list of assets and liabilities at the end of the period. Usually, cash received and cash spent will include transactions through bank accounts and cash in hand.
## **2. Grants & donations**
## **3. Funds analysis**
## **Projector & Screen Fund**
In 2019 the Trustees started to raise funds to enable the Downton Memorial Hall to have its own projector and screen. During the Covid pandemic, in 2020 through to 2022, it was impractical to try to run any significant fundraising events. However, The Snow Queen stage production in January 2023, which was held as the first major fundraising event for the Projector & Screen fund since the Covid pandemic, was a great success. As at the end of 2023 the Projector & Screen Fund, consisting of the total of grants received, and of the net profits made on the fundraising events since 2019, stood at £3,820. Further fundraising events are to be held in 2024 and with the intention of implementing the new facilities by 2025.
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## **The Downton Memorial Centre**
## **4. Debtors, prepayments and overpayments**
## **5. Creditors, refundable deposits and advance receipts**
## **6. Premises**
The land and buildings are owned by Downton Parish Council and leased to The Downton Memorial Centre CIO at a peppercorn rent of £10 per annum for a term of 900 years beginning on 24 June 2018.
educational provision, were sublet by the CIO to the Downton Community Pre-School (Charity No. 1027574) from 1[st] November 2018 through to 12[th] December 2023.
## **7. Related party transactions**
The trustee David Mace is also a Parish Councillor, and the trustee Susan BarnhurstDavies is also an Officer, at Downton Parish Council. Downton Parish Council hired rooms during this period for a total amount of £957.
The trustee Hilary Mace is also a committee member of the Downton Green Group. The Downton Green Group hired rooms from The Downton Memorial Centre during this period for a total amount of £40.
The trustee Jeremy Parsons is also a trustee of Downton Moot Preservation Trust. The Moot Preservation Trust hired rooms from The Downton Memorial Centre during this period for a total amount of £10.
The trustees Susan Barnhurst-Davies and Jeremy Parsons are also committee members of The Downton Society. The Downton Society hired rooms from The Downton Memorial Centre during this period for a total amount of £41.
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## **The Downton Memorial Centre**
**8.**
Trustees received no expenses, remuneration or benefits in this period.
## **9. Glossary of terms**
**Advance receipts:** These are amounts received by the organisation in the accounting period, for use in a future period.
**Creditors:** These are amounts owed by the charity, but not paid during the accounting period.
**Debtors:** These are amounts owed to the charity, but not received in the accounting period.
**Prepayments:** These are services that the organisation has paid for in advance, but not used during the accounting period.
**Restricted funds:** These are funds given to the charity, subject to specific restrictions set by the donor, but still within the general objects of the charity.
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