2022-12-31-accounts - Grassington Devonshire Institute

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GRASSINGTON DEVONSHIRE INSTITUTE

(A Charitable Incorporated Organisation – Registered Charity no. 1185815)

Annual Report for 2021

Legal and administrative details

The objectives of the Institute are laid down in paragraph 3 of the constitution. They are to ‘manage and control the Town Hall at Grassington’ and ‘to provide facilities for recreation and other leisure-time occupation of the inhabitants of Grassington and its immediate neighbourhood with a view to improving their conditions of life’.

Address of the Institute	The ‘Town Hall’	Telephone
	48 Main Street	(Caretaker)
	Grassington	01756 752637
	North Yorkshire
	BD23 5AA
Chairman	David Wood	01756 751801
	Browfield, Raines Lane
	Grassington
	BD23 5NJ
Treasurer	Miss Penny Clover	01756 229254
	Four Leaves Cottage
	Grass Wood Lane
	Grassington
	BD23 5DF
Independent Examiner	Andrew Walker	01756 799577
	Arthur E. Walker & Co.
	6 Water Street
	Skipton
	BD23 1PB
Trustees	Mrs H Barton (Deputy Chair)
	Mr B Doyle
	Mrs M Field
	Mr N Fielden
	Mr S Parry
	Mrs J Slater
	Ms A Clover (Co-opted)

Grassington Devonshire Institute, Town Hall, 48 Main Street, Grassington, North Yorkshire BD23 5AA Email david.wood@grassdevinst.org www.grassingtondevonshireinstitute.org Bookings bookings@grassdevinst.org Tel 01756 752637

GRASSINGTON DEVONSHIRE INSTITUTE

(A Charitable Incorporated Organisation – Registered Charity no. 1185815)

Trustees are formally elected at the Annual General Meeting, which is held each year before the end of April, details of which are communicated directly to members, or co-opted during the year.

Changes to the Trustees Resignations – None during 2021 Additions – Mr N Fielden (elected April 2021); Ms A Clover (coopted December 2021)

GRASSINGTON DEVONSHIRE INSTITUTE

(A Charitable Incorporated Organisation – Registered Charity no. 1185815)

Trustees’ responsibilities

The ‘Town Hall’ is the property of the people of Grassington. Ownership is vested in the Parish Council, which is responsible for the maintenance of the exterior and for the insurance of the building. The Council, in turn, has a long-standing agreement which allows the Grassington Devonshire Institute, a ‘Charitable Incorporated Organisation’ and registered charity, to take responsibility for the maintenance of the interior and for the upkeep, renewal and improvement of all of the facilities therein. The Institute also pays the care-taking, heating and lighting costs.

The facilities include a main hall, capable of accommodating 300 people. The hall is large enough to be used for activities such as badminton, indoor bowling and children’s roller skating, as well as providing an auditorium for theatrical and musical events. It has a raised stage with sound and lighting equipment, which is continually updated. An octagonal theatre/lecture room, known as ‘the Octagon’, was added in 1998, seating up to 87 people, also with sound and lighting equipment. Equipped with banked seating, the room is ideal for large meetings as well as theatrical and musical events. There are two dressing rooms, two smaller meeting rooms, a kitchen and a snooker room. There is also access to the Parish Council-owned playground. The foyer is host to a purpose-built and fully-licensed bar, which is used for specific events during the year. An area to the rear of the building, formerly used as a Playschool, is currently being converted into a new Caretaker’s flat. This conversion will free up space at the front, ground floor elevation of the original building, the use of which will be determined during 2022.

The Institute is responsible for fulfilling the objectives set out in the opening paragraph of this report and for complying with statutory requirements and local regulations. In order to meet the considerable cost of this, in excess of £35k per annum, the Institute raises funds via four principal methods:-

Regular community events such as the summer Festival and 40’s weekends.
Sub-letting the premises to commercial organisations for various purposes at higher rentals than are charged to local people, clubs and non-profit-making bodies who are the beneficiaries of the charity.
Other events organised and run by the Trustees and volunteers.
A membership subscription scheme.

Other amounts are raised by fees for the use of the snooker table, table tennis tables, indoor bowls, badminton equipment, dance and fitness classes and sales of refreshments to people attending events organised by hirers of the hall.

The funds thus raised enable the Institute to provide accommodation and facilities to local people at reduced prices, effectively subsidising these activities from funds raised from events and corporate/commercial use of the Institute. This encourages use by many local groups for a variety of social, artistic and sporting activities, as well as individual bookings for private functions. The main hall is used for the village pantomime, amateur dramatics, musical

GRASSINGTON DEVONSHIRE INSTITUTE

(A Charitable Incorporated Organisation – Registered Charity no. 1185815)

events, the 40’s weekend, Wharfedale Beer Festival and is now the main venue for the Grassington Festival. The Trustees regard service to the community as being of the utmost importance; fund-raising is extremely important, but only as a means to an end.

Reserves Policy

The Trustees seek to hold a financial reserve equivalent to one half of the annual costs of running the Institute.

Restricted or Designated Funds

The Trustees can confirm that none of the Institute’s funds are restricted or designated.

David Wood Chair of Trustees March 2022

GRASSINGTON DEVONSHIRE INSTITUTE

(A Charitable Incorporated Organisation – Registered Charity no. 1185815)

Chairman’s report

It has been my pleasure and privilege to continue to serve as Chair for the past 12 months. I have been well-supported by the Institute’s Trustees, pre-existing and new, and it is clear that they, together with the many village organisations and volunteers, take tremendous pride in providing an amenity, the ‘Town Hall’, which is so cherished within our local community.

Trustees make a huge contribution to the work of the Institute and I was delighted to welcome Nic Fielden to our Trustee group, following his election by members in April 2021 and, in December 2021, Mandy Clover, who was co-opted by the Trustees. I am hugely grateful to Penny Clover, who has continued in the Treasurer’s role, without remuneration. Each of the current Trustees has willingly taken on more work, over the past 12 months, in order to progress schemes and improve facilities at the Town Hall for the community.

As a charity, the Town Hall relies heavily on its volunteers, members and customers to ensure that it continues to be an important community focal point and I thank all of them, plus our Caretaker, Derrick Lee, for his continuing efforts and contribution. Our Assistant Caretaker, Richard Lee, retired at the end of September and we were delighted to appoint Peter Earl, as his replacement, in October 2021. We wish Richard all the very best in his retirement and have welcomed Peter into the Town Hall fold.

Whilst 2021 was predicted to be a more productive year than 2020, in reality it was another of covid-related uncertainty and restriction. Five scheduled screenings were cancelled, leaving only seven fund-raising events for the charity throughout the whole of 2021. With only a booking from the ‘All Creatures Great and Small’ team, the building remained closed until 17[th] May and there was further bad news in that the summer Festival, autumn Beer Festival and ‘Dickensian Festival’ would not take place in 2021. Relatively few of our ‘regular’ user groups returned, but we were delighted that some did so during the second half of the year.

In April 2021, we held the inaugural meeting of the new ‘Charitable Incorporated Organisation’ (CIO) and formally elected the Trustees. The meeting was conducted via ‘Zoom’ and, incredibly, almost 50 members participated in the meeting. This met the condition imposed by the Charity Commission in October 2019, to ensure that an AGM be held within a period of 18 months following the establishment of the new CIO.

Work continued during the year, to repair and improve the facilities at the Town Hall. Following receipt of a grant from Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority, we were able to carry out electrical work in the Games Room and to install a wifi-enabled giant screen, which we felt would enhance the use of the room to include teaching and visual, inter-active presentations. We were delighted to be able to dedicate the room to the memory of Dr Andrew Jackson and to re-name the facility ‘The Jackson Room’.

GRASSINGTON DEVONSHIRE INSTITUTE

(A Charitable Incorporated Organisation – Registered Charity no. 1185815)

Fig 1 shows the newly-refurbished ‘Jackson Room’, complete with its giant, wifi-enabled, inter-active screen. The room is set out in a format which works well for formal meetings and educational sessions, but it retains its flexibility for its regular users.

Whilst sounding perverse, covid was a God-send for the charity as Government grants and the furlough scheme continued into 2021 to ensure the Town Hall remained afloat financially. Trustees and the small team of volunteers continued to work on a range of schemes and planning consent was received to develop a new Caretaker’s Flat in the space previously occupied by the Dales Playschool. Having submitted a bid for funding, we were thrilled to receive £20,000, from the ‘Power to Change’ fund, to make good the shortfall in the Jackson Room development, develop the Caretaker’s Flat and contribute something towards the design and re-development of the front ground floor elevation of the building.

Receipt of this significant grant allowed the Trustees to assign funds to a small improvement to the Snooker Room, in which new lighting and curtains have been installed, a new loft ladder introduced in the clock room above, for safety reasons and an allowance to be made for new floor coverings in due course. The return to a 1930’s style room may well make us more attractive to the ‘All Creatures…’ team, should they return to Grassington to film a future series!

Fig 2 shows the new ‘Tiffany-style’ lighting and new curtains in the Snooker Room. All the pre-existing clutter has been removed and the room now offers ‘Crucible-like’ facilities for those who enjoy the game!

Work continued on the Caretaker’s flat up to year end, with utilities and first fix trades work completed and room sizes now clearly defined. It is hoped to complete the work during early 2022, which will allow the current Caretaker, Derrick Lee, to move out of the ‘old’ flat at the front of the building, thus allowing us to progress with plans for re-development and new use.

Trustees initiated a project with Jason Smith, a Trustee at Glusburn Institute, to put together a new website for the GDI. We have been indebted to Andrew Wilson, our former Chair, for all the effort he has made, despite his having moved to the south of the country, to maintain and, where

Grassington Devonshire Institute, Town Hall, 48 Main Street, Grassington, North Yorkshire BD23 5AA Email david.wood@grassdevinst.org www.grassingtondevonshireinstitute.org

Bookings bookings@grassdevinst.org Tel 01756 752637

GRASSINGTON DEVONSHIRE INSTITUTE

(A Charitable Incorporated Organisation – Registered Charity no. 1185815)

possible, improve our existing website over the past 5 years. We anticipate ‘going live’ with the new website in the early part of 2022.

Once again, prudent financial management meant that the GDI was able to survive the closure of facilities and deliver the repairs and improvements previously mentioned. Eight formal applications, for grant funding or donations, were submitted during the year, including to funds set up by the Government and administered by Craven District Council, to support village halls during lockdown and beyond. Of the eight, seven were successful by year end, attracting one-off income of £50,000. We are indebted to the following organisations for their contributions:-

Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority Craven District Council (Councillor Richard Foster) HM Government (via Craven District Council) Power to Change

The Town Hall’s Caretakers spent much of the first five months of the year on furlough, with the Institute topping up their salaries to 100% of normal earnings in January, 90% in February and March, and reducing to the national level of 80% for the final few weeks of closure. 80% of normal salary was claimed from the Government’s Job Retention Scheme throughout this period.

Following discussion with and permission of Grassington Parish Council, in August, GDI launched a voluntary donation scheme for parking at the Town Hall car park on Moor Lane. The scheme was based, initially, on donations made via mobile phone to a text number, provided by ‘DonR’. This initiative provided some welcome additional funds to support the repair and improvement plans during the year.

Fig. 3. Notices for the new voluntary donation scheme for the Town Hall car park appeared in August 2021, after a working party of Caretakers, Trustees and volunteers had removed all of the low-hanging branches from the boundary areas. This was a 12 months’ scheme, operated by GDI with permission from Grassington Parish Council. All proceeds go to GDI for the upkeep of the building.

The business plan (2020-2023), adopted and published online in early 2021, continued to set out a clear direction of travel for the charity and its Trustees. Several commitments to improvement schemes have been made, including in relation to audio-visual equipment, building access control and internal CCTV and the main kitchen and we expect these will progress even in the absence of any externally-generated income.

In August, we reached the anniversary of the launch of our ‘Membership Scheme’ and were delighted that 124 of the first year’s members chose to renew. In addition, we were joined by another 56 people in 2021. The subscription rate was retained at the 2020 level (i.e. £24 per annum) and we were able, once again, to seek ‘Gift Aid’ on these subscriptions and other personal

Grassington Devonshire Institute, Town Hall, 48 Main Street, Grassington, North Yorkshire BD23 5AA Email david.wood@grassdevinst.org www.grassingtondevonshireinstitute.org

Bookings bookings@grassdevinst.org Tel 01756 752637

GRASSINGTON DEVONSHIRE INSTITUTE

(A Charitable Incorporated Organisation – Registered Charity no. 1185815)

donations. Several newsletters were issued during 2021, all of which were emailed to members directly and, in some cases, postal distribution was used.

In September, the Town Hall played host to a terrific, world amateur premiere of ‘Calendar Girls – The Musical’, which was staged by our friends from Grassington Players. Despite the spectre of covid, almost every night was a sell-out which was fantastic to see. The performances really brought some focus on the story and of course the Players, but media coverage will have done the Town Hall and Grassington in general no harm.

We were pleased, in November, to meet up once again with three members of Grassington Parish Council, to discuss how a partnership agreement could be developed to repair, maintain and develop the Town Hall for the continued enjoyment of the community. The discussion was positive and agreement was reached for a full meeting of Councillors and Trustees to take place in early 2022. A project to repair the roof above the main foyer was initiated by the GDI and, following some detailed work by Councillor Egan, we were delighted that the Council allocated funds to undertake the work.

Also in November, we delivered 1,000 ‘What’s On?’ brochures to local residents, setting out the events taking place at the Town Hall up to May 2022 and including details of the events of many of the Town Hall’s user groups.

Our largest, GDI-organised event of 2021 was the Christmas Concert by the City of Bradford Brass Band. The concert was held in accordance with covid guidelines, which required the audience and volunteers to wear face coverings throughout their time in the building. Despite this, a good audience attended for what has become a staple event in our calendar, raising valuable funds for the charity.

Fig 4 shows the Main Hall filling up for our biggest GDI-organised event of the year – the Christmas Concert by the City of Bradford Brass Band, held on 19[th] December. Covid regulations were in place but the 100+ people attending all enjoyed the show.

Our booking system has continued to be developed and we have reviewed and published our ‘terms and conditions of hire’ and ‘rates of hire’ documents. The new booking system, conditions of hire and rates for hire remained in the reliable hands of ‘Team B’, again a Trustee-led team of

Grassington Devonshire Institute, Town Hall, 48 Main Street, Grassington, North Yorkshire BD23 5AA Email david.wood@grassdevinst.org www.grassingtondevonshireinstitute.org

Bookings bookings@grassdevinst.org Tel 01756 752637

GRASSINGTON DEVONSHIRE INSTITUTE

(A Charitable Incorporated Organisation – Registered Charity no. 1185815)

local volunteers which has converted the system from an entirely paper-based process to one which now allows any potential ‘hirer’ to check availability online before booking.

Financially, the GDI ended the year in a very strong financial position, thanks in great part, to a variety of covid-related grants from central Government via Craven District Council and the initiative-specific grants from the ‘Power to Change’ fund, Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority’s ‘Sustainable Development Fund’ and Craven District Council’s ‘Ward Members’ Fund’ (thanks to Councillor Richard Foster for his support). At the end of December, an application was made to the National Lottery ‘Awards for All’ fund, for an equipment upgrade for our live screening activities.

At the end of the year, the GDI’s gas supplier went bust and we were allocated another provider. Unfortunately, the change of supplier also increased prices by c150% hence it was a real shock to receive bills totalling over £2,000 for the final few weeks of the year.

Bookings for 2022 are very strong with an unusually high number of wedding celebrations taking place on the premises. An application has been made to gain a licence for secular wedding ceremonies to take place at the Town Hall and this may offer added incentives to couples and their families to celebrate the entirety of their special days with us. Trustees are determined to create an appealing, well-equipped and competitively-priced facility for individuals and groups which will see the Town Hall retain its position at the very centre of the community.

David Wood Chair of Trustees March 2022.

Grassin on Devonsh1 Institute R istered Cha No 1185 Recei ts and Pa ments ear ended 31 December 2022 2021 Receipts lil 64,678 88,761 men Dlrect Charltable expenditure Other expenditure {21 {31 ,661 6,617 97,278 51.083 5,707 56,790 Net Ipaymentsl/recelpts for the year Add Cash funds at beginnlng of year Cash funds ai the end of year 132,6C#)I 127,710 95,110 31,971 95.739 127.710 5t•t¢ment of Assets •n Uabllltles as l December 20Z 20ZI Santander current account Membershlp and Lucky Dip account IBarclaysl 5klpton Bulldlng Soclety account Cash Cash float 11,037 13,767 70,151 55 100 95.110 1.397 %,507 39,642 8,185 79,728 55 100 127,710 691 128,401 Debtor., Hall Hlre Credltors 96,507 128,401 J 1045........-.... Approved on ......... p4trtra b D Wood, Chairman For and on behalf of the Trustees p aover Treasurer

Grassin on Devonshire Instltute. R Istered Cha Number: 1185815 Note5 to the accounts tor the ear ended 31 De(ember Z022. 111 Anal sis of Recei 2022 2021 tkjnations Grants Rent of Hall Local Organisations Wedddings Membership and Lucky Dip account Fundraisers including refreshrnents Investment Income Other receipts Gift Aid Coronavirus Job Retention scheme Refunds 4,289 15,726 1,073 50,318 28,253 3.500 6.132 4,789 423 553 834 16,707 4.426 7,501 40 716 5,470 2,510 88,761 179 64,678 121 Anal Sis of Dlrect Charitable Ex nditu Repairs and malntenance Ll ht and Heat Elettrlcity Gas Water Caretaking staff costs Trade waste Llcences, fees and insurance Event fees Rates Projects Refund5 Lucky Dip Payments 5,066 5,669 5.330 8,665 997 20,123 414 4,093 2,813 435 41,232 943 550 90.661 2,036 2,602 901 18,634 410 2,314 4.040 222 13,133 522 600 51,083

Grassln on Devonshire Institute. Re Istered Chari Nurnber: 1185815 es to the accoun nded 31 December 2022 Continued 2022 2021 Stationery Telephone & WiFi Purchase and replacement of equipment Consumables AdvertIsInphoto(OpYlnE Contributlon Commitment Miscellaneous expenses Donation 656 2,813 1,893 822 2,935 410 1,054 805 450 6,617 186 3CK) 5,707 Ownership of the Grassington Devonshlre Institute (the Town Hall) is vested in Gra55in8ton Parlsh Council. The Parish Councll all¢)ws the Trustees to operate the buildin8 and to take spon51blllty for the maintenance of the interior and for the upkeep, renewal and Improvement of all the facilities therein. Under the current temis of the agreement with the Parish Council all furniture and equipment purchased by the trustees for use In the bulldln8 becomes the property of the Parish Council. The trustees therefore have no non- monetary assets.

GRASSINGTON DEVONSHIRE INSTrrirrE INDEPENDENf EXAMINERS REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2022 Inde endent Exomin¢r'$ R rt to the Trusttts of Gr85iD on D¢voDshir¢ Instityte I report lo th¢ Trusttts on rny examination of the ac¢ounts of the above Charity ('the Trust,) for th¢ year ended 31 Decembcr 2022. Res ns1b1lltl Ydnd basls of Re As Ihe Charity's Trustees. you are r¢sry)nsible for thc pr¢parntion ofthe account5 in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 {kn Act"). I rewrt in respect of my examination of the Tru.$ accounts carried oul under seaion 145 of Ihe 201 l Act and in carying out my examination. I have followed the applicable directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of th¢ Act. Inde enden¢ Examiner's Statem¢D I have ¢ompleted my examination. I confirni that no material matters have Lx)me to my attcntion in Connection with the examination which gives me cause to believe that in any matcrial respect: - A¢¢ounting records were not kepl in accordance with section 130 of the ACL or. - The accounts do not accord with the xcounting r¢cords. I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in comiection with the examination to which attention should k drawn in order to enable a proper underslanding of the accounts to be reached. Dat¢.. ULLL 10&3 low Andrew Walker Bsc FCCA Arthur E Walker & Co 6 Water Strcct Skipton BD23 1 PB