First Annual Report of the Trustees, Holtby Village Hall Management Committee, Charity Number 1190336
1. Objects and Activities
The object of the Holtby Village Hall Management Committee (HVHMC) is to provide social and recreational amenities for the villagers of Holtby and any adjacent villages within a radius of 2.5 miles of Holtby through the provision of a publicly available building for community activities known as Holtby Village Hall.
2. Achievements and Performance
The above object is achieved by the upkeep and maintenance and hiring of the Hall, which is a wooden building near the centre of the village, available for hire to any person or organisation at charges determined by the charity trustees. The charges comprise:
a standing charge for hire; or
a reduced charge for hire where agreed, for residents of the village of Holtby and its outlying properties.
The period covered by this report is unrepresentative of the regular Hall activities due to the closure of the Hall to the public because of the Covid-19 pandemic. Income has been in the form of grants from City of York Council to allow the Hall to make adjustments needed to the building to survive the Covid emergency, and outgoings have been limited to bills to cover utilities (gas, electricity and water) and a small amount of maintenance.
More typically, the activities taking place in the Hall would be expected to include exercise classes, a ladies’ snooker group, a monthly Fair Trade and local crafts market, childrens’ parties, Golden Wedding parties, the annual Harvest Supper, as well as being used as the Polling Station for national and local elections and being nominated as an emergency centre for any extreme event which might occur locally.
The guidance provided by the Charity Commission on public benefit has been relevant in the Trustees’ decision to keep the Hall closed throughout the reporting period due to the Covid pandemic. Clearly, it was legally necessary during the lockdowns imposed by the Government that the Hall should be closed. Additionally, the Trustees discussed the possibility of reopening when the lockdowns were lifted, and particularly in relation to the grant monies provided by the City of York Council for the purpose of modifying the Hall to improve safety but we reluctantly considered that the interior layout as well as the entry and exit to the Hall could not be changed to improve significantly the safety of Hall users. It was therefore concluded there was no public benefit in re-opening at any time during the reporting period.
There have been no changes to the Trustees or the Constitution of the HVHMC during the reporting period.
3. Other Information – History of the Hall.
The first mention of what is now the Holtby Village Hall is in the minutes of the Holtby Parochial Church Council meeting on 9[th] March 1922, when the then Vicar of Holtby, Rev Arthur Whitaker reported that ‘ the sum of £40 was invested in Funding Stock earmarked for the erection of a Parish Room, and that the interest on the same had been used to augment Church Funds’.
The Borthwick Institute at York University holds a Faculty, signed on 26 July 1922, which ‘seeks objections as to why a moveable Parish Hall of wood on a brick foundation should not be erected by the PCC on a piece of land formerly a ruinous blacksmith’s shop in accordance with Plans A and B filed in the registry of the Consistory Court of York and permission granted to Rev Arthur Lionel Whitaker the Rector of Holtby aforesaid’.
The phraseology was used because misgivings had been expressed that the Rector would be liable for the cost of repairs to the room, and that the next incumbent might not wish to continue such an arrangement. The Lord Chancellor's assent, however, was duly given.
The first reported use of the new building was in 1923, when ‘the Annual Vestry and Parochial Electors’ meetings were held in conjunction on Tuesday, April 3[rd] in the Parish Room’.
The administration of the Parish Room was carried out, initially, by four committees, headed by an Executive Committee and including a Social Committee, as sub-tenants of the property leased to the PCC. The minutes of the various committees show some of the uses of the Hall in its early days, including whist drives, dances, and as a library – newspapers were bought every day and were available for reading by members of the Parish Room.
An extension at the rear was added much later to provide a kitchen, storeroom and WC’s.
The name of the building has changed over time, from Holtby Parish Room to Holtby Institute and now it is known as Holtby Village Hall. Finance has always been provided by lettings, supplemented by fund raising events – there have never been any paid employees, and only recently have grants been sought from locally-based charitable trusts. The funding situation has often verged on the parlous, at one time in the 1930’s the bank balance stood at £1-5s-10d.
Over the years, too, mains supplies of electricity, gas and water have been added, and there have been periodic updates to the interior décor, the most recent of these having been in 1992, when the gas supply was also installed, and 2016 when the interior of the main hall was updated.
Prior to the Covid pandemic, the Hall was the venue for exercise classes, a ladies’ snooker group, a monthly Fair Trade and local crafts market, childrens’ parties, Golden Wedding parties, the annual Harvest Supper, as well as being used as the Polling Station for national and local elections and being nominated as an emergency centre for any disaster which might occur locally. We altered the Hall inside and out to meet the OFSTED requirements for hosting the ‘Sticky Fingers’ pre-school group during 2016-2017 before they moved to purpose-built premises in the nearby village of Stockton on the Forest.
Recently the hall has benefitted from grants from the Communities office in City of York Council to refurbish the kitchen in 2019 and to make alterations to meet safety requirements, where possible, during the Covid lockdowns.
An overhaul of the roof and wooden exterior cladding, doors and windows is planned for 2021/2022, subject to the progress of the current Covid pandemic and availability of the necessary tradesmen and materials.
- Financial Statement Grant Inco 19.431 A31 uuirtles InswarKe 627 411 75 A¥•t JL03.2021 f8m.2020 Furntsatfiank Cash Funds Iq687 29.120 841 11,643 29,961 unrestrirt Fund5 IL643 29961
Appendix A. Independent Examinerfs Report