Chairperson’s Annual Report. Clayhidon Village Hall A.G.M 20th August 2025.
I am pleased to welcome everyone to this year’s Annual General Meeting and will report on our activity since last year’s meeting.
Since 1[st] July 2025, I have been elected as the new chairperson for the Clayhidon Village Hall and it is a privilege to be leading this management committee of dedicated trustees and volunteers. I would like to thank Neil Carter, the previous chairman for his hard work and dedication. Neil retired from the committee at the last meeting. In addition, David Trezies, CVH Secretary also retired from the committee at the last meeting and I would like to thank David for his immense contribution to the running of this hall. David spent a great deal of time behind the scenes ensuring that records and reports were accurate and kept up to date and was heavily involved in managing the contract with XL Planning and the planning application for the refurbishment and extension of the village hall. We have benefitted hugely from David’s knowledge and experience.
I will report on all areas of activity since the last AGM.
Kitchen Project.
The VH Committee had been planning to refurbish the current hall for many years. Last year it was discovered that it was necessary for the kitchen to be prioritised ahead of the planned hall refurbishment.
In August 2024, the committee contacted Mid Devon District Council regarding the Food Hygiene self-assessment which is renewed every 3 years. The Village Hall is registered as a food business which allows us to organise and provide events for the community. This also meant that we needed to comply with regulations and food standards. The Environmental Health Department requires the kitchen to meet certain health, safety and food standards.
A subcommittee was formed to plan and coordinate the work required for the VH kitchen. Sole traders were approached to carry out the work and completed the refurbishment of the kitchen in April of this year. I am very pleased to report that the hall has a new kitchen. Committee members are now level 2 food hygiene trained and we have the ability to safely manage the catering of hot food. We look forward to having the capability for community events to be run in the future.
I would like to thank Leona for her huge contribution to the kitchen project. Without the new kitchen, it can be argued that we would not have a fully functioning hall.
XL Planning and planning applicaton to Mid Devon District Council.
The kitchen project was part of a much larger plan to not only maintain the hall but upgrade it to overcome damp, provide more efficient heating and extend to enable us to provide a vital community resource.
The committee contracted XL planning architects to assist in developing plans for the refurbishment and extension of the hall. In April 2025, the committee voted 8/4 in favour of submitting amended
Katherine West 20/08/2025
plans for planning permission to mid devon district council. The amended plans include the hall plans being broken down into 4 phased modules to make funding more manageable. This was approved by the committee in June 2025. The committee moved forward to make the planning variation application to mid devon district council. XL planning have prepared building specifications to cover the modular phases.
On 19[th] August (yesterday) we were notified that Mid Devon District Council have granted full planning permission for the Erection of extension.
The planning application and funding project is being managed by Jane M.
Insurance
The Public Liability and Buildings Insurance is managed by Community First Specialist Charity Brokers The renewal is due in March every year.
The Building Insurance Cover assessment is index linked every year by reference to an RICS scale (Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors) of rebuilding costs As a full reinstatement valuation had not been completed for over 5 years and given economic uncertainty over this period the Committee commissioned an independent valuation for the building. This was to ensure we had a realistic basis for valuation and future index linking did not become distorted and unrealistic.
The buildings cover is set at £870000
The policy covers building contents and Public Liability
The current premium is £1379.36 and is a major overhead for the Charity
Utilities
Electrical power is supplied through a three-year fixed price contract with EDF which runs from 15[th] May 2025. Anticipated costs are about £1300 per annum
The hall is connected to a metered water supply. This is about £200 per annum
The hall has a private drainage system shared with the adjoining Coach House
The system is visually checked every 6 months
Maintenance
A number of smaller jobs have been managed by the committee this year, namely repairs in the toilets, rehanging of doors, drains and gutters were cleared and repointing of the exterior kitchen wall was carried out.
The committee is managing a current list of jobs which will be carried out including installation of a baby changing unit, exterior woodwork repairs and new noticeboard.
We will begin planning the first phase of the refurbishment project which is to improve the insulation and heating in the main hall.
Katherine West 20/08/2025
Website
The hall has a new website and it can be booked by users online. We plan to develop and improve the website in the coming months.
Events
Due to the kitchen refurbishment, no events took place between January and April of this year. However, at other times of the year, the committee was active in running a variety of events for the community. These were a Murder Mystery held in October 2024, pizza evening, children’s film afternoons, Film nights, Father Christmas comes to Clayhidon, monthly cafes and recently a very successful afternoon tea to raise funds for Breast Cancer Now. The committee are planning further events which include another Murder Mystery, children’s Halloween party, Big Brunch, and live band Bird Dogs will be returning in February 2026. I would like to thank the committee members and volunteers who dedicate a huge amount of time to planning and running these events.
Policies and Procedures
Since July 2025, I have been working on amending our current hire agreement and terms and conditions in line with current standards. We will be adopting new policies which include Health and safety and associated risk assessments, data protection, safeguarding, confidentiality and a volunteer policy. We also plan to adopt a shared online account to store our documents.
I am looking forward to the year ahead as the new chairperson and will be working towards making the hall a welcoming space for all members of the community to use. I would like to build on the achievements made during the last year and believe that Clayhidon hall can be a place to bring the community together.
Katherine West 20/08/2025
Treasurers Report Year Ending March 2025
A copy of the year end accounts provides a good analysis of our respective
positions from 2024 to 2025
On the income stream of note are:
Hires slightly reduced and live events substantially down attributable to early year closure for kitchen
refurbishment and momentum on live events still rebuilding after Covid shutdown
Grants reflect a major contribution of £10000 by John Griss Charity towards kitchen refit , annual
maintenance grant of £2000 from Parish Council and locality grant from Devon County County Council
Interest payment reflects our dividend from Charity Savings account which made a significant contribution towards our annual running costs
Expenses of note are:
Electricity higher than expected as billing out of sequence for year end should settle to about £1250 per annum
Maintenance which includes some repairs to external fabric arising from the kitchen refit ,drainage upgrades and repointing part of the exterior The Kitchen refurbishment well documented and includes structural repairs dry lining replastering wiring plumbing upgrades and new appliances
Standing costs include
Insurance estimated £!200
Electricity estimated £1250
The Committee has agreed to press forward with a range of minor repairs and upgrades to the hall below £1000 to be funded through current resources The Committee has identified a project list to stage fund various hall upgrades as identified by XL Planning These are likely to exceed the £1000 threshold so will require support from external funding sources to be part matched by Hall funds as available
The Committee has discussed a base line figure with the Treasurer for working capital going forward and agreed this should not fall below £10000
The Committee is focused on marketing hires through the website and more live events to grow income and there are a number of activities planned for this current financial year
This ageing building requires continuing investment to remain operational and this will always be a challenge for the Village Hall Committee