Buckland Monachorum Vlllage Hall Annual Accounts 1st Aprfl 2025- 31st March 2026 Expendrn Utllitlè> Gas120254.. G55Z91 CW42.111 EleGtfkty120244'. EDF 1444.41. Corcfia Erw 1M411 P0256 e[)F 51., OW2477221 5152 214.C¢l 0171. Cl••rfn9•nd Ilalrtt•Mnc• 8hqneWI Milèage 3370.(K &21 1Q).fXI 130.00 18&).00 VALCI G8rdeniNJ ¢ 347621 Annual Exprn• All¢d WrOlIurrn 8•¥K••lLbJ.AMu•lthMw¥n Jlldng InKnr 1149.31 11&].LB 145.97 75. its).cvJ 2WAO 65. 47. I.$3 710 Fundrnknlhu Exw• Qulz nlght prlu• IUth•rd +Ab•yc•rf• 19).ty) 00 Snook•rClub Exp•rM 31.18 31.11 Cl•anlTrJ ProthKts and MlnorR•p•lrn l Expww• 40S19 054.57 1088B 2W.37 1111.04 Clwnlr¥JpMdu¢¢• 0.0) 10.00 10&lXI Uoe bAnkfard 16480.LbJ o. o.¢J) 811.20 o.¢ 151100 trirAI teB&w Irequlred 180.IN) 1792D.DJ o.c 11S1UO rl 00 o.oo 3SX TOTAL EXPEt401WRE 37571.61 3S621.19 In yvarsurpkn IIDellGiti 1256fj.76
Buckland Monachorum Willage Hall Annual Accounts 1st April 2025- 31st March 2026 Bu¢kland IAona¢trffjwm Vlllapj H1 Annud ACC1 Ymr Endod 31•tllar¢h 2026 2028 2025 Hlr• of l af H1 rj50 834.00 $950.05 2234A3 752.trj $449 99 27.76 Chtltl 462.00 682.53 1105.50 666.00 46.80 36.00 778.50 774.00 e43.00 1ZOO 116.00 Keep Frt ICiseAmfj RL 01 IRo0 Lannw eg Bumk ID•èPrafcl Pn'vate trNr• 1Ca.lJO 12157.05 I200 145.70 205.29 7Cp).94 438.34 Donk Inteit J0 Falr •3 la.10 Fundrlhknq InX¥ FUThym1ra i{11-C) iae2.63 818. 211. 2073.83
)7&63 Drnmo Grtyjp eu&land 8••hN• 100.CrfJ 877.10 272.00 7.cl I•10 R8bJndB 0.00 Loan Intqr09tft•• LoLScI• & Ball•rtM2024'. VlrOM202Si 1eW). Qrnnlliie4m• 17920,Q) 1CO)J.00 0.00 TOTAL IMCOME 00138.37 3JS08.54
Buckland Monachorum Vlllage Hall Charity Number 1200054 Annual Accounts Year Ended 31st March 2026 2025 RECONCILIATION AND MOVEMENT OF FUNDS Opaning Balance 17563.23 19749.51 Surplus l Ddlclt In Year 12566.76 11, -2188.28 17563.23 CIo8lng BalanGe 30129.99 Represented by: Co-op Buslne88 account 14452.15 2225.62 Co-op 3avlng8 account 1 $842.84 15277.61 Cash 35.00 60.00 TOTALS 30129.99 17563.23 ga J/ttc
Registered Charity 1200054
BUCKLAND MONACHORUM VILLAGE HALL
Minutes of the Annual General Meeting held on 6[th] May 2026 Commencing at 7pm at the Village Hall
Present: Stephen Fryer (Chairman), Tim Alexander (Treasurer), Nigel Rendle (Secretary), Jane Beard (Beehive), Nichola Williams (Art Group), Phil Bennett (Snooker), Jon Burnie (Parish Council), Tim Price (Drama).
cc. Claire Fryer (Bookings Secretary)
1. Apologies : Mandy Robinson, Risa Lamond .
2. Minutes of the Annual General Meeting 7[th ] May 2025
The Minutes of the previous AGM were reviewed and agreed by all present as a true and accurate record of the meeting.
3. Matters Arising
Nothing to report.
4. Chairman’s Report
This time last year, (and thanks to the hard work of Martyn Williams) we have just had the solar panels installed. What a success they have been. Although I have to say that recent roof fires linked to solar panels does make one a little nervous.
One year on, and we now have all new PVC doors and windows, to further secure the Hall for the future. From getting various quotes in, to sorting out paperwork and monies, to monitoring the work, we can all pat ourselves on the back for a real team effort in getting the work done.
So what’s next? Well we need to do loft insulation, the kitchen is looking rather tired and the cooker is faulty. The path alongside the Hall needs regrading to alleviate the flooding when it rains. The main stage curtain is due to be replaced, which will probably mean the window curtains will need replacing to match. All things to be looked at in the coming year.
Over the last year, I have continued organising Quiz Nights, which are still popular and proving profitable, but the local-interest talks have had mixed results, with some doing well, and others, for no apparent reason, not doing well. I will persevere with these.
Last year’s report noted that we were still waiting for the Land Registry to transfer ownership of the Hall from the old, to the new Charity. Guess what? We’re still waiting. We are therefore still unable to close the original Charity.
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I was pleased to get a new village hall website up and running, complete with a new calendar format and booking form. A few minor hiccups with the latter but it does work much better now. We can update the calendar faster now than before, which makes life so much easier.
My thanks to all the Trustees for their continued support, especially Nigel for running the meetings and keeping the minutes, Tim A for doing the accounts and Martyn for doing our grant applications.
Finally, I am quite happy to continue in the role of Chair for a further twelve months if asked.
5. Treasurer’s Report
As last year, the figures in this year’s accounts are skewed by income and outgoings in relation to Grant funding for both the solar panels and batteries in March 2025 and the new windows and doors in April 2026. Last year we appeared to have a huge deficit, - balanced by this year’s huge surplus! Next year’s accounts will also be skewed by [hopefully!] final reimbursement of grant funding for windows and doors and repayment of loan.
If you take out all the grant income and expenses, in the year ending 31st March 2025, we spent £726.28 more than we took in. However, this year has seen a massive improvement with us taking in £5,107.76 more than we spent. Last year we ended the year being owed about £700, whereas this year nobody owed us anything at year end. One of each of last year’s quiz night’s and talk’s income was also paid into this year’s accounts.
Income Streams:
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Rental income has stayed about the same, with RL Dance pretty much replacing Devon Dance in terms of income. Beehive has paid a bit more, (simply reflecting their using 6 hours on Thursday instead of 4 hours,) but private hirings have been considerably down with less use for children’s parties than the previous year.
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Many thanks again to Phil Bennett for maintaining such a healthy income from the Snooker Club and for all his work in maintaining the snooker room as such a great space.
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Coffee morning income has gone down by £550 as expected because we’ve had only one coffee morning. In effect coffee morning income was previously heavily subsidised by all Claire and Stephen Fryer’s work. Our period of benefitting from being one of the Co-op’s local charities came to an end. On the plus side Quiz night income has stayed healthy and some evenings with speakers have been a new stream of income. Again, we are very grateful to the Fryers for leading on organising these and just hope it’s more fun than preparing for coffee mornings!
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We are hugely grateful to Richard Mabey, who gave us £1000 through sales of his paintings and cards.
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Refunded expenditure reflects a brief loan of £10 to the Drama group, the Chair’s inadvertent use of the Village Hall bank card for a personal expense
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and the Treasurer’s adding a couple of personal items to a Gompels cleaning products order
Expense streams:
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The most exciting change is the reduction in Gas and Electricity costs from £5,264.88 to £3,540.76, - a saving of £1,724.12. This simply reflects the reduced costs since installing the solar panels and batteries. As yet, we have received no income from exporting our spare electricity to the grid. Our Smart meter was installed on 31st October and I applied shortly after this. We are assured that we will eventually be paid for all electricity exported since our application date.
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In April 2025 a burst water main affected water supplies in Buckland Monachorum and the Village Hall received a £500 rebate in water bills because of this, so we have been paying £1 per month for water for the last 9 months. This will come to an end and the previous monthly charge will rise from £51.50 to around £85
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Shane, who contracted his caretaking and gardening services to us in January 2025 found work elsewhere in the village and stopped working for us at the end of January 2025. We deliberated for a while but chose not to replace his role in a like-for-like manner. We contracted with one of the Beehive parents, who runs a cleaning company. He cleans for 2 hours per week during term time on a Friday afternoon and charges £45 for each session. Thanks to Jane for facilitating this and to Jane and her team for undertaking some interim cleaning duties. We have contracted with a local gardening service: thanks to Stephen for organising this. Their invoicing is a bit sporadic and I suspect we owed them a few pounds at the end of the accounting year. Overall, these changes reduced our costs by £1,100 compared with last year.
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Our regular annual expenses have stayed pretty much the same. We have changed our fire extinguisher tester and have moved on from the complicated Wix calendar and booking program that Gary instigated many years ago. Stephen has set up a new calendar and website which is proving much easier for the bookings# secretary: Thank you again Stephen and Claire.
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Shane left us very well stocked with cleaning supplies, so lower expenditure on these since he departed may simply be because we have reduced our stock levels of paper towels and toilet rolls and this may creep up again in the current year.
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We had a lighter year for minor repair and renewal costs this year than last year. Likewise, last year included more major work projects, - refurbishing the snooker table, renewing the fencing, the definitive roof repair and testing the slates for asbestos (Total £4,631). This year only saw £1,512 of major expenses on the electrical checks required every 5 years by our insurers, - all done pretty efficiently by RJB solutions at Bellever.
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In Summary:
Last year ended
-£728
| This year’s net Coffee mornings Co-op Charity income Nothing owing at year end Feb 2025 Quiz night and talk Richard Mabey card and picture sales Electricity and Gas costs Water costs Reduced cleaning / gardening costs Reduced calendar program costs Reduced minor repairs and renewals Reduced major works Of which recurring. |
Gains Losses -£550 -£1,863 +£700 +£240 +£1,000 +£1,724 +£500 +£1,100 +£100 +£360 +£3,100 +£8,824 -£3,141 +£4,654 -£2,413 |
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This leaves me estimating that, on present projections we will take in about £2,000 more than we spend in the coming year. While, as Treasurer, I instinctively want to accumulate, I wonder whether it’s time to start passing on some of our reduced electricity costs to our user groups. Might we consider a 15% reduction in hall user fees? (£12,157-> £10,571)
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The accounts for last year have not yet been checked by an independent scrutineer.
Adoption of the Accounts (copy enclosed) was proposed by Stephen Fryer, seconded by Tim Price and agreed by all present.
6. Reports of the User Groups:
6.1 Beehive Pre-School Playgroup
The summer term 2025 was our busiest ever, we had 30 children and at our end of year 31st July 2025, it was my most successful year to date.
We lost 10 children to school that Autumn and since then we have remained at 20 on the register with very few enquiries. This may be a result of the lower birthrate that is affecting all schools and preschools in the area; it may be a result of the poor situation at St Andrews School. Whatever the reason we have had a lower number of children, which includes a number of Special Educational Needs children which require a great deal of support and paperwork to ensure the children reach their potential.
We will be arranging a couple of Open Days in June and July and hope to recruit more children for the Autumn term as again we will be losing 10 children to Primary Schools in the area.
There have been other challenges, a staff member wanting to reduce their hours, so I have had to step back in to cover, as well as an increase in staff
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salaries again this year and changes to Statutory Sick Pay rules, all contributing to a tough year financially.
No further talks have been arranged with the School, but we continue to ensure we maintain strong links with them and arrange transition visits and swimming sessions during the summer term.
We would like to thank the Village Hall Committee for their continued support of the Preschool and I really appreciate being able to leave some of the equipment out at times when the hall is not being used, it makes my life so much easier! Thank you.
6.2 Drama Group
Tim P reported that the two productions during the year went well. A new double header is planned for early June and rehearsals are underway. Three new members have joined and safeguarding policies are being updated to allow for more children to partake.
A new stage curtain is being prepared and new lighting being investigated. De-cluttering of the Drama store is ongoing. He expressed thanks to the Trustees for their support..
6.3 Art Group
Nichola reported that the group are still struggling with numbers. No exhibition was held during the year. There are still occasional clashes on bookings with the Parish Council.
However, the group continues and thanks the Trustees for their help and assistance in the use of the hall.
6.4 Snooker
Phil reported on another increase in income generated through the year, There was also a continuation of the trend noted last year whereby regular player bookings had reduced and ad-hoc ones increased.
There was some discussion on the use of the snooker room by the Drama Group but it was felt that this was reasonable.
6.5 Charleston Friendship Group
Tim A reported on a very successful group, well run by three people and with regular attendances of 20-30 participants.
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6,5 Parish Council
Jon mentioned the upcoming changes regarding local councils throughout the country. He said also that our local parish council was struggling for members but were still happy to use the hall for their meetings..
7. Election of Village Hall Charity Trustees
a) Officers:
Chairman - Stephen Fryer was proposed by Nigel Rendle, seconded by Tim Alexander, and approved.
Treasurer – Tim Alexander was proposed by Stephen Fryer, seconded by Jon Burnie and approved.
Secretary - Nigel Rendle was proposed by Tim Alexander, seconded by Stephen Fryer, and approved.
b) User Group Nominated Members
Beehive Pre- School Playgroup – Jane Beard Drama Group – Tim Price Art Group – Nichola Williams Snooker – Phil Bennett
The above were proposed by Stephen Fryer, seconded by Nigel Rendle, and approved.
c) Management Committee Members
Mandy Robinson was proposed by Stephen Fryer, seconded by Nigel Rendle and approved.
Jon Burnie was proposed by Nigel Rendle, seconded by Tim Alexander, and approved.
9. Honorary Examiner of the Accounts
Richard Mabey is to be asked if he would like to continue in this role. The Treasurer will follow this up and report back.
The Meeting closed at 7.55pm.
____(Stephen Fryer, Chairman)
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