Meare and Westhay Village Hall CIO : 1200097 ## **ANNUAL REPORT 2023-24** Trustees as at 31[st] March 2024 Paul Bradley Hazel DeGregorio Rosie Lander Tim Hoskins The charity has all new Trustees. All 5 previous Trustees resigned on mass at the AGM. ## Objectives: To establish and run a community building to benefit the parishioners in the Parish of Meare and neighbouring villages. The hall will provide without distinction of sex, sexual orientation, age, disability nationality, race or political, religious or other opinions the provision of facilities for recreational and mental health, wellbeing activities, other leisure time occupation or individuals who have need for such facilities. To build a strong community, improving the condition of life in the rural Parish. To be able to provide job and other learning opportunities. ## **Annual Report:** This year the Trustees were still finding their feet with bringing the charity upto date with the constitution and policies. Once everyone was happy with all the documentation, they could plan to move forward. The design that had been approved was requoted, just to get an idea of the amount of money needed to build it. However, the requote was a staggering £2.5m. This was deemed impossible - to raise that kind of money within a short period of time. So the decision to redesign the hall was taken. The Trustees’ decision was not made lightly due to the fact £40k had already been spent on Architect fees in 14 years and still no sign of a hall. The Trustees then undertook the task of seeking a new architect. 2 other members of the Village came forward to show an interest in joining the team, they brought with them different skills to the Charity. In December, the council organised a new questionnaire on the Charities behalf which asked the residents what they wanted from a hall. This useful information gave the Trustees the incite about what to include in the new design. ## **Finances** During this period, very little occurred as the new Trustees continued to work through getting to grips with running the charity and its objectives. A grant that was promised by Mendip District Council was paid because of the change to One Somerset. This is now unrestricted funds and secured in the reserve account. The charity bank was changed and all bills were finally settled, there were problems with changing the signatories due to a whole changeover. Regular small amounts of income have continued to come in via Easyfundraising and we will continue to advertise how residents can help from buying online using the advertised links. There are 2 fundraising groups in the Village and they both have been organising events on behalf of the Village Hall. ## **Activities** A Science at Christmas event was held by the Trustees, this was a big hit with the children aswell as the parents. Father Christmas gave out a gift to all the children who had attended, a grant was provided by the Parish Council to pay for the event. Meare & Westhay Village Hall Summary of 2023-24 Year to Date Borcloys 9,908.49 Notwest Cosh Reserve Opening Balance INCOME Grant5 Irestrictedl Fundraising lunrestrirtedl Donations lunrestrictedl Float Loan 500.00 15,265.76 91.59 426.22 267.23 90.00 370.81 2,000.00 Interest VAT Refund 134.25 583.40 11,259.12 17,447.35 797.03 134.25 29,637.75 EXPENDITURE Event Costs 236.08 110.75 54.97 Insurance Subscription Hall Hire Office Project Architect Accountancy Legal Fees MPC Loan Repay 30.00 50.00 33.60 685.12 1,682.28 112.65 2,000.00 797.77 4,059.11 13,388.24 138.57 4,995.45 134.25 24,642.30 Balance 10,461.35 658.46 Transfers to Reserve Transfers to Natwest Banked Cash 20,000.00 10,461.35 328.71 20,000.00 10,461.35 328.71 Current Cashbook at 31103124 4,178.30 329.75 20,134.25 24,642.30 Totol Funds Grant Info Mendip District Council Meare Parish Council £15K Balance from allocated grant Xmas Event NISA MADL Village Bench Barclays Account is now Closed This is the transition year from the outgoing Trustees to the new Trustees. There ha5 been a complete change in Trustees and it had taken a while to update the charity documents and banking.