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2024-03-31-accounts

Cholsey Pavilion Trust

Registered Charity No. 1203497 Trustees’ Annual Report

8 June 2023 – March 31 2024

Chair :

Mr John Wheeler

21 Wallingford Road, Cholsey,

Wallingford

Oxfordshire , OX10 9LG

Names of Trustees

Chair & Treasurer

John Wheeler Val Bolt BEM Vice Chair Adam Cox Jane Patfitt Frances Turner Jane Tyndall Neville Keating Jenny Finch Sue Jeffs Secretary

Governance

Cholsey Pavilion Trust was first established by a Trust Deed dated 22 October 2012 and registered as a charity in March 2016. However, on the 8[th] June 2023 the Trust successfully converted to a Charitable Incorporated Organisation, primarily to encourage younger trustees to become involved over the next five years. This is our first Annual Report.

The Pavilion opened in May 2013, having been constructed by Cholsey Parish Council and leased to the Trust for a period of 6 years, which expired in 2019. This has now been successfully renewed on the same terms and conditions until 2025.

The lease is a full repairing lease which means that, although only a peppercorn rent is payable, the management committee is responsible for keeping the building in good state of repair.

Cholsey Pavilion Trust Annual Report June 2023- March 2024

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Appointment of Trustees

The CIO constitution governs the appointment of trustees and the management of the charity. Each trustee serves for 3 years with one third of the trustees retiring each year, there is no limit to the number of times an elected member may stand for re-election. Three trustees were appointed as the first three trustees of the CIO, two can be appointed by the Parish Council and each of the following bodies may appoint one member: Cholsey 1000+, Cholsey United Football Club, Cholsey Community Development Trust, Cholsey Complementary Health Centre, Cholsey Happy Hub and Cholsey Community Library. The trustees form the Management Committee of the Pavilion which has the power to co-opt up to 2 further trustees on an annual basis.

Policies and Procedures

To guide the Management Committee in exercising its duty of care to members, employees and users of the hall, the following policy statements have been adopted:

Copies of these policies are available to Trustees and interested parties.

Hiring Agreement

Use of the Pavilion is subject to a Hiring Agreement which must be signed by the hirer when booking. The hiring agreement sets out the conditions of hire and identifies the respective responsibilities of each party to the agreement.

Licences

The Pavilion has a Premises Licence (including alcohol) and is licensed by the Performing Rights Society for live and recorded music.

Risk Management

The Management Committee recognises that it is under a legal obligation to protect the building, its users and employees through adequate and appropriate insurance.

The Pavilion is insured with respect to property damage (buildings insurance) by Victor

Cholsey Pavilion Trust Annual Report June 2023- March 2024

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Insurance, managed by Macbeth Chartered Insurance Brokers of Theale. It is insured with the same company with respect to contents, public liability, employers‟ liability, business interruption and legal assistance.

Building Issues

The mains electrical installation and portable electrical appliances are tested by a qualified engineer annually. Fire-fighting appliances are inspected annually under contract with the supplier. A Fire Safety Risk Assessment is updated regularly. The Parish Council‟s Estates Manager carries out other regular maintenance checks. As the Pavilion is still a new building, a building condition survey by a qualified surveyor has not yet been deemed necessary.

However, over the last year a number of issues have started to surface involving the heating system, electrical systems and water management arrangements. In particular the construction of the new Happy Hub building at the rear of the Pavilion generated serious problems with the air source heat pumps, and radical measures eventually became necessary with only one of the three ASHPs performing to standard. The entire system was replaced last year (2022), with the costs shared between the Parish Council and the Trust. Fortunately the Trust had successfully claimed on its insurance for loss of business throughout the pandemic, and this paid for a substantial proportion of the Trust‟s share of the system renewal.

The end of the year also saw an increase in the numbers of small maintenance issues involving the fabric of the building such as window seals, internal fittings and similar. These are not necessarily capital items, and as such do not fit easily into grant schemes for capital items The Trust‟s forward budgeting will have to allow for greater apportionment of maintenance budgets to meet the probable need.

Another significant issue which needs to be mentioned is the failure of the harvested water system. This had been turned off for some time after control issues, and a full survey revealed that the total cost of bringing the system back up to speed would be in excess of £2500, and that annual maintenance costs would run to nearly £1000 a year to keep the system secure and to prevent legionella and other bacterial buildup. Since the Pavilion‟s water rates have shrunk to under £1000 a year with the sorting out of all the leaks, the commitment to recycled water has had to be shelved for the immediate future because the costs far outweigh the savings. The Pavilion cannot afford this level of commitment while its funding is under such pressure.

Cholsey Pavilion Trust Annual Report June 2023- March 2024

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Objectives of the Charity

The objects of the CIO are to promote for the benefit of the inhabitants of the parish of Cholsey and the surrounding area the provision of facilities for recreation or other leisure time occupation of individuals who have need of such facilities by reason of their youth, age, infirmity or disablement, financial hardship or social and economic circumstances or for the public at large in the interests of social welfare and with the object of improving the condition of life of the said inhabitants.

Principal Activities in Pursuit of Objectives

The provision of a community building through Cholsey Pavilion has been achieved by:

All trustees have read the relevant guidance on providing public benefit, in accordance with their statutory responsibilities, and ensured this is considered in the operation of the Trust.

It is becoming clear, however, that developing the Pavilion more as a community resource rather than simply a self-funding hire and lease operation, while laudable as an aim, means that some hire capability is lost. It may become necessary in the near future to prepare funding and grant applications to address and support this change of emphasis.

Cholsey Pavilion Trust Annual Report June 2023- March 2024

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Funding Strategy

It is the strategy of the Trustees to manage the revenue budget on a self-financing basis. The contributions made by users of the hall are set to achieve this. As noted above, however, the time has now come to seek funding from statutory and charitable bodies to enable the Pavilion to function as a community resource.

Volunteers’ Efforts

The Trustees have sought to create a self-sustaining operation within the Pavilion, not reliant on the services of volunteers for the day to day running of the building. As such we have employed cleaners, handypersons, electrical contractors and other services from the beginning. Voluntary effort, and the support of Cholsey Parish Council, has been focused on the management of the building.

However, a request by the Parish Council for the Trust to employ staff for whom it previously paid for under a contract for services with the Council led to a review of the provision. As such the Trust has increased the hours available to its (now) employees, and this has revolutionized the management and administration of the building. This in turn has freed up volunteer time from trustees and others to develop the Pavilion.

2023-2024 Achievements

The Trustees work hard to make the building attractive to potential users and judge their success by the range of users, building usage, sustainability of our finances and by the anecdotal feedback regularly received from visitors. Feedback remains exceptionally positive, although the wide range of alternative venues now available in the village has had some impact on the bookings for private events and parties.

This year (2023-4) has seen a number of significant challenges. The Lockdown and Tier restrictions, rather counter-intuitively, not only helped the Pavilion to survive but saw the reserve increase with income from Covid support packages. The Pavilion was further boosted by a successful insurance claim for forced closure, one of the very few in the area. However, nearly £28,000 of this „windfall‟ income was absorbed by the Pavilion‟s share of the cost of replacing the Air Source Heat Pump system, and a succession of problems which arose through the age of the new building.

However, the completion of the Happy Hub has seen a much better facility for young children and their parents, offered yet another hire facility for smaller groups, and contributed to a substantial increase in community involvement in the building. The

Cholsey Pavilion Trust Annual Report June 2023- March 2024

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creation of Cholsey Volunteers Trust and its subsequent use of the Pavilion for its Food Bank and more recently the phenomenally successful Community Larder has gone a long way towards making this a true community building. Although not within the time span of this report, this year‟s development of a Welcome Space to make use of a permanently heated building is one step further to making this a space which the community „owns.‟

The challenge for the future is to maintain the momentum by attracting the next generation of trustees to carry on the progress initiated by a group who are reaching „trustee retirement‟ age. The Trustees have now converted the original Trust into a Charitable Incorporated Organisation. The limitation of personal liability which this brings will help to address the concerns several younger potential trustees expressed about financial exposure during the harsher economic climate likely for several years. The transition has not been without challenges, however, not least in the change of bank account status which this has brought to light and which continues to be a thorn in the Trust‟s side after over 18 months of negotiation.

Reserves Policy

The charity had £ 31,111 as unrestricted reserves at the end of this accounting period. This cash is available for unforeseen expenditure in relation to building maintenance, urgent furniture or equipment replacement, or as we have seen all too clearly in recent years, a complete loss of income, The Trustees‟ policy to build and maintain unrestricted reserves of £50,000 was successfully met, but unforeseen capital expenditure, an increase in staff costs and rising energy costs have made it impossible to maintain the reserve at this level. As the Pavilion makes the transition from being a self-funding venue to a community space, the trustees will further explore sources of core funding from statutory and local government bodies, as well as charitable foundations.

Future Plans

The Trustees maintained a “wish-list” of enhancements to the building which could be implemented as funds became available, and thanks to the support of the Parish Council was able to

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Some of the items from previous years, such as

remain as future objectives

The trustees declare that they have approved the trustees‟ report above.

Signed on behalf of the charity‟s trustees

Signature

Full name Mr John Wheeler

Position Chair

Date 27[th] January 2025

Cholsey Pavilion Trust Annual Report June 2023- March 2024

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Independent Exomin¢r Report to th• Trust•￿ and membar8 of Cho168y Pavlllon TrLMt forth¢ part-y&ar ￿ Juno 2023 to 318t March 2024 Th8 charty'8 trust88s cons¥Ser thal the audit is ntst required for this year (under Se￿On 43121 of the Chariti88 Act 1993 (the Ats111 and that an independent examinalion 1$ needed. An examinats.on indu¢J98 a r8Vi8w of the accounting records kept by the charity and a ¢omparison of the accounts presented with those ￿ords. It aL80 indudes consideration of any unusual itetns or disc108ure8 in the accounts, and seeking explanatk)ns from the trustee5 concerning any suGh matter&. ThÈ protsdures undertaken do not provkde all th& &vid8nr that would b8 required in an audit, and wnSeqL￿ntty I do not express an audrt opinion on th8 accounts. In the cour88 of my examination, no rnatter has Come to my attention 1. whKh 9Ne5 me reasonabk (au89 tr> believ8 that in, 8ny material r0￿ct, th8 trust88s have not mot the requirements to en$ure that.. Prop8r acL>)unting reGord$ are kèpt,. 2nd A(tounts ate prepared whith agree with the accounting records., or 2. to which, in my opinion, attenbon shouhy be drawn in order to enable a proper understantling of thè a(*ount8 to Èe re8ch8d. Si9nod Nama HtknPE I￿A Addro58 S Cvooli tr40tr4 wJiul5 Y3 Date.. Cholsey Pavilion Trust Annual R8POrt June 2023- March 2024 Pag8 8

Cholsey Pavilion Trust Registered Charity No. 1203497 Receipts and Payments Account 6 June 2023 – 31 March 2024

This Year
(2023-24)
£
INCOME
Operation
 7571
Hire of Hall
 18683
Hire of Kitchen 1965
Hire of Foyer 0
Tenants
 14158
Total Income 42377
Expenditure
Operations 32907
Staff 8147
Capital Expenditure 604
Other 0
Total Expenditure 41658
Surplus (Deficit) 718.59
Reserve at end of last year 30392.60
Reserve at end of this year 31111.19

Cholsey Pavilion Trust Annual Report June 2023 March2024 Page 9