## **Whitley Village Hall CIO Management Committee** 

**Chairs’ Annual report (16/06/2023 – 31/03/2024)** 

## **Overview** 

After many months of hard work, Whitley Village Hall finally incorporated on 16[th] June 2023 to become Whitley Village Hall CIO.  Our sincere thanks must go to Kevin Janes from ACRE who guided us through this process from start to end in a most diligent and helpful way. The CIO became financially operational on 1[st] October 2024 and the charity Whitley Village Hall (520135) was subsequently closed down with completion notification received on 21[st] May 2024. The vesting of the land will be the final piece of the jigsaw puzzle to complete in the following weeks. 

Post incorporation the Village Hall continues to be filled with diverse meetings, events, shows and much more. It is home to many well-established local groups and events and as we continue to reestablish social life post pandemic is increasingly attractive to visitors from further afield once again. 

The local community organisations continue to ensure the Village Hall plays a sizable part in our village life. Key events such as the Rose Queen Fete and the Rose Queen Christmas Party, for all those over sixty in the village, continue to demonstrate the hall’s role as a key asset within the community. 

In a ‘cost of living crisis’, a significant concern remains the financial health of the village hall. Running costs have continued to rise this year and whilst our hall hire rent structure has been adjusted upwards, the Committee retains a keen eye on financial health. We are also still mindful that some income generating events have now disappeared from the annual schedule, such as the Whitley 10K, however we are looking forward to offering some new events (such as a Burns Night) in the next financial year to boost income. 

## **Committee and Governance** 

**Trustees:** Following incorporation, the VHMC comprised of seven trustees: Scott Tolson, Ian Merrell, Cathy Ure, Paula Brierley Jones, Philip Barber, Melanie Barber and Neil Summerton. Hall user groups were also represented: Melanie Barber (WI and Parochial Church Council), Phil Barber (Parish Council and Rose Queen Committee) and Vicki Brown (Whitley preschool and Toddler Group.) Chris Pennington, Priya Gathani and Rob Bruford have also been invaluable members of the management committee. It must be noted with some members representing more than one user group the ability to attract new volunteers and members is becoming increasingly difficult.  We are currently running without a permanent Chair in place and have had to adopt a rotating Chair policy. 

## **Hall users and activities** 

It is pleasing to reflect on the breadth of users and activities that are once again getting great use out of the hall. Over the year we have supported many groups including Pre School, Toddlers, Dance, Metafit, Yoga, WI, Mothers Union, Friendly Club, Parish Council, Parochial Church Council, Mothers Union, Stretton Young Farmers, The Hornby Railway Club, Lymm Anglers, St Lukes Church, Cheshire Garden Group, the Institute of Advanced Motorists and The Rose Queen Committee. In addition, we have held an eclectic array of caravan rallies, , dog shows, vintage 



motorcycle clubs, bingo evenings and parties, as well as being a polling station for local and main elections. 

We hosted a very successful Murder Mystery evening in November 2023 which was well attended and enjoyed by all and an amusing comedy night in February 2024. Our thanks to Ian for managing the bar at these events. 

## **Improvements to facilities** 

Our main project this year was to sand down and revarnish the wooden floor in the main hall which was carried out over two weeks during August. A multitude of other odd jobs were also carried out over the course of the year and our thanks must go to Phil Barber and Neil Summerton for sorting many of these out. 

## **Managing the Village Hall** 

Our mission remains to provide facilities that enable meetings, education, recreation and leisure activities with the object of improving the quality of life for the local community. We have an ongoing challenge to ensure we represent the needs of those that live in and around Whitley and, as we have said before, with more people moving into the local area it is important we think about how we can do that even more effectively. 

It is a pleasure working with the new Whitley Village Hall CIO committee, all of whom are fantastically dedicated, always in good humour and willing to support on anything. Everything we do is a team effort. We must extend our thanks to, the now retired Helen Vaughan and her team, and going forward to Liz Williams for their much needed and significant contribution also. This year particular thanks must go again to Ian, our Treasurer/often nominated rotating Chair/ and bar manager, for the challenging work he has been involved in. Ongoing credit and thanks are due to Phil for managing the diary and the constant demands this brings and Melanie for managing the invoicing (as well as managing Phil.) 

Paula Brierley-Jones 



## 

|**BANKBALANCE**||
|---|---|
|**OpeningBalance:1stOct2023**||
|AddReceipts|50,886.08|
|DeductPayments|40,691.62|
|**ClosingBalance31stMarch2024**|10,194.46|
|**OpeningBalance:1stOct2023**||
|AddT,ansin|30,000.00|
|InterestReceived|91.87|







## **Independent examiner's report on the accounts** 

## **Section A                        Independent Examiner’s Report** 

**Report to the trustees** Charity Name Whitley Village Hall CIO **On accounts for the year** 31[st] March 2024 **Charity no** 1203604 **ended (if any) Set out on pages** (remember  to include the page numbers of additional sheets) 

I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the above charity (“the Trust”) for the year ended 31/03/2024 

**Responsibilities and** As the charity's trustees, you are responsible for the preparation of the **basis of report** accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 (“the Act”). 

I report in respect of my examination of  the Trust’s accounts carried out under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying out my examination, I have followed all the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the Act. 

## **Independent examiner's statement** 

## _._ 

I have completed my examination.  I confirm that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination (other than that disclosed below *) which gives me cause to believe that in, any material respect: 

- The accounting records were not kept in accordance with section 130 of the Charities Act; or 

- The accounts did not accord with the accounting records; or 

- The accounts did not comply with the applicable requirements concerning the form and content of accounts set out in the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 other than any requirement that the accounts give a ‘true and fair’ view which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination. 

I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached. 


**----- Start of picture text -----**<br>
Date: 20/12/2024<br>Recoverable Signature<br>Signed: X James Gaffney<br>James Gaffney<br>Signed by: 9b0d9a36-bc0b-4815-b577-e0826161159f<br>**----- End of picture text -----**<br>


**Oct 2018** 

1 

**IER** 



**Name:** James gaffney MAAT BSc (Hons) 

**Relevant professional** ACCA (Non-Active Member), MAAT, BSc (Hons), CTA (PQ) **qualification(s) or body (if any):** 

**Address:** 101 Dale Lane, Appleton, Warrington, WA4 3DN 


## **Section B                           Disclosure** 

Only complete if the examiner needs to highlight material matters of concern (see CC32, Independent examination of charity accounts: directions and guidance for examiners). 

**Oct 2018** 

2 

**IER** 



**Give here brief details of any items that the examiner wishes to disclose** . 

**Oct 2018** 

3 

**IER**