Stuntney Village Hall Annual Report Year Ending 31 January 2026
The proper name of the Charity is Stuntney Village Hall Charity and it is registered at the Charities Commission under registration number 1204034. There are three trustees: Jane Dawe, Phil May and Nigel Wood.
The charity is governed by a constitution which follows a template set up by ACRE, the national support organisation for village halls. Day to day governance is managed by Chair Jane Dawe and Treasurer Nigel Wood. Matters of principle are always discussed with Phil May. Village Hall matters are regularly reported and discussed at Village Council meetings which are held by-monthly and are open to all to attend. The trustees meet privately from time to time, approximately three times year. A public AGM is advertised within the village and the first AGM was in January 2025 with a second in mid January 2026. Additional trustees are welcomed at all times and the AGM provides a formal occasion for villagers to consider their involvement more fully.
The object (ives) of the charity is to further community cohesion with the Stuntney community. To this end the charity has held a Harvest Festival, pre-Christmas get-together after the Christmas service, Halloween event, Christmas Party with Father Christmas for the Children, regular coffee mornings, bingo, yoga. In addition the hall has hosted a ceilidh, the local gardening group, the local NCT, a local theatre group for their rehearsals, a darts marathon fund raising event for Macmillan Cancer and provided a venue for villagers for wedding celebrations, funeral wakes, after-work celebrations as well as for a local planning enquiry and local voting. The Village Hall hosts on its outside wall a defibrillator providing an easily accessible location on the Newmarket approaches to Ely.
The village hall is the only neutral public meeting place in the village and provides common ground for villagers of all ages and social groupings. As well as providing a service to villagers the many volunteers who help to make all of this happen gain satisfaction from the pleasure which is evident in those attending events. In addition it is also possible to see the improved mental and social health of those who attend these events but who would otherwise be isolated in their houses.
To enable all of this to happen in a hall which is almost 100 years old and which the charity took over in a very bad condition it has been important to continue a steady pace of improvements and during the year the rear roof was rebuilt with money kindly donated by the ASDA Foundation and this has transformed the availability of the back of the main room. There was also a smaller grant from the City of Ely Council and this has facilitated continued checks and improvements. Most recently the car park light has been replaced and the electrics have been checked and the central heating flushed. In the near future the main room will be repainted and in the medium term the kitchen will be renewed. An additional wifi access point may also be considered.
The charity has approximate £21,000 of long term debt partly inherited when the charity took over the hall and consequent upon an earlier refurbishment of the toilets which was not properly costmanaged by the then management. About half the debt was incurred in legal costs when setting up the charity and this high cost was driven by the complexity of this process. It is difficult even with hindsight to see how we could have avoided this cost. The charity is fortunate in having generous lenders who are not pressing for repayment now or in the immediate future. In running the hall the key financial focus has been on ensuring that day to day activities show a small surplus. Keeping hiring costs low for villagers is a high priority and this does mean that it is in demand for local events such as parties and wakes.
A statement about reserves in the finance policy states that £7500 will be held as a reserve to ensure that in future lean times the charity can continue its activities.
No funds are held as a custodian trustee. (This is taken to be when a charity might hold funds which are intended not for this charity but for another charity).
Nigel Wood 28 December 2025
Addendum – Charities Commission - Reports for small non-company charities
This is the Charities Commission’s instructions. I have followed this closely and I don’t intend to send the report to the Charities Commission unless they request it.
If your charity’s income is under £500,000 (and providing it doesn’t have assets worth more than £3.26million), prepare a simple report including:
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your charity’s name, registration number, address and trustee names
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its structure and details of how it is managed, including how it recruits trustees
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its activities and objectives in the year
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its achievements and performance, including reporting on its public benefit
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a financial review including any debts and details of your reserves policy (if applicable)
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details of any funds held as a custodian trustee
You can put more detail into your trustees’ annual report if you want to. You only have to send a copy to the commission with your annual return if your income is more than £25,000. But you need to send the commission a copy if it asks for it.
Income
Stuntney Village hall Income and Expenditure Account For the Year Ending 31 March 2025
2024/25
| Hall Lettings Hall Hire and Takings Grants Donations Bar Alcohol Takings Bar Non Alcohol Takings Other Expenses Sum Up Fees Building Costs Electricity Event Cost Bar Supplies Event Cost Consumables Event Cost Other Insurance Memberships and subscriptions Licenses and Governance Oil Rent Repairs and Maintenance Telephone and Internet Village Council Costs Water Surplus/(Deficit for the year Balance B/fwd - Lloyds Treasurers Account Balance B/Fwd - Lloyds Social Club Account Balance B/Fwd - Sum up Card Account Ann Weeks Cash Float Kerry Cash Float Nigel Cash Float Received by Jane Dawe Settled by Dawe Charity Spend Settled by Cole Ambrose Balance carried forward Balance carried forward comprises Balance C/fwd Lloyds Treasurers Account Balance C/fwd Lloyds Social Club Account Balance C/fwd Sum Up Card Account Ann Weeks Cash Float Kerry Cash Float Nigel Cash Float Received by Jane Dawe Settled by Dawe Charity Spend Settled by Cole Ambrose |
84.00 £ 7,580.22 £ 14,000.00 £ 836.50 £ 3,138.85 £ 62.95 £ 42.60 £ TOTAL INCOME 4.52 £ 11,923.13 £ 702.86 £ 851.59 £ 2,082.88 £ 339.94 £ 222.34 £ 72.00 £ 541.35 £ 711.48 £ 2.00 £ 1,232.36 £ 422.10 £ 111.02 £ 266.26 £ TOTAL EXPENSES 6,259.29 £ |
25,745.12 £ 19,485.83 £ As at 31/03/2024 As at 31/03/2024 As at 31/03/2024 As at 31/03/2024 As at 31/03/2024 As at 31/03/2024 As at 31/03/2025 As at 31/03/2025 As at 31/03/2025 As at 31/03/2025 As at 31/03/2025 As at 31/03/2025 As at 31/03/2025 As at 31/03/2025 |
|---|---|---|
| 8,769.13 £ 1,279.29 £ 27.00 £ 20.00 £ 171.65 £ 300.00 £ 133.18 £ 24,983.23 -£ 1.00 £ |
||
| 8,022.69 -£ |
||
| 16,360.54 £ - £ - £ 20.00 £ 453.00 £ 125.00 £ 24,983.23 -£ 2.00 £ |
||
| 8,022.69 -£ |
Independent examiner's report on the accounts
Section A Independent Examiner’s Report
| Report to the trustees/ members of On accounts for the year ended Set out on pages |
Stuntney Village Hall | Stuntney Village Hall | Stuntney Village Hall |
|---|---|---|---|
| 31/03/2025 | Charity no (if any) |
1204034 | |
| 1-2 (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 31/03/2025
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:
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the accounting records were not kept in accordance with section 130 of the Charities Act; or
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the accounts did not accord with the accounting records; or
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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.
- Please delete the words in the brackets if they do not apply.
Signed: Yvette Smart Date: 23/12/2025 Name: Yvette Smart – Simplex Solutions Relevant professional qualification(s) or body (if any): Address: 33 Hoylake Drive, Farcet, Peterborough, PE7 3BD
1
Oct 2018
IER
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).
Give here brief details of any items that the examiner wishes to disclose .
Nothing to report.
2
Oct 2018
IER