Farringdon Village Hall A Charitable Incorporated Organisation Charity Number: 1206624
Trustees Annual Report 2024-2025
The Trustees of Farringdon Village Hall (FVH) present their annual report and accounts for the year ended 31 March 2025 and confirm they comply with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011. The CIO was established in Jan 2024, and this is the first annual report.
Declaration . The objects, activities and governance demonstrate that the Charity operates fully for public benefit for the residents but also for the wider community, in line particularly with the environmental and social aims and strategies of our local authorities.
Our Objects
The objects of the CIO are the provision and maintenance of a village hall for the use of the inhabitants of the Parish of Farringdon and the surrounding area without distinction of political, religious or other opinions including use for meetings, lectures and classes and other forms of recreation and leisure time occupation with the object of improving the conditions of life for the inhabitants and such other activities as a charity for these purposes might be carrying out.
Background to the CIO
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The CIO succeeds Farringdon Village Charitable Trust (FVHCT), an unincorporated charity, for which the sole corporate trustee was the Parish Council but which did not want to retain this responsibility.
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The Objects remain consistent with the original charity: to provide a new hall to replace the village’s original hall that became unsustainable and was sold in 2015, generating funds to go towards a new hall.
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FVHCT had:
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identified a 2.4 acre site for a new village hall (Marelands Field) and had bought an option on it, to be exercised by 21[st] April 2024
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submitted a Planning Application (in 2022).
FVH Trustees’ Annual Report Jan 25
Membership of the Charity
Membership of the CIO is open to anyone who is interested in furthering the object of the charity. A member:
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may be an individual who is resident in or owns any type of property in the Parish of Farringdon
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accepts that if the CIO is wound up, each member is liable to contribute to the assets of the CIO an amount not exceeding £1.
At the end of the reporting period there were 147 registered members.
Trustees: Management and Oversight of the Charity
There must be at least three charity trustees. The maximum number of charity trustees is seven. At the end of the reporting period there were six Trustees.
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Andy Clegg (Chair)
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John Hustler (Treasurer)
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John Cavendish
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Penny Cushing
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Sally Ravenhill
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John Constable (Secretary)
Trustees are elected annually by the CIO membership at the AGM. The seventh trustee had to withdraw due to work pressure, and the vacancy was still not filled at the end of the period.
Trustees are immersed in the community that the hall will serve and representative of Farringdon’s residents. Several have lived in the village for many years.
The current Trustees are also directly managing the work to meet the objects. They bring with them a range of specialist skills: law, planning, accountancy and finance, organisational skills, business management and land management. Always grateful for any volunteers, they are supported by a small number of volunteer experts in fundraising and IT/Communication/Websites.
CIO Organisation and Meetings
The first General Meeting of Members was held in March 2024. In accordance with the constitution, the first AGM must be held within 18 months of the registration of the CIO and subsequent AGMs must be held at intervals of not more than 15 months. The AGM must receive the annual statement of accounts and the trustees’ annual report.
Charity organisation and governance is detailed within the Constitution and associated policies and procedures.
FVH Trustees’ Annual Report Jan 25
Our First Year
The Situation at the start of the reporting period . By the end on March 2024 the CIO had been established, Trustees elected and the Constitution approved by the Charity Commission. More importantly the Transfer of Assets and Deed of Assignment were completed, transferring the funds for purchase of the site and contribution to the build.
We had also been approached by a developer who suggested combining a hall with a housing development: some of the profit from building subsidising the building of the hall. We did not pursue this but the Trustees will nevertheless investigate
whether "enabling development" should be a component of our funding strategy.
Progress and Principle Achievements. In April 2024 the option on the Marelands Field site was exercised for £100,000 and completed in May.
Planning Application . In June EHDC Planning informed us that they believed the hall was too big relative to population size. In conjunction with our architects we reduced the size from the original plan (an intended option from the outset). The revised hall could still accommodate 120 people seated.
In July benchmarking/research visits to neighbouring village halls commenced.
In October planning approval was received, with restrictions on evening hours of use, on which we started an appeal. Normal pre-build conditions were applied, that would have to be met.
In November, our contracted quantity surveyors calculated the full cost of the build and surroundings (parking/access/green space) at £1.5m.
In Spring 2025, at the end of the reporting period:
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Essential CIO charity policies had been developed.
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The conversion of Website design/content from FVHCT to the CIO had begun.
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Applications had been made to South Downs National Park and East Hants District Council for funding under the Community Infrastructure Levy.
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Farringdon Village Hall CIO has the land asset and still approximately £200k in standard and higher interest deposit accounts, which contribute most of the Trust’s income.
Looking forward
The obvious challenge is the cost of the build, which will not decrease over time , and are often a consequence of local authority regulations more commensurate with large commercial developments than a village hall. It recognises the significant and sustained fundraising challenge the Charity faces.
Charity Principal Office
Farringdon Village Hall
Forge Barn, Shirnall Hill, Farringdon, Hants, GU34 3EJ,
Tel: 01420 587842, email: Trustees@farringdonvillagehall.org
Annex: Farringdon village Hall Accounts
FVH Trustees’ Annual Report Jan 25
Farringdon Village Hall Accounts for the period from 19[th] January 2024 to 31[st] March 2025
| **Income and Expenditure ** | £ | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Interest income for the period | 4,763 | ||
| Less Expenses:- | |||
| Professional fees | 5,602 | ||
| Insurance | 687 | ||
| Planning costs | 217 | ||
| Administration expenses | 179 | 6,685 | |
| Excess of expenditure over income |
(1,922) | ||
| Balance Sheet | |||
| Fixed Assets - Land in Lower Farringdon | 104,134 | Note 2 | |
| Current Assets – Cash at Bank | 201,209 | ||
| 305,343 | |||
| Represented by:- | |||
| General Charitable Funds | 305,343 | Note 3 |
Notes:
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Farringdon Village Hall is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation
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(No.1206624) and was registered on 19[th] January 2024.
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Fixed Assets comprises Land at cost as follows:-
| Fixed Assets comprises Land at cost as follows:- | |
|---|---|
| Option agreement transferred from the previous Charity | £20,450 |
| Exercise of option and completion of purchase | 83,684 |
| £104,134 | |
| General Charitable Funds | |
| Assets transferred from Farringdon Village Hall Charitable | Trust (No. 301824) |
| Cash | 286,815 |
| Land in Lower Farringdon | 20,450 |
| 307,265 | |
| Less: Excess of expenditure over income | ( 1,922) |
| General Charitable Funds at 31 March 2025 | 305,343 |
3. General Charitable Funds
FVH Trustees’ Annual Report Jan 25