– TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPORT 2021
Thorverton Memorial Hall, Silver Street, Thorverton EX5 5LT
Charity Number: 203778
Thorverton Memorial Hall Committee is comprised of up to ten elected Trustees, two coopted Trustees, one representative Trustee nominated by the Parish Council and up to five others by recognised local organisations. In 2021 our Trustees were the following:
Russell Clarke, Michael Shelton, Janet Wills, Jenny Reygate, Michael Baldwin, David Reygate, Sarah Addicott, Claire Heaven-Roberts, Ian Ford, Tim Cusack.
Trustees hold monthly meetings and for the first half of 2021 these were held on Zoom, before the easing of Covid restrictions permitted face-to-face meetings for the second half of the year. Trustees recognised the importance of keeping good channels of communication going, particularly during periods when the hall had to close. Regular articles appeared throughout 2021 in the monthly village magazine ‘in Focus’ to keep villagers updated.
During the Covid restrictions in the first few months of 2021 we kept the hall ticking over as well as spending time in preparation for a Covid safe re-opening. After the hall was used for the local elections in April we bounced back in May and, applying some Covid-safe restrictions, we actioned a range of events for the local community to offer a way back to some sort of normality.
The first of these events was in conjunction with Villages in Action in which The Assembleth Theatre company, performed ‘The Shodessey’, a humorous take on aspects of Greek Mythology. The show sold out and was a resounding success. We followed this with a Dog Show and Music in the Park drawing many people from the village and local area. It seemed that Summer had arrived and confidence was returning. Various regular hirers returned including the Sewing Classes, Toddlers Group and Pilates. Three wedding bookings took place during August and September and Film Nights and Big Breakfast/ Saturday Market returned to the calendar. The Autumn season events, including further live Drama, Jazz and Folk Music, Skittles, Craft Fair and Bingo continued to be well supported and began to show some essential income. Further Covid restrictions at the end of the year meant once again the hall had to close.
During the past year we have been very aware that, with little or no income, the hall’s finite resources would have a limited life. However, a number of opportunities for grant aid became apparent for which we were able to apply.
We are grateful to our Treasurer for the time and effort he put into obtaining several vital grants throughout the pandemic from various sources that provided us with the income we required. These grants enabled us to pay our regular bills during the Covid closures including some essential major electrical rewiring and upgrade work.
The Finance & Management Sub Committee was formed during the past year to discuss and share ideas and to report back to the main committee to help develop and improve our accounting systems and put in place forward planning procedures. One particular challenge to our financial systems was caused by problems with our bank which led to a period of several months without a cheque book or debit card. The details of our accounts 2021 are shown on our annual account sheet. The charity ended the year on a strong financial footing.
Achievements during the year in terms of our policies and procedures include the following: Revising the Hire Contract we issue to hirers to clarify some issues and align our contract with the Charity Commission’s requirements.
Revising the Hire Rates charged with particular reference to local group charges but also to ensure that TMH continues to remain a viable organisation for the local community.
Our policies for Health & Safety, Management and Maintenance and Equal Opportunities have been reviewed this year and are currently in place.
We are also currently producing a Safeguarding Policy and training for our Trustees in conjunction with ACRE ( Action With Communities In Rural England ) to give everyone a clearer understanding of their roles and responsibilities.
We are conscious of our responsibilities to ensure we undertake all the necessary safety checks carried out on the building, for example, Fire Safety and Electrical Tests. In relation to the electrical tests we undertook all recommended work with the exception of the extra light on the walkway from the car park to the rear of the building. This is currently awaiting completion.
All Buildings and Public Liability Insurances are fully up to date and include an Indemnity Insurance to cover personal litigation against all our Trustees (Committee Members).
One exciting new development has been the launch of our new website in the summer of 2021. This has generally proved very useful in promoting the hall’s facilities, regular classes, events and information to the various devices the public now use. We need and should continue to develop the use of useful digital information systems to assist our communication and the management of TMH.
Looking forward, our aim is to continue to offer the hall as a useful and vibrant facility for the use of all members of the local community. We will be doing this against a background of rising costs for everyone. As a charitable organisation we rely on many volunteer helpers, for whom we are particularly grateful, and our Trustees (our Committee members) who
meet together to discuss and organise a varied programme of events and oversee the operation and running of TMH.
To enable this to continue effectively we are always open to recruit new committee members and to encourage villagers to have an input into the continuing development of TMH as a valuable asset to our community.
(HARIIY (OMMISSIO FOR ENfjLANDANO W Thorverton Memorlal Hall 203778 Receipts and payments accounts CC16a Fov riOd from 01-Jan-21 31-Dec-21 Section A Receipts and payments Llnre&tri¢ted Reytricted fund• Endowment fuhdg TDtal lunds Lasty0r tothvnw4rn¥t E toth•n•Jr•&tE A1 Ra1 Events Ings torngo 16A16 750 IB.7 ctsricity rnnts income 001 Sub lotallGross irtcomè lor ARI A2Atand InvMtm&nt•akn. 40M26 Sub lolal Totalrocelpts 40.$20 •nt clnIng & ¢ardqniny ment incl. H&S r• ¢OVh Hall Alaintonanc• EveTht CoaFts ubistieB & Websrto Insurance and Ll¢•n¢ Mi8e & Petty Ch 2.892 1,618 10,754 S.462 1,893 1.907 2,234 10.754 US4 13.757 Sub tot41 No •7b) 1).70V A4 A•Ht•nd In¥tst •eo labl•l Sulj total 24709 1&7fl N•1 Orrp({8PMéts) AS TTan61or• bet4mn fun A6 Cosh fund• tY•r #nd Ca&h funds 12,71Q CCXX R1 a(x)ufts1&81 02S2O¥6
Section B Statement of assets and liabilities al the end of the period ¢•tfjgort lund• Bl Catsfv 25M25 rotsi¢Mhh•Ktr 21,S75 UAr•Atrl¢t*d R••hira•d lund• Endo¥im•nt fundA d• Deta 41ty zeeé
CHARITY COMMISSION FOR ENGLAND AND WALES Independent examinerfs report on the accounts Section A Independ¢ni Examin•r's Report Report to thE trusieesl memb•rs of Thorverton Memorial Hall On accounts for the year ended 31Bt Decèmber 2021 Charlty no lit any) 203778 1&2 Panè nufflbèr6 of addlbortxl Al,.. I report to the tnjslees on my examination of the accounts ol the al charity l-the Trust") for the year ended 3111212021 Responsibilitiès and As the charity Iwstees of the Trust, you are responsible for th9 preparation basis of report of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charttias Act 2011 I'lhe Acl"}. I report in resptrct of my examination of the Trust's accounts carried out under sectton 145 of the 2011 Act and in carwng out my examination, I have followed the applicable Directions given by the Charity CommisSn under section 14515}Ibl of the Act. I have completed my examination. I confimi that no material mattets have come to my attention lolher than that disclosed below") in Connection with the examination which gives me Cause to believe that in, any material respect.. accounting records were not kept in accordance with section 130 of the Act or the accounts do not accord with the accounting records I have no concems and have come across no other matters in conneciion with the examination lo which attention should be drarn in order to ellable proper understanding of the accounts lo be r8ached. . Pleas6 d&lete the words in the brackets rfthey do nof epply. Independgnl examlnerfs statemenl Slgned: Date: Jamos P Roborts Relevant professional qualificationls) or body (if any)- None Address: 8 Little Sllver EXETER EX4 4HU
Section B Disclosure Only complete if the examlner needs to highlight matters of concem (see CC32, Independent examination of charity accA)unts.' directions and guidants for &xaminers). Glva r* brief d•tails of any items that the examiner wish8¥ to disclose. The end4)f-yaar balanc8$ revealed that TMH had receiv9d £ 2.569 morg than has been a¢wunted for. This UnCOrded income has paid for necessary expenditure, with the remainder in the cash and bank balancas. After extensive investigation of the paperwork and discussions with the Treasurer and other Truslees the source of this income cannot be idenlffied. I am confident that il is unrecorded cash income. I recognise the slgnfficant difficulties that the lockdown period at the beginning of the yaar posed, pecialty the lack of debil card and chequel)ook. l am pleased to report that the Treasurer has already implemented measures to record the cash movements more assiduously.