## **Trustees’ Annual Report to the Charity Commission for the period 1 January 2024 – 31 December 2024** ## Charity name: **THORVERTON MEMORIAL HALL** Charity registration number: 203778 **Objectives and Activities** : to provide & maintain a village hall for the use of the inhabitants of the Parish of Thorverton without distinction of political, religious or other opinions, including the use of meetings lectures and classes, and for other forms of recreation and leisure-time occupation, with the objective of improving the condition of life for the villagers. The Governing Document is the Scheme dated 26th April 1977 as amended by a resolution dated 13th October 2023. This resolution made a number of minor administrative changes which were accepted by the Charity Commission on 7th November 2023. Thorverton Memorial Hall Committee of Management is comprised of up to ten elected Trustees, plus two co-opted Trustees, as well as one representative nominated by the Parish Council and up to five others nominated by recognised local organisations. Trustees are appointed or reappointed annually at the Annual General Meeting held in April. In 2024 our Trustees were the following: Penny Wiles, Michael Baldwin, Peter Marshall, Jan Wills (until 18[th] April 2024), Sarah Addicott, Andrew Saunders, Stephanie Gounaris Shannon, Emmie Payne Cook, Noel Tancock, Carolyn Hooker (from 18[th] April), Bryony Uglow (Parish Council representative from 27[th] June) ## **Summary of the main achievements of the charity during the year** ## **Increasing the use of the hall** We are conscious that we have a well-used and attractive hall. A number of hirers, some of whom come from quite far afield, have expressed their appreciation of the facilities together with the hall’s appealing setting. In the last Annual Report I drew attention to the fact the hall’s use was increasing – this trend not only continued throughout 2024 but actually accelerated with an increase in both number of hours the hall was used as well as hire income which rose significantly by 20%. We’ve had occasions where a meeting takes place in the hall at the same time as a fitness class on the lawn, and one activity ending just as the next one is about to start. We see TMH very much as a resource for the village used for significant events in the lives of villagers – Christening parties, wedding receptions and wakes ## **Carrying out a number of improvements to the hall.** In terms of the building we completed a number of improvements identified by the Committee as priorities back in late 2022: a new sign at the front of the hall, which is an attractive addition to the streetscape as well as drawing attention to the hall, upgraded wifi and some external painting. Our longdesired capital improvement of improving & revamping the accessible cloakroom, which had been put on hold for several years due to the high prices quoted by building contractors, was finally completed in the early autumn of 2024 following our receiving a much more reasonable quote. ## **Drawing up new policies** A new Safeguarding policy was approved at a Committee meeting on 23[rd] May 2024. New Food Safety Guidelines were drawn up in collaboration with the kitchen team and these were approved by Mid Devon District Council in May. ## **Activities & events in Thorverton Memorial Hall in 2024** The activities that take place in the hall are a mix of classes organised by third parties, a space for the school to use in wet weather, as well as a stream of bookings for parties of all kinds, and events organised by Thorverton Memorial Hall. Regular events included monthly Film Nights with a menu of popular and more niche films eg foreign language films. Cygnet Theatre returned in July to perform ‘The Comedy of Errors’ and luckily the fine weather meant that this time the performance was able to take place on the lawn. Other events included a Skittles evening in the Autumn which raised over £400 for the local branch of the Royal British Legion. Monthly Big Breakfast and Saturday Market mornings continued to be popular, with the stalwart team consistently producing delicious breakfasts – the team has been going strong for a quarter of a century. In terms of events put on in the hall, they don’t come much bigger than the Biennial pop festival ‘Thorfest’ which took place on a wonderfully hot day in September. Putting on an event of this size involved a great deal of hard work coupled with close collaboration between TMH and the Thorfest organisers. The TMH role was principally to ensure the necessary licences, insurances, and risk assessments, first aider were in place and that the bar was staffed and bar drinks sorted. Thorfest attracted around 1200 over the course of the day and evening and was a massive success. TMH was one of the village beneficiaries of the funds raised by this event, the grant of £4000 we received going towards the cost of the accessible cloakroom upgrade. We recognise we are extremely fortunate to be supported financially in this way by local organisations such as Thorfest. ## **Financial Review** Throughout 2024 the TMH finances continued to operate at a healthy level, again as in 2023 thanks to the level of bookings and events held in the hall. Apart from the cost of the accessible cloakroom (part funded from our grant from Thorfest), all other improvement costs were funded by TMH’s own resources. Conscious of the increase in running costs such as utilities, cleaning & gardening and other fixed costs, in the last year we have taken steps to reduce our costs whenever the opportunity cropped up. A number of examples include cutting back on the frequency of waste collections, & making sure through liaising with Utility Aid that we get the best deal possible on our energy costs. Our relationship with Devon Communities Together, which is affiliated to Action with Communities in Rural England, has stood us in good financial stead– in late 2024 they advised us on our Music Licence renewal and helped save a significant sum in the process. ## **Future plans** Looking ahead, we will be continuing to look for savings in our running costs and also looking at our income, & considering some modest increases in some of our hire charges so that the hall continues to be financially buoyant. We will be asking ourselves such broad questions as: given the increase in bookings, what changes are needed to manage the hall bookings & events? What works well and what doesn’t work quite so well? What events should we be organising & how best to consult with the village about this? What changes to the TMH website should be considered? It takes a village to raise a child, so the saying goes – in our experience it takes a village to run a busy hall. We are fortunate to be able to rely on the help of many villagers, not least our hard working Trustees, to get stuck in to so many aspects of the managing the hall and for helping ensure it remains a key village asset. ______________________________ The Trustees declare that they have approved the Trustees’ report above. Signed on behalf of the charity’s Trustees _Penny Wiles_ Chair of Trustees 5/5/25 CHARITY COMMISSION FOR ENGLAND AND WALES ThoN•thn Il•m¢>rlal Hall 203778 Receipts and payments accounts CC16a Forth• p•rfod from 0110112024 To 3111212024 Section A Receipts and payments Unrgstricted fvnd• lrf¢t•d fvnd• Endowment funds Totsl fvnd• L#*t y••r Af RK•i Fhll TIMI Evqnts Sr & lthchen Takl El￿trt¢1 Ger*r8t Il838 002 13,3f*7 753 1fj376 Inter•sl 250 35Y 357 Sub lotal(Grosslncom8 forAR) A2 As$6t and Inve8tm•nt X•J6 31,420 Sub t CCXX R2 acwunts ISSI 0710512025 Independent examinerfs report on the accounts Section A Indepondent Exaniiner"s Report Roport lo the tru8te•s Thorverton Memorial Hall On acc(￿nts for th• yMr 31 December 2024 Charlty no (If any) 203778 Set out on pagos 18nd2 I report to the Irustees on my examlnatlon of the acix)unts of the above ¢harity (Yhe Trusv) for the yoar ended Responslbllllies and ba81s of report As the ch8rty8 trustees. you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance wlth the r8quirements of the Charities Act 2011 (°Ih8 Acf). I report in resped of my examination of the Trusfs accounts carried out under section 145 of the 2011 Act and In ¢8￿ng out my examination, I hav8 followed all the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commisslon under section 145(5)(b) of the ACL Ind•pond•nt I have completed my examination. I confimi that no material matters have examlneVs statement come to my attention in conneckn ￿1th the examination (other than that disclosed below.) whlch glves me cause to belleve that In. any material respect: the accounting records were not kept in accordance with section 130 of the Charitles Act: or the accounts did not accord with th8 accounting records". or 1he accounts dld not cornply vnth the applicable requirements conceming the f￿M and content of acLX)unts set out in the Charfties (Accounts and Reports) Ragulatlon8 2008 other than any requirement that the accounts glve a true and fairf view which is not a matter consldered as part of an iThdependent examination. I have no concams and have come across no other matters In connectlon with the examlnation to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understandlng of the accounts to be reathed. Signed: Name: Stuart Crel)o Relovant profosslonal quallfflcatlon(s) or body (If any): FCIB: CF: Address: Wictorla Orchard ThoNerton. Devon EX5 5NU IER Ocl 2018 Section B Disclosure Only complete if the examiner needs to highlight material matters of concern (see CC32, Independent examination of charity accounts: directÉons and guidance for examiners). Give hore brfef d•tsll$ of any Items th* the examlner wlshes to dlsclose. No areas of con￿rn to dlsclose IER OGt 2018