## Chair’s annual report as presented to the 2025 AGM for Dormansland War Memorial Hall 

Introduction: In presenting this annual review, I should make it clear that sits alongside the financial review to be presented separately, but will note the key conclusions of that with some pride: we believe that the Hall can be self sustaining in carrying out its daily activities, and, in reaching this point while investing huge sums in improving every part of the Hall, managed to build up our reserves to a level which our independent accountant believes is prudent for an undertaking of this kind. 

2024 overview: In some respects 2024 was a consolidation year. It began with our finishing off the much needed work on the car park side of the building: the roof, the rendering and the painting. This has transformed the look of that side. We also completed work on the Jubilee room, which we believe perfectly matches our vision of a quieter and more formal space, as reflected in its use for smaller yoga and craft groups and committee meetings. As the year progressed, our focus turned to the huge undertaking that was the den, the function room and the side bar. The trustees raised 10s of thousands of pounds for this work, which was ably supplemented by a team of volunteer, whose work is recorded in collages in the function room area. 

2024 was our first full year of being open for bookings (mainly in the hall, with the Jubilee room opening during the year). The trustees were delighted with the level of bookings we achieved, which vindicated in many ways the efforts made across the village to save the hall. Special mention here must go to Adrienne Brady, our bookings guru, who works 24/7 on making sure all enquiries are dealt with, and all the confirmed bookings go smoothly. This is in many ways the most demanding role any of our volunteers undertakes, and we take our hats off to her. 

There were other notable challenges during 2024. In particular, there have been ongoing issues with the large flat roof, which proved frustrating to say the least, and which the Trustees are determined to remedy in short order by replacing it in its entirety. There was also damage from a car careering off Hollow Lane and damaging the wonderful work undertaken by our fantastic head gardeners, Cynthia Jones and Rosemary Williams. Finally, a couple of downstairs rooms were badly flooded during the freak storms of August 24. This required a huge amount of work to clear them and dry them out. In response, the Trustees commissioned preventative work which seems to have vastly reduced the risk of a repeat and water ingress generally. 

In parallel with this work, the Trustees continued, systematically and successfully, to address the liabilities and potential claims inherited from the residents removed in the general vote in 2021. To date, in terms of liabilities resisted and debts set aside, and pro bono legal advice, this work has saved the Hall over £400,000. This goes alongside the £100,000 plus raised through donations and grants. 

2025 progress: the open day earlier this month was the perfect showcase for the collective vision of the Hall. While there are still jobs to be done, it is an immense source of pride that we have a suite of high quality rooms, which we are proud to offer to the village, Our aim is to offer flexible facilities that will suit the whole village. Much time was spent this year in successfully resisting historic claims, and ensuring that the 2024 projects were completed to a high standard. We have learnt that progress at 



the Hall can be stately rather than rapid, but we believe there is no harm in that. The Hall has been here for a very long time and we hope will remain here for a very long time, and slow and steady matches the place itself. 

2026 and beyond: we have covered a great deal of ground already, but there remains more to be done. In particular, the Trustees are focussing on finishing the work on the entrance hall (which you will see has advanced even since the open day), the kitchen and disabled access. We remain excited by the vision approved at last year's AGM to make the entrance into the Hall from the carpark fit for purpose, and will move ahead with that when the time seems right to do so, bearing in mind other commitments. 



## **DORMANSLAND MEMORIAL HALL BANK ACCOUNT SUMMARY YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2024** 

|Balance b/f||
|---|---|
|Receipts|**###**|
|Payments|30,186.17|
|Balance c/f||
||**###**|





35,254.25
30,186.17

## **DORMANSLAND WAR MEMORIAL HALL SUMMARY OF RECEIPTS YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2024** 

||JAN|FEB|MAR|APR|
|---|---|---|---|---|
||£|£|£|£|
|HIRING|1,184.75|<br>747.75|321.00|1,087.25|
|GRANTS|||||
|DONATIONS|200.00|<br>928.52|||
|FUND RAISING|50.00|<br>600.00||100.00|
||**1,434.75**|**2,276.27**|**321.00**|**1,187.25**|





|MAY|JUN|JUL|AUG|SEP|OCT|NOV|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|£|£|£|£|£|£|£|
|210.00|1,126.25|1,554.50|482.00|<br>939.50|1,735.00|968.25|
|10,003.34|2,550.00|2,525.00|||15,759.29||
|600.00|||||900.00|431.00|
||||80.00|<br>70.00|70.00|420.00|
|**###**|**3,676.25**|**4,079.50**|**562.00**|**1,009.50**|**###**|**1,819.25**|





DEC TOTAL £ £ 717.00 **11,073.25 30,837.63** 250.00 **3,309.52** 88.19 **1,478.19 0.00 1,055.19 46,698.59** 



## **DORMANSLAND MEMORIAL HALL SUMMARY OF PAYMENTS YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2024** 

||JAN|FEB|MAR|APR|
|---|---|---|---|---|
||£|£|£|£|
|BUILDING WORK|740.00|639.16|654.50|13,670.92|
|UTILITIES|243.77||246.01|274.14|
|LICENCES|100.00|100.00|||
|DEPOSITS|||||
|GARDEN|||||
|INSURANCE|||||
||**###**|**739.16**|**900.51**|**###**|





|MAY|JUN|JUL|AUG|SEP|OCT|NOV|DEC|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|£|£|£|£|£|£|£|£|
|6,448.22|700.00|2,177.00|3,264.50|37.62|15,663.56|1,198.78|420.00|
|233.66|143.80|81.01|165.60|206.38|160.68|225.85|323.95|
|||||147.31|147.31|147.32|147.32|
||||30.00||||30.00|
|||233.10||||||
|||||||408.78|408.78|
|**###**|**843.80**|**###**|**###**|**391.31**|**###**|**###**|**###**|





TOTAL £ **45,614.26 2,304.85 789.26 60.00 233.10 817.56 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 49,819.03** 



## **INDEPENDENT EXAMINER’S REPORT TO THE TRUSTEES OF DORMANSLAND WAR MEMORIAL HALL** 

I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the Dormansland War Memorial Hall (the Trust) for the year ended 31 December 2024. 

## **Responsibilities and basis of report** 

As the charity trustees of the Trust you are responsible for the preparation of the 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 giving me cause to believe that in any material respect: 

1. accounting records were not kept in respect of the Trust as required by section 130 of the Act; or 

2. the accounts do not accord with those records. 

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. 


Mark Martin 

Chartered Accountant 

55 Portola Close, Grappenhall, Warrington, WA4 2SW 

17 March 2026