## **Guilsborough Village Hall** ## **Annual General Meeting** ## **Chairman’s Report for Year July 2022 - June 2023** ## Overview Our village hall remains very much in the heart of the community. Our big news was that after the massive fundraising efforts in the previous financial year, the new ‘warm roof’ was installed in August 2022 covering the flat roof area over the main hall, kitchen and stage area. With a guarantee of over 25 years life, hopefully this level of investment will not be needed again for some time. ## Bookings and hall usage The usage of the hall gradually increased again over the year, with a wider range of regular hire bookings and many more parties. We are particularly pleased to welcome the regular, use of the hall by School House Day Care during the holidays and for events. This use is during times when the hall would otherwise be standing empty, and enables the childcare offered by School House Day Care to be expanded. The hall increased its hire charges in August 2022 as there had been no increase for some years. Our hire charge includes electricity costs and is standardised across the year, a preferred option of our regular users. The hire charges are now (per hour): |Small hall:|regular user|£10| |---|---|---| ||others|£15| |Main hall:|regular user|£15| ||others|£20| We have offered reduced rates to groups just starting up, with the hope that this will enable them to continue long term. ## Management Committee and volunteers The strong Management Committee (now officially renamed the Management Advisory Committee) has met regularly throughout the year and each member has been very active in supporting the hall. Each of our team has a main role but everyone has helped fund raise and done other ‘duties’ when needed, and the team comprised: - Sue O’Neil, Chair and Treasurer, Trustee, bank signatory, grants - Ally Phillips, Secretary, Trustee, hall improvements - Eve Wooldridge, Trustee, hall improvements (roof lead), bank signatory - Sue Needham, bookings and fund-raising - Richard Furnell, day-to-day hall checking and management - Carl Barnes, practical management tasks, new windows and doors discussion 1 - Emily Cheney, cleaning, bank signatory, and fundraising - Gail Hare, support to Sue Needham on bookings, fundraising - Paul Jacobs, hall management and fund raising - Mike Fulcher, general support Richard Mumford supports the Hall by the reading meters and changing the key code on the keysafe on a monthly basis. Dave Wooldridge has also provided invaluable direct support and guidance preparing for, and during the installation of the new warm roof. Dave’s expertise was also much appreciated in the discussions about the options for the new front windows, and new back and middle doors for the hall. ## Village Hall Trustees The legal responsibility for the charity now lies with the smaller group of Trustees, enabling the volunteers on the Management Advisory Committee to have less formal commitment. The Trustees have met in person and virtually, including in relation to confirming the expenditure on the new windows, which were installed in September 2023. The Trustees for this year were: Elected Trustees: Sue O’Neil Eve Wooldridge Ally Phillips Parish Council reps: Tony Hart David O’Neil ## Priorities for 2022-23 Our priorities for 2022-2023 were: - Continue to ensure the hall meets the needs of everyone in the community – particularly those with financial pressures or who require wellbeing support. - Ensure successful installation of the new warm roof. - Reduce energy costs by improving hot water system, plus exploration and possibly implementation of other energy saving measures, with the priority being the main front window. - Widen and improve the marketing of the hall, including outside of Guilsborough, including an updated website etc. These objectives have largely been achieved, including by the installation of a new hot water immersion heater, and commitment to the new front windows which were installed in summer 2023. The MMM group received a Warm Spaces Grant from Guilsborough Parish Council, which supplemented their activities in the coldest months. However the hall was unsuccessful in the application for a grant towards soft seating in the small hall as part of the warm spaces funds from WNC. We are also still seeking help from a volunteer with IT skills who is able to update our website and improve our social media marketing. 2 The priorities for 2023-24 are: - Continue to ensure the hall meets the needs of everyone in the community – particularly those with financial pressures or who require wellbeing support. - Improve our disability accessibility and flexibility of hire spaces by installing new back doors, which are also better insulated. - Further reduce our energy costs by installing new middle fire doors and new insulated front door. - Widen and improve the marketing of the hall, including an updated website, and on social media etc. ## Treasurer’s Report for Year July 2022-June 2023 Our accounts have seen significant movement this financial year as we received in grant aid and spent out on the new roof. Overall, our expenditure was £21,243 more than our total income, but as we had planned this, our bank balance at the end of the year was still around £38,200. Our hire income increased by about £3,320 compared to the previous financial year, but is still about £1,000 lower than the final pre-Covid year ending June 2019. Part of the reason for this difference was the loss of Zoe Dando’s dance company (as she moved to Creaton) which alone brought in about £3,350 in that year. Hopefully the upward trend in hiring will continue throughout this financial year, and so far looks good. Our main expenditure is on electricity, and in the financial year ended June the bill was over £4,900, and our current direct debit remains over £500 pcm. The volunteer cleaning by Emily Cheney, which she manages to fit around both her work and hirers, has again saved the hall several £1000s, and we are very much indebted to her. The opening and closing balances for our accounts for the financial year 2022-2023 were: Opening balance, 1 July 2022: £59,402.11 Closing balance, 30 June 2023: £38,159.07 Louisa Phillips kindly audited the year’s accounts, and they will be submitted to the Charity Commission following the AGM. The summary of the year’s accounts is provided below. 3 GUILSBOROUfjH VILLAGÉ IIIU (COUIITST030ThJiV4E2 ISOS 475 107Q 121 F1M￿rTPat Ji JNr 4•2164 2JQ5 io 175.tyj 71 55550 J57 t'IlE I"II WtAp 214.94 113.68 615￿ Art￿ 4PYJ 4r 3LIl ¢r•) 127J Fur4 IiOiJQ2 .52W( -149W97 W•w•sÈffti¢d bv J4q211 •. tJ41S llO.E20.QDI 4.. IIETE451.EY7.ID￿£1￿ f¥[ dthewrf5 qndod XYhJ¥n• lQ23.