2024-11-30-accounts - Threlkeld Village Hall Trust

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Annual Return Threlkeld Village Hall Trust, Charity Number 231380

Year ending 30[th] November 2024

Introduction

This is the final report for the Threlkeld Village Hall Trust, Charity number 231380. The interests and assets of this charity were transferred to a new charity, the Threlkeld Village Hall CIO, number 1208295, on 1[st] December 2024. To align with this transfer, the final year of the Trust was extended to 14 months from 1[st] September 2023 to 30[th] November 2024.

Chair’s Report

At last year’s AGM we explained that we would be moving from being a Charitable Trust to a Charitable Incorporated Organisation and after a lot of hard work over many, many hours on the part of Adam Bazire we have achieved that. I want to thank Adam for leading on the transition, spending hours familiarising himself with charity law and liaising with and chasing solicitors, as at various stages we did need legal advice. Thanks to Adam’s commitment and focus on detail we needed to use lawyers much less than they had suggested at the beginning of the process and achieved CIO status without any challenge from the Charity Commission. Having worked in the voluntary sector for a number of years I can tell you that is a real achievement.

At last year’s AGM I suggested the extension to the Village Hall would be completed in early spring 2024 – ever the optimist. The building had final sign off by Building Control in November 2024 and members of the committee plus volunteers have been kitting out the new storage area with shelving and moving items into it. We have significantly more storage space for the Hall equipment and can offer our regular users, such as the Threlkeld Young People, more easily accessible storage. The Coffee Shop has a new fully equipped kitchen with plenty of room for them to store all their food and consumables, to bake their superb cakes and cook their delicious light snacks. Having more storage space for the Hall and Coffee Shop means the upstairs office will no longer be used as a store. We are planning to convert this to a well-equipped meeting room which can be available to small groups to hire throughout the day.

All of us who have experienced building work will know of the frustrations it brings, the amount of time spent in chasing architects and structural engineers in the design stage and then dealing with unforeseen problems once the building is underway and keeping builders on the job. All of this has been incredibly professionally handled by Neil Beresford on behalf of the committee, supported by Barbabra Lowesmith, David Evans and Adam Bazire. So a very big thank you to Neil.

Although the transition to becoming a CIO and progressing the extension building has dominated our Village Hall Trustee meetings there has continued to be good use of the Hall by a range of groups. Steven Oldfield will tell you more about this shortly.

I am pleased we have been able to resume our tea and chat session on Wednesday afternoons. They have continued to be very popular, and the Knit and Natter group has been a very welcome addition to the afternoons. Threlkeld Events have had another successful year of entertainment events.

It is important to remember that as well as being a valued community resource the Coffee Shop makes a significant financial contribution the Village Hall each year. This enabled to us build the extension and going forward we will have surplus funds that we can use to the benefit of local residents. So thank you to Steven Campbell and his staff for the great job they do and to the Coffee Shop Board of Directors for overseeing the Coffee Shop and steering its future strategy.

This year we marked the 125th anniversary of Squire Crozier gifting the land for the Parish Room to be built on. Chris Smith, trustee, put together a display covering this significant gift which you can still see in the Hall. Thanks go to Donald Angus and Stuart Cresswell for the information and photos they gave Chris. It took two years to build the

Parish Room so in December 2026 we are planning a larger celebration to commemorate 125 years since the building’s completion in 1901.

This year we have been keen to keep local residents up to date with what is happening at the Hall so have had a regular update in the “Beneath Blencathra” newsletter and I hope people have found this interesting - feedback is always welcome.

I want to thank all those who contribute to making the Village Hall the success it is: our trustees, the team of volunteers who Steven calls on to help with maintenance, the Coffee Shop staff and our cleaners. Sadly, earlier this year we lost John Knifton, a stalwart supporter of the Village Hall who could be called on at anytime of day or night to help with urgent maintenance issues, particularly some of the less pleasant plumbing ones. We all miss John, his sense of humour, modesty, energy and can-do attitude.

We have recently been joined by a new trustee : Kim Ellsender and are already feeling the benefit of her contribution to the Hall.

I want to acknowledge Neil Beresford’s contribution to the Village Hall over the last 14 years as Neil has decided to step down as a trustee. I am relieved to say that he is not completely withdrawing from the Hall and will be joining our amazing group of volunteers. I have already referred to Neil’s leadership of the extension building but it is important to acknowledge that he was also involved in the extensive building work completed in 2014 when the Coffee Shop was added to the building. Since then, he has been one of the key people we turn to when building problems arise. Neil thank you for your unstinting support of the Hall as a trustee.

And finally, I want to thank Steven Oldfield for his work as Secretary to the Trustee Committee. I am pleased to say that Steven will be continuing as a trustee with the CIO but is handing over his secretarial duties to Adam Bazire. He will continue to be responsible for Bookings, liaising with our many hirers and ensuring their needs in the hall are met and of course being one of our ‘go to people’ for maintenance issues. Thank you, Steven.

Secretary’s Report

This report relates to the activities of the Trustees and the use of the hall over the last year. The Committee during that time has comprised of Christine Renouf as Chair, Neil Beresford as vice Chair, David Evans at Treasurer and myself, Steven Oldfield. as Secretary. Other committee members are Barbara Lowesmith as the rep. from the Threlkeld Activities group, David Arkley as rep of the Parish Council, Emma Moody as rep of the Youth section. Chris. Smith is a co-opted member and, as already reported, Kim Elsender joined us mid-term, as a second co-opted member.

This year has been quite demanding for several reasons. In addition to the building work going on around us which has created much improved facilities, this has also caused significant physical work in transferring virtually every hall possession from one part of the building to another. The hall was flooded in July 2024 causing cancellation and reorganising of bookings and then subsequently closure of the hall to allow workmen in to repair the hall floor. It has long been our intention to carry out a full re-furbishment of the building which will go ahead 6th to 17th January 2025 with the hall closed for the entirety. This, again, has caused a few problems with cancelling and/or rearranging bookings.

In view of all this plus the continued loss of the car park for most of the year it is unsurprising that the takings from hall hire are down on last year but, with my other hat on, I feel qualified to say general use of and appreciation of the hall is very positive. During the last year we have lost one regular dance class due to the instructor finding premises nearer her home. We also temporarily lost a second dance class when the hall floor was damaged by the flooding. That lady has now taken a long break and it remains to be seen whether she returns to us in the new year. However, I suspect those of you sufficiently interested in the hall will be aware I put up an activity sheet every week and I think that shows every reason to be positive. The hall’s uses are many and varied, it is regularly used for meetings, we have routine yoga, dance, keep fit, bowls, brownies, youth club, women’s group, mother and baby groups, two different types of art groups, several types of textile groups with the common factor of Pat Knifton, Parish Council. We have had numerous parties, 3 baby showers, church run lunches, several long distance running

events using us as a re-fuelling station, campers, election days, school play. Of the slightly less run of the mill, we have hosted a group meeting of Scotty dog owners. The stand out event was a week long exhibition of sketches and history of local men who had fallen during the Great War. We have, of course, had a full programme provided by Threlkeld Activities, which has unfortunately been affected by three cancellations, none of which were within our own control. The ‘tea and chat’ which runs every week October to June was originally started along with 7 other premises within CA12 area, we are one of the surviving two.

Every year, non-specific jobs crop up and are dealt with in house. It is almost always that the same people are there but as last year, I decline to name anyone for fear of upsetting someone else. However, this is a very appropriate time to mention John Knifton who we lost early in the year. He was a very experienced, knowledgeable, gifted and willing friend to have had.

The new C.I.O. will permit us to have more Trustees than we are presently allowed. I make a plea every year for help, we are all a year older and I think some of us are feeling it. Trustees meet once every two months, we generally are the first to be called up to help with little jobs and/but we also have the comfort of knowing that we are doing something useful for our own community, will be associated with a fabulous facility, will be admired and much envied by our friends from Keswick and other surrounding villages.

Treasurer’s Report

Summary

This is the final report for the Threlkeld Village Hall Trust before the Threlkeld Village Hall CIO takes over all responsibilities on 1[st] December 2024.
To accommodate the change, this final financial year has been extended by two months to match the change-over date.
A loss of £104,863.29 was recorded for the year.
Funds at the Year End stand at £81,273.
The extension project has dominated expenditure and is the reason for the loss. This work is now complete but there remain some items still to be paid for.
Refurbishment work to be carried out in January should be affordable despite the recent high expenditure.
The next six months will require careful financial oversight as we reach the nadir of funds.
Repair work has been high this year due to flood damage of the floor. This was covered by the insurance but in future we will have to pay for this due the insurance excess being increased to £5,000.
Professional fees remain high as we consult lawyers to cover the transfer to the CIO.

Accounts

This year marks the final one for the Threlkeld Village Hall Trust before the Threlkeld Village Hall CIO takes over on 1[st] December 2024. To accommodate this the end of the financial year was moved from 30[th] September 2024 to 30[th] November 2024. These accounts thus cover 14 months rather than 12.

Aside from the very large expenditure on the extension, this has been a stable year for the hall. The operating costs (see below) show a modest surplus this year compared to a small loss last year. This is gratifying and is partly a result of increased rental charges and also a return to the pre-Covid levels of hall usage if not a little more. On average the hall now brings in about £1,000 per month in rent. Credit is due to the Bookings Secretary for vigilant work in promoting the hall.

The Coffee Shop continues to do excellent work in providing a meeting place for the community and providing our single largest source of income. The accounts report this varying quite a bit but this is on account of donations being provided earlier than normal to cover the costs of the extension. The income from the rent also seems variable but this is just down to cut-off points of cash accounting. We are moving to a system where this is paid by a standing order each month so this will smooth things out. Overall, we expect the Coffee Shop to provide an income of around £5,000 per month on average. The hard work by the Coffee Shop team is keeping this on track.

Cleaning costs have settled down now, but this remains an area of concern in terms of service levels. It is most likely that this cost area will increase in the coming months as we move to a more sustainable model for cleaning provision.

Maintenance shows a significant increase this year but this was largely due to a flood in the hall in July which resulted in damage to the floor. The cost of this was largely covered by our insurance but it should be noted that our insurers have now raised our excess for this to £5,000. Effectively, we will have to cover the cost of this in future.

The only other item of note is the continuing large amount spent on professional fees. This is a result of the conversion to CIO and should be much less next year.

This year has seen the bulk of the expenditure on the extension resulting in the large loss. This was largely planned for and there is not much left to pay now.

The current position (see below) is that the charity has total funds of £81,273 as of 30[th] November 2024. Note that we operate cash accounting so the physical assets have not been included. A donation of around £22,000 from the coffee shop is expected shortly. Against this a final payment for building work, excluding the 5% retention, is expected to be £36,000 and an upper limit of refurbishment expenditure of £45,000 has been set. If these both come in at their maximum then this will leave the hall with about £22,000 in funds, sufficient for the short term but a lower balance than I would be comfortable with for the longer term.

David Evans

2[nd] December 2024

OVERALL INCOME AND EXPENDITURE

The financial year just gone was 14 months long so to ease comparison, a column with 12/14 of the amounts has been included.

Operating Costs

OperatingCosts
Operating Account
		2024(14 Months)	x 12/14	2023
Income	Bank Interest	£5.27	£4.52	£2.33
	Coffee ShopLicence	£22,400.00	£19,200.00	£15,000.00
	FITS	£3,487.11	£2,988.95	£0.00
	Hall Hire	£14,474.89	£12,407.05	£13,612.65
	Insurance Payment	£4,950.00	£4,242.86	£0.00
	RHI	£3,786.56	£3,245.62	£2,831.30

		£49,103.83	£42,089.00	£31,446.28

Expenses	Caretaking& Cleaning	(£8,989.00)	(£7,704.86)	(£7,343.00)
	CleaningMaterials	(£2,776.57)	(£2,379.92)	(£3,268.48)
	Electricity	(£10,183.86)	(£8,729.02)	(£8,954.44)
	Equipment & Fittings Projects	(£149.49)	(£128.13)	(£22.92)
	Equipment & Fittings Replacements	(£184.97)	(£158.55)	(£664.87)
	Grants	(£2,500.00)	(£2,142.86)	(£147.00)
	Insurance	(£2,033.00)	(£1,742.57)	(£1,812.41)
	IT Materials and Equipment	(£525.05)	(£450.04)	(£2,556.50)
	IT Software,Licences,Support	(£813.63)	(£697.40)	(£316.95)
	Loans	£0.00	£0.00	£75.00
	Maintenance Repairs Renewals	(£9,666.50)	(£8,285.57)	(£1,853.63)
	Marketing	(£25.00)	(£21.43)	£0.00
	Misc	(£23.50)	(£20.14)	£0.00
	Office Expenses	(£46.67)	(£40.00)	(£134.69)
	Phone & Broad Band	(£1,275.31)	(£1,093.12)	(£978.67)
	Professional Fees	(£5,021.00)	(£4,303.71)	(£3,100.00)
	Subs & Licences	(£470.22)	(£403.05)	(£423.02)
	Water & Waste	(£3,458.56)	(£2,964.48)	(£2,875.43)

		(£48,142.33)	(£41,264.85)	(£34,377.01)

Operating Surplus/Loss		£961.50	£824.14	(£2,930.73)
Other
Donations	Donations Received - CIC	£57,097.00	£48,940.29	£30,000.00
	Donations Received - Collection Boxes	£339.09	£290.65	£225.97
	Donations Received - Misc	£3,413.95	£2,926.24	£31.49

		£60,850.04	£52,157.18	£30,257.46

Extension Project	Extension Project 2020	(£166,674.83)	(£142,864.14)	(£42,893.66)

Net loss		(£104,863.29)	(£89,882.82)	(£15,566.93)

Balance Sheet

Balance Sheet
		2024	2023
Cash held	Barclays Current and High Interest	£26,489	£160,440
	Barclays Project	£45,335	£19,196
	CO-OP Current	£2,567	£0
	PettyCash	£152	£0

		£74,543	£179,636

Creditors	Net VAT due	(£77)	£6,501
	VAT - Input	£7,822	£0
	VAT - Output	(£1,015)	£0

		£6,730	£6,501

Net assets		£81,273	£186,137

Funds	Profit and loss account	£186,137	£201,703
	Net surplus/loss	(£104,863)	(£15,566)

Total Funds		£81,273	£186,137

Independent examiner's report on the accounts

Section A Independent Examiner’s Report

Report to the trustees/ Threlkeld Village Hall Trust members of

On accounts for the year 30[th] November 2024 Charity no 231380 ended (if any) Set out on pages 5 & 6 (remember to include the page numbers of additional sheets)

Responsibilities and basis of I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the above charity report (“the Trust”) for the year ended 30/11/2024

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 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 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 concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached. .

Signed: Date: 29.09.2025 Name: K Shaw

Relevant professional qualification(s) or body (if any):

Address: 12 Merlin Gardens Fareham PO16 8HB