**2021** ## **Bale Village Hall** # **ANNUAL REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES** ## **CONTENTS:** # **1. INTRODUCTION, REFERENCE AND ADMINISTRATIVE DETAILS** ## **2. OBJECTIVES AND ACTIVITIES** ## **3. FINANCIAL REVIEW** ## **4. STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT** ## **1. INTRODUCTION, REFERENCE AND ADMINISTRATIVE DETAILS** This is the fifth annual report of the Trustees of the charity named Bale Village Hall. It covers the reporting period January 1[st] 2021 to December 31[st] 2021. The charity was founded in 1923 and is registered with the Charity Commission for England and Wales. Its registration number is 269612. Bale Village Hall is located in the village of Bale in North Norfolk. The address of the premises is: ## . **Sharrington Road, Bale, Norfolk NR21 0QY** The following villagers served as Trustees during the whole of the reporting period unless otherwise indicated: - Margaret Dent (Chair) - Alastair Macorkindale (Treasurer) - Alison Courtney (Fabric Officer) - Anne Peppitt (Secretary) - Eileen Spooner - Maggie Thomas - Paul Turnbull - Paula Moore ## **2. OUR OBJECTIVES AND ACTIVITIES** Bale Village Hall was established in January 1923 to provide social amenities for the villagers of Bale. During the operating year 2021 the ongoing impact of the Covid19 pandemic continued to restrict our ability to fulfil our objectives for a significant proportion of the year. Social gatherings were unlawful for part of the year as the country went through different levels of restrictions to protect public health. Our first social event of the year took place in 2021 and was the annual barbecue held on the Saturday before the Bank Holiday. As it was our first social gathering since the onset of the Pandemic in March 2020 the Trustees decided to make it a free event for all villagers. It was very well attended and considered an unqualified success by all attending. We were also able to resume the monthly fish and chips social event between September and December, as well as hosting the village painting group and book group. We were able to gather for the Harvest Supper in October too, but had to cancel the regular Old Year’s Night party as a consequence of uncertainty about the likely imposition of social restrictions over the holiday period. We had also planned to implement two new developments in our amenity programme during the year, namely the the pop-up bar and the film club. Neither was possible owing to the impact of the pandemic and remain objectives for the 2022 operating year. Once these have been established we will survey villagers again to determine any future developments to the programme on offer to villagers. Our major project, begun in 2016, has been the conservation . and remodelling of our much-loved Village Hall[1] Having completed the internal conservation and remodelling, our focus was on ensuring safe access to the hall. We had therefore set ourselves the goal at the end of 2018 to continue to raise funds in 2019 to carry out improvements to the terrace and to the hard landscaping at the front of the hall in order to make access easier and safer for villagers. These projects were completed in 2020 and final payments made in 2021. Moreover, we had identified the need to undertake major works on the roof of the building, as these had not been included in the original conservation. I am pleased to report that we succeeded in securing funds to replace the roof and contractors carried out the work satisfactorily in 2021. > 1 See Bale Village Hall Annual Report 2016 for the background to this project and the Annual Reports 2017, 2018 & 2019 for subsequent progress. ## **3. FINANCIAL REVIEW** Given our inability to raise funds through social gatherings and events, our major source of funds in 2021 was a series of Government Grants to support business continuity as part of the Covid-19 resilience programme. We received a total of £17823 in the year. We were also successful in reversing a decline in membership of our 100 Club as referenced in previous annual reports. A detailed summary of income and expenditure is set out in the tables below: **Table 1: 2021 Expenditure** |**UNRESTRICTED SPEND**|**UNRESTRICTED SPEND**|**RESTRICTED SPEND**|**RESTRICTED SPEND**| |---|---|---|---| |Maintenance &
Cleaning|£533.99|Groundworks|£810| |Utilities|£1,345.96|Major
roofing
works|£7,668| |Insurance &
Inspection|£381.18|New furniture|£375| |Rates|£20.12||| |100 Club Monthly
Prize Draw|£565||| |New equipment|£290.37||| |Hospitality|£630||| **----- Start of picture text -----**
Transfer to £6,000
restricted funds
TOTAL £9,767.62 TOTAL £8,853
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## **Table 2: 2021 Income** **----- Start of picture text -----**
UNRESTRICTED FUNDS RESTRICTED FUNDS
Covid-19 £17,822.95 Transfer from £6,000
Business Grant unrestricted funds
(NNDC)
100 Club £1,080
Membership
Events and Hall £388
Hire
Electricity Rebate £159.17
Raffle £508
TOTAL £20,078.12 TOTAL £6,000
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## **Table 3: Reserves at 31/12/2021** |**UNRESTRICTED FUNDS**|**UNRESTRICTED FUNDS**|**RESTRICTED**|**FUNDS**| |---|---|---|---| |2021 Expenditure|£3,767.62|2021 Expenditure|£8,853| |2021 Income|£20,078.12|2021 Income|£0| |---|---|---|---| |2020 Reserves|£13,700.25|2020 Reserves|£3,186.33| |Transfer of funds|-£6,0000|Transfer of funds|+£6,000| |2021 Unrestricted
Reserves|£24,010.75|2021 Restricted
Reserves|£333.33| |2021 Total Reserves|£24,344.08||| In 2016, the Trustees made the decision that they would maintain a general-purpose fund of £2,000 from unrestricted reserves, and the remainder would be designated to the conservation and remodelling project, along with restricted reserves. This decision remains active. A transfer of £6,000 was made from unrestricted funds to enable payment for major works to the roof from the restricted development account funds. Trustees will continue to pursue their fundraising strategy in 2021 in order to secure funds to develop our amenity programme. We will also continue to hold our regular programme of events to ensure that our principal charitable objective is met, and our day to day operating costs are covered, subject to any further Covid-19 restrictions on business. ## **4. STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT** The charity is constituted through a simple agreement, signed on 16[th] January 1923. That agreement sets out that the Trustees shall form a committee to control the use and management of Bale Village Hall, and that vacancies shall be filled at a public meeting of villagers held annually for the purpose of electing the committee. The Village Hall Committee comprises a number of villagers. There are presently four designated “officer” positions on the Committee: chair; secretary; treasurer; and fabric officer. There is no specified maximum number of Trustees. The charity has no paid staff and all functions relating to the running of the charity are carried out on a voluntary basis by Trustees. Trustees possess a balance of skills and competencies gained through their professional backgrounds and life experience. Meetings are formal, follow a standing agenda, and minutes are taken. All decision making is collective and takes place in committee meetings following a discussion of issues. The committee would normally meet on a quarterly basis. In this reporting year we met bi-monthly in so far as Covid-19 restrictions permitted. The Trustees are responsible for all the decisions taken in relation to the charity. The renovation project has continued to present us with challenges, and we have continued to benefit from the voluntary efforts of villagers with specific professional expertise, for which the Trustees are immensely grateful.