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2022-12-31-accounts

WRITTLE VILLAGE HALL

TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPORT FOR 2022

CHARITY NAME

The John Attwood Charitable Trust

OTHER NAME CHARITY IS KNOWN BY

Writtle Village Hall

REGISTERED CHARITY NUMBER

276581

STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT

Established as a Charity under a Scheme dated 26 April 1979

The Parish Council of Writtle shall be the Custodian Trustee of the Charity.

OBJECTS

(1) The object of the Charity shall be the provision and maintenance of a village hall for the use of the inhabitants of the area of the Ancient Parish of Writtle (hereinafter called "the area of benefit") without distinction of political, religious or other opinions, including use for meetings, lectures and classes, and for other forms of recreation and leisure time occupation, with the object of improving the conditions of life for the said inhabitants.

(2) Except as hereinbefore provided the said land with the building thereon shall be held upon trust for the purposes of a village hall as aforesaid

COMMITTEE OF MANAGEMENT

Constitution: - The Committee of Management shall consist when complete of nine persons (hereinafter referred to as Members) being Three Elected Members and Six Representative Members. The Elected Members shall be appointed at the annual general meeting to be held as hereinafter provided and shall hold office from the end of the annual general meeting at which they are appointed.

Representative Members: - (1) One Representative Member shall be appointed by each of the following organisations:

The Parish Council of Writtle, The Writtle Community Association, The Writtle Playgroup, The Writtle Whist and Social Club, The Writtle (Afternoon) Women's Institute and The Writtle (Evening) Women's Institute.

(2) Each organisation shall notify the name of each person appointed by it to the secretary of the Committee.

At a meeting held on 28 October 2019, a resolution was passed unanimously by all Members present to allow the appointment of additional Representative Members by any organisation in the area of benefit not already named in this Scheme i.e. Carpet Bowls, Workers' Educational Association, Home Fayre, Essex Warriors, Writtle CARDS and Writtle Art Group.

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At a meeting held on 1 September 2021, a resolution was passed unanimously by all Members present to allow the appointment of an additional Representative Member not already named in this Scheme from Writtle Independent Gamers.

NAMES OF THE CHARITY TRUSTEES WHO MANAGE THE CHARITY

Trustee name Office (if any) Dates acted if not for
whole year		 Name of body
entitled to appoint
trustee
Mavis Awcock Writtle WI
Norman Awcock WEA and Carpet
Bowls
Roger Bailey Chair Home Fayre
Jan Irving Writtle Cards
Peter Hockaday Essex Warriors
Peter Pegg Writtle Art Group
Ian Roberts Writtle Independent
Gamers
Nora Smith Vice Chair Elected Village
Representative
WendyWalker Writtle Parish Council

OFFICERS (Employees)

OFFICERS (Employees)
Andrew Brewster Treasurer
Anna Wallerstrom Secretary From 1 March 2022 to
30 August 2022
Kirsti Feaviour Secretary From 1 September
2022

SOURCES OF ADVICE AND SUPPORT

Barclays Bank plc, 40-41 High Street, Chelmsford, Essex CM1 1BE

Rural Community Council of Essex, Threshelfords Business Park, Inworth Road, Feering, Essex C05 9SE

POLICIES AND PROCEDURES

To guide the Management Committee in exercising its duty of care to members, employees and users of the hall, the following policy statements have been adopted:

ACTIVITIES

The hall has continued its return to normal with hirings returning to their pre-Covid levels. Following the resignation of the Booking Secretary at the end of 2021, a recruitment exercise took place with an advert placed in the January 2022 edition of Writtle News. This solicited 17 enquiries and 11 applications. A panel consisting of two trustees and the Treasurer short-listed three for interview and a new Booking Secretary was appointed from 1 March. However, due to personal circumstances, the Booking Secretary resigned on 30 August. The Trustees agreed to look at the other two candidates short-listed for interview and Kirsti Feaviour was appointed on 1 September. During the period when no Secretary was in place, the role was largely undertaken by the Chair.

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The Village Hall continues to operate efficiently and to a high standard under the control of the Committee of Trustees, the Booking Secretary and the Treasurer.

The Trustees met on two occasions during the year to oversee the operation and activities of the Hall, establish resource budgets, exercise financial control and plan for its future development. A third meeting in December had to be cancelled due to illness. During the year, the Chair, Secretary and Treasurer met on several occasions.

There are some 22 organisations using the Hall on a regular basis. It is also normally used for exhibitions, amateur dramatics, private functions, birthday parties and for occasional meetings by a wide range of clubs, societies and organisations. A further 44 organisations and individuals hired the hall for one-off events

The Hall acts as a meeting room, theatre, dance and sports hall, and in order to maintain the high quality of the Hall, an ongoing programme of maintenance is in place mostly carried out by our handyman, Andy Hems.

The AGM was held on 27 April.

ACHIEVEMENTS AND PERFORMANCE

Principal Activities in pursuit of Objectives

FINANCIAL REVIEW

Day to day funds are held in a Barclays Community Account with our reserves held in a Barclays Business Premium Account earning 0.40%. 328.45 Income Shares are held in the Charities Official Investment Fund.

With a full year of operation, income from hires increased in 2022, although overall income was down by £14%.

Day to day expenditure increased by 31% (an increase of £6,078) with little in-year maintenance. The Business Rate holiday during the pandemic ended.

Hire fees for one-off hires increased in January 2022, while regular hirer rates remained the same (last increased in January 2021) but we have seen increases towards the year-end in our operating costs. The hall’s 48-month contract for gas and electricity ends in January 2023. Expected increases in cleaning costs and a large increase in the national living wage from April 2023 will mean a review of hire charges will take place early in the New Year.

Total funds at the bank at the year-end stand at £50,668.

STATEMENT OF THE CHARITY’S POLICY ON RESERVES

The Management Committee has established an agreed level of reserves that we wish to maintain. This is based on an assessment of:

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  1. The risk of incurring significant unforeseen expenditure that cannot be delayed, and the likely magnitude of such expenditure, and

  2. The risk of suffering significant unforeseen loss of income which cannot be replaced in the short term, and the likely magnitude of such a loss.

The commitment is therefore both long-term (building maintenance and refurbishment) and short-term (e.g. electricity and water, insurance and cleaning), whilst income is almost exclusively short-term and potentially volatile.

The agreed level of reserves is designed to ensure that enough short-term funds would be available in the event of one or more of these events, such that the ongoing operations of the Hall and designated project expenditure would not be affected in all but the most extreme circumstances. The risk and magnitude of unforeseen expenditure is affected by our knowledge of the state of the building, there are significant areas that could potentially require unexpected repair.

With several regular user groups and our potential fundraising activities our income is quite healthy and predictable. However, the unexpected loss of a few users would result in a loss of income that could be difficult to replace in the short-term. Taking these factors into account, the current minimum level of reserves that we wish to maintain is £20,000 comprising:

Unforeseen major repairs £15,000 Loss of income from user groups £5,000

PUBLIC BENEFIT

The Trustees have complied with their legal duty to have due regard to the Charity Commission's guidance on public benefit when exercising their duties in managing the Charity, as this Annual Report demonstrates. During the year WVHMC continued to achieve its aim of providing our community with a facility that meets a range of needs. The Village Hall is used for the purpose of physical exercise, recreation, and social and educational activities for a diverse range of the community.

DECLARATION

The trustees declare that they have approved the trustees’ report above.

Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees:

Signature(s) Full name(s) Roger Bailey Position (e.g. Chair Secretary, Chair, etc)

Date 26 April 2023

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WRITTLE VILLAGE HALL

Registered Charity No 276581

RECEIPTS AND PAYMENTS ACCOUNT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2022

Receipts
NOTE
From Trading Activities
Room hire fees
From Voluntary Sources
Donations
From Government
Retail, hospitality & leisure grant
Assets
1
Investment income
Interest on Business Premium Account
Total receipts
Payments
Staff costs
2
Utilities
Electricity
Gas
Water
Cleaning (inc consumables)
Administration
Licences (inc compliance)
Business rates
Insurance
Repairs and maintenance
General maintenance
Refuse collection
On Assets
Furniture, fixtures and fittings
Total payments
Surplus/(Deficit) for the year
Balance as at 31 December 2021
Balance as at 31 December 2022		 Unrestricted
Restricted
Total
£
£
£
28,095.75
-
28,095.75
-
20.00
20.00
-
-
-
178.26
-
178.26
38.97
-
38.97
28,312.98
20.00 28,332.98
7,722.00
-
7,722.00
1,077.93
-
1,077.93
1,244.65
-
1,244.65
2,105.50
-
2,105.50
4,428.08
-
4,428.08
8,104.63
-
8,104.63
1,183.47
-
1,183.47
171.00
-
171.00
488.44
-
488.44
1,102.64
-
1,102.64
1,972.77
-
1,972.77
551.42
-
551.42
2,524.19
-
2,524.19
81.97
55.00
136.97
25,806.42
55.00 25,861.42
2,506.56
(35.00)
2,471.56
48,146.46
50.00 48,196.46
50,653.02
15.00 50,668.02
2022		 Unrestricted
Restricted
Total
£
£
£
15,750.00
-
15,750.00
-
50.00
50.00
16,992.72
-
16,992.72
173.68
-
173.68
3.07
-
3.07
2021
32,919.47
50.00 32,969.47
8,676.10
-
8,676.10
21.29
-
21.29
1,819.99
-
1,819.99
610.94
-
610.94
2,452.22
-
2,452.22
5,416.50
-
5,416.50
760.51
-
760.51
66.00
-
66.00
-
-
-
1,038.97
-
1,038.97
1,099.08
-
1,099.08
274.06
-
274.06
1,373.14
-
1,373.14
-
-
-
19,783.44
-
19,783.44
13,136.03
50.00 13,186.03
35,010.43
-
35,010.43
48,146.46
50.00 48,196.46

Independent Examiner's Report to the Trustees of Charity of John Attwood (Writtle Village Hall) Registered Charity No. 276581 I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of Writtle Village Hall for the year ended 31st December 2022. Responsibilities and basis of report As the charity trustees 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 charity'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 confim that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination giving me cause to believe that in any material respect-. 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 concems 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. J Stobart FCCA RCCE House, Threshelfords Business Park, Inworth Road, Feering C05 9SE 5th April 2023