## CROMHALL PARISH HALL AND RECREATIONAL TRUST
(CHARITY NO. 287244)
## ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING (AGM)
## TUESDAY 20[th] MAY 2025
## 7-8pm
## Annual Commitee Management Report
Welcome to Cromhall Parish Hall Annual General Meeting 2025. Jo, Kate and I look forward to sharing the annual management report with you. 2024 was all about stability, this year I am pleased to say that there has been positive, significant growth in hall activities, hire hours and overall presentation. Unfortunately, we cannot say the same about committee membership.
## Commitee and Trustee Membership
The management committee has gradually reduced over the last few years and is now down to seven members. Two of these members are Trustees and we have an additional Trustee, who is not a committee member.
Susie Gilbert and Joanna Carr share the Chair position and Kate Watson remains our Treasurer.
Susie also acts as the Booking Secretary.
Over the last year we have lost two of our committee members and have unfortunately been unable to recruit to replace them. We are actively looking for new members to either join us in an official capacity on the committee, or to volunteer at our events.
## Hire
In 2024 our average monthly bookings were 15 events per month, this year we are delighted to report that since Dec it has increased to an average of 23 events per month, in fact April 2025 was our best month ever, with 36 events; bringing welcomed extra finances. We are fortunate to continue to have several regular hirers such as Ricochet Gundog Training, Pilates, Bodydance, T@3, Parish Council and CLiNC, and now have new regulars such as karate, kick boxing and a quilting group. In March we were able to support the local primary
school at short notice, when they needed to vacate their premises due to emergency water repairs.
Returning to use the hall this year were 2 dance companies, Phoenix Learning, the Village Agent and South Glos for the West of England Mayor polling station. Private hire, typically at weekends, continues to be healthy, every month having at least 2 bookings for a party, coffee morning or family gathering.
The hall management committee has been busy with events. We have a well-established quiz night, usually run every other month. The quizzes have on occasion been accompanied by The One Pizza van or Nicky’s Street Food, making for a very popular and well supported evening event. The return of 2 events proved popular: the annual Summer Beer Festival and the Christmas Wreath Making day. It is important to us that there are activities for village residents and that events are accessible to our community, approximately 75% of hall users are local people, either from Cromhall or a neighbouring village.
Our Facebook page, Cromhall.com, banners and posters help us to communicate events, but word of mouth regularly creates new hire enquiries. We would welcome anyone who would like to run a weekly/monthly class to contact us.
We have bench-marked against other local halls and confirmed that our price is a true reflection of the current market for a hall of our size and facilities. Some local halls have increased their prices as the cost of energy increased, but we are pleased to have remained stable on this issue.
## Hirer/User Feedback
We continue to have numerous positive comments about the hall and its facilities from many of our hirers, particularly the improved exterior presentation. Last year we had feedback from one of our regulars that the floor needed buffing/polishing. We now borrow the equipment so that every 2/3 months the floor is buffed with a commercial machine, creating an improved ‘shine’ to the floor.
We have installed an additional security light above the main door to aid users in the Winter months.
One of our hirers found the kitchen to have mould growth on the crockery- to address this the committee have installed dehumidifiers to try and reduce moisture in the kitchen, toilets and store cupboard, where moisture is more prevalent during the colder months. The committee also does a twice monthly hall check (during weekends when it is not hired out). We continue to have feedback regarding the hall’s acoustics, please see the paragraph on grants for projects below, where we hope to address this.
Access to chairs and tables from the store cupboard occasionally causes difficulty for some hirers, we have created posters, with photographs on how to leave the space, so hirers can stack them more suitably for the next user.
In the last year our Google business rating has increased slightly from 4.3 to 4.5 stars (out of 5).
## Fund Raising and Grants
Fundraising over the last year has been successful, mainly due to the success of our quiz nights. We regularly have 40+ attendees come along to take part in the quiz, socialise, drink and eat. Having local food vendors to visit us on quiz nights makes sure our attendees are well fed.
We also held a successful Beer Festival in July 2024 where we were able to sell plenty of beer, cider and wine to those in the Village. We also had The One Pizza Van serve pizzas. We have investigated alternative funding streams and have set the hall up on JustGiving to receive ad hoc donations. To date, this hasn’t been hugely successful, but does give us options for raising money, without having to hold events.
In September 2024, work was completed on the exterior of the hall. This was funded mainly through a large grant from the West of England Rural Fund, but we also received generous donations from local businesses and organisations, including De Smit Medical, Tortworth Estate, Renishaw, Cromhall Parish Council and 1st Woodend Scouts. Mole Valley donated flowerpots.
More details on this project can be found in the appendix.
In the next year, we plan to continue fundraising and applying for grants from various bodies with an aim to raise enough money to make improvements to the interior of the hall, namely improving the acoustics. We plan to continue holding quiz nights and to hold another beer festival.
Gill Bailey continues to support the hall by maintaining the planters at the front - making the hall look colourful and inviting
## General maintenance
This year we signed our new lease with Tortworth Estate which covers the hall premises and exterior for the next 3 years. There are no significant changes.
We have some repairs needed to the coping stones at the front, gable-end of the building, above the exterior notice board. Frost shattering has resulted in a deterioration to the stones. Tortworth Estate have been informed, and we await their review of required work. The interior of the hall is also in need of a little refresh, including replacing the curtains.
We are ever grateful to the local residents of Cromhall, it is only with their support can we help maintain and improve this historic building for many years to come.
## Jo Carr and Susie Gilbert
Co-Chairs - Cromhall Hall Committee Management
## Appendix 1 Exterior works.
During the autumn of 2024, diggers and excavators rolled into Talbots End to dig up Cromhall Village Hall’s car park. This was in order to improve the exterior of the Hall by making it more accessible, improving the surfacing and encouraging more wildlife and biodiversity into the area.
This project was awarded a £37,400 Rural Community Grant from the West of England Mayoral Combined Authority, funded by the UK government through the Rural England Prosperity Fund. Additional funds were generously donated by Cromhall Parish Council, Renishaw, Tortworth Estate, 1st Woodend Scout Group and De Smit Medical. A proportion of the work was paid for by fundraising. So, if you’ve attended one of the popular Quiz Nights or came to our beer festival last summer - thank you for supporting your local Village Hall! The existing surface was ripped up and resurfaced with a porous tarmac. The entrance ramp was widened to allow easier access for visitors and the back of the car park was dressed with stone to make maintenance easier.
Since the construction works have been completed, committee members have installed a bug hotel, bat boxes and bird boxes to encourage more wildlife to use the area. The existing planters have also been planted with bulbs and plants to give colour and texture to the area to make it more welcoming. Additional planters are due to be donated from local
companies. The Scouts will be tasked with helping to prep and maintain the planters.
Interior work.
We also have plans to improve the acoustics in the Hall in 2025 and are currently in the process of investigating and applying for grants to fund this, and having suppliers visit the hall to quote for the works.
We are looking for more volunteers to join the Village Hall Committee or to support the Committee members during events such as Quiz Night. Anyone interested should email hall.bookings@cromhall.com for more information.
## **AGM 20[th] May 2025 – Treasurers Report**
## **CROMHALL PARISH HALL AND RECREATION TRUST**
Registered Charity Number: 287244
## **INCOME AND EXPENDITURE ACCOUNT**
|**INCOME**
Letngs
Donatons
Events
Electricity contributons/Water
refund
**Total Income**
**EXPENDITURE**
Cleaning
Rent and rates
Heat and light
Waste
Maintenance
Insurance
Subscriptons/Leases
Events
Miscellaneous
**Total expenditure**
**Net proft/(loss)**
**Cash Funds as at 31.12.24**
Current account
Pety Cash|**2024**
**2023**
Var
(red)/inc|
|---|---|
||6,468
3,935
2,533
43,179
27
43,152
4,577
4,004
573
251
63
188|
||54,475
8,029
46,446|
||930
871
59
154
31
122
3,485
2,266
1,219
629
594
35
46,911
187
46,724
642
555
87
77
139
(62)
2,314
2,026
289
190
288
(98)|
||55,332
6,956
48,376|
|||
||(857)
1,073
(1,929)|
||8,615
9,472
_(857)_
66
31
_35_|
## **Notes**
We continue to charge a £25 deposit to secure the hire date. This is refunded in full in the month following the booking subject to hall condition. The refund is netted off the hire income in the Income tab of this file.
The accounts have been prepared on an actuals basis *, no accruals or prepayments have been made - there are therefore some funds that relate to future or previous financial years.
Petty cash payments were made in 2024 - cash in hand as above
Note - a few cash items relating to 2024 were received in early 2025 which would make the net loss a profit *
£ Craft and Chat o/s payment for December 50 Frances Piper - bookings over Christmas period 300 EON refund of credit from Electricity 1,000 1,350
## **Key Variances Year on Year**
We have seen a significant year-on-year increase in booking income of 64% - this can be attributed to one off full and part day bookings for events including training, dance and celebrations. Regular weekly and monthly bookers are essential to cover our monthly running expenditure.
The committee are dedicated to running regular quiz nights and an annual drinks festival. We also received income from curry and drinks evenings, the Flower Show stall, a Wreath Making workshop and a Lego workshop. Events attributed £2.3k income, £284 higher than 2023.
Increased costs for cleaning/waste disposal/insurances were evident but in view of the increased letting income this was to be expected. Whilst electricity costs increased a refund for £1,000 due to overpayment in 2024 which was received in 2025, therefore the true increase was only c10% year on year. In addition, we have also received a refund for overpaid water costs in 2024 of £211 which covers previous years. Rent costs include a payment to Tortworth Estate of £120.
## **Maintenance and Grant Payments**
During 2024 the carpark works were completed by Cotswold Resurfacing, We were thrilled to receive a grant for the majority of the works together with donations from local organisations:
|**Car Park Costngs**
Grant - Rural England
Cromhall Parish Council
Renishaw
Woodend Scouts
Village Hall - fund raising actvites
De Smit Medical
Tortworth Estate
Total|**Quote**
£
£
37,400
750
500
1,000
3,512
1,000
2,500|
|---|---|
||46,662
46,662|
*£300 paid to Cotswold Resurfacing in next financial year - 3rd February 2025 - proceeds from Quiz night fundraiser.
## **Plans for this year 2025**
The committee will continue recruitment of regular bookers. Regular quizzes and a drinks festival have already been planned together with an afternoon tea event for the village.
We are also investigating enhancing the hall acoustics and are obtaining the appropriate tenders to support a grant application.
## **Further Information**
If anyone would like more information relating to the finances of the charity, please contact me directly - the 2024 accounts are currently being independently reviewed.
## **Kate Watson**
## **Independent Examiner's Report**
Cromhall Parish Hall & Recreation trust
ended 31[st] December 2024 which are compromised under cash accounting principles.
- Give a true and fair view of the state of the charitable company’s a�airs as at 31[st] December 2024
- Have been properly prepared in accordance with United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice
- Have been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006
Suzannah Price (Bryant)
Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA,CGMA)
07969 032119
Suzi.price11@gmail.com