Oakley Village Hall, Charity number 300054, 2024-2025
Oakley Village Hall Chairman’s Report for 2025
It has been another successful year, with our regular bookings on an even keel we have seen a small increase in the number of children’s party bookings.
Again, we have carried out some internal enhancements this year, mainly new kitchen cupboards and a radiator, this has improved the look of our kitchen immensely.
We have only carried out essential external repairs, one pothole in the drive was patched and one of the bollards has been replaced due to vehicular damaged. We still have ongoing repairs to complete on the AC system.
We are progressing a change to our structure as a charity, but not without significant thanks to Ruth for her commitment and usual dedication, we will become a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) which will bring our status more in line with best practice; this is scheduled to take place next year.
Unfortunately, after this is done Ruth has decided to step down and take more time out for herself.
Along with myself and I’m sure the rest of the committee we will all miss her greatly she has and still is a monumental force in keeping us operating so smoothly.
The Hall was once again home to The Oakley Show, yet again another well run and supported event, thanks to Julia and her exceptional Show committee colleagues. We were also lucky enough to host the monthly Quiz run by Richard Worker for the Parish Council; this is again proving to be a huge success, filling the Hall to capacity once a month.
Thank you to the whole of the Management Committee who continue to work hard with everybody contributing, but I need to single out few people, to Simon for supporting me in my occasional absences and also for bringing his HS knowledge, to Julia for keeping us on a stable financial footing, to Ruth again, for all her exceptional secretarial skills, to both David and Jane Cooke, who still assist in the general day to day running of the hall. To Jules Taylor who not just took on the role of our Bookings Secretary but went above and beyond to completely update the way we now operate, dragging us albeit (for some that is) shouting and screaming into this modern Techno world with the ‘Hall Master’ online booking system. She too is now leaving us but as I’ve said having made it so much easier for us to tackle the future better prepared. Continuing this theme, to Katie for maintaining our presence in these ‘Social Media’ driven times and to Joan for supporting us all in all that we do.
Finally on behalf of the Committee I would like to thank Steph for her many contributions, including keeping the building clean and for providing a valuable link to our hirers - and to them, thank you, without whom we have no purpose.
Good luck for the coming year.
Paul A White Chairman for 2025
Oakley Village Hall, Charity number 300054, 2024-2025
Oakley Village Hall Treasurer’s Report - 1 September 2024 to 31 August 2025
Income:
This year our income was £37,035.09, £7,889.10 higher than last year. Lettings income was £25,699.35, £1,558.11 more than last year, partly due to the increase in hiring fees for non Oakley residents and a small rise in the number of hirings.
We received a grant of £2,967.00 from the Borough Council towards the cost of the new stage curtains.
Oakley Show made a profit of £711.22, and OSSC paid us £110 as per their access agreement. We received £167.52 in interest on our bank accounts and £7,380 in security deposits.
Expenditure:
Our expenditure was £33,638.89 which is £6,725.65 higher than last year.
Our utility bills amounted to £3,779.00 which is £240 lower than last year. We have been on fixed rate tariffs for gas and electricity and had built up some credit last year due to the way the direct debits are calculated, this will rise next year as we have new tariffs for gas and electricity both of which are higher than our previous ones.
Our music licence was £221.86, £60 less than last year due to changes in the way the charges are calculated.
Our repairs and maintenance costs decreased by £255.75.
Our cleaning costs increased by £788.50, due to increased wage rates and more hours cleaning being needed due to the number of hirings.
We spent £3,763.01 replacing the stage curtains, £120 for a key safe which is to the requirements of our insurance company, £85 for a Vax so that the upholstered chairs can be cleaned as required, £1,595 to repaint the walls under the stage and the kitchen hatch and then fit coverings to those walls to prevent further damage.
The kitchen units and radiator were replaced at a cost of £3,063.20 and we purchased a fan for £49.99 to be used in the committee room as there is no air conditioning in there.
£313.68 was paid in council tax but this is due to be refunded as we have now received discretionary relief in addition to the mandatory relief which brings our bill down to zero.
We paid £253 annual fee to use the Hallmaster booking system and £600 solicitors fees for assistance with setting up the CIO.
We paid £1,862.10 for buildings insurance.
We refunded ££6,060 in security deposits.
Investments
The overall value of our investments decreased by £81.63 due to the market price of our share account.
Summary
Overall this year our income has exceeded our expenditure by £3,396.20.
We increased the cost of hiring the hall by non-residents during this year and have advised our regular hirers that the costs for them and Oakley residents will increase from 1[st] January 2026 as we will need to cover the cost of increasing electricity and gas charges in the coming year. We received the grant from Bedford Borough Council towards the cost of replacing the stage curtains which has completed our renovation of the main hall.
Now that the kitchen cabinets and radiator have been replaced we will need to decorate the kitchen to complete the refurbishment.
Accounts and report prepared by Julia Nicholas, Treasurer.
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