Hempnall Village Hall
Annual Report for 2024
Charity name, number, address
Hempnall Village Hall (303971) Bungay Road Hempnall Norfolk NR15 2NG
Trustees
Damian Ashcroft (chair) Laura Johnson Janette Franks (treasurer) Christine Tunmore Sarah Batchelor (secretary) Carin Nutt Yvonne Davy Ned Potts Elizabeth Allen Joanne Cann Gill Edden Kevin Walker Margaret Sparham Belinda Newstead David Tooms
Structure, Management, Recruitment of Trustees
The charity is de facto the village hall facility (‘the Hall’). This is made up of the village hall building, the surrounding car park, a small adjoining grass area and facilities within the building.
The village hall is run by the Village Hall Committee (ie the trustees). The committee meets every 6 weeks. Standing agenda items include Finances, Bookings, Health/Safety, Hall exterior, Hall interior. An Annual General Meeting is held usually in November; this is advertised locally so that anyone interested in the running of the hall can attend. Unfortunately in 2024, like 2023, no one outside the main committee joined the meeting.
The Hall employs 2 part time cleaners and a part time booking clerk.
The trustee role is a voluntary one. All trustees are local to South Norfolk and are on the committee as a representative of one the main user groups of the Hall; or have been invited to join the committee by existing trustees.
Purpose
The purpose (and standing objective) of Hempnall Village Hall is to provide a benefit to the residents of Hempnall and surrounds through the provision of a village hall facility. The charity aims to offer
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A clean, safe building in a good state of repair
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Affordable hire charges for the use of the facilities for local groups (local users pay cheaper hire charges)
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A facility that is used by a broad section of residents for different activities
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A facility that is financially well managed and self sufficient
Performance
One of the key metrics looked at by the committee is the bookings for the hall. Bookings in 2024 were very healthy with the hall being used on most days and typically with around 30 separate bookings a week. Bookings range from a very popular art club, to a youth football group in school
holidays, to Yoga/Pilates classes.
Bookings in November 24
Feedback from users is important. A regular comment from people who hire the hall for parties (and may not therefore be regular users) is what a ‘great facility’ the hall is.
The view of the committee is that the hall is performing well against it’s main purpose but that it should always seek to encourage more users, especially younger residents.
Finances
The Hall has 3 main sources of income
Hire Charges
Feed in Tariff payments from solar panels on the hall roof Profit from any bars run for events in the hall
Contd
Income months
against expenditure for 12 to Nov 24
Much of the difference between 2023 and 2024 is due to timing in receipt of hire income and Feed In Tariff payments.
Reserves
The hall does not have any debts; and money held in accounts at the end of Nov 24 was
The hall does not have a formal reserve policy. This is being actively discussed by the committee and it is likely to adopt a policy of holding a minimum reserve of £15,000 and a maximum reserve of £20,000.
The committee is currently pursuing a project to install further solar panels and battery storage for the hall. This is likely to cost around £15,000 and will be mainly funded from the hall’s reserves.
Damian Ashcroft 18 August 2025