Cogenhoe & Whiston Parish Council sole trustee of Cogenhoe & Whiston Village Hall & Playing fields (registered charity 304168) Annual Report
Sad News
I wish to report the very sad news that in February a very long standing member of the committee died. Maurice Jaynoy had been involved in the village hall committee for literally decades. He had been (amongst other things) vice chairman during the long time that Terry and Suzanne Tarpley were involved with running the hall and playing fields. He continued when I took over as chairman as the football club representative. We very much benefitted from his input into many meetings. He was keen to continue his membership after the closing of the football club so we then co-opted him onto the committee.
He will be much missed.
Hall Management Committee
The committee consists of 4 parish councillors (under my chairmanship) and representatives from village organisations and significant village hall users. The 4 parish councillors are Grubb,
Scott, Wootton and Darby. The Clerk to the Parish Council (Deborah Rush) is also clerk to this committee. We meet bi-monthly in a public meeting at the hall.
Other members represent village organisations and the main users of the hall. These include St Peter’s Church, Cogenhoe Cricket Club, Ladies Fellowship, Cogenhoe and Whiston Heritage Society and Cogenhoe Pre-School. A further villager has been co-opted as environmental lead.
The members are nominated each year by their organisations and formally appointed at the first village hall committee meeting after the Annual Council meeting.
The hall and playing fields operate as a charity with a single management trustee (the parish council) and as such is run financially separate from the parish council but under the auspices of the council. No money has been provided by the parish council to the village hall.
Café
On 25[th] August 2023 a new proprietor commenced running a cafe at the village hall for an initial term of 3 years. This was subsequently named the Communita café. The owner (Dale Cheney) tried hard to make it a success with the support of the village hall committee but sadly he decided for various reasons that he wished to close on the 7[th] March 2025.
The village hall committee advertised the York Room and kitchen as being available for anyone use as a café (or whatever). A new proprietor (Becki Clifton) has subsequently agreed to run a café (Clifton’s Coffee Shop) . A new lease was signed (with similar terms to the previous café owner) and she opened on the 10[th] of May.
Becki is also now providing food to the Community Lunch and has generally been very well received. Unfortunately on the 15[th] June the fire alarm in the village hall was activated as a large amount of smoke had been coming from the kitchen. The fire brigade were called, they put out the smouldering cardboard quickly and established that it was a complete accident. Some smoke damage was caused to the kitchen and one appliance. This caused us to cancel the pre-school for one day along with small number of other hall users. We expect the café to re-open shortly.
Finances
The finances of the hall are generally a lot better than previous years. This is down to two main reasons; the electricity costs have very much reduced and we have a greatly increased use of the hall by occasional bookings like children birthday parties.
All charity commission requirements have been met.
Improving Energy Efficiency
We estimate we have so far saved over £12,000 in electricity costs with the installation of the solar panels between Aug 23 and Feb 25. The main hall doors were replaced following a further grant.
Cricket Club
The cricket team continues to use the playing field with success on the field. The 1[st] team successfully competed in a higher league The cricket club now runs junior teams (primarily during term time).
The state of the playing field grass is in much better condition than for years primarily due to the regular cutting by the club during the year.
After much discussion with the supplier of the cricket wicket (Total Play) and the Northants Cricket Board (NCB) it was agreed that the parish council would pay for the maintenance of the cricket wicket until 2031 and that a grant would be obtained from the NCB to pay for this. This has happened and the payment for the maintenance from 2021 - 2026 has been made.
Football pitch
We have continued with our existing football team (Delapre FC) and had no significant problems with their use.
We have welcomed Strike coaching who run a regular weekly Saturday morning club and also TFA youth who play on a new youth pitch on a Saturday morning.
Changing Rooms Project
The changing rooms are showing their age. We developed plans for their renewal. We have had a recent grant of £5,000 towards the changing rooms from the Garfield Weston Foundation. Work continues to get further grants to improve the facilities as this does not cover the whole work. In the meantime we will use the grant to make smaller improvements to the changing rooms
.
Hall Bookings
The pre-school and café facility are the prime users of the facilities. Thanks to the efforts of our Parish Clerk (Deborah) and the improved hall facilities, we have had another significant rise in the number of bookings for the hall over the last year compared to last.
Community Outreach
This is managed through the parish council.
Other small projects
Purchased 3 large storage cabinets for the main hall.
Purchased push taps for the ladies toilets and outside cigarette butt bin.
Football nets replaced after many years use.
The drains have become regularly blocked. £3,700 was spent sorting them.
We received a grant for a Monkey Challenge wall to be installed adjacent to the play area. This was installed on the 3[rd] June and is already being used regularly by the local children.
A badminton court was permanently painted on the floor of the main hall in April following a request from a local resident. Regular badminton is now being played in the hall.
The hall now has an online booking service that a user can check availability and request a booking through the clerk.
A large number of baffle boards were donated to the hall (free of charge). In the summer holidays they will be installed around the walls of the main hall. These should significantly reduce the ‘echo’ in the hall.
Nearly all the screens in the main hall have had wheels attached to them making them much easier to move around the hall.
Future projects
Other potential projects (subject to funding) could include a meeting room extension, a new heating system or tarmacing the car park.
Reminder
All meeting minutes are published on website and all council meetings are public and held in Village Hall. Dates are published on Parish Council website.
Jon Bailey (Chairman Cogenhoe and Whiston Village Hall and Playing Fields Committee)
Cogenhoe & Whiston Parish Council Sole Trustee of Cogenhoe & Whiston Village Hall & Playing Fields End of year accounts 31.3.25 Registered Charity 304168
| Cogenhoe & Whiston Parish Council Sole Trustee of Cogenhoe & Whiston Village Hall & Playing Fields | Cogenhoe & Whiston Parish Council Sole Trustee of Cogenhoe & Whiston Village Hall & Playing Fields | Cogenhoe & Whiston Parish Council Sole Trustee of Cogenhoe & Whiston Village Hall & Playing Fields | Cogenhoe & Whiston Parish Council Sole Trustee of Cogenhoe & Whiston Village Hall & Playing Fields | Cogenhoe & Whiston Parish Council Sole Trustee of Cogenhoe & Whiston Village Hall & Playing Fields |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| End ofyear accounts 31.3.25 | Registered Charity304168 | |||
| Income | ||||
| Cricket club rent | £1,835.00 | |||
| Cafe rent | £7,442.19 | |||
| Pre-School fees | £13,852.00 | |||
| DogClubs fees | £3,796.00 | |||
| Field hire fees | £2,986.00 | |||
| Regular Hirers fees | £5,958.50 | |||
| casual hire fees | £4,620.77 | |||
| Grants | £20,240.00 | |||
| Other | £2,406.28 | |||
| Deposits | £1,448.10 | |||
| Vat refund | £4,695.49 | |||
| £69,280.33 | ||||
| Expenditure | ||||
| Waste services | £962.50 | |||
| Bank charges | £132.10 | |||
| Hygiene services | £337.92 | |||
| Electricity | £2,163.36 | O/S invoice c £8,000 | ||
| Cleaningcosts | £6,224.43 | |||
| Water charges | £1,256.99 | £300 allotments credit £184.82 net £772.77 | ||
| Oudoor maintenance | £9,054.27 | £3370 Wicket fromgrant,£3600 drains,£530 lights | ||
| Insurance | £4,017.18 | Refund | £1908.78 net £2108.40 | |
| Maintenance/supplies | £2,414.25 | |||
| Staff | £7,586.91 | |||
| Environmentalprojects | £9,676.28 | Doorsgrant receivedprevious 2023/24 | ||
| Membership | £398.00 | |||
| Other | £345.20 | |||
| VAT | £5,302.20 | |||
| Refund deposits | £1,470.00 | |||
| PC re PWLB | £2,446.58 | |||
| £53,788.17 | ||||
| Surplus foryear | £15,492.16 | £16,196 ringfencedgrants | ||
| £8,000 electricityo/s | ||||
| Reconciliation of bank balances foryear ended 31 March 2025 | ||||
| Openingbalances 31.3.24 | £26,003.18 | |||
| Total income foryear | £69,280.33 | |||
| Less Total expenditure for theyear | £53,788.17 | |||
| £41,495.34 | ||||
| Represented by | ||||
| Current account | £29,762.98 | |||
| Reserves | £11,732.36 | |||
| £41,495.34 |
CHARITY COMMISSION FOR ENGLAND AND WALES Independent examiner's report on the accounts Section A Independent Examiner's Report Report to the trusteesl members of Arlb kJHIsT(*l VILL46g Aru PLAyirf6 fi£s On accounts for the year ended 31 m4RcI4 2£)S Charity no (if any) Set out on pages I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the above charity {Yhe Trust? for the year ended Responsibilities and As the charity trustees of the Trust. you are responsible for the preparation basis of report of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities A 2011 (Ihe Acr). I report in respect of my examination of the Trust's accounts carried out under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying out my examination. I have followed the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5Xb) of the Act. I have c(Mnpleted my examination. I confirrn that no material matters have come to my attention (other than that disdosed below ") in connection vath the examination vthich gives me cause to believe that in. any material respect: accounting records were rKIt kept in accordance with section 130 of the Act or the accounts th) nol a¢c(wd with the accounting reGords Independent examinerfs statement I have no Con1 ald have come across no other matters in connection with the exami proper unders 4}ionjto whith attention should be drawn in order to enable of the accounts to be reached. ' Please dele rds in the brackets rf they do not apply. Signed: Date: Name= Relevant professional qualification(s) or body (if any): fflAAr Addrnss: PISSIS ccoun an IER October 2018
Section B Disclosure Only complete rf the examinei needs to highlight matters of co[M (see CC32. Independent examination of chaiity accounts: direclions and guidance for eMine[S). Give here brief details of any items that the examiner wishes to disclose. IER October 2018
Cogenhoe & Whlston Parlsh Coundl Sole Trustee of Cogenhoe & Whiston Willage Hall & Playing fields End of year accounts 31.325 Registered Charity 304168 Income Cricket club rent Cafe rent Pre-school fees Clubs fees Field hire fees Regular Hirers fees casual hire fees Grants Other Deposits Vat refund £1,835.00 £7.442.19 £13.852.00 £3.796.(K) £2.986.IX) £5.958.50 £4,620.77 £20,240.00 £2.406.28 £1.448.10 £4,695.49 £69.280.33 Expenditure Waste servi Bank charges Hygiene servi Electricity Cleaning costs Water tharges Oudoor maintenan Insuran maintenanlSupplieS Staff Environmental projects Membership Other VAT Refund deposits PC re PWLB £962.50 £132.10 £337.92 £2,163.36 OIS Invol c £8.LMN) £6.224.43 £1.256.99 () allotments credit £184.82 net £772.77 £9,054.27 £3370 Wicket from grant. £361M) drains. £530 lights £4.017.18 Refund £1908.78 net £2108.40 £2,414.25 £7.586.91 £9.676.28 Doors grant received previous 2023124 £398.00 £345.20 £5.302.20 £1,470.00 £2.446.58 £53.788.17 £15A92.16 £16.196 ringfenced grants £8.000 electricity 0/5 Reconciliation of bank balances for year ended 31 March 2025 Surplus for year Opening balances 31.3.24 £26,(MJ3.18 Total income for year Less Total expenditure for the year £69.280.33 £53.788.17 £41A95.34 Represented by Current account Reserves £29.762.98 £11,732.36 £41A95J4