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MEMORIAL HALL – WOOTTON, NORTHAMPTON TRUSTEES’ REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS YEAR ENDING 31[ST] MARCH 2021

Memorial Hall – Wootton - Report of the Trustees 2020-2021

Summary

The year had been a challenge due to the measures introduced to combat the COVID-19 Pandemic. From March 23rd until 31st May 2020 the hall had been placed in total lockdown and only the essential services to maintain the hall were kept going. The trustees met on several occasions to consider the implications of various directives and agree the implementation of whatever measures were required including the purchase of specific COVID-19 items and the design and introduction of a raft of documents including risk analyses for completion by the Hall Council and its users,

especially in respect of any future return to the hall.

During June 2020, November 2020 and from January to March 2021, full lockdown periods, use of the hall was only permitted for Pre-school Playgroup under strict conditions.

The main fund-raising event of the year, the Art Festival and Exhibition, had to be cancelled.

Even when full lockdowns were not in place the severe COVID-19 restrictions, such as social distancing, resulted in greatly reduced use of the hall and, consequently a massive reduction in revenue. Thanks to the efforts of the Trustees, a series of Central and Local Government COVID-19 grants were successfully applied for ensuring that the Memorial Hall would continue to survive in trying circumstances. The Trustees are confident of a healthy future once the hall returns to normal operations, hopefully during late 2021 and into 2022/2023.

The Trustees thank the Hall Council, Hall users (especially the Pre-school Playgroup) and contractors for all their help, work and support during what has been a truly challenging time for us all.

1. Introduction

The legal requirement for the trustees’ annual report is found in section 162 of the Charities Act 2011. The Act provides that the charity trustees must prepare in respect of each financial year of the charity an annual report containing:

(a) such a report by the trustees on the activities of the charity during that year, and

(b) such other information relating to the charity or to its trustees or officers as may be prescribed by regulations made by the Secretary of State.

Reference and Administrative Details of the Charity, its Trustees and Management Committee.

(a) The name of the Trust is Memorial Hall.

(b) The Trust is a registered charity, number 304455.

The contact address of the Trust is 3 Langford Drive, Wootton, Northampton, NN4 6JY

(d) The following Trustees served, unless otherwise indicated, for the full year to 31 March 2021:

David Blackbourn (Chair)
Neil Goram (Secretary and Treasurer)
Michael Penny
Derrick Baxter
(e) The Trust has no employees but engages the services of a cleaner and a gardener.

(f) Other relevant organisations are:

Lloyds Bank Ltd. - 2 George Row, Northampton, NN1 1DJ - The Lloyds Bank Accounts are held in the name: Wootton Memorial Hall Council
Auditor: Farrelli Paul & Co – 14 Resthaven Road, Wootton, Northampton, NN4 6LR
Structure, Governance and Management

(a) The Trust was registered with the Charity Commission as a standard registration on 21[st] November 1962 and is governed by the Declaration of Trust created 23[rd] September 1931. The Trust is an unincorporated association (Charitable Community Facility)

(b) The Management Committee, which operates under the title of ‘Wootton Memorial Hall Council’, hereinafter referred to as ‘Hall Council’, is currently comprised of six (6) permanent elected members, all of whom are volunteers plus two (2) appointed members who, in turn, are nominated by their membership to represent organisations that regularly use the village hall, and have done so for many years –Wootton WI (Women’s Institute) and Wootton Pre-school Playgroup.

The current Trustees of the charity make up 50% of the Hall Council members.

Under the Scheme of Governance:

• Elected members of the Hall Council are appointed at the annual general meeting held in May by those inhabitants of the parish of Wootton and surrounding neighbourhood who are over 18 years of age and who attend.

• Appointed members are nominated by their organisation’s management committee and their appointment will be effective from the latter of the date of their appointment’s notification to the Hall Council and the Memorial Hall’s Annual General Meeting.

• All Hall Council members will serve until the next annual general meeting and may serve further terms. Within these prescriptions, the Hall Council seeks to secure the nomination and election of members who will:

provide the wide range of skills appropriate to managing the Hall effectively and efficiently; and
o act diligently and conscientiously to fulfil the objects of the Trust
New Trustees will be appointed by the Hall Council on the resignation or other loss of a current Trustee or if a serving member of the Hall Council expresses an interest in becoming a Trustee AND the Hall Council accepts that the number of Trustees should be increased accordingly. All new Trustee applicants must be nominated and seconded by incumbent Hall Council members. Nominations are then discussed by the Hall Council at a Special Meeting at which appointment(s) is (are) made in line with current voting rules and become effective immediately.

(c) New Trustees and Hall Council members are provided with the information they need to serve. Induction is provided by participation in the activities of the Hall Council.

(d) The Hall Council elects a Chair, Secretary and Treasurer, aims to meet at least six times a year as a minimum and actively undertakes the management and administration of the Hall including the role of bookings manager. The current Chair undertakes this particularly important role voluntarily. The Council engages a regular cleaner and a gardener on a paid basis and other paid building and maintenance services as needed. Trustees are not paid for their services.

(e) The Trust has no connections with other charities other than by association with those who co-incidentally are users of the hall. The relationship with other parties is set out above in the appointment procedures.

4. Objects and Activities

(a) The object of the Trust is the provision and maintenance of a village hall for use by the inhabitants of the parish of Wootton and surrounding neighbourhoods without distinction of political, religious or other perspectives including use for:

Meetings, lectures, classes, clubs, social gatherings
Other forms of recreation and leisure-time occupation with the object of improving the conditions of life for the inhabitants.

(b) The Trust seeks to fulfil its objectives:

by maximising bookings from as wide a range of users as possible with priority given to local and regular hirers;
by maintaining the attraction of the Hall in a competitive market;
by preserving the security and cleanliness of the Hall;
by the good upkeep of the Hall’s decoration, plant and fittings.
Hiring Agreement: Use of the Village Hall is subject to a hiring agreement which must be signed by the hirer when booking. The hiring agreement sets out the conditions of hire and identifies the respective responsibilities of each party to the agreement. Additional COVID risk assessments and terms & conditions were drawn up to enable hirers to safely use the hall during the pandemic and in line with Government guidelines. Special purchases of equipment were made (e.g. hall fogging machines) along with the installation of specific signage and the introduction of regular deep cleaning activities to ensure that all users of the hall remained safe throughout the various lockdowns and partial lockdowns imposed.
Licences: The Hall is licensed by PPL PRS Ltd (Phonographic Performance Ltd and Performing Rights Society) for live and recorded music.
Insurance: The Memorial Hall is insured with a comprehensive all risks policy by ‘Insure Your Village Hall’ which includes the following cover:
buildings and accidental damage with a sum insured of £553,000
contents (up to £14,132)
public liability (£5,000,000)
business interruption up to 12 months (£25,000)
trustees’ indemnity (£100,000)
property owners’ liability (£5,000,000)
personal accident (up to £10,000)
legal expenses (£1,000,000)

The Hall Council recognises that it is under a legal obligation to protect the building, its users, contractors and volunteers through adequate and appropriate insurance.

Building and External Works Issues

Regular maintenance checks on the condition of the building and surrounding hard and soft landscapes were carried out and the Hall Council arranges for works to be undertaken, following quotation, by using local labour, wherever reasonable. One item tackled during the year was the regular severe flooding/leaking experienced from the flat roof above the Gents toilet.

Additional regular checks were made on the condition of the defibrillator battery as were annual maintenance activities including commissioning the Gas Safety Report, Fire -fighting equipment inspection and Portable Appliance Testing (PAT). In addition it should be noted that an Electrical Installation Condition Report is commissioned every 3 years.

In addition, because the hall was left empty for lengthy period during the year, due to various lockdowns, the Hall Council recommended and oversaw the installation of an alarm system.

9. Achievement and Performance

Although regular and ad hoc hirers were rarely able to use the hall during this financial year, due to the COVD pandemic, we continued to benefit from frequent use by the Pre-school Playgroup, often solely to provide services for the children of key workers. Some of our regular hirers did return when able, but some organisations that had a majority of older participants were reluctant to return and others had their numbers of participants severely restricted through COVID government regulations such as, for example, those in operation in respect of social distancing applied to dancing and fitness classes. However, looking forward, the Trustees anticipate that the majority of the regular users will return along with increased ad hoc hiring activity as inhabitants look to celebrate their regained freedoms

10. Financial Review

(a) Reserves

The Trust does not maintain specific reserve funds but relies on maintaining savings to provide a healthy reserve of cash.

(b) Investment Policy

The Trustees consider that they have a duty to minimise investment risk. Since we are exempt as a charity from corporation tax on our investment income there is an investment in both an instant access savings account with very low interest and a 32-day access account which had slightly higher interest but was affected by the downturn in interest rates during the pandemic. For the future there will be a regular review of the investment opportunities to maximise interest with low risk. The Treasurer’s account, whilst used to provide immediate funds for emergencies and monthly operating costs, is likely to see a reduction in the amount held in order to generate additional interest via transfer to premium savings accounts once the financial situation is more stable.

(c) Financial results Year ending 31[st] March 2021 were out of line with previous years. The pandemic had a serious impact on the revenue produced from the normal sources of hall hire and fund-raising events, none of which could take place. As a result, revenue from those sources was reduced by 48% to £9004. However, we were able to meet all our financial commitments including the unplanned investment in COVID-19 risk mitigation measures and, thanks to the Trustees successful application for central and local government COVID-19 grants that were on offer for all village halls, (£18587 in total), overall gross income rose to £27608 whilst expenditure fell by 52% to £9807. This resulted in a net profit of £17801. This will provide for future opportunities to make further investment in savings and hall renovation and maintenance projects to enhance the offering to the inhabitants.

11. Future Plans

A project to replace the fencing between the hall grounds and the adjoining primary school grounds will be the initial opportunity to make use of the net profit from this financial year. Further projects will be identified and then reviewed to ensure that they bring maximum benefit in line with the Charity’s objects.

12. Public Benefit

The Village Hall is a community building for the pursuit of art, culture, recreation and sport, and a facility in which the community is able to hold various events, celebrate personal milestones and allow clubs and societies to flourish, which benefit not only people in the much expanded and still growing Parish of Wootton but also the wider community.

Trustees’ Responsibilities in relation to Financial Statements and Accounting Records

The Trustees are responsible for keeping proper accounting records which disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the Trust and enable them to ensure the financial statements comply with the Charities Act. They have a general responsibility for taking such steps as are reasonably open to them to safeguard the assets of the Trust and to prevent fraud and other irregularities.

Because the income and structure of the Trust means that there is no imperative to audit the finances, however, the Trustees have decided that this process should be carried out annually in conjunction with the production of yearend accounts. A full balance sheet is therefore produced and can be viewed, if required. However, in line with the provisions of the Charities Act, this report includes only the Profit and Loss Account together with an auditor’s statement, produced in order to meet the Receipts and Payments submission requirements.

PRIVATE AND CONFIDENTIAL

MEMORIAL HALL COUNCIL - WOOTTON

ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED

31ST MARCH 2021

MEMORIAL HALL COUNCIL – WOOTTON

AUDITORS REPORT

In accordance with instructions received we have prepared, the Accounts for the year ended 31 March 2021 from the books, vouchers, information and explanations supplied by the committee. We find it to be in accordance therewith.

Farrelli Paul& Co 14 Resthaven Rd., Wootton, North ampton NN46LR, Tel 01604 764946

FARRELLI PAUL & co

201

14 Resthaven Road Wootton Northampton Northamptonshire NN4 6LR

Memorial Hall Council Wootton

Profit and Loss Account For The Year Ended 31st March 2021

INCOME General Hiring Donations/COVID-19 Grants Interest Received Fund-raising Art Festival Fund-raising EXPENDITURE Fund-raising Art Festival Costs Gas & Electricity Postage & Stationery Water and Rates (NBC) Insurance Fees, Licences & Subscriptions Repairs & Maintenance Renovations Cleaning, Refuse Collection, Hygiene Sundry Expenses Audit & Secretarial COVID-19 Expenditure NET PROFIT/(LOSS)	2021 9004 18587 17 0 0 _ 27608 0 0 1501 8 911 753 509 2132 0 2756 199 120 918 _ 9807 17801		2020 16287 642 45 0 1188 _ 18162 28 736 1646 0 697 753 433 2191 8444 4883 351 180 0 _ 20342 (2180)

2021-03-31-accounts