Odcombe Village Hall, Old Road, Higher Odcombe, Yeovil BA22 8XP Charity Number 304602
## Secretary to the trustees: Jason Gunning Email: odcombevillagehall@gmail.com
## **Trustees Annual Report for the period**
**1st January 2025 to**
## **31st December 2025**
## **Names of the charity trustees who manage the Charity:**
|||**Trustee name**|**Office (if any)**|**Dates acted**
**if not for**
**whole year**|**Name of person (or**
**body) entitled to**
**appoint trustee (if**
**any)**|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
||1|Rachel Davies|Chairman|||
||2|Carl Johnson|Secretary|Jan to Oct||
||3|Eleanor Damon|Treasurer|||
||4|Fiona Cumming|||Parish Council|
||5|Malcolm Glover||||
||6|Margaret Clotworthy||||
||7|Donald Grey||Mar to Jul||
||8|Kelly Camm||Mar to Sep||
||9|Denise Dunford||||
||10|Tom Foot|Vice Chairman|Nov onwards||
||11|Jason Gunning|Secretary|Nov onwards||
Page 1 of 7
Odcombe Village Hall, Old Road, Higher Odcombe, Yeovil BA22 8XP Charity Number 304602
**Bankers:** NatWest, 2 Hendford, Yeovil, BA20 1TN
## **Independent Financial Examiner:**
Helen Lambshead, Acorn Accounting for Business Ltd., Room C2, 17 The Park, Yeovil, BA20 1DN – appointed 2018
## **Governance:**
Odcombe Village Hall was established by a Conveyance and Trust Deed (1989). The hall’s official opening held on 25[th] September 1971.
The hall has been extended and now comprises the foyer, main hall, committee room, kitchen, toilets (with full accessibility), a small office room and changing rooms/shower facilities for football teams and a referee. There are also several storage cupboards. The car park and recreation area outside the hall, apart from the patio, do not form part of the trustees’ responsibilities. These are managed by Odcombe Parish Council.
The hall has Hallmarks 1, 2 & 3 awarded by the Community Council for Somerset in recognition of the quality of its management, administration and compliance with legislation relating to community buildings.
## **Appointment of Trustees:**
The Trust Deed governs the appointment of trustees and the management of the charity. It allows for up to 10 elected members, 26 representative members and not more than 43 co-opted members to form the management committee. At the Annual General Meeting (AGM) Elected Members will be elected and Representative Members will be appointed by organisations that use the hall. At a constituted meeting of the committee co-opted members can be agreed.
All members of the committee shall retire at the AGM but may be re-elected or reappointed. The general committee members, Secretary and Treasurer roles are elected at the AGM. The committee at their first meeting following the AGM to elect one of their number as Chairman and Vice-Chairman.
The management committee under normal circumstances meets monthly throughout the year. The committee still needs people with the time and skills to help in running the hall. Please don’t be afraid to approach us if you feel you could help.
## **Objectives of the Charity:**
The Trust Deed requires the charity to provide a village hall for the use of the inhabitants of the Parish of Odcombe without distinction of political, religious, or other opinion including use for meetings, lectures and classes and for other forms of recreation and leisure-time activities.
Page 2 of 7
Odcombe Village Hall, Old Road, Higher Odcombe, Yeovil BA22 8XP Charity Number 304602
## **Summary of main activities in relation to the objectives:**
This year we have had a variety of regular groups that form the mainstay of our activities including Short Mat Bowls; Yoga, Pilates and Dance Classes; Craft Stitchers; Purple Patchers; Spanish; West End Dance; Football; Parish Council meetings and our own subgroups for Movie Night and Café. Between these groups, the hall has been fully utilised throughout the week, with the hall only closed for 10 days over the entire year.
Alongside our regular groups, we continue to be popular for children’s parties, private weekend functions, dance workshops, a singles bowls competition and school leavers’ parties. We have also had bookings from the Move and Groove Road Show and the Church Café. The small office is regularly made available for NHS health clinics now that it is not utilised by the Post Office. The Post Office facility is now in a mobile unit in the car park.
This year saw the successful continuation of village events including the Church’s hire of the hall for Lent Lunch, the Harvest Celebration and family church services. Our subgroup for the Fete and Flower, Craft & Produce Show attracted more members and the hall committee run a successful Games Night as well as Bingo at Easter and Christmas. These events will be back by popular demand in 2026. This year we strived to keep the community connected by holding Pop-Up Pub events whilst the village pub was closed. This proved successful with members of the community utilising the hall to meet for social evenings and on one occasion enjoying fish & chips. We plan to provide this venture into 2026 with the football team providing food at the next event.
The VE Day Celebrations in May gave the village the opportunity to come together and celebrate the end of the war in Europe, 80 years ago. Everyone enjoyed tea and cakes. We were pleased to be able to hire the hall to UKVelo for the Super 200 km cycle ride on the longest day of the year in June with participants using the Hall as part of a 200km cycle ride across the diverse landscapes of Somerset combining physical endurance and mental fortitude.
## **Achievements and Performance - 2025**
We continue to have routine maintenance and repairs done as quickly as possible. We are therefore proud to say that our hall remains in good condition, both the building and the finances, due to the diligence of the Trustees. Although once again we have lost our regular handyman.
This year we have:
- Installed a new fire shutter in the kitchen area, at a cost of £6050, due to the old one showing severe signs of wear and tear.
- Instigated the popular Pop-Up Pub nights to keep the community together until the village pub reopens.
Page 3 of 7
Odcombe Village Hall, Old Road, Higher Odcombe, Yeovil BA22 8XP Charity Number 304602
- Observed the solicitor finalise and submit the application to the Land Registry.
- Widened the team for the Fete and Flower, Craft & Produce show resulting in an upturn in profits to benefit the village.
- Maintained the planters on the patio.
- Purchased a card payment machine.
The Trustees have continued to review our policies and procedures. We have kept our costs under constant review and decided that a small increase in hire costs was necessary. The application to register the land with the Land Registry, which must be done before the hall can be formally “vested” with the Charity Commission, has been processed by the solicitors. We are awaiting finalisation by the Land Registry.
Our appreciation goes to Mark Damon, our paid handyman for undertaking our small repairs. With thanks as always to the local tradesmen who carry out our larger repairs including, Belben and Sons and Sparks Electrical. Our thanks go to Steve Long for carrying out required maintenance checks on a weekly and monthly basis and to Steve Cooke who has done some minor repairs for us. Thanks also to Alistair Graham and Fiona Cumming for continuing to maintain our planters with beautiful flowers.
The online booking system remains popular and allows our hirers to see if the hall is available through the online calendar. This has helped the hall hugely and cut down the waiting time for hirers to see if they can book the hall on their desired date.
## **Fund-Raising and Events**
The Trustees continue to run the hall lottery. Our thanks go to everyone who supports this and to Margaret Clotworthy, the trustee with responsibility for organising the running of it. The numbers have been dropping slightly over recent years, now standing at 70 members, making us a profit of £355. We would ask everyone to renew their membership and encourage others to take part. The new lottery year starts in April so please consider supporting your village hall by becoming a member. With sufficient new members we can provide larger prizes.
The Café continues to be popular, and we are very grateful to the subgroup who run it. The Café is open on the fourth Monday of the month. The group continues to share community information with their users as well as provide a welcoming place for residents to meet. This year’s profit of £1063 helps with the upkeep of the hall.
The Movie sub-group ran another successful season of films throughout the year, with fantastic choices including Wallis Island, Penguin Lessons, Mad about the
Page 4 of 7
Odcombe Village Hall, Old Road, Higher Odcombe, Yeovil BA22 8XP Charity Number 304602
Boy, Gladiator II, Paddington in Peru, the Outrun and Thelma. Our thanks go to the team for ensuring that the community continue to have a fantastic well supported cinema on their doorstep.
August saw a hugely successful Fete and Flower, Produce & Craft Show with a brilliant variety of crafts, tasters and activities, which proved to be the showpiece of our calendar. The event was given fantastic support, and everyone really enjoyed a fun day. The profit of £2,795.61 was divided between our community groups, St Peter and St Pauls Church, Odcombe Football Club, and the village hall. Thank you to the huge number of volunteers involved as it would not be possible without all the hard work and enthusiastic support.
The much-loved Halloween Disco and the Quiz Night did not take place this year but don’t despair they will be back in 2026.
Easter Bingo took place with lots of chocolate and in December we held our Christmas bingo and buffet night, which was a sell-out. Everyone that attended had a fantastic night and the superb buffet was enjoyed by all, and we offer our sincere thanks to all the volunteers who undertook these tasks. These two events made us a combined profit of £1125.
The Games’ Night was a new venture and was very successful. Whilst only making a small profit of just over £100 it will be repeated in 2026 as it was thoroughly enjoyed by all who attended, young and old!
Odcombe has its own set of carols, which have been sung in the village for around 170 years. Our thanks once again go to all the Carollers and helpers who keep this unique tradition alive by singing these traditional songs, calling greetings and collecting donations around the village each year. This year we received £374.69 from their collection of £749.38 with the other half going to Church, this will be reflected in next year’s accounts. We are extremely grateful to them and to the village for their support.
## **User Groups and Organisations**
The hall has strong links with the Parish Council and Odcombe Parish Church, with many of the church events take place within the hall. In March the church held a popular Lent Lunch, with homemade soups, and puddings, and a raffle in aid of church funds and Safe Families South-West. Their Harvest Tea in October was a well-attended event with harvest produce, a raffle, books, greeting cards and live music, tea, coffee, soft drinks and cakes in aid of the church, the Dorset and Somerset air ambulance and the Lord’s Larder.
The Football team continue to be successful in the Yeovil and District Premier League and we would encourage villagers along to their games to offer support. The team are also now selling their own merchandise to boost their funds so if you fancy an Odcombe FC umbrella, scarf, bobble hat or shopping trolley coin then get in touch with Steve Cook via the Facebook site.
Page 5 of 7
Odcombe Village Hall, Old Road, Higher Odcombe, Yeovil BA22 8XP Charity Number 304602
Our continued thanks to the Rotary Club of Yeovil for organising their Community Christmas Draw, we sell tickets, and they give us the ticket price plus 10% to help our funds. This year’s accounts show £110 as our proceeds for 2024, this year’s funds will be shown in next year’s accounts.
## **Publicity**
This year has again seen an increase in the number of members to our Facebook group, now standing at 820. We have a duty to ensure that posts are relevant to our charity as well as useful to our community so only post information related to the hall; advertising user groups, local businesses associated with the hall via our newsletter and occasionally road works that may impact on the use of the hall.
All our own events are also advertised on village noticeboards for all to see, as we realise that not everyone uses social media. We have also continued to produce and fund the village newsletter, 3 times during the year, to keep all households informed of the hall’s news and events as well as news from other village organisations. Our thanks go to businesses that advertise in the newsletter which contributes towards its costs. If your business would like to advertise, please get in touch.
We continue to be grateful to Colin Hill, Newsletter Editor, for giving his time and expertise to produce the newsletter and to Sonia Cherkas for distributing the newsletter along with our thanks to the volunteers who willingly help deliver it to your homes.
If you haven’t already done so, please join our Facebook page – Odcombe Village Hall and join our growing number of members. Not on Facebook? Then send an email to odcombevillagehall@gmail.com asking to join the advance information email group to be sent details of all our events.
## **Funding Strategy & Reserves Policy**
It is the strategy of the trustees to manage the revenue budget on a self-financing basis. The hire charges are set to achieve this and are usually reviewed on an annual basis. The charges to the regular user groups do not entirely cover the annual running costs of the hall and the committee has decided to retain this approach to minimise the costs for these groups during this year. We believe that we are still affordable in comparison to other halls whilst covering the increasing costs to run and maintain the hall.
The Trustees have a reserves policy and have agreed that an amount of £10,000 should be kept for unplanned emergencies. Interest accounts will be explored when possible.
The Trustees would like to thank their appointed accountant, Helen Lambshead for undertaking the certification of our accounts. Please see attached balance sheet and copy of her report.
Page 6 of 7
Odcombe Village Hall, Old Road, Higher Odcombe, Yeovil BA22 8XP Charity Number 304602
**Declaration** - The Trustees declare that they have approved the trustees’ report.
Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees:
Signature(s) Full name(s) Position (e.g., Secretary, Chairman etc) Date
Page 7 of 7
Odcombe Vlltsy Hall. Charlty No. 304602
Receipts and PayThRnts Accwnt. 151 January 2025 to 315t December 2025
Balan$ 61101.01.25
Nat West Current Alc
Petty Cash in hand
Movie Float
35.758
ILYJ
Retelpts
2024
Hall Lettin85
Sale of books
Lottery
Newsletter advertislng
Café
Bar stock
Carol Slngers120241
Chrlstmas Rotary Draw120241
Donatlons12025 VE Dayl Imaddlson 20241
Quiz Night
Bln80 (Easter & Chrlstmasl
Halloween Event
Sale of toddler equlpment
Games Nlght
16577
15
14,026
12
816
67
1351
462
1,329
346
132
16
262
728
iio
1750
141
178
11,744
18,811
Re¢elpts- Restrlrted Fundlnl
FetelFlower Show
Movle Nlahts
3,927
1,733
2.892
1,9n
4.864
Other Recelpts
Alzheimer's Soclety
Energy Relunds
DeposSt kept for cleanlng costs
24
24
23.699
Total PalliS
27A04
Relalned Funds Inot Pavilts}
Cancelled Hire Char8e5
Booking Deposlts
722
4.332
5,722
4,332
33,126
28,031
69.184
28,031
Odn. I confim that no material matters have
come to my attentM)n
) in nntion with
Independent
examiner's ststemont
respwx..
accounting reclxds were n(rt ke0 in axonlarte section 130 of
the Aci or
the accourrts th not &coftl *ith the Cnting records
I have no contxms and have ccxne rn no other matters in connection
wrth the exaMinatn to which attention st#)uld be drawn in order to enable
proper understanding of the xcounts to be reathed.
' Please delete the in Ihe brnd¢ets rflhey do not apply.
D*: OWOiiY)26
Name:
Mrs HM Lambsheal A¢yxn (jntln9 for Business Limrted
Relevant professlonal
qualifiGatsonls} or body
(If any):
ICPA
Address:
Acom Aco)unting, 17 The Path, Yeovil, Somerset. BA20 1DN
October 2018
Section B
Disclosure
Only compkte rf the examiner needs to hh1h1 matters of nCeM Isee CC32,
Independent examination of chanty accounts.. directions arKI guidan for
examiners).
Give here brief detsils of
any items that the
examiner wishes to
disclose
October 2018
Odcombe Vlltsy Hall. Charlty No. 304602
Receipts and PayThRnts Accwnt. 151 January 2025 to 315t December 2025
Balan$ 61101.01.25
Nat West Current Alc
Petty Cash in hand
Movie Float
35.758
ILYJ
Retelpts
2024
Hall Lettin85
Sale of books
Lottery
Newsletter advertislng
Café
Bar stock
Carol Slngers120241
Chrlstmas Rotary Draw120241
Donatlons12025 VE Dayl Imaddlson 20241
Quiz Night
Bln80 (Easter & Chrlstmasl
Halloween Event
Sale of toddler equlpment
Games Nlght
16577
15
14,026
12
816
67
1351
462
1,329
346
132
16
262
728
iio
1750
141
178
11,744
18,811
Re¢elpts- Restrlrted Fundlnl
FetelFlower Show
Movle Nlahts
3,927
1,733
2.892
1,9n
4.864
Other Recelpts
Alzheimer's Soclety
Energy Relunds
DeposSt kept for cleanlng costs
24
24
23.699
Total PalliS
27A04
Relalned Funds Inot Pavilts}
Cancelled Hire Char8e5
Booking Deposlts
722
4.332
5,722
4,332
33,126
28,031
69.184
28,031
Odn. I confim that no material matters have
come to my attentM)n
) in nntion with
Independent
examiner's ststemont
respwx..
accounting reclxds were n(rt ke0 in axonlarte section 130 of
the Aci or
the accourrts th not &coftl *ith the Cnting records
I have no contxms and have ccxne rn no other matters in connection
wrth the exaMinatn to which attention st#)uld be drawn in order to enable
proper understanding of the xcounts to be reathed.
' Please delete the in Ihe brnd¢ets rflhey do not apply.
D*: OWOiiY)26
Name:
Mrs HM Lambsheal A¢yxn (jntln9 for Business Limrted
Relevant professlonal
qualifiGatsonls} or body
(If any):
ICPA
Address:
Acom Aco)unting, 17 The Path, Yeovil, Somerset. BA20 1DN
October 2018
Section B
Disclosure
Only compkte rf the examiner needs to hh1h1 matters of nCeM Isee CC32,
Independent examination of chanty accounts.. directions arKI guidan for
examiners).
Give here brief detsils of
any items that the
examiner wishes to
disclose
October 2018