2021-12-31-accounts

Ashtead Peace Memorial Hall

Ashtead Peace Memorial Hall

Annual Report and Accounts 2021

Ashtead Peace Memorial Hall Registered Charity number 304968

Woodfield Lane, Ashtead, Surrey, KT21 2BE

Annual Report and Accounts 2021

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Ashtead Peace Memorial Hall

Report of the Trustees

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Reference and administrative information

The Trustees

Mr Ray Cane	Representing	Ashtead U3A
Mrs Eileen Close	Representing	Woodfield Entertainers
Mrs Jean Law	Representing	Ashtead Choral Society
Mr Lew Lievesley	Representing	Ashtead Players
Mr Simon Ling	Representing	Mole Valley District Council
Mrs Gill Northcott	Representing	Ashtead Flower Arrangement Group
Mrs Rosemary Stark	Representing	Ashtead Women’s Institute
Mrs Diane Stirling	Representing	Ashtead Residents’Association
Mrs Pam Ventham-Smith	Representing	Friends of Ashtead Village Hall
Mrs Judi Whitmarsh	Representing	The Arts Society Ashtead
Mrs Jane Hiley	Elected
Mr Tony Williams	Elected
Mr Derek Harwood	Elected
Mrs Pat Reynolds	Co-opted
Mr Alan Reilly	Co-opted	Changed role with Simon Ling in 2021

The Executive Committee (Officers)

Chairman	Mrs Jane Hiley
Secretary	Mrs Rosemary Stark
Treasurer	Mr Tony Williams
Maintenance Co-ordinator	Mr Derek Harwood

	Staff
Caretaker	Mr Johannes (Hanno) Dreyer / Mr. J.P Fensham from Sept.21
Booking Manager	Mrs Sue Hawksfield
Relief Caretaker	Mr Adrian Dreyer / Mr Russell MacFarlane

Independent Financial Examiner

Mrs Elisabeth Storey FCA

Annual Report and Accounts 2021

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Ashtead Peace Memorial Hall

Structure, Governance and Management

The Hall is governed in accordance with The Charities Act 2011; a Trust Deed of 1926 (as amended by a Scheme of 1937; a Scheme of 1962; a Supplemental Order of 1974 and a Memorandum of Amendments of 2009). The Governing Document, first published in 2007, is not a legal document but it incorporates all the intentions of the above and functions as the governing document of the charity. During 2015 this Governing Document was reviewed, updated and approved by the Trustees. It was revisited in 2020 and approved again.

The Hall is managed by a Committee of Management consisting of up to 12 (Representative) Trustees nominated by user organisations, up to 4 (Elected) Trustees elected by Ashtead residents at the AGM and up to 4 (Co-opted) Trustees co-opted by the Committee. The names of the Trustees serving in the year are noted on page 2. The Committee of Management annually elects their officers - Chairman, Secretary, Treasurer and Maintenance Co-ordinator, and delegates to them day-to-day responsibility for running the Hall (Operations Committee). The names of the Officers serving in the year are noted on page 2. Permanent staff of the Hall are the Caretaker, Bookings Manager, and two Relief Caretakers. The Bar is managed independently by a Franchisee, currently Mr George Gregory.

Object of the Trust and Public Benefit

The original Trust Deed of 1926 states that the Hall shall be “used in perpetuity for the benefit of the inhabitants of the said Parish of Ashtead”. In practice this means that the Trustees “own” the Hall but only for maintaining it for the benefit of residents. It is a legal requirement under the Charities Act 2011 that this report demonstrates that there is a significant public benefit deriving from the Trustees’ activities. The benefit in this case is that the Hall is maintained, and the facilities are used by many different organisations, each of which satisfies its own public benefit requirements. The objects of these user organisations cover a variety of the charitable purposes described in the Charities Act including, but not limited to, the advancement of education and training, the advancement of health or of saving lives, sport & recreation and the advancement of the arts, culture, heritage or science. This results in a public benefit to a wide cross-section of the local Community. The Charity Trustees have therefore complied with their duty to have due regard to the guidance on public benefit.

Trustees’ Remuneration

All Trustees give of their time voluntarily and receive no remuneration or other benefits.

Financial Review

The Treasurer’s Report and the Accounts of the Trust are set out on pages 6 to 11.

Policy on Reserves

The Trustees have decided to maintain a general contingency reserve of approximately six months expenditure to cover the risk that the Hall must close for a period, for the present they have decided on £40,000. In addition, funds have been set aside to prepare for ongoing costs particularly in relation to “Wish List” planned maintenance items. Information on these is to be found in the accounts.

Annual Report and Accounts 2021

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Ashtead Peace Memorial Hall

Chairman’s Annual Report

When 2021 began we continued to be in the grips of the pandemic an outcome which few had predicted when the pandemic started. Users of the hall were making many adjustments both at home and in their opportunities to meet socially. The Hall was being used by those still permitted under government guidance but many of our regulars had to rethink their plans.

2021 proved to be very challenging for us as a management committee in consequence. It is in my view only through the amazing resilience and generosity of the Trustees that we have been able to find a way through and remain viable as a hall.

To add to our concerns, we heard in January of the Death of Blanche Douglass whose support for the hall had been legendary. Also during the year there were other notable friends who passed away and each of them were missed.

The hall was mostly closed in the early part of 2021, and the staff furloughed. Meetings were being held on zoom, a technology with which people have become all too familiar during the last two years.

Meanwhile routine maintenance such as the kitchen deep clean were continued and work done on IT equipment and the bar holding the lights on the stage. This time was seen as an opportunity to check out the hall and tidy up areas which needed overhauling but since we were also subject to lockdowns and restrictions the pace of action was quite slow.

A highlight in February was the arrival of the Flower Club Bench outside the hall, small victories seemed to be so important when there were so many challenges to endure. The other bench remains in reasonable condition and will be reviewed regularly so that it is replaced before it becomes unsafe.

At this time, we were planning for a second AGM on zoom and concerned about the financial implications of prolonged closures. We became very grateful for the grant funding which the treasurer will confirm in his part of our report.

We were also grateful during this time for the work being done by Ray Cane on the office software and also for the work of our Bookings Manager Sue Hawksfield, who was dealing with the day-today requests and cancellations of bookings. Everything seemed so uncertain it was hard to find the right way forward, but the Trustees were amazing – they kept positive and focused using the zoom meetings to continue meeting but keeping safe.

During May we were able to complete the work on the stage lighting bar which had to be made compliant with the latest safety regulations. We were extremely grateful to the Friends of the Village Hall for providing funds to cover this large, but essential, expense.

Our fund-raising team, undaunted, were thinking of ways of making up for lost funds and came up with the idea of an Ashtead Trail. It was a very successful event and lifted our spirits as many people took part – socially distanced and suitably refreshed. It helped to keep us focused on the hall and how we can support one another during challenging times.

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Annual Report and Accounts 2021

Ashtead Peace Memorial Hall

In June we were dealt another blow when our much-loved secretary became very unwell and spent a long time in hospital. She has been the backbone of the hall for many years and was sorely missed. Fortunately for us all a good friend Anne Bailey stepped up to help as not only was Rosemary unwell, but we could not easily access her or her expertise. No visiting allowed!

And then, just when you might think we had had our fair share of challenges, our Caretaker of many years decided that this was the time to leave the hall for pastures new. Hanno, Lyndal and Adrian had lived in the Flat above the hall for 17 years and so we were left with not only the task of finding a replacement caretaker but also of refurbishing the Flat.

This meant that we had to assist them to move out and help with temporary storage of personal belongings while preparing for an upgrade of the flat for which we had not budgeted but proved to be essential. The decision was made to do the job properly, rather than make do and mend, as we hope that the new caretaker and his family will be with us for some years to come. The Trustees see this work as an investment in the property of the hall and they will be continuing to keep a close eye on the flat from now on.

We were very fortunate that Hanno’s leaving coincided with the arrival of JP Fensham who started as relief caretaker and has now taken on the full-time residential caretaker role. He also took on the work of supervising the relief caretakers in Rosemary’s absence. This is something he is continuing to do under the supervision of the Management team as it is found to be the best way forward for the staff themselves.

When, thankfully, Rosemary recovered and returned to us in the Autumn, she considered her position and has decided to step down from the role of Secretary to the hall and remain on the Trustees as the representative of the WI for the next three years. This meant a search for a suitable replacement which is ongoing at this time. The new person will work alongside Rosemary as they settle into the role, and we will be delighted to welcome him/her when they join us.

Meanwhile the rest of the staff and Trustees were pleased to see that gradually things began to get back to a new normal in the latter part of 2021. Bookings opened up again and people consulted their group members and many groups started again following all the latest guidance.

We ended the year feeling a lot more optimistic than we had started it and we now look forward to 2022 being a more stable and encouraging year for all. We look back and mourn the loss of those who died during the year, both of Covid and for other reasons, but we are also very grateful for the legacy they have left their community in improvements to the hall and the strength of friendships made and retained. And we look forward to a much brighter future.

I am extremely grateful to all the Trustees and staff for their continued diligence and hard work on behalf of us all. We hope that 2022 will rebuild our bonds of friendship as well as our finances as we look with excitement towards our centenary year in the not too distant future.

Jane Hiley Chairman of Trustees 23 February 2022

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Annual Report and Accounts 2021

Ashtead Peace Memorial Hall

Financial Review

After the difficult year we had in 2020 we had hoped that 2021 would be an easier year financially. Unfortunately, that proved not to be the case.

The Hall started the year with another enforced closure. The only group permitted to use the Hall on a regular basis was the playgroup, with occasional bookings from the blood donation service. Thus income in the early part of the year was minimal. When restrictions eased in the spring bookings began to increase, but it was not until the final quarter of the year when more groups began to return. Lettings income recovered strongly in that final quarter - almost, but not quite, reaching prepandemic levels - although the arrival of the omicron variant led to some cancellations towards the end of the year. As a consequence, total income from lettings, deposits and storage (LDS) over the year was just £39,000, compared with £33,700 in 2020. Pre-pandemic, LDS income would more typically have been between £80,000 and £90,000. Bar income was again significantly reduced, as social distancing measures meant that groups that might otherwise have hired the bar decided against it.

Fundraising activities were again severely curtailed. There was one event, a Treasure Trail, which raised £700. The Friday coffee mornings resumed in October, albeit with fewer attendees, raising £500.

Once again, government grants were a very important element of the Hall’s income, bringing in over £29,600 (compared with £17,500 in 2020). As well as various one-off grants, we were still eligible for grants under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme as the significantly reduced activity meant that all our staff were fully or partially furloughed for parts of the year, which helped towards our payroll costs.

The trustees were grateful to receive a number of small donations from individuals and groups connected with the Hall, including some given in memory of Blanche Douglass. The largest donation, of £4,140, was from the Friends of Ashtead Village Hall, which paid for the essential work on the lighting bars to ensure compliance with current safety regulations. The trustees are very grateful for the Friends’ support for this work.

Expenditure commitments, of course, continued largely unchanged throughout the year. It was necessary, for example, to continue to ensure that the Hall was sufficiently heated during periods of closure to avoid problems arising. Despite the reduction in activity, expenditure on utilities increased significantly in 2021. This was largely the result of new gas and electricity contracts coming into effect once our previous fixed-price contracts, which had been in place for a number of years, came to an end. Most planned maintenance went ahead as scheduled, although the annual polishing of the Hall floor was postponed once again in view of the reduced wear and tear over the previous two years.

The accounts show no expenditure on Performing Rights/Public Performance Licence fees. This is because clarification of the calculation of these fees is still awaited from PRS/PPL. The 2021 licence fees will therefore be payable in 2022, along with the 2022 fees.

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Annual Report and Accounts 2021

Ashtead Peace Memorial Hall

As indicated in the Chairman’s report, it became necessary during the year to refurbish the caretaker’s flat, expenditure which had not been anticipated. That expenditure in 2021 amounted to £17,200, comprising work on the bathroom and general redecoration. At the end of the year work on the kitchen and replacing the heating system remained to be done. A sum of £20,000 has therefore been reserved to complete this work in 2022 (see note 7 to the accounts).

In normal circumstances the Hall tries to budget so that income from day-to-day activities makes a small surplus over operating costs, which enables us to set aside funds towards occasional major items of expenditure. In the event, there was an operating loss (ie the difference between receipts from LDS and the bar and operating expenditure) of £29,500 in 2021 (compared with £27,800 in 2020). This was, however, almost exactly matched by the grants received. Thus, even with the unexpected expenditure on the caretaker’s flat, we ended the year with an overall reduction in funds of just £11,000 – a much better result than had been feared at the start of the year.

We enter 2022 in a stable position financially, although it has been necessary to reduce the reserves we had been holding for the replacement of the north side of the roof and for replacing the heating system which is now some 20 years old. Fortunately, neither of those items is immediately urgent, which should allow time for our funds to recover before that expenditure needs to be incurred.

Tony Williams Hon Treasurer 23 February 2022

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Annual Report and Accounts 2021

Receipts and Payments Accounts for the year to 31 December 2021

Ashtead Peace Memorial Hall

	Notes	2021	2020
		£	£
Income and receipts
Lettings, deposits and storage
		38,320	32,584
Bar
	1	770	1,130
Sub-total
		39,090	33,714
Fundraising and other income
Fund raising activities (gross)
	2	1,244	2,046
Interest on bank and deposit accounts
		9	251
Donations
		4,814	824
Grants
	3	29,652	17,659
Other Income		-	205
Sub-total		35,719	20,985
Total Income		74,809	54,699
Payments: Operating expenditure
Salaries and payroll costs
		35,454	31,589
Utilities
	4	15,332	9,882
Hall maintenance
	5	12,316	12,125
Local authority charges
		1,874	1,965
Administration
		262	443
Insurances
		3,245	3,215
Performing rights fees
		-	2,235
Sundries
		100	104
Total operating expenditure		68,583	61,558
Payments: Improvements and fundraising
Hall improvements		17,187	-
Fundraising costs
	2	30	255
Total improvements and fundraising expenditure
		17,217	255
Total payments		85,800	61,813
Net increase (decrease) in funds		(10,991)	(7,114)
Add: Bank balances at 1 January		109,175	116,289
Total Bank balances at 31 December		98,184	109,175

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Annual Report and Accounts 2021

Ashtead Peace Memorial Hall

Statement of Assets at 31 December 2021

Statement of Assets at 31 December 2021	Statement of Assets at 31 December 2021	Statement of Assets at 31 December 2021	Statement of Assets at 31 December 2021
	Notes	2021	2020
			£
Fixed assets
Permanent endowment:
Freehold property and buildings of the APMH	6	1,829,000	1,829,000
Current assets
COIF deposit account		76,089	76,080
Barclays account		22,095	33,095
Total bank balances	7, 8	98,184	109,175
Total net assets		1,927,184	1,938,175

The notes on pages 10 and 11 form part of these accounts.

For and on behalf of the Committee of Management

Anthony J Williams Hon. Treasurer

23 February 2022

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Annual Report and Accounts 2021

Ashtead Peace Memorial Hall

Notes to the Accounts for the year ended 31 December 2021

1. The figure for bar income represents payments received from the licensee. Total income from the bar, including both these payments and bar hire charges paid by hirers as part of their booking fees, came to approximately £1,000.

2. Fund raising activities

Event	£ Gross	£ Costs	£ Net	Costs/Gross %
Coffee Mornings	511	30	481	6
Treasure Trail (June)	708	-	708	-
Totals	1,219	30	1,189	2

1. Grants were received from central government and Mole Valley District Council in connection with the coronavirus pandemic. These were made up as follows:

	2021	2020
	£	£
Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme Grant	12,697	6,325
Coronavirus Local Restrictions Support Grant	4,955	1,334
Coronavirus Restart Grant	8,000	-
Coronavirus Lockdown Grant	4,000	-
Coronavirus Retail Hospitalityand Leisure Grant	-	10,000
Total	29,652	17,659

4. Utilities

	2021	2020
Utility	£	£
Gas	6,804	3,680
Electricity	4,488	2,636
Water	959	1,283
Telephone and communications	1,016	783
Waste	2,065	1,500
Totals	15,332	9,882

5. Hall maintenance

	2021	2020
Item	£	£
Planned maintenance	6,892	3,898
Unplanned maintenance	2,781	3,201
Consumables	1,540	1,147
Furniture and equipment	1,103	3,879
Totals	12,316	12,125

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Annual Report and Accounts 2021

Ashtead Peace Memorial Hall

1. Freehold property. As recommended by the Charity Commissioners, the freehold property of the Ashtead Peace Memorial Hall, being an asset of the charity, is included in these accounts. The value shown is the cost of rebuilding, exclusive of VAT, as estimated for insurance purposes by valuers Internet Surveys Ltd in March 2017. The next valuation for insurance purposes is due in or around March 2022.

2. As at 31 December 2021, these balances included the following reserves and funds:

	£
General contingency reserve	40,000
Caretaker’s flat refurbishment	20,000
Roof renewal fund	10,000
Hall heating fund	14,000
Total reserves and funds	84,000

The reserves and funds listed above are provisions towards significant areas of expenditure that are likely to arise in the future. They are, however, undesignated and funds may be allocated to meet the expenditure of the Hall as necessary.

1. As at 31 December 2021, the charity had no restricted funds.

Accounting policies

These accounts have been prepared on a receipts and payments basis in accordance with the Charity Commission’s Guides CC15 (Charity Reporting) and CC16 (Receipts and Payments Accounts Pack).

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Annual Report and Accounts 2021

Ashtead Peace Memorial Hall

Independent examiner's report on the accounts

	Section A Independent Examiner’s Report	Section A Independent Examiner’s Report	Section A Independent Examiner’s Report	Section A Independent Examiner’s Report	Section A Independent Examiner’s Report
	Report to the trustees/ members of	Ashtead Peace Memorial Hall
	On accounts for the year ended	31 December 2021	Charity no	304968
	Set out on pages	8 to 11
	Responsibilities and basis of report	I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the above charity (“the Trust”) for the year ended 31 December 2021. As the charity trustees of the Trust, you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 (“the Act”). 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(5)(b) of the Act.
	Independent examiner's statement	I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination which gives me cause to believe that, in any material respect: • accounting records were not kept in accordance with section 130 of the Act or • the accounts do not accord with the accounting records I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.
	Signed:	E A Storey	Date:	26 February 2022
	Name:	Mrs Elisabeth Storey
	Relevant professional qualification:	FCA
	Address:	29 Barrett Road, Fetcham, Leatherhead, Surrey, KT22 9HL

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Annual Report and Accounts 2021