Brookwood Memorial Halls Annual Report
Year ending 31st December 2022
The Halls are managed by a Committee constituted under a Deed of Trust dated 20th February 1950 for the benefit of all Brookwood residents, elected at the Annual General Meeting open to residents. The Committee comprises 4 members elected by qualifying inhabitants and up to 14 members representing recognised Village organisations. A further 6 members may be co-opted by the Management Committee. The Management Committee comprised:
John Thornton (Chair resigned 30th June 2022) Louise Norris (Chair appointed 1st July), Andrew Male (Treasurer resigned 25th April 2022) Maria Nixon (Treasurer appointed 26th April) Colin Greenwood (Lettings Administrator), Peter Goold (Scouts Association representative) Jadwiga Grimshaw (Art Groups representative) Am Conway (Village Representative) Mark Liney (Village Representative) Lauren Brooks - nee Purdy (Co-Opted Member) Maureen Grey (WI Representative)
The Hall’s banker is the Charities Aid Foundation, West Malling, Kent. We maintained financial reserves throughout the year adequate to remain solvent in case the Halls become unlettable should major insured damage need repair. We review this policy annually.
By January 2022 we were back in full swing, having emerged from the Coronavirus pandemic.We were pleased to welcome back all our regular hirers and have the Halls full of activity once again. With the addition of another Council Covid recovery grant, we were pleased to see our income return to pre-pandemic levels.
As per the objects of our Trust, we continue to maintain and improve the facilities of the Halls for the benefit of the residents of Brookwood and its immediate vicinity without discrimination; including resolving the flooding in the car park through effective drainage and replacing the kitchen cupboards and crockery in the small hall courtesy of our long time supporters the Women’s Institute. In order to maintain the Halls we have been pleased to welcome a Caretaker onto the team in a paid role, Chris joined us in November. We were also pleased to support the local election in May as always. We maintained our licences for entertainment and sporting activities, reproduction of music, provision of catering facilities (to 100 table seated guests) and stage shows (to 220 seated audience). The Halls continue to be a popular venue for dance and exercise, music and social activities.
Early in 2022 we made a concerted effort to recruit new members to the Committee as we ran close to requiring a contingency plan as we did not have enough dedicated members. I am pleased to say that we have been able to turn that around. We are thrilled to welcome Maria Nixon as our new Treasurer from Brookwood Assisting Neighbours which was recently wound up. Lauren Brooks (nee Purdy), Mark Liney and Robert Fleck who have all recently moved into the village. In July we said goodbye to our long standing Chair John Thornton who gave 32 years of dedicated service to the Halls both as a member and as Chair. John left the Halls in a fantastic situation, well set for the future and while his shoes are big ones to fill, the current Committee are more than up to the challenge.
The newly made up Committee are keen for the Halls to be a focal point of the village, a real community facility and as such a number of events took place throughout the year. On 5th June we held a Village Jubilee Party to commemorate the Queen’s 70th Jubilee and it was lovely to see the village come together for a BBQ, picnic and community sing song.
On the August Bank Holiday weekend we welcomed around 40 people to the Halls to join our summer clean up, it was wonderful to see so many regular hirers turn out (especially the younger contingent - our resident Scouts) to help us get the Halls ship shape for the winter and to hear their stories of appreciation for the Halls and the memories that they hold.
As we moved into the winter and the Country was hit by a cost of living crisis we endeavoured to open the Committee Room weekly as a Warm Bank, called Welcoming Space, we ran this for a couple of months but sadly it was not with great success. Finally as we closed out the year we ran our inaugural Christmas Trail and were grateful to the residents who agreed to have a poster up in their window for the village to complete the trail. We then welcomed around 60 villagers to the hall for mince pies and mulled wine.
We are pleased to honour our legacy as a Memorial Hall and to lay a wreath at Brookwood Cemetery on Remembrance Sunday and make our usual donation to the Royal British Legion. We also made a donation to Brookwood News in recognition of their ongoing support publicising Hall events.
I would like to take the opportunity to thank the small but mighty team of volunteers who make up our Trustee Board for keeping the Halls well maintained and governed for the benefit of the Community. I would like to extend particular thanks to Colin Greenwood and Maria Nixon for the support and partnership over the last six months as I have onboarded into the role of Chair.
Louise Norris, Chair - on behalf of the Trustees and Management Committee, Brookwood Memorial Halls
https://www.brookwoodmemorialhalls.org.uk/
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Brookwood Memorial Halls - Registered Charity Number 304981