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2021-12-31-accounts

ANNUAL REVIEW

AND

ACCOUNTS

for the period

1[st] January – 31[st] December 2021

Registered Charity No. 305007

CLAYGATE VILLAGE HALL ASSOCIATION

Registered Charity Number 305007

TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REVIEW & ACCOUNTS FOR 2021

The Board of Trustees presents its Annual Review and Accounts for the year ending 31st December 2021.

1. GOVERNING DOCUMENT

A Declaration of Trust dated 20[th] July 1959 and incorporated into the Charity Commissioners’ Scheme dated the 21[st] February 1997 and amended on 27 May 2010 and again on 12 October 2021. This is a Scheme of Arrangement approved by the Charities Commission.

2. REGISTERED ADDRESS

Michael Elliott c/o Claygate Village Hall Church Road Claygate, Surrey KT10 0JP

3. CHARITABLE OBJECT

The main object of the Claygate Village Hall Association charity is the provision and maintenance of a Village Hall for the use of the inhabitants of the Parish of Claygate and the neighbouring area.

4. TRUSTEES

The Charity is an unincorporated association, governed by a Scheme of Arrangement approved by the Charities Commissioners and managed by a Board of Trustees who are all unpaid volunteers. They are elected as follows:

Community Trustees

7 Community Trustees and up to a further 3 co-opted Community Trustees.

These are elected at the AGM by any inhabitants of the Parish of Claygate and the neighbouring area who are at least 18 years of age who attend the meeting.

The Community Trustees at the 31[st] December 2021 were as follows with one position being vacant:

  1. Brian Howells

  2. John Bamford (Vice Chair)

  3. Clive Thompson

  4. Sally Williams (Chair)

  5. George Marcall

  6. Rosy Treasure (Secretary)

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Representative Trustees

Representative Trustees are appointed by affiliated organisations who use the hall.

The Representative Trustees at the 31[st] December 2021 were:

  1. Steve Fleming Claygate Gardening Society 2. Susanne Tunnicliff Claygate Flower & Village Show Society 3. Belita Charrington Claygate Dramatic Society 4. Susan Obhrai Claygate Village WI

The first Trustees’ meeting of the year was held using Zoom on 23[rd] March and the AGM on 9[th] June also using Zoom. The final meeting of the year was able to be held on 12[th] October in person at the Hall, as Covid restrictions had eased.

The day to day running of the Village Hall and the associated administration is in the hands of the Hall Manager, the Treasurer and the Lettings Manager and overseen by 3 Trustees as Chair, Vice-Chair & Secretary. During 2021 this Management Committee met on 7 occasions: 22[nd] January, 4[th] February, 4[th] March, 16[th] April, 15[th] July, 16[th] September & 26[th] November . These were held on Zoom until September which was the first time since early 2020 the meeting had been held face to face.

Michael Park stepped down at the AGM after 18 years service as Accountant and 5 years as a Community Trustee. He was presented with a gift as soon as restrictions were lifted.

5. MANAGEMENT COSTS

The Village Hall Association has no staff costs but offers a payment to its officers for services rendered. At the meeting of Trustees in March 2021 it was agreed that the remuneration offered to officers should be increased from September 2021 and reviewed annually. Thus officers’ payments at the end of the year were as follows:

6. AGENTS & ADVISERS

Bank Independent Examiner CAF Bank Barry Fitzpatrick 25 Kings Hill Avenue 13 Holmwood Kings Hill Oaken Drive West Malling Claygate Kent KT10 0DL ME19 4JQ

7. CHAIR’S REVIEW (Sally Williams)

The situation changed again for the Village Hall in 2021. We all got more used to the Covid19 restrictions and many were lifted over the year, one by one. The Officers were equal to their respective tasks in 2021, taking into account the opportunities as they presented. The Hall Manager carried out repainting and refurbishment in the quiet times to good effect and I heard many compliments on the look of the hall. The Lettings Manager kept abreast of the

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regulation changes for Covid-19 and worked hard to make sense of the plethora of information available and apply it to our enterprise. This was a Herculean task carried out always with good humour by Katie. The Treasurer continued to manage our finances with his commendable calm and expertise. He also gave more voluntary time to assisting in practical matters in the hall. The Secretary ably wore her two hats as Secretary and Trustee and kept us all up to scratch with the paperwork. Rosy’s contribution was again invaluable. My thanks and of those of the Board of Trustees to all our Officers, Tony, Katie, Michael and Rosy.

George Marcall stood down as Vice Chair (because of temporary pressures on his time) and was replaced by John Bamford, to whom I am grateful for his support and input. Thank you, George, for your contribution as Vice Chair over the last years and I know you wish to continue to help in your Trustee role. Sue Obhrai took over from Gail Bradford as Representative Trustee for Claygate Village WI. We thank Gail for her valuable time on the Board and welcome Sue. Michael Park stood down as a Trustee after many years of service, for which we thanked him, as set out above in paragraph 4.

During 2021, we redrafted the Scheme of Arrangement, our governing instrument, with the approval of the Charities Commission on 12 October 2021. John Bamford did a great deal of the work with me, as did Brian Bagnall initially in 2020. I thank them both for the changes which were needed to reflect and improve the current Governance of CVHA and provide consistency.

We are now well into 2022 and the challenges continue. Please see what is said in the Conclusion to this Annual Report, as to the way ahead. We now have a fully refurbished Hall that continues to attract a good share of the local societies’ and organisations’ bookings. The management team in place have proved responsive to issues as they arise and provide good service. I believe we will prove together equal to those challenges.

8. HALL MANAGER’S REVIEW (Tony Woolhead)

The year began with the hall closed for all but Montessori due to Government Covid-19 Lockdown 3 restrictions. However, this did allow painting and decorating and refurbishment of the kitchen to be completed before the reopening in April. In addition some of the other maintenance activities normally carried out in August were brought forward.

Phase 2 of the lighting upgrades were completed in back-office areas such as the chair store so LED lamps with movement sensors put in place. These have been fitted with off switches for use during performances.

A review of storage requirements was initiated as a result of a request from the Claygate Flower and Village Show Society for storage space, the closure of Playmates, and the loss of storage in the Small Hall due to the installation of a toilet there. This progressed into 2022.

Annual testing of Fire Alarms & Emergency Lighting was carried out as was the Annual Fire Risk Assessment.

The need for additional cleaning in recognition of the pandemic continued with the resumption of near normal activities in September.

9. LETTING MANAGER’S REVIEW (Katie Ernest)

2021 was another year where Lettings activity was determined by government restrictions aimed at controlling the coronavirus pandemic.

The Hall was effectively closed from 20[th] December 2020 to 12[th] April 2021 with only the Montessori Nursery able to operate in this period. On the 12[th] April 2021 children’s indoor activities were allowed to resume and on 17[th] May adult indoor exercise classes were

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allowed to re-start. All activities had to comply with restricted capacities and social distancing rules, with operating and cleaning procedures in place to limit COVID transmission. From 17[th] May we began to ease some of the restrictions on accessing smaller areas of the Hall and our capacity limits in the light of government guidance, supported by guidance provided by ACRE and Surrey Community Action. We re-opened the small hall to hirers other than the Montessori from September.

The Parish Council was required to meet in person from mid-May and larger groups such as U3A and the WI started to meet in person in August and September although at reduced capacity, and a Wedding booked for early September took place. We resumed taking bookings for children’s parties in the Autumn and some larger social events took place, and Claygate Dramatic Society was able to go ahead with their Panto in November. However with the arrival of the omicron variant some bookings were cancelled or postponed at the end of the year.

We had some changes in hirers during the year. Holy Trinity Church did not resume their use of the Hall for Sunday School on Sunday mornings, moving this to their own Emmanuel Hall. There were no volunteers to take on the running of Playmates, (mother and toddler group which had been at the hall for c. 30 years,) and this also did not return post the COVID lockdown, and the Conservative Association decided that they would no longer use the Committee Room for meetings and ceased to be an affiliated member as a result. The Parish Council have also not returned to their regular use of the committee room for a half day a week. We also have a couple of evening hirers in the small hall who have not yet returned. The Little Kickers franchise changed hands in January and seems to be running successfully in a new time slot, and a music / drama group aimed at pre-schoolers (Tiny Tunes,) took on the morning slot vacated by Hartbeeps at the beginning of the 1[st] lockdown. We now have more casual hire for parties at the weekend.

We chose not to implement a price increase again in September 2021 in light of the COVID situation – the CPI that this would have been based on was 0.6%. With both the Treetops Room at the Pavilion opening, and the Youth Hub operating, we have only seen a very minimal shift in hirers to these venues, although it is to be noted that we do have hirers using all three venues. Following the renovation and refurbishment that has taken place over the last two years, positive comments are often received by hirers, and we do benefit from wordof-mouth recommendations and repeat bookings.

10. FINANCIAL REVIEW (Michael Elliott)

Annual Accounts

I will commend the Cash Accounts for your approval, these have been examined by Mr. Barry Fitzpatrick & he has agreed that after acceptance by the Trustees they will be signed by Barry & submitted by me to the Charity Commission. A headline profit of £14,637 is shown. Project expenditure was nil in 2021 and we were able to apply successfully for grants, received in the sum of £16,907

I note that in early 2022 over £3,000 of invoices substantially related to 2021 were presented. There was no expenditure on PRS.

Reserves Policy

Our stated reserves policy of 1.5 years turnover previously indicated a reserve figure of around £90,000. I am still therefore not able to recommend any projects should be commenced until such time as the situation has stabilised.

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Banking

Our main account remains with the CAF Bank, with reserves split between Virgin Money & Skipton Building Society. The interest rate received is still very low, Skipton 0.6% & even lower Virgin Money, but both have started to increase. We continue to use Cashplus prepaid debit cards for itemised casual expenditure. All regular payments are now by direct debit or BACS transfer.

Lettings Income

Net income from lettings was £38,343, to this was added £16,907 in National Lockdown grants. Income was particularly affected during the first half by lockdowns, restrictions on group attendance & capacity limits. ( £10,732 against £27,611 )

No increase in the annual inflation price increase was applied during 2021. However, we have agreed and are going ahead with a substantial increase of around 7% from September 2022.

Expenditure

Maintenance was kept within budget and covered the usual maintenance plus both main hall internal repainting & a substantial refurbishment of the kitchen.

The Performing Rights Society again had some billing difficulties, with the introduction of new business processes and computer systems resulting in late or inaccurate billing. No acceptable invoice was received in 2021 & it took until 30[th] March to resolve the issue.

All other categories indicate reasonable caution in usage, particularly the cleaning bills, where our cleaner was very fair in his treatment of the Hall.

Utilities :- We have benefitted from a fixed price energy contract throughout 2021, it expires at the year end for electricity & mid March 2023 for gas. The water cost has been underestimated for a couple of years & that is now being corrected.

Looking forward to 2022

While this is a report on 2021 I believe a few words are necessary looking forward. A year ago I warned about the uncertain dangers from the competition against our early years offering, the revamped Pavilion & the strength of the post covid-19 restart. The Pavilion opening has not affected us so far.

  1. Our hirers’ early years offering, are now facing increased competition from Claygate Primary School Acorns, a new all-day nursery service by Pippa’s House near the Parade & station with an unknown starting date. These may challenge our major Hirer by value.

  2. The Post Covid-19 restart has continued to evolve and we have a high percentage of 2019 bookings, many parties replacing a number of previous hirers that have ceased. The forward risk is now much lower but remains unquantified.

11. RISK MANAGEMENT

The Management Committee and the Board of Trustees regularly review any major risks affecting the Charity. This includes, for example, the loss of any regular hirers.

Alternative lettings initiatives are vigorously pursued to reduce such losses. Our Reserves can, if necessary, cushion the effect of losing major hirers.

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12. CONCLUSION

2021 has been a year of recovery ending with good prospects but still some potential challenges moving into 2022. It has been good to get back to face to face meetings and discussions and the Management Committee and Trustees continue to work well together reviewing their practices and preparing for the future.

Key tasks for the year ahead are

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CLAYGATE VILLAGE HALL ASSOCIATION STATEMENT OF TRUSTEES' RESPONSIBILITIES

Charity law requires the Trustees to prepare Financial Statements for each financial year, which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the Charity and of its financial activities for that year, and adequately distinguish any material special trust or other restricted fund of the Charity. In preparing those Financial Statements the Trustees are required to:

The Trustees are responsible for keeping proper Accounting records which disclose, with reasonable accuracy at any time, the financial position of the Charity, and enable them to ensure that the Financial Statements comply with applicable Accounting Standards and Statements of Recommended Practice and the Regulations made under Part 8 Charities Act 2011. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the Charity and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

The Charities (Accounts & Reports) Regulations 2008 requires charity trustees to confirm that they ‘have regard’ to the Commissions public benefit guidance when exercising any powers or duties to which the guidance is relevant.

Trustees can show that

This is demonstrated by the work of the Trustees and the Management committee as set out in the respective minutes of the meetings of those bodies, and in the Scheme of Arrangement approved by the Charity Commissioners which governs the business of the charity and with which the Trustees and the Management committee comply”.

…………………………………

By order of the Board of Trustees.

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STATEMENT OF COMPLIANCE

In addition, the Charity Governance Code for smaller charities, of which CVHA is one, which was published at https://www.charitygovernancecode.org/en/pdf in 2017 was examined by the Management Committee and recommendations discussed with Trustees at their meeting on 29[th] March 2018. All actions agreed as a result have been taken and, where necessary, documented in the Association’s Hall Management Plan and policies. Plans to review this using the Diagnostic Tool provided in 2020 are to be pursued in 2022.

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endix A- Recei ts&Pa ments CHARITY COMMISSION FOR ENGLAND AND WALÉS Hall As#ocL*tsty J15007 Recei ts and pa ments accounts CC16a F¢Jrtho frorn 0110112021 31112Q021 To Section A Receipts and payments Unrestricted funds Re$tri¢t¢d nd¥ loth• rw•st£ Endowmgnt fuhdA toth•nMroBt£ Total funds La¥ty&ar A1 Rec•1 Lthn$ 16.W7 AR) 04ml rwe8kn•ni8a 54 ia.iJO ia.1J• 17,809 49.6 3.087 3.627 323 3.r67 6.676 6,876 217 7ty7 65 61 Otrgr 62 Sub total O,llJ2 40032 93,S79 IletoFMcelpW(paymentsJ A6Transtorn bokn funds A6 Cash lunds last yearond Cash fvnds this year Ènd 14.$37 14,637 39, 104,911 1Q4,911 9D374 CCXX RI HCCBX￿ts ISS) Page 10of13

- Appendix B Statement of Assets & Liabilities

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- Appendix C Independent Examiners Report

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Section B Disclosure Only compfete rf the examiner needs to highlKJht matteF3 of concernlsge CC32, Independent examinètion ofchartty a￿Unts.. directions and gtsidance for èxaminersl. Give here brief datails of any items that th• •xaMIner￿she9 to di$clo8e. Octobèr 2018 IER Page 13of13