## **BURTON MEMORIAL HALL** ## **CHAIR’S REPORT TO THE AGM to year end 31st March 2023** The year 2022/2023 was one of getting back to normality after the disruption of COVID over the past couple of years, which was a huge relief to us all. The management committee has continued to mostly meet monthly through the year, and at the AGM last June we welcomed Cllr Vicky Hughes as a co-opted member onto the committee. Although a return to a fully booked calendar hasn’t yet happened, we are slowly picking up new bookings to fill the gaps and are creating new promotional material to also encourage bookings for social and family parties. It became apparent in the autumn that hire fees were not covering hall costs, so the committee revised these with effect from 1[st] December 2022, with a further review in 6 months if the situation hadn’t improved. As in previous years we ran a Jubilee Coffee Morning in June, several successful Christmas bingo nights in November and December, a Christmas Market in November, a Burns Night Supper and Ceilidh in January, and a Kitty Brown Boutique fashion show in March. The twice monthly library book drop continues along with the monthly library coffee mornings, and my thanks go to Stephanie Micklethwaite, Sue Humphreys and their volunteers who run these and who donate the profits from the coffee mornings to hall funds. Our 200 Club has continued to grow under the management of Jane Orr and has contributed over £650 to hall funds. Jane has indicated that she will be standing down from role of 200 Club manager in August and has identified a replacement for the role. Again my thanks go to Jane and to Stephanie (who does the monthly prize draws) for all of their work on the 200 Club throughout the year. I am also pleased to report the continuation of many of our usual hirers’ events and activities through the past year. In February 2022 we identified a problem with the main hall floor, which had excessive movement and needs remedial work to its underside. This was undertaken during the year 2022/23 with the assistance of a pot-holing friend of Peter Bowker who crawled beneath the floor to carry out the work, with wooden wedges and supervision supplied by Duckett’s Builders. During the remedial work on the floor we found and retrieved four old wooden benches which had been stored under the floor for a long time. No-one can recall them being used in the hall, so it is assumed they date back to when the hall was built. It is our intention to find a purchaser of them to boost hall funds. My grateful thanks go to all concerned with repairing the floor. May 2022 saw the hall’s connection to the B4RN network, to provide hyper-fast broadband for hall users, and which will save us the cost of the previous PlusNet service. The agreement with B4RN includes a wayleave across hall land to provide access for B4RN to neighbouring properties. In July 2022 we found that the floor tiles in the lockable hall store room were damaged and as we suspected that these most likely contained asbestos (subsequently confirmed) we commissioned Asbestos and Air Management to test and remove the tiles safely. The floor was subsequently screeded to provide a safe non-slip surface. In August 2022 we had the reception room kitchen ripped out and replaced with a new and muchimproved version, which allows us to advertise for and service events needing catering facilities. We also removed the tatty cork tiles used as a notice board from one wall in the reception room. The subsequent redecoration of the reception room and kitchen was carried out by James Burton during school holidays and I hope you will agree that the end results are good. In October 2022 we hosted two NHS Covid vaccination clinics in the hall, where over 200 people received their free booster jab, and the NHS team expressed their appreciation for the free use of our facilities for the clinics. In November 2022 we applied for and received a grant of £1000 from Cumbria Community Foundation’s Warm Spaces Fund, which covered the cost of providing a warm space session open to anyone, each Wednesday afternoon in the reception room until the end of April 2023. The sessions provided hot drinks, food, warmth and companionship for over 200 people before the end of the March, and I would like to thank CCF for their generosity in funding the sessions, which have been much appreciated by those attending them. They are ongoing if anyone would like to join in. As part of the grant we were able to train 4 volunteers to Food Safety Level 2, and purchased a set of induction pans and trivets for use in the new reception room kitchen. One of the problems we still face is that of unauthorised parking by residents who use the car park as public parking. Despite numerous requests for them to cease doing so there remains several persistent offenders. Over the past year we have been seeking legal advice as to how to proceed against these people, but it seems that we cannot currently provide the required level of evidence required to take action against the perpetrators. To proceed we would need to have CCTV footage as proof of who is parking without consent. The management committee remains committed to providing a safe venue for all hirers, and have retained anti-viral wipes and hand sanitiser for hall users, and we were pleased to receive a donation of hand sanitiser from Havgoods at Carnforth for the hall and to share with other local groups and schools. As part of our routine management oversight of the hall the committee reviewed our insurance policy valuation and, having concerns about the rising costs of repairs and rebuilding, in November 2022 obtained a revaluation of the hall for insurance purposes, which was relayed to the insurance company and resulted in a slight increase In our annual premium, which is a better option than our being underinsured! Our Treasurer, Raegan Preston, has been liaising with our bank and building society to ensure that all our signatories are up to date, and that their details have been updated as needed, as part of the government’s anti-money laundering requirements. I would like to thank my fellow committee members for all of their advice and support for me in my role as Chair throughout the last year, with particular thanks to Helen Dawson for managing the bookings and minuting our often lengthy meetings; to Margaret and James Burton, our cleaning staff who keep the hall clean and tidy; to Raegan Preston who manages the accounts and keeps a close eye on what we spend; to Jane Orr who runs the 200 Club which adds welcome funds to the kitty; to Matthew Scott whose expertise in insurance matters has been such a huge help through the year; to Chris Nolan for his advice and assistance in dealing with remedial matters around the hall; and to all of the volunteers who come along and help at the events we hold or offer assistance in any other way in keeping the hall going. Thanks are also due to Gill and Akis at The Village Store for all their support of our activities; to Burton News for allowing us magazine space to keep the village updated; to Joan Barkley for covering our activities in her weekly columns in the Westmorland Gazette and Lancaster Guardian; to Burton Morewood School for publicising our events via their parent mail system and for their provision of hot food for the Warm Welcome Wednesdays; and to those generous people who have given donations to hall funds throughout the year. I’d also like to thank Action with Communities in Cumbria and Cumbria CVS for all their advice and support about hall matters, via regular Zoom meetings or by email/phone, whenever it has been needed. Report prepared by Anne Nichols, Chair 2022-2023 Burton Memori81 Hall 505018 Receipts and payments accounts CC16a Forthe period from 0110412022 31103r2023 Section A Receipts and payments Unrestricts(I fuNI$ Restrictèd funds End0￿￿enl luThl$ Total funds Last year th• n￿r•￿t tothg Trg•rg•t£ totho n•4ro•tt toth• n•areBtÈ tothe Thgar••t£ A1 R8ceipts Rent Fundraisin Grt$lDonations Grants Other Bank IntErest 16638 4930 1628 2000 2899 307 15,63• 4,gJO 1,628 2.000 g,?Q7 2,18B 1,223 13,664 272 132 56 307 Sub totsllGmss Income for ARI 274Q2 56B 27.967 27.376 A2 Asset and investment sales. Isee table). Sub total 27402 555 A3Pa ments Insurance Repaits & maintenance Fund[8￿Ing eMpen8 HsI1 ifflpiovement Secrew'5 h￿Ora￿uM Secretaty's expenses 1862 9020 2108 16243 4176 1,862 9,020 10,B26 576 1,462 16.243 4.176 23 9.162 1,645 2.564 54GS 1047 1876 5,405 1,047 Wasie c￿lethn Sundry Sub tot81 41914 A4 Asset ar￿ invtrstmgnt purchases. Isee table) Sub total 41914 N$t of receiptsl(payments) AS Transfers bet**en fund$ A6 Cash funds last year end Cash funds this yearend -14612.08 665 n$ 43652 29140 CCXX Rl ￿￿nIS(S$) 071061202 Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period Unrestrlcted fvnd$ Restrieted fund$ its neare*t£ Endowment funds to nèkr•rtE CategoTIÈS Details to neure¥t£ B1 Cash funds Current Account 1.003 2,9?B Deposrt Account Buikling Society Total cash fund5 9.129 19.008 29.140 2,998 fÈtsiPlsand LTr Unre$¢ricted funds Resiri¢tod fund5 ti> n•ar&rte Endowment furKIs Details B2 Other monètsry ass•ts Fvnd to whlch 4•Ut Detail$ Cost{0gthonoll C￿rr*￿tvl1U• B3 Inv•stmènt assets Fwndto which a8wt bolo CurrMtvAlu• Details Co$t{opOonall B4 Assèts r•taln•d lor the charlty's own use Fyndto vthlch relaleB Amountdug on•1 Whon d￿0 Oetails B5 Liabilitiès by one or two Itustees (x) behalf (rfall thetmste8S Prinl Narne Dale of roval SKJnattJre QK4JKrft 07 21 CDLIK CCXX R2 axounts ISSI 071061202 CHARITY COMMISSION FOR ENGLAND AND WALES Independent examiner's report on the accounts Section A Independent Examiner's Report Report to the trusteesl members of On accounts for the year ended m LLFth Charlty no (if any) Set out on pages I report to the trustees on my examination ofthe accounts of the above charity I'the Trust") tor the year ended Zi os 2tr13. Responsibilities and As the charity trustees of the Trusl, you are responsible for the preparation basis of report 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)Ibl of the Act. I have completed my examination. I confimi that no material matters have come to my attention (other than that disclosed below '} in connection with the examination which gives me cause lo 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 Independent examiner's statement I have no conGerns 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 lo be reached. Please delete the words in the brackets if they do not apply. Signed: Date: Name: Relevant professional qualification(s} or body (if any): Address: 0￿J- . IER October 2018 Section B Disclosure Only complete if the examiner needs to highlight matters of concern Isee CC32, Independent examination of charity accounts.. direclions and guidance for examiners). Give here brief details of any items that the examiner wishes to disclose. IER October 2018