## **Audlem Public Hall**
Registered Charity No. 519458
## Trustees’ Annual Report
1[st] January 2020 – 31[st] December 2020
Treasurer to the Trustees: Mr John Tilling 21, Broadways Audlem, Cheshire CW3 0EY
Tel: 01270-811990 E-mail: j.tilling@audlem.org
Names of Trustees Position vacant Chairman Position vacant Vice-Chairman Mrs Jan Morgan Secretary Mr John Tilling Treasurer Mrs Olive Stretch Mr Roger Millns Mrs Kate Down Mr Tony Richardson Mr Colin Cliffe Mr Richard Furber
## Sources of advice and support
Bank: Santander Cheshire East Council Audlem Parish Council
Audlem Public Hall Annual Report 2019
Page 1
## **Governance**
Audlem Public Hall was established as a charity by a Trust Deed & Lease dated 14[th] June 1989.
The hall was built in 1904 as a town hall and has been used for that purpose ever since. The original company went broke in 1939 and the Hall was then run by a committee of volunteers until it became a registered Charity in 1989.
The Charity is registered with the Charity Commission as number 519458.
The Hall and the land on which it stands are held in Trust by the Official Custodian for Charities.
## **Appointment of Trustees**
The Trust Deed governs the appointment of trustees and the management of the charity.
Twelve trustees are elected at the Annual General Meeting held each year.
Three of the Trustees are nominated by specific user groups.
The trustees form the Management Committee of the Village Hall.
## **Policies and Procedures**
To guide the Management Committee in exercising its duty of care to members, employees and users of the hall, the following policy statements have been adopted:
Health & Safety Policy
Child Protection Policy
Vulnerable Adults Policy
Copies of these policies are included in the Trustees’ Welcome pack
## **Hiring Agreement**
Use of the village hall is subject to a Hiring Agreement which must be signed by the hirer when booking. The hiring agreement sets out the conditions of hire and identifies the respective responsibilities of each party to the agreement.
## **Licences**
The hall has a Premises Licence and an Alcohol Licence and is registered with the local authority for small society lotteries.
## **Risk Management**
## **Insurance**
Audlem Public Hall Annual Report 2019 Page 2
Audlem Public Hall is insured with respect to property damage (buildings insurance) through Bluefin Insurance Services (£1,725,000 cover). It is insured with the same company with respect to contents (up to £81,000) public liability (£5,000,000) employers’ liability (£10,000,000) and legal assistance.
The Management Committee recognises that it is under a legal obligation to
protect the building, its users and employees through adequate and appropriate insurance.
## **Building Issues**
- A building condition survey is undertaken at 5-year intervals by a qualified surveyor.
- Portable electrical appliances are tested by qualified personnel annually.
- The mains electrical installation is checked by a qualified engineer every 5 years.
- A Fire Safety Risk Assessment is updated annually by the Committee’s own Fire Safety Officer as required by law.
- Fire fighting appliances are inspected annually under contract with the supplier.
- Volunteers from the Committee carry out other regular maintenance checks.
## **Objectives of the Charity**
- provision of a village hall for the benefit of the inhabitants of the Parishes of Audlem, Buerton and Hankelow without distinction of sex, sexual orientation, age, disability, nationality, race or political, religious or other opinions
- Use of the village hall for meetings, lectures and classes or other forms of recreation and leisure time occupation in the interests of social welfare and with the object of improving the social conditions of the life of the inhabitants
- The Trustees consider these objectives to be consistent with Charity Commission guidance on providing for the public benefit and these objectives have been pursued in the activities of the charity this year.
Audlem Public Hall Annual Report 2019 Page 3
## **Principal Activities in pursuit of Objectives**
- The hall is in use most days of the week for a variety of activities including Youth Club, Table Tennis Club, Badminton Club, various Keep Fit groups, Senior Citizens Snooker, Bingo sessions, Football changing, Bridge Club, Cycling Club and Dancing Classes.
- The hall is available for hire for private functions including children’s parties, wedding receptions, funeral teas, village social functions and occasional fund raising events.
- There is a Community Gym in its own dedicated rooms within the Hall. The hall is used in a support role for the main village community events held annually such as the Music Festival, Transport Festival and Bonfire Night.
- The Hall is recognised as an emergency centre if required by the civil authorities.
- A traditional Pantomime is put on each year in the Hall which requires some twenty rehearsal sessions and a full week of performances.
## **Funding Strategy**
It is the strategy of the Trustees to manage the revenue budget on a self financing basis. The contributions made by users of the hall are set to achieve this.
## **Volunteers’ Effort**
Management costs are kept to a minimum through the use of volunteers for much of the regular maintenance and cleaning of the hall. On average 40 hours of volunteer time are given each week to cover routine tasks such as bookings management, cleaning and maintenance. In addition, trustees give 30 hours a month for meetings and 200 hours per annum in organising and running fund raising events.
## **2020 Achievements**
The 2020 year was dominated by the COVID pandemic crisis, which meant that the Hall was effectively closed for normal operation for nine months of the year. The Annexe was used during that period as the centre of operations of ADCA, the local community support group.
The opportunity during closure was taken to complete the refurbishment of the Town Hall and the installation of various improvements to the security systems.
Audlem Public Hall Annual Report 2019 Page 4
This all cost a lot of money (something in excess of £100,000 all told) and since this coincided with a drastic loss of hiring income, from about £57,000 in 2019 down to £21,000, the hall financial reserves took a big “hit”. Some significant support was received from the Government/Cheshire East, amounting to over £10,000 in 2020.
## **Reserves Policy**
The Trustees’ Reserves Policy is to keep £25,000 unspent and available for unforeseen expenditure in relation to building maintenance or urgent furniture or equipment replacement. This policy was significantly breached towards the end of 2020, although the actual reserves necer fell below £10,000.
## **Future Plans**
The last bits of the Town Hall refurbishment will be completed during 2021, and we look forward to the return to normal operations when COVID restrictions permit.
The underlying funding in normal operation remains very healthy.
## **Total funds**
Total liquid funds held by the Charity at 31[st] December 2020 are Current Account £11,385.04 Deposit Account £1,829.27 Cash in hand £263.76 Total £13,478.07
## **The trustees declare that they have approved the trustees’ report above.**
## **Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees**
## **Signature(s)**
**Full name(s)** John Tilling **Position** Treasurer **Date** October 2021
Audlem Public Hall Annual Report 2019
Page 5
## **Independent examiner's report on the accounts**
## **Audlem Public Hall**
Receipts and Payments Account
Year ended 31[st] December 2020
|**Receipts**|Thisyear 2020|Lastyear 2019|
|---|---|---|
|Hire of Hall|£20,637.09|£57,179.97|
|Income from flat|£6,260.00|£6,105.00|
|Fund raising|£3,470.00|£3,920.80|
|Grants|£11,334.00|£0.00|
|Donations|£580.00|£0.00|
|Bank interest|£169.95|£279.04|
|AIP income|£0.00|£3,727.46|
|**TOTAL RECEIPTS**|**£42,451.04 **|**£71,211.47**|
||||
|**Payments**|Thisyear 2020|Lastyear 2019|
|Maintenance|£2,745.26|£2,572.16|
|RunningCosts|£5,702.06|£8,450.31|
|UtilityBills|£9,987.79|£15,084.94|
|Fund Raising|£1,140.00|£1,343.60|
|Insurance|£2,168.44|£1,867.42|
|Capital Spend|£83,247.19|£35,843.93|
|Furniture & Fittings|£2,333.12|£4,327.00|
|APHAxproject||£17,537.75|
|AIP expenditure||£3.727.46|
|**TOTAL PAYMENTS**|**£107.323.86**|**£90,754.57 **|
||||
|**Current account**|Thisyear 2020|Lastyear 2019|
|Balance brought forward|£30,332.91|£51,433.86|
|Cash in hand brought forward|£1,358.66||
|Balance in hand atyear end|£11,385.04|£30,332.91|
|Cash in hand atyear end|£263.76|£1,358.66|
||||
|**Deposit account**|Thisyear 2020|Lastyear 2019|
|Balance brought forward|£46.659.32|£46,380.28|
|Balance in hand atyear end|£1,829.27|£46,659.32|
Prepared by Approved by …………………………………………………… ………………………………………………….. John Tilling, Treasurer Roger Millns, Acting Chairman
The attached Receipts and Payments Account (and Statement of Assets and Liabilities) have been examined by myself and are in accordance with the Management’s books and vouchers. The receipts and payments as shown are, to the best of my knowledge, authorised transactions.
Signed by Independent Reviewer ,
………………………………………………………………………………………………………. Kevin Mellor ACMA CEMA
Audlem Public Hall Annual Report 2019 Page 6
**Statement of Assets and Liabilities**
|**Notes**
**Rest'd**
**Cash Funds**
Current account
Deposit
1
Cash
0
**Other monetary assets**
Debtors
Stocks
**Total current assets**
**Assets retained for the Charities own use**
Freehold building (at Trustees valuation)
2
Improvements to building
3
Fixtures fittings and equipment
4
Annexe
5
**Total fixed assets**
**Liabilities**
Trade creditors
**Total assets**|**2020**
**Unrestricted**
**Rest'd**
11,385
1,829
264
13,478
0
30
30
**13,508**
125,000
182,766
34,722
150,000
**492,488**
-
**505,996**|**2019**
**Unrestricted**
30,333
46,659
1,359|
|---|---|---|
|||78,351
270
-|
|||270
**78,621**
125,000
109,138
36,247
150,000
**420,385**
-
**498,964**|
## **Notes**
1. There are no restricted funds currently held by the Charity
2. The major asset of the Charity is the Hall which stands in the village of Audlem in Cheshire. It is 100 years old and requires continuous expenditure to maintain in good repair. No formal valuation has been carried out but the Committee of Management consider that its value is in the region of £125,000.
3. Value of improvements to the building brought forward (£109,138) plus the value of capital improvements this year (£83,247) less 5%.
4. Value of fixtures and fittings brought forward (£36,247) plus new items this year (£2,333) less 10%.
5. The new annexe was opened in November 2017. It was funded by a Big Lottery Fund grant. No formal valuation has been carried out but the Committee of Management consider that its value is in the region of £150,000
Audlem Public Hall Annual Report 2019 Page 7