Victoria Shaw 4 May 2021
Chairperson’s report 2020 - 2021
In March 2020, our lives all changed forever with a worldwide pandemic announced and there were lockdowns all over the world. Our hall closed to all hirers from 24 March 2020 until 6 September 2020 and was then intermittently open for just our regular users’ inbetween further national lockdowns in November - December 2020 and January – May 2021.
Over these lockdowns where we have closed, we have received just over £21,000 in Business Support Grants from Cheshire East Council and these have been vital to keep our hall afloat or we would have been using our reserves. Our final accounts at the end of March 2021 show that we have made a profit of £6324 which would have not been the case without these grants.
We were sad to see Robert Billings leave us in April 2020 after many years of support from him and his wife Sue – always a great support at our fundraisers in the kitchen and Chairperson for a few years following Annette’s illness before stepping down and handing over the reins to me.
At the end of April 2020, we gave Mark Bailey (Honey Pot) - our bar provider notice and the bar went out to tender in May 2020. We received 2 tenders and we made the decision to go with Alsager Civic Centre as our new bar provider. This new service is yet to commence due to the unforeseen events with Covid. We are hopeful to get the bar in place by July ready for when we reopen to larger events.
We rearranged all our fundraisers – mainly tribute nights, to the end of 2020 and then soon realised these needed to be rearranged again due to the pandemic taking hold of the world.
Occasional hirers parties and weddings were postponed and then cancelled due to the pandemic. The maximum of 30 people being allowed in the hall due to social distancing made them all re-evaluate their bookings.
We had to ensure our hall was Covid secure for our regular hirers when they were able to go into the hall and our thanks to Lynn for ensuring the halls extreme cleanliness at this time.
Whilst the hall was closed in August 2020, we took the opportunity to redecorate the main hall, entrance hall and office. This made the hall look more modern by painting white over the mahogany dado and skirting.
Over this financial year the major costs were the decorating, full 5-year electric test and replacing the boiler after having longstanding problems with the heating.
Our caretaker Richard decided to leave us in September 2020 after this period of uncertainty, so Lynn and our volunteers on the committee, stepped up for a couple of Mystic Fairs that were able to take place with maximum of 30 restrictions, to set up the hall and tidy afterwards.
We continued throughout the year with virtual monthly meetings on Zoom and found that we were all grateful of a break from fundraising and face to face longer meetings.
Unfortunately, in February 2021 we had a major water burst at the hall which caused considerable damage to the toilets, entrance hall, office carpet and main hall near the buffet hatch. Ceilings came down and there was water everywhere. We have received tenders in now for the work and it is expected to take up to 9 weeks, so we are hoping to reopen mid to end July all being well to our regular hirers.
Victoria Shaw 4 May 2021
Church Lawton Parish Council provided us with a grant for £1000 in March 2021 to purchase gardening equipment for outside. This was very much appreciated, and a letter of thanks has been sent to the clerk.
Barry Bartholomew who has provided us with professional and financial advice over the past 20+ years and has decided once again to step down and “hang up his boots” after being called back for his support after mum was taken ill. A huge thank you must go to Barry for being my sounding board and advisor over the past few years.
Thanks as always goes to all our volunteers and committee members who are the backbone of the hall. My special thanks to Linda and Lynn. Linda for picking up the financial work from Jo and Lynn who loves to spend time at the hall cleaning and tidying. This as you can imagine has saved the hall thousands of pounds over this difficult time.
We are advertising for a self-employed admin / accounts assistant to do the accounts and take bookings and enquiries for the hall. This is due to limited free time our volunteers have. We are looking for the new person to bring in new business, apply for grants and have charity experience to move our community hall forward for years to come.
We will also be looking for a new caretaker once occasional bookings start to pick up once again.
I remain hopeful that we come through this pandemic as the main community hub of Church Lawton. Whilst there is still uncertainty of when the restrictions will be lifted – we have seen a positive impact from the Covid vaccination roll out and number of people being taken ill and deaths with Covid.
I would like to think that towards the end of the year we will see larger events again and I realise that our fundraisers will not viable until we can host for 100+ guests. How long it will take to build up people’s confidence to attend these events though is still unknown.
In the meantime, we will focus on getting the hall back to its former glory and will be addressing the land with Gleesons and changing our status to a Charity Incorporated Organisation (CIO) over this year. There is always something for us to do….
Lawton Memorial Hall Accounts 2020-2921 Part 1. Profit and Loss Account
| Code Code EXPENDITURE THIS YEAR LAST YEAR INCOME Administration General Admin Staff/Contract 505 0.00 2,177.25 Interest 410 7.28 31.59 Phones WWW BT 675 1,016.28 820.45 Grants 420 22,370.43 11,250.00 Website 710 58.79 0.00 Donations 425 17.07 819.35 Stationery 690 7.48 61.30 Postage 685 2.06 43.42 Bank Charges 700 0.00 0.00 Subscriptions 695 391.40 512.00 Advertising Gen 725 205.76 333.37 Admin Misc Exp 0.00 0.00 Sub total 1,681.77 Sub total 3,947.79 Sub Total 22,394.78 Sub Total Building Costs 0.00 General Income Caretaking 510 0.00 3,814.00 Lettings Other Cleaning 515 0.00 1,793.80 Regular 465 3,032.90 20,318.75 Cleaning Supplies 525 349.19 804.75 Occasional 405 261.00 5,901.82 Alarms all costs 530 827.00 998.76 LMH 475 0.00 Electricity 655 1,548.76 5,910.40 Gas 660 939.35 2,818.91 Deposits 455 450.00 27.13 Water 665 126.92 260.74 Refunds 213.83 Business Insurance 705 1,266.84 1,603.65 Bar Share 450 70.80 2,469.49 R&R 715 8,600.44 14,816.34 Refuse 570 513.03 1,463.16 Miscellaneous Income 440 0.00 0.00 Licences 555 609.93 615.28 Equipment 000 207.76 0.00 Unidentified Income 0.88 F&F 765 235.65 2,504.97 Other Business Svs 565 0.00 0.00 Miscellaneous 735 332.95 41.96 Special Items 550 77.96 824.06 Letting Refunds 600.00 Sub Total 16,235.78 Sub Total 38,270.78 Sub Total 4,029.41 Sub Total Total Admin & Building Costs 17,917.55 42,218.57 Total General Income Sub Total 26,424.19 Net Profit/Loss 8,506.64 -1,400.44Net Profit/Loss 8,506.64 (Admin & Building/GeCHECK (Admin & Building/General Income) Fund Raising Fund Raising Hall Hire 460 : 289.20 Entry Fees 485 0.00 9,195.43 Supplies 755 186.75 1,473.94 Entry Fees Refund 0.00 Services 595 4,230.00 Raffles 430 0.00 942.00 Advertising 750 306.26 Other Fund Exp 580 60.31 110.65 Sales Goods 435 0.00 10.00 Refunds 135.00 Misc Inc Sub Total 382.06 Sub Total 6,410.05 Sub Total 0.00 Sub Total Net Profit/Loss -382.06 3,737.38 Net Profit/Loss Fund R'sing -382.06 CAPITAL EXPENDITUR 595 1,800.00 0.00 CAPITAL INCOME 0.00 Sub Total 1,800.00 Sub Total 0.00 TOTAL EXPENDITURE 20,099.61 48,628.62 TOTAL INCOME 26,424.19 TOTAL PROFIT/LOSS 6,324.58 2,336.94 TOTAL PROFIT/LOSS 6,324.58 |
|
|---|---|
| 12,100.94 | |
| 28,717.19 40,818.13 -1,400.44 10,147.43 3,737.38 50,965.56 2,336.94 |
Lawton Memorial Hall Accounts 2020-2921 Part 2. Reconciliation and Statement of Cash Assets.
| Open | This Year | This Year | Last Year | Represented by: | This Year | Last Year | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| General Reserves | 16,498.02 | 31,682.38 | Barclays Main | 22,821.70 | 16,498.02 | |||
| Repairs & Renewals | 17,877.00 | 0.00 | Holding | 17,877.90 | 17,877.00 | |||
| sub total | 34,375.02 | 31,682.38 | sub total | 40,699.60 | 34,375.02 | |||
| Open Cash | 0.00 | 355.70 | Close Cash in Hand | 0.00 | 0.00 | |||
| in Hand | 0.00 | 355.70 | 0.00 | 0.00 | ||||
| 34,375.02 | 32,038.08 | 0.00 | 0.00 | |||||
| Profit/(Loss) | 6,324.58 | 2,336.94 | ||||||
| Income/Expenditure | 6,324.58 | 2,336.94 | sub total | 0.00 | 0.00 | |||
| Calculated Total | 40,699.60 | 34,019.32 | Actual Total | 40,699.60 | 34,375.02 | |||
| Actual Total | 40,699.60 | Total | 40,699.60 | 34,375.02 | ||||
| Variation | 0.00 | |||||||
| I have prepared these | accounts from the trust's My | Pandle records and bank | acoccounts | |||||
| prepared bt the Chairperson and Treasurer | ||||||||
| I have carried out a sample audit. | ||||||||
| I am satisfied that they represent an accurate record of the Trust's financial activity and financial assets. |
Barry Bartholomew 13/07/2021 14/04/2021 Honorary Advisor to the Management Committee
These accounts were approved by the Lawton Memorial Hall Management Committee on12 July 2021
Victoria Shaw Date Chairperson
Lawton Memorial Hall Trust Reg No: 520034
Independent External Examination of Accounts 2020 to 2021
The Trust’s financial management has been carried out with due propriety and I can again recommend the Annual Accounts to the Commission as a true representation of the Trust’s financial position.
During the pandemic fixed cost expenditure and utility use etc. to preserve the fabric of the building continued but most income was lost. Fortunately, the Trust was both eligible for grants from local and central government and in a position to provide the necessary information to draw down considerable income. As a result, the Trust remains a solvent, viable organisation with reserves intact and able to resume meeting its overall objectives when circumstances permit.
A major water burst was experienced in the last quarter causing considerable damage. Most of the cost was covered by insurance.
Considerable thanks are due to the Chairperson in particular for undertaking the necessary work to maintain the halls administration.
As noted below it was again necessary for me to prepare the accounts.
I have recommended that the previous level of finance and management administration should be re-instated when activity levels return to normal levels or before. It is likely that this will be a paid for service in which case appropriate financial/bookkeeping qualifications would be required for that aspect.
Specific note relating to account preparation:
The temporary finance and management arrangements reported last year continued throughout this year. The reduction in activity made this possible and operational decision making and financial management procedures remain effective. The Trust was, however, left short of the resources to adequately prepare its accounts for a second year.
At the Chairperson’s request I have prepared the annual accounts from the My Pandle records in conjunction with bank statements which have been used to cross check the accuracy of Pandle entries and verify the statement of assets.
I have carried out a sample audit of a selection of the year’s transactions looking at a mix of individual invoices/orders and propriety/procedural issues.
Barry Bartholomew Diploma in Management Studies.
Formerly Principal Officer Policy Unit Congleton Borough Council May 2021