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2021-12-31-accounts

Registered charity number 520916

Trustees’ Annual Report

1 January 2021– 31 December 2021

Website at: www.winstonvillagehall.org.uk

Secretary to the Trustees: Annie Dolphin OBE

Meadowbrook House, Front St, Winston, Darlington DL2 3RH Tel: 01325 730912/e-mail: anniedolphin66@gmail.com

Names of Trustees

Dawn Day Chair/elected
Gill Woodhouse Treasurer/Lunch Club
Ann (Annie) Dolphin Secretary/elected
Claire Boyes Young Farmers to 8 Dec 2021
Christopher (Chris) Clark Parish Council to March 2021
Susan Clarke St Andrews Church
Geoff Freeman Elected to March 2021
Peter Medd Young Farmers from 8 Dec 2021
Louise Poole Playing Field Association
Eric Reed Parish Council from July 2021
Steve Saddington Elected member

Sources of advice and support

‘Localgiving’, in partnership with Postcode Community Trust

Durham County Council Covid relief funding

Durham Community Action

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Governance

Winston Village Hall was established as a charity by means of a Trust Deed and conveyance dated 21 August 1954. The building was purpose built as a Memorial Hall with funds raised from the original Trustees. The Village Hall was registered with the Charity Commission on 4 June 1964 and the title of land was transferred to the Official Custodian for Charities in trust for the charity on 19 June 2002.

The original trust deed has been amended on several occasions since 2011 to bring it up to date with current requirements, make it easier to read and more relevant to life today. The objectives of the charity are now as follows:

The object of the charity is the provision and maintenance of a village hall for the use of the inhabitants of the area of benefit without distinction of political, religious, or other opinions, including use for:

(a) meetings, lectures and classes, and

(b) other forms of recreation and leisure-time occupation, with the object of improving the conditions of life for the inhabitants.

The committee are assured that with these amendments our governing document is up to date and accurately reflects our responsibilities as trustees.

Appointment of Trustees

The Trust Deed governs the appointment of trustees and the management of the charity. All trustees whether elected or appointed by organisations entitled to a representative, retire at the end of the Annual General Meeting held each March and are either re-elected, reappointed or replaced. The trustees form the Management Committee of the Village Hall which has the power to co-opt a maximum of 5 additional trustees during the year.

Two trustees: Geoff Freeman and Chris Clark, left the committee at the AGM in March 2021 and Claire Boyes left in December 2021 when she moved out of the area. We were pleased to welcome back Eric Reed as Parish Council representative in July 2021 and Peter Medd as Staindrop Young Farmers representative in December 2021.

Policies and Procedures

To guide the Management Committee in exercising its duty of care to contractors, volunteers, hirers, and users of the hall the following policy statements have been adopted:

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Hiring Arrangements

The function and purpose of the village hall is first and foremost to provide a local, safe, appropriate and attractive facility for the use and enjoyment of people in the village and surrounding area. We use paper and electronic booking forms which set out the conditions of hire and identify the respective responsibilities of each party to the agreement. For our regular hirers we have ‘umbrella’ booking agreements that we review once a year, at the committee meeting following the AGM, to ensure that they are in line with current policy. We review our hiring charges annually to ensure that we can cover rising costs and our facilities are offered free of charge for local community member funeral teas.

Covid Secure arrangements remain in place based on government and sector requirements. Where appropriate these require formally constituted hirers to share their Covid risk assessments and sign our additional conditions of hire. Informal groups are required to sign our additional conditions of hire where appropriate.

Licences

The hall has a Premises Licence that permits the performance of plays and live music; the playing of recorded music; and the provision of facilities for making music and for dancing. Users are required to apply to Durham County Council for a Temporary Event Notice (TEN) licence for events involving the sale of alcohol, having first received permission to do so from the committee. We also hold small society lottery registration for our 150 club and our combined Performing Right Society (PRS) and Public Performance (PPL), now called TheMusicLicence, permits the performance of live and recorded music.

Risk Management and compliance with regulatory obligations

As a Management Committee we recognise our responsibilities and legal obligations to protect the building, its users and contractors through adequate and appropriate insurance, risk assessment and maintenance.

The village hall is insured by Allied Westminster in respect of buildings cover, contents, public liability, employers liability, hirers liability and legal expenses. We review the adequacy of this insurance annually and we had a full valuation review in 2020. This resulted in increased cover reflecting rebuild costs that had not been factored in previously.

Regulatory obligations

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We maintain a spreadsheet of requirements that is updated and reviewed at each quarterly committee meeting to ensure that we meet all our obligations and statutory requirements.

Principal activities and achievements in 2021 and resulting public benefit

The Hall was once again closed to most of our hirers from November 2020, with the exception of the December 2020 St Andrew's church service, which moved back to the church in January 2021.'

In line with the Covid Recovery Road Map the hall was effectively closed to groups until 17 May 2021. When we were making plans to reopen, the committee considered how we could encourage hirers to return and make best use of some of the covid relief funding we had received. Trustees agreed that it was appropriate, fair and in accordance with our charity objects, to waive regular local hirer fees for 6 months from week commencing 17 May when we were allowed to open subject to the restrictions in place. This arrangement ended on 21 November irrespective of when hirers returned to the hall. In addition, as the exercise classes were run by the hall, regular participants were not charged for the 4 weeks from w/c 17 May.

Our regular hirers gradually returned and were very grateful for the hiring fee ‘holiday’. Exercise classes were well attended from the start with increased numbers throughout the rest of the year. By December 2021 Staindrop and District Young Farmers; Luncheon Club; Gentle Exercise, Complete Fitness, and Pilates classes; Art classes; the Vintage Pipers; Tea & Chat group; Winston Ladies Group; Beer and Banter; Winston Parish Council; the Playing Field Association; Morris Dancers; and music practice sessions, were all regularly using the hall again.

Statutory public benefit declaration:

The function and purpose of the village hall is, first and foremost, to provide a local, safe, appropriate and attractive facility for the use and enjoyment of people in the village and surrounding area. Winston Village Hall trustees confirm that they have complied with their duty to have due regard to the commission's public benefit guidance when exercising any powers or duties to which the guidance is relevant. This is evidenced by the main activities outlined above that are all undertaken for the benefit of the residents of the village and surrounding area. Our Covid Secure arrangements are still in place based on government guidance to provide optimum protection for hirers and for people who use the hall.

Funding strategy and reserves policy

Our reserves policy is articulated and included in our Finance Policy. Our strategy is to maintain the revenue budget on a self-financing basis i.e., lettings and other operational income covers overheads and general expenses, with restricted funds held in an investment account for future major remedial work on the building which is now over 68 years old. With the help of repeat grant funding for our exercise classes together with the 150 club lottery income, we are able to maintain this strategy. Our reserves increased during the year as a

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result of the Covid Relief funding, and we have commissioned Trades4care to repaint the interior of the building in late February 2022 and the exterior in the Spring.

Our income and expenditure budget for 2022 was approved in December 2021. We are forecasting an in year deficit of £2600 due to increased power costs and the one off cost of repainting. This assumes full hiring and exercise class activity during the year and no increase in hire charges. Our hiring fees are reviewed annually and will be considered at the March 2022 meeting. Our designated account with NatWest holds funding for immediate and unexpected needs that we keep at a level of approximately 6 months’ expenditure. Management Committee approval is needed for any expenditure from the restricted and designated accounts.

On line banking and our direct payment process via the BACS facility ensures that we can monitor our position in real time. BACS is used to pay invoices and 150 Club prizes wherever possible, and our accounts are balanced and checked by a trustee every quarter.

Volunteer contributions

Management costs are minimised through the time spent and commitment of committee members and other volunteers. They cover day to day hall maintenance, bookings and financial management, hall administration and a host of other tasks to ensure that the hall is available and welcoming. We are very grateful for the time and effort that all volunteers put in to ensure that the hall is fit for purpose and used for the benefit of the community. There are no paid employees, although contractors are used for specialised work where appropriate e.g., cleaning and maintenance.

Our website at www.winstonvillagehall.org.uk has up to date information about our activities, meetings, and policies.

Our future plans

We are hoping to be able to continue opening throughout 2022, although the repainting in February 2022 may necessitate some temporary adjustments. Our modest overheads and reserves, alongside engaged and supportive trustees provide an excellent basis for the future, and we will continue to manage and run the hall effectively, ensuring that we can meet the following priorities:

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We are committed to reviewing and enhancing our environment and energy policy during 2022 to reflect global warming and the need to reduce fossil fuel use. This will involve identifying our responsibilities and developing an action plan to change how we do things.

We will continue to raise funds through our quarterly 150 club draw as this is an important way in which residents contribute to the running of the hall and feel a sense of ownership. We will also continue to promote the use of the hall for private events and other purposes and will also arrange and support events that bring people together to encourage community cohesion. These events are important community wide activities that are enjoyed by all residents and help to maintain and increase our sense of community identity. This will be particularly important in 2022 when hopefully, these community wide indoor activities can be resumed.

The trustees declare that they have approved the trustees’ report above. Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees:

Signature

Full name: Dawn Day Position: Chair Date: 16 March 2022

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Independent examiner's report on the accounts

Section A Independent Examiner’s Report

Report to the trustees/
members of
On accounts for the year
ended		 Winston Village Hall
31 December 2021 Charity no 520916

Set out on pages 8 and 9

As the charity's trustees, you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 (“the Act”).

Responsibilities and I report in respect of my examination of the Trust’s accounts carried out basis of report under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying out my examination, I have followed all the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of 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)(b) of the Act.

Independent I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have examiner's statement come to my attention in connection with the examination which gives me cause to believe that in, any material respect:

I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.

Signed:
Name:
Relevant professional
qualification(s) or body:
Address:

 21/01/2022
JK Armstrong
ICAEW
5 Highcliffe Edge
Winston
County Durham DL2 3RX

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WINSTON VILLAGE HALL WINSTON VILLAGE HALL WINSTON VILLAGE HALL WINSTON VILLAGE HALL WINSTON VILLAGE HALL WINSTON VILLAGE HALL
Income and expenditure account
1 January 2021 – 31 December 2021
31/12/2021 31/12/2020
Operating income 1270
1800
550
654
936
5210
446
849
316
254
339
1000
260
518
620
450
5052
158
2
210
160
93
13903
500
14867
15025
Lettings 883
150 club subscriptions 1800
Gentle exercise 660
Pilates 852
Complete Fitness 1027
Total operating income 5222
Operating expenditure
Insurance 460
Water,heat,light 1032
Licence fees 326
Maintenance 167
Sundries 122
150 clubprizes 1000
Gentle exercise instructor fee 440
Pilates instructor fee 684
Complete Fitness instructor fee 813
Hall cleaning 630
Total operating expenditure 5674
Operating loss -452
Other income
Bank interest(designated fund) 0
Bank interest(restricted fund) 588
Donations 0
**Fundraising: **
Easyfundraising 38
Grants:
DCC Covid 19335
Local Giving-physical activity 500
Total other income 20461
Operating loss plus excess other
income		 20009

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----- Start of picture text -----
WINSTON VILLAGE HALL
Statement of Assets and Liabilities
at 31 December 2021
31/12/2021 31/12/2020
Current assets
Debtors 0 0
Bank current account 1477 2035
Designated restricted fund 8227 2227
Bank 150 Club 1550 1550
Redwood Bank 59274 44686
Total current assets 70528 50498
Current liabilities (creditors) 37 16
Assets less liabilities 70491 50482
Financed by accumulated fund
Balance b/f 50482 35457
Plus excess income over expenditure 20009 15025
Balance c/f 70491 50482
Total debtors 0 0
Creditors:
Opus energy 37 16
Total creditors 37 16
----- End of picture text -----

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