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2024-02-29-accounts

Leigh and Bransford Memorial Hall and Recreation Ground Sherridge Road, Leigh Sinton, Malvern, WR13 5DE

Leigh and Bransford Memorial Hall Committee of Trustees

ANNUAL REPORT 2023-24

MARCH 2023 – FEBRUARY 2024: A YEAR OF FURTHER CONSOLIDATION

INTRODUCTION

One of the benefits of sound record keeping and looking back over previous reports is the point of reference they can give as we look forward to identifying our hopes, ambitions (and sometimes fears) for the year(s) ahead.

The previous year’s annual report (2022-23) was characterised by a period of prolonged and exponential rises in inflation. Soaring inflation, like the pandemic before it, if not strategically addressed, would have posed a serious threat to our Hall’s short and long-term financial viability. In the event we were able to stabilise the potential threat and impact of our rapidly rising overheads and, as that year progressed, the trustees managed to re-set our financial strategy to create a sustainable platform for the future, which we then described as our “new normal”.

And so to the year just ended – 2023-24 which was our first full year experiencing this “new normal” – a year when, thanks to the determined effort of all our trustees, we were able to consolidate, and slightly improve, the relatively healthy financial position we had managed to achieve by the end of the previous year.

OUR OBJECTIVES FOR 2023-24

Our two, over-arching objectives for 2022-23 were very straight forward and served us well as both strategic and tactical priorities. So, in order to consolidate the progress we had made that year, and to build on our ambitions going forward, we adopted a slightly modified version for the 2023-24 year; namely:

HOW DID WE DO?

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MEASURING SUCCESS: OBJECTIVE 1

To maintain an environment that would give hirers a good, value-for-money experience

There are at least three ways to triangulate our measurement of success against this objective, namely:

Are our hourly rates competitive?

We had previously undertaken an analysis of the advertised rates for hiring village or community halls in the surrounding area. A like-for-like comparison is not straight forward as the Leigh and Bransford Memorial Hall is the largest community space available for hire and so we would expect our rates to be generally higher than the other halls. But that was not always the case. It is also interesting to see how others advertise their rates – for some halls the hirer needs to book the kitchen space separately whereas our business model always includes the use of the fully equipped kitchen with crockery, cutlery, glasses and so forth, together with use of any of the tables and chairs we keep in our furniture store.

Many of the surrounding halls also require a deposit of between £50.00 to £100.00 – we, on the other hand abandoned this practice some years ago as it was costly and cumbersome to administer. We now require all hirers to acknowledge their acceptance of our Terms and Conditions at the point of hire, which gives us the ability to require additional payment for damages or failure to leave the building in an acceptable manner.

All that said, our rates are broadly comparable with the other local halls and, even allowing for the hourly rate increases we had to impose during the year- due to the exponential rise in inflation which significantly increased our annual overheads.

This analysis suggests that our hourly rates are set within market expectations – or to put it another way, what the current market will bear.

Are we ensuring that the building and grounds are clean and safe and its facilities in keeping with hirers’ expectations?

In order to keep our overheads manageable, our Terms and Conditions require all our hirers to work through an End of Hire Checklist before finally leaving the building. we have a self-clean and tidy

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away system with which all hirers must comply. This checklist requires hirers to clean up and clear away at hire end to ensure that the building is left clean and tidy for those that follow. Failure to comply may trigger an additional payment from them.

We also employ the weekly services of a professional cleaner, and this accounts for INSERT % of our annual overheads.

Every year we also endeavour to update our facilities in line with hirers’ expectations and the 202324 year was no exception – a detailed list of improvements and other works is given later in this report under the review of our third objective.

Are the number of hires per year decreasing, increasing, or holding steady?

We constantly monitor the number of hires being booked over the course of each year, as the raw data helps to give us a year-on-year comparison of activity. But the number of hires on their own need further triangulation to determine more meaningfully how we’re doing.

For example, we categorise our hires into three groups, namely the number of hires booked by our regular weekly or monthly groups; so-called ‘one-off’ hires (although these can also be ‘repeat business’ hires; and wedding or other weekend bookings in excess of 12 hours. We then look at the revenue generated by the regular hires compared to the one-off hires and weddings etc. In any one year, these 3 data sets will vary so it is important also to know the income generated by these different groups.

In 2023-24 we know that while the total number of hires (before taking into account cancellations) fell by 5% compared with the previous year – 345 hires compared to 364 hires – gross income from all hires was actually up on the previous year.

Further analysis shows that 76% of all hires was attributable to weekly or monthly local group hires, and the balance (24%) were one-off (or repeat business) hires. Included in this category were 3 weekend wedding celebrations, family or other gatherings.

We can also report that we had a slightly higher cancellation rate this year compared to the previous year (i.e. 9% compared with 7.7%). However, further analysis shows that from this year’s annual total of 31 cancellations, 25 (or 80%) were made by regular groups – of which, one new group failed to recruit sufficient numbers (accounting for 10 cancellations), and two of the children’s ‘holiday clubs’ also failed to recruit, accounting for a further 8. The remaining 7 local group cancellations were due to unforeseen circumstances.

That meant that only 6 one-off hires were either cancelled or re-scheduled. The point here being that local groups meet, on average , for just 2-3 hours, whereas one-off hires usually meet for longer

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durations – when 48-hour weekend packages are taken into account the average hire will easily be in double figures. Longer hires generate more income.

A full analysis of hire income is given below under the narrative for our second objective, but the above headline analysis and narrative suggests that, while we will always operate a policy of striving to continually improve, we met our first objective to provide value for money for our hirers.

MEASURING SUCCESS: OBJECTIVE 2

To safeguard a sustained return to financial stability

The UK's inflation rate in March 2023 (the first month of our financial year), as measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI), was 10.1% . While this was marginally down from 10.4% in the year to February 2023, inflation remained stubbornly high for the first six months of 2023-24. This impacted on us in at least two distinct ways – first, significantly escalating the cost of our annual overheads and unplanned maintenance costs, and second, necessitating a rise in our hourly hire rates which, if not pitched sensitively, could result in those new rates proving just too expensive as hirers had to juggle their own domestic budgets simply to makes ends meet.

The narrative above (Objective 1) shows that while we did see a slight downturn in the total number of annual hires, this was mostly down to three specific regular groups failing to achieve viability. Our one-off hires (including weekend hires) actually increased, which of itself helped to offset the exponential rise in our overheads.

Our single most expensive overhead was the cost of energy. Although we had installed over 20 solar panels and a back-up battery storage system a year earlier, the actual unit price of electricity had previously increased exponentially for commercial properties – the Hall may be a registered charity but is still classified as a commercial business. Not only is the unit rate more expensive, but we are also liable for additional charges – the CCL (Climate Change Levy) and 20% VAT. As we are not a VAT registered charity this automatically increases our (already high) energy costs by a fifth.

In the final analysis we paid just over £7,250.00 for electricity over the year, which to put in context works out at almost £20.00 a day. Without the solar panels, we would have had to pay nearer £12,000.00 or almost £33.00 a day. So our investment in solar energy saved on average £13.00 a day over the past 12 months. But the even better news was that from February 2024 (the last month of our financial year) we were able to renegotiate a new contract at a significantly lower unit

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price for electricity, locking in the new reduced rate for three years. We therefore confidently expect much more predictability and stability on our energy costs going forward.

The exponential rise in our annual overheads since coming out of covid – up from about £12,000 a year to almost £19,000 (or over 50%) now includes:

Financial Summary: 2023-24

At the beginning of the 2023-24 Financial Year (FY) our total opening balances were as follows:

Lloyds: £27,795.54 PayPal: £5,065.94

Total Available: £32,861.48

At the close of business on Thursday 29 February (the last day of our Financial Year 2023-24) our balances at Lloyds and PayPal were as follows:

Lloyds: £27,166.49 PayPal: £7,861.78

Grand Total: £35,028.27

These figures show that we ended the 2023-24 FY with an improved, year-on-year balance of almost 7% or £2,166.79.

Although the end of year balance on our Lloyds account was slightly down by £626.05 our PayPal balance was up by £2,795.84.

Since 1 March 2023, our Lloyds’ account has seen the following amounts paid in and paid out:

MONTH PAID IN PAID OUT INCOME v EXPENDITURE
March £10,979.55 £2,088.71 +£8,890.84

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April £1,307.06 £3,084.35 -£1,777.29
May £2,604.75 £949.13 +£1,655.62
June £290.75 £1,559.17 -£1,268.42
July £666.53 £1,751.49 -£1,084.96
August £1,363.65 £1,166.28 +£197.37
September £1,413.35 £648.74 +£764.61
October £610.15 £2,252.47 -£1,642.32
November £1,342.08 £6,917.56 -£5,575.48
December £190.75 £2,697.95 -£2,507.20
January £2,523.25 £4,099.29 -£1,576.04
February* 10,141.58 6,847.36 £3,294.22
TOTAL £33,433.45 £34,062.50 -£629.05

Although the end of year balance on our Lloyds account was slightly down by £629.05 our PayPal balance was up by £2,795.84. This -2.3% difference in our Lloyds account is largely due to the slight downturn in the number of hires throughout the year by our regular groups (see above) which we invoice in arrears. However, the improved end of year PayPal balance of over 50%, is due to the increased number of one-off and weekend bookings.

All online bookings are paid for using PayPal (and not by invoice into our Lloyds account). This confirms the narrative above that while the overall number of hires was down slightly on the previous year, our income, largely due to an increase in one-off and weekend hires, was higher. As both sets of hires were subject to in-year hourly rate increases, this also confirms our narrative that hirers are willing to pay the current hire fees as they are pitched within current market tolerances and expectations.

In 2020-21and 2021-22, four (of our 14) annual overheads (Electricity, Cleaning, Wi-Fi and Waste Collection) accounted for almost half (44% and 47% respectively) of our regular outgoings. In the year just ended, these same four budget lines increased to the point where they now accounted for 65% of our regular expenditure on annual overheads.

Additionally, our outgoings on most of the other 10 budget lines increased, but by smaller amounts, with the net result that our annual overheads (regular operating expenses) for the past year actually decreased slightly to £17,820.52 (compared to £18,397.24 in 2022-23) or by 3%.

Financial Summary: The Year Ahead

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We start the coming year in good financial shape, with healthy balances in both our Lloyds and PayPal accounts.

As the new FY begins, we should remember that the opening PayPal balance of £7,860.00 mostly comprises advance hire income – that is income received for hires scheduled to take place later in the coming year. This means that at the start of the current FY the working balance in our Lloyds account (excluding the PayPal balance) already gives us headroom to the value of £7,000.00 to cover about half of our expected annual running costs (outgoings) after reserving our rolling contingency of £20,000.00.

In the FY just ended we generated additional income of £24,977.25 to that collected via PayPal. Our target was £19,750.00 which we therefore exceeded by £5,227.25 or 26%. However, we should remember that included in this out-turn figure was a grant of £9,900.00 to cover the costs of acoustic panelling and improved access (all of which was spent by 29 February).

In the previous FY year (2021-22) the additional income collected was £19,422.00 which included just over £4,000.00 in grant aid. If we net off the grant aid for both years, we can see that in

2021-22 net additional income was £15,422.00 (rounded) and in 2022-23 net additional income was £15,077.00 (rounded) - a slight decrease of just over 2%.

To be clear, our net additional income comprises hire and other income collected via invoices from our regular groups and standing orders for ground rent from Villages Playgroup and 1[st] Leigh Scouts, together with a few other miscellaneous amounts relating to recycling, Ofgem payments and occasional donations from local groups. However, it excludes our Friends of Leigh and Bransford Hall lottery fund raiser which, on past performance would add another £650.00 (net) or thereabouts.

So, we can continue to be reasonably confident that, even if we are unsuccessful in achieving any grant awards in the coming year, we could once again expect to collect an annual amount of approximately £15,000.00 in net additional income . Added to this would be an expected further £7,000.00 of income via online booking through PayPal , (in addition to our opening PayPal balance of £7,860.00)

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In total, therefore, and based on past performance, we could reasonably expect to generate somewhere in the region of a minimum of £22,000.00 in total annual revenue from hires and other miscellaneous activities during the coming year – excluding our ‘Friends’ lottery and grant income.

Again, based on past performance, we could expect our annual overheads to come in at about £18,000.00 which suggests that, including unexpected maintenance costs, and keeping our £20,000.00 reserve in place, we could reasonably look to set an initial £10,000.00 budget for future works and improvements.

MEASURING SUCCESS OBJECTIVE 3

To implement an agreed schedule of improvements to the Hall and its amenities as finances allowed.

We concluded last year’s annual report signalling that discussions had already begun to agree an outline plan for further improvement work in the 2023-24 financial year. This could include, but not necessarily limited to:

In that previous year we also had to fund some quite serious unplanned maintenance work, which would add almost a further £10,000 to total maintenance and improvements expenditure. This had included:

All this work was completed and paid for before the end of the previous financial year and would, of course, have impacted on our ambitions to achieve the agreed programme of improvements identified for the coming year.

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But we began the year knowing that we had received an award of £9,900.00 from the Lottery Community Fund to help us install a schedule of improvements to the Hall and its grounds all of which, in different ways were designed to improve access.

In the event this is how we invested that grant:

In addition, we were fortunate to obtain a 50% grant towards the cost of a new defibrillator (which has been located on the corner of the building that faces the Sherridge Road), and the cost of permanently wiring it in has been met by a contribution from the Worcestershire Community Fund, managed in our parish by Councillor Karen Hanks – we are most grateful for her support in covering the cost of the installation. The defibrillator is now fully commissioned and illuminated so it can be easily seen both by day and during the night. This adds another important potentially life-saving

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piece of equipment to those already installed in various locations around our parish. It has since been registered with the Ambulance Service and is now part of the National Defibrillator Network.

Finally, during the year we commissioned the design and build of a brand new website – which is due to go-live in the next financial year (2024-25). Our original website went live in April 2016 and represented a huge step forward for us. For the first time potential hirers could find lots of information about the Hall and book a hire on-line in an instant, simply by visiting the website. Up to that point, potential hirers had to fill in a booking request form or phone our booking secretary; payment was by cheque, which then had to be banked and the door key had to be collected in person and then returned and hire end. The old paper-based system was time-consuming and inefficient, keys could often go missing and there was always the potential, inadvertently, to make double bookings.

Almost overnight our new website made the whole process much speedier and, after people got used to it, much more convenient, relatively straightforward to use and generally much more efficient. But technology, as they say, moves on. Lots of features people expect to find on websites today are missing from ours – but due in part to the way it was originally ‘built’, those new features can neither easily nor economically be incorporated into what is, as far as our website is concerned, old technology – a thing of the past. Or, to put it another way, the advice we had from the individual who maintains our current website and expertly coordinates all our online bookings, it is “quicker, easier, and cheaper, to build a completely new site than to try and untangle the existing one”.

And so, towards the end of last year the trustees commissioned him to design and build a brandnew website. A site, that in the professional jargon, will have an “ improved user interface” giving a “ superior user-experience;” be of “responsive design” and “increased flexibility”; and as far as possible is “future proofed”.

To the end-user, that means a website that looks attractive and up to date; is set out clearly – making it ‘friendlier’ (or more intuitive) to use, needing fewer ‘clicks’ to find the information they need quickly; making communication with us through the site uncomplicated and eliminating the potential for confusion.

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The new website will also look and work in the same way whether accessed by desktop or laptop computer, tablet, or mobile phone. That certainly isn’t the case with our current website. And, finally, it will need to be ‘Future-Proof’ with as long a ‘shelf-life’ as possible – so it can be updated quickly as and when the specific technologies we rely on to add functionality to the site change – like pop-up messaging, uploading photographs and videos or simply revising the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) and online booking calendars.

However, what we may consider to be a great improvement, to others could still seem rather ‘clunky’ – in that, in their opinion, it doesn’t work as smoothly, intuitively, or as efficiently as it could. So, with that in mind we will be ‘road-testing’ the new site with a volunteer panel of testers, to ensure, as far as we are able, that the site meets its design criteria.

As part of the preparation for this new site, we commissioned and paid for a three-dimensional ‘virtual tour’ of the Hall and its grounds which will be a major new feature of the website – allowing potential hirers to take a virtual walking tour of the Hall’s space and facilities.

So, what of the year ahead?

The trustees have already discussed trying to raise sufficient funds during the year (perhaps with the help of some grant aid too) to achieve the following improvements and refurbishments:

We will report on these, and/or other improvements in next year’s Annual Report.

CONCLUSION

As chair I continue to be grateful for the continued support, commitment and thoughtful debate of our trustees who generously give their time, ideas and expertise so willingly to govern, manage and

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constantly improve the Hall as a community meeting space – keeping it safe and viable for future generations.

During the course of the year we welcomed two new trustees to our number, following the untimely death of our previous Parish Council representative, and the resignation of another trustee. The current list of trustees is published on the Charity Commission website and noted in the minutes of our recent Annual General Meeting.

We are always alert to the possibility of recruiting some new blood trustees to refresh our committee membership and who can contribute fresh ideas and new ways of working (as appropriate) to keep our governance strong and relevant in a changing post-covid world.

Together, we can look forward to a positive year (2024-25) ahead as the past year has successfully built on and consolidated the progress made in 2022-23. We continue to be ready for this ‘new, post-covid normal’ and the new opportunities and challenges that will be sure to emerge.

Jon Gamble, Chair of Trustees

May 2024

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