Ebberston Village Hall Charity No: 523346
Annual Report and Accounts for the period 1 January 2024 to 31st December 2024
Corresponding address: Judith Winters (Chair) Village Hall Ebberston YO13 9NS 01723 859730 info@ebberston.net
March 2025
Ebberston Village Hall Annual Report for the period 1 Jan 2024 to 31st December 2024
1. Structure, Governance & Management
Ebberston Village Hall is an unincorporated charity registered with the Charity Commission (523346). The governing document of Ebberston Village Hall (and conveyance) is dated 30 May 1983.
The charitable objects of Ebberston Village Hall (North Yorkshire) are to provide a building for community use and to pay for its upkeep through fundraising events which also benefit the community.
The hall is “held upon trust for the purposes of physical and mental training and recreation and social moral and intellectual development through the medium of reading and recreation rooms library lectures classes recreations and entertainments or otherwise as may be found expedient for the benefit of the inhabitants of the Parish of Ebberston aforesaid and its immediate vicinity” (Governing document)
The Village Hall committee trustees are appointed or re-appointed at an annual AGM. Trustees are recruited from active hall groups as well as volunteers who demonstrate a strong commitment to and an understanding of the charity’s objectives.
2. Activities, Achievements and Community/Public Benefit
Chair’s report
The Village Hall committee’s role is to maintain the village hall for community use. Our fundraising events programme has been deliberately varied and has seen the hall continue to be a focal point for the social life of the village. And while the village hall relies on the support of the community, I would like to pay tribute to the efforts of all the dedicated trustees and volunteers, who give up their time (sometimes a lot of time) to organise and run our events. They are what keeps our village hall alive and thriving.
During the last 12 months, the village breakfasts have been especially successful in raising funds, while also bringing people together and strengthening community ties. The committee organised 5 village breakfasts (we average 70 servings at every event). The communal table arrangements work well and facilitate conversations and as soon as we stop serving, we get asked when the next one is.
A significant event in our 2024 calendar was 'Made in Ebberston' in June, when at both the village hall and the Chapel, we hosted almost 30 stallholders and exhibitors (inside and out), showcasing the creative talent we have in the village. The weather held out and allowed us to use the hall car park for outdoor seating, but it has spawned a few ideas about how we might use this space again in the summer months.
We also held a quiz and pie evening and hosted two Rural Arts sourced events. We also had two talks both on aspects of local history and archaeology, held our annual duck derby at the bottom of the village and a really entertaining evening of jazz and ragtime music. The occasional pop-up licensed bar to enhance some of these events continues to be a good source of new additional income for the hall. It is noticeable that our events have drawn in a broader
range of residents and new faces from further afield. This is an indication that the range of events we organise, while primarily exist to raise income, are also appealing to a wider cross-section of the community.
T he hall has been hired for elections, first aid classes and children’s birthday parties as well as by our usual regular hirers. Income from hire has dropped again this year, but is offset by the income from events. We only have a small cohort of regular users - the weekly yoga group is responsible for almost 50% of overall hire income and the craft group a significant proportion thereafter. These groups and their reliance on a small number of users does make them precarious and so they do pose a potential challenge should they pause for any reason. Our nascent plans to redevelop the hall are important therefore, in order that hall hire can play a more balanced role alongside trustees’ fundraising activities. While changing demographics and social habits may also contribute to the altered hall usage, we remain convinced that our hall is a crucial hub for the village, and provides a vital space for social interaction, entertainment and community activity.
The hall’s annual running costs sit around £6000 per annum although we have been able to reduce our insurance costs and fix our energy costs for a further 2 years. Helped along by a £500 from NYCC (now North Yorkshire Council), we have repointed, replaced and insulated the roof on our external shed. We also laid a solid floor so that the space can be better used.
Future Plans
We are still keen to realise our ambition for improving the hall building, layout and fabric. Ebberston Village Hall is an unincorporated charity and in line with many village halls across the country, we have been encouraged to convert to a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO). A CIO structure should both aid administration while also offering better liability protection for trustees - especially important if we might be embarking on significant works to the hall. In September 2024, the committee agreed to explore a change of status. To lay the groundwork for such a change, we anticipate we will undertake some work on governance and management in the coming 12 months.
Communication and Public Engagement
Our communication channels have continued to play a key role in promoting the hall and encouraging public support and participation. We regularly update our followers about ongoing projects and volunteer opportunities through our social media platforms and website and help to foster an appreciation of the hall as a community space.
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Event posters are the main route to communication about us with the village. They are supplemented by delivered flyers for certain events and activities.
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Our Facebook page (set up in 2023) has 119 followers and all our events are promoted and reported there.
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We aso report 4 times a year in the Parish newsletter (184 subscribers)
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Twitter/X : The @ebberston Twitter/X account gives us an additional channel to reach a broader audience and continue to spread the word about our activities.
3. Financial overview
See attached accounts
Principal Sources of Funding
Ebberston Village Hall income is primarily generated through the following channels. We rely on a combination of
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Trustee-organised events
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Income generated by hire of the premises
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Raffles and donations
Every contribution, whether large or small, makes a meaningful difference and enables us to maintain the hall.
We require around £6000 per annum to cover basic running costs. In this reporting period, the majority of funds to support the hall came from the fundraising events and activities organised by the committee (57%), followed by hall hire (25%), interest on savings (19%) and donations (10%). A significant additional boost in 2024 came from participation in the Coop Community Fund for our village breakfast events which raised £4636 over the course of the year. A generous legacy from the estate of Sonja and Graeme Walker was also received. We also obtained a £500 grant from NYCC Community Grants for work to replace the roof on the external store.
This % breakdown of income highlights the continuing importance of the events organised by trustees to raise the necessary income in the absence of hire of premises. However, the hall’s overall financial position is secure.
Trustee Remuneration
All Trustees of Ebberston Village Hall serve in a voluntary capacity and receive no remuneration or material benefits for their contributions to the charity. Trustees are reimbursed for any out-of-pocket expenses that are necessarily and reasonably incurred while carrying out their duties in support of the charity’s purposes. These expenses are reimbursed at cost and are strictly limited to those directly related to the promotion and delivery of the charity’s objectives.
4. Reference and Administration Details
Name of the Charity: Ebberston Village Hall. Charity No: 523346. The charity is not registered with HM Revenue & Customs.
Principal Address (correspondence): c/o Judith Winters, Village Hall, Ebberston YO13 9NS Email: info@ebberston.net
Names of the Trustees Who Manage the Charity
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|Name|Date appointed trustee|
|Judith Winters (Chair)|pre 2008|
|Julie Askew (Treasurer)|4 March 2024|
|Helen Watson|6 March 2023|
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Jacqueline Ross 13 July 2021 Glenys Rowe 17 May 2016 Sarah Wedgwood Walker 15 March 2016 Denise Johnson 5 May 2015 Suzanne Kirby (Bookings) 5 May 2015 Pauline Hepplestone pre 2008 Lynne Hall (Secretary) pre 2009
This report was approved and signed on behalf of Trustees on 11th March 2025.
Judith Winters (Chairperson)
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