Charity Number: NIC100157
Aghalee Village Hall
Aghalee Village Hall
Annual Report and Unaudited Financial Statements
for the financial year ended 31 December 2024
Daly Park & Company Ltd
Chartered Accountsnts
4 Carnegie Steet
Lurgan
Co. Armagh
BT66 6AS
Northern Ireland

Aghalee Village Hall
CONTENTS
Page
Trustees, and Other Information
Trustees, Report
4-21
Statement of Trustees, Responsibilities
22
Independent Examiner's Report
23
Statement of Financial Activities
24
Balance Sheet
25
Notes to the Financial Statements
26- 30

Aghalee Village Hall
TRUSTEES. AND OTHER INFORMATION
Trustees
Christopher Buller
Alison Gawith
Anne Miskelly
Pat Mc4dams
Michael Beacham
Derek Blakely
Stephen Bann
Matt Hull
Bobbie Hamill
Pauline Buller
Kerry Quinn
Femando Gutierrez
Fiona Maree
Andrea HLrff
Susan McCavig8n
John Harris
lan Chrisb"e
Charity Number in Northern Ireland
NIC100157
Principal Address
6 Lurgan Road
Aghalee
Co. Armagh
BT67 ODD
United lfjngdom
Independent Examiner
Daly Park & Company Ltd
Chartered Accountants
4 Carnegie Steel
Lurgan
Co. Amagh
BT66 6AS
Northern Ireland
Principal Bankers
Danske Bank
4548 High Street
Portadown
Co. Amagh
BT62 1LB
Northern Ireland
Solicitors
R M Cullen & Son
16-22 E￿ard Street
Portadown
Co. Arniagh
BT62 3NA
Northern Ireland

Aghalee Village Hall
TRUSTEES. REPORT
for the financial year ended 31 December 2024
The trustees present their Trustees. Report and the unaudited finanaal statements for the financial year ended 31
December 2024.
The financial statements are prepar&J in accordance with the Charities Act (Northem Irelandl 2008, FRS 102 'The
Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland" and Accounb"ng and Reporting by Charities..
Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to chatrties preparing their financial statements in accordan￿ with
the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland IFRS 1021.
The Trustees, Report contains the information required to be provided in the Trustees. Annual Report under the
Statement of Recommended Practice {SORPI guidelines. The trustees of the tharity are also charty trustees for the
purpose of charity law and under the charity's constitution are known as members of the board of trustees.
In this report the trustees of Aghalee Village Hall present a summary of its purpose, governan￿, acb"vities,
achievements and finances for the financial financial year 31 De￿mber 2024.
The organisab.on is a registered charity and hen￿ the report and results are presented in a fomi which complies with
the requirements of the Charities Act {Northern Ireland) 2C()8 and, a￿hOUgh not obliged to comply with the Stslement
of Recommended Pracb'ce applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland FRS 102, the organisation has implemented
its recommendations where relevant in these finanaal statements.
Financial Review
The results for the financial year are set out on page 24 and additional notes are provided showing income and
expenditure in greater detail.
Results and Dividends
Al the end of the financial year the charity has assets of £257.06212023 - £296,116) and liabilities of £2,75512023 -
£1,640). The net assets ofthe charty have decreased by £140,169).
At the dawn of 2024
2023 had been confirmed as the world's warrrEst year on record - 1.48C wamier than the long-temi
average, driven by climate change and El Nino.
A magnitude 7.6 earthquake struck Japan's westem coast, killing an estimated 120 people and injuring
more than 100,
The lowest January temperature of 43.6 C lrninus 46.5 Fl had been recorded in Sweden for 25 years in
Swedish Lapland,
January 2024 brought a month of contrasts to the UK weather, with three named stom)s, a significant spell
of cold, wintry weather and finally a new UK daily rnaximum temperdture record for January.
And here in Aghalee, the first meeting of Aghalee Village Hall was Can￿lled due to bad weatherl
AGM 2024 - report
This was held on Wednesday 15 May 2024 at 7.30pm
Acting Chairperson." VI￿ Chairperson Matt Hull was unable to attend and had nominated Anne Miskelly to stand in
as Chairperson for the evening and to read his report for 2023.
The Acting Chairperson welcomed everyone to this 2024 AGM of Aghalee Village Hall relating to wot* to year end
31112r2023, and welcomed Cllr Claire Kemp and Gina Biggerstaff, Community Services Development Officer with
Lisburn & Castlereagh City Council, who will be acling as independent presiding offI￿r during nominations to the
202415 committee.
All meeting paperwork from 2023 was provided, plus the minutes from AGM 2022.
MINUTES 2022- ADOPTION OF ANNUAL REPORT AND ACCOUNTS Yle 31112r22
Acceptance of the minutes was proposed by Alison Gawith. seconded by Pat McAdams and signed. There were no
matters arising.
REPORTS 2023
CHAIRPERSON'S REPORT for 2023 was
resented b Anne Miskell
As 2023 dawned, in Northern Ireland we had been wf(hout a functioning government for some 11 months, and major
budgetary crises were facing a number of public servi￿. All did not bode well for the incoming year.

Aghalee Village Hall
TRUSTEES. REPORT
for the financial year ended 31 De￿mber 2024
However, at AVH, after Christmas 2022 when a number of the Village Hall Committee were recovering after having
been in hospitsl, had contracted Covid or had a bad 'flu which was going about, everyone seemed well recovered
and fighting fit.
We had some excitements in 2023, the first was to celebrate the Hall's 90 anniversary in September, and we did
this by running a Special Aftemoon Tea. A request for photos went out on social media befo￿hand and which were
then added to over 100 donated by Soldierstown Church from their celebration of their Heritage project. We displayed
a 90th anniversary table with minute book from the first days in 1933 along with the opening photograph, a short
history of different actThiities through the decades, and 2 booklets of the old village pictures which proved very
popular. The Art group showed their painb"ngs, old friendships were renewed and new ones made. Everyone had a
great aftemoon, with a delicious handmade aftemoon tea made entirely by Fiona Maree of the committee. Our thanks
to all who made il such a wonderfvjl evenL
The second excitement was when we were approached in septeM￿r by a location scout for the Children's BBC
programme 'A Kind of Spark,. They needed an authentic village hall in which to film some s￿neS for the new series
of the programme and had found Us in the online yellow pages. They tokl us we seemed to be the only remaining
authentic village hall in the Province.
A Kind of Spart is a story about fv"endship. courage and seff-tsel￿f, based on the aWard-￿nnIng novel by
neurodivergent author Elle McNicoll. Aimed at children 8-12, it tells the inspirational story of ÈeenagerAddie, a
neurodivergent girl, growing up and leaming the power of her vol￿.
To cut a long story short, we hired the hall to the film unit for a total of 6 weeks and were paid a handsome rental fee
for the duration. We had some shifting about to relocate all our groups and workshops. but we manged it prety well
and thank local Church and Memorial halls for helping us out. As you would imagine, filming caused huge excitement
in the village and local area. There were advantages lo many due lo the filming, re-location siles all made a profit, as
did local building supplies, shops both here and in Aghagallon and the cafés in Aghagallon. Members of the
committee were in and out daily wrth the film company and have a few photos for use when allowed. The series aired
on 261h April 2024.
Other highlights during 2023 included..
Art Exhibition: in April
Coronation Drop in EvenL' 6th May
Country Music Night- 13th May
Summer Solstice Walk.. 24th June
Rock & Pop Night: 7th October
Christmas Evenl: ThurslFrilSat 7th 9th De￿mber
Craft Fair held by a local resident- 24th November
During the post Covid Activities Programme over 2022 & 2023 we held a lotal of 116 workshops and 8 courses.
There were 1,300 places available and more than 300 individuals booked pla￿$. The programme was funded by".
Telecommunity, Halifax Foundation Nl, The Honourable The Irish Society, John Moores Foundation Nl, Arnold Clark,
Arts Council Northern Ireland, Garfield Weston and Awards for All. Thanks also to Lisburn & Castlereagh City Council
for funding the Coronation and Chrisbnas events. Our SIn￿re thanks to all of these funders as without their support
much ofthe programme wouldn't have been possib￿.
Social Media page and website- Thanks to Fiona Maree and Peter Rusk for managing both of these which have
proved to be very popular, and over the year on our pages we have advertised the work of the hall and reunited the
community with all manner of tiems lost and found.
New$letter- on￿ again we produced 2 editions of the newsletter, each reaching more than 1,000 people, in hard
copy and on line.
Regular user groups- Thanks to all our regular user groups who continue to meet each week and provide ServI￿S
and activrties lo all their members and paying vital rental income as they do so.
Resignation- Our Chairrnan Lewis Trevithick resigned from the Committee in De￿rnber, stepping down after 5
years in the Chair. We thank him for his time and support of the organisab.on over the years and wish him well in the
future.
Villa
e matters
Traffic calming - Finalty happened in 2024, after communty discussions started around 20161
Feslive lighting - We continue to repair, erect and pay for the festive lights throughout the village and were pleased
this year to have paid for a pole at Coronation Gardens to be rewired. Thanks to the volunteers for managing this
each year.
The Future for AVH
In January 2024 we discussed the future of the hall. We want to ty and engage the community further and create a
strategic plan for the next 3-5 years. We met with Victoria Jackson. Communty Development Officer Lisburn &

Aghalee Village Hall
TRUSTEES. REPORT
for the financial year ended 31 De￿mber 2024
Castlereagh City Council and McGarry Consultants, to discuss how we could do this. The project will be focussed on
strategic development, future proofing and buikling sustainability. A Strategic Plan was drawn up and while we were
unsuc￿Ssful in attracting funding at that time, we met again and reviewed what we coukj achieve ourselves.
We reviewed our rental hire rates as they had not been increased since 2015.
We sought consultancy fees for 2024 to help with the plan and were successful through Awards for All.
We carried out a skills audit with the current commttlee and from this will work out what is required by way of
additional skills and people.
We planned and created a Community Audit for early 2024.
In 2024 we need to..
Review the findings of the Community Audit.
Create a business plan for the next >5 years.
Break the Strategic plan into shorter temi activities more easily achievable.
Look at grants available with a possible regard to the employment of a part-time Hall Manager.
Conclusion
It's been busy year for us with a great deal to celebrate and some serious future plans to think about. I would just like
to highlight that none of the successes in 2023 would have been remotely possible without the continuing valuable
input and support of all the committee members and volunteers working together as a team and l am very grateful for
their help and support and thank them all very much indeed.
TREASURER'S REPORT for Yle 31112123 wa$
resented b Chris Buller
On your seats you will have a copy of the accounts lo year end De1￿mber 2023. In accordance with current charity
legislation, these have been independenuy checked by Daly Park & Company Ltd given an unqualified, or clean
report.
We offer a huge thank you to everyone in the local communty who has supported us wrth raffle prizes and donations,
and especially to Lisburn & Castlereagh City Council who put their trust in us and continued their valuable support
through their various programmes, and to all the other Trusts and Agencies who have helped us wilh funding on
again this year.
Income for the year decreased on the previous year to £63.827 {2022 - £94,593}. The reason for this decrease was
the reduction in the number of grants received this year. Grants received in 2023 were £22.595, down from £73,224
in 2022 and were received from Halifax Foundation Nl £4,000. combined awards from Lisburn & Castlereagh City
Council of £8,595 and Awards for All of £10,000.
On a more positive side, the income from rent from hire of the hall increased this year to almost £33,000 (from
£17,500 in 20221, mainly due to 6 weeks hire rental from the filming event hire.
Total donations raised through fundraising of £4,642, including a donation from Deutsche Bank matching funds
raised al the Carols n Cake event held in 2022, and HMRC Gift Aid of £477.26.
Expenditure (excluding dePre￿ation) for the year has also decreased to £67,40212022- £73,099).
Direct costs on the provision of the halllactivitEs stayed in line with the level of income r￿1Ved and totalled £64,706
or 960/0.This is an increase of 1 Ok on 2022 figures1950/0l and includes, deaning, wages, tutor fees, rates, insuran￿,
light & heat, repairs, programme costs & subscriptions, and consultancy fees in relation to planning for the future.
Admin costs made up the remainder of £2,69614%)- general admin expenses, bank fees, professional fees and are
down 1 g/0 from 2022.
Deficit for the year is £3,575 lexcluding depreciation) and there is still approximately £26,000 of grdnt income
received in 2023 that crosses over and will be spent in 2024.
This deficit has been reflected in our cash reserves which have decreased from £88k to approx. £85k al year end.
The Charity continues lo be in a very strong and secure financial position for the next ￿e1ve months. The large cash
reserves held al 31st December 2023 have been saved up over the past few years and are to go towards the
planned refurt)ishment and repair works lo be carried out in 2024,. once these are completed our reserves will be
back in line with policy.
96010 ratio of spend on direct projed costs is excellent value for money and we would emphasise to all those present
the valuable work we are carrying out on behalf of our local communtty. I present the accounts for scrutiny and
adoption. There were no matters arising and the report was adopted.

Aghalee Village Hall
TRUSTEES. REPORT
for the financial year ended 31 De￿mber 2024
The 2024 nominations from the regular user groups as follows.
Book Club
Fiona Maree & Kerry Quinn
Aghalee Taekwondo
Susan Mccavigan & Michael Beacham
Ballinderry Badminton Club
Derek Blakely & Bobbie Hamill
Aghalee Upholstery Group
Anne Miskelly & Alison Gawilh
Needlecraft Club
Pat McAdams
Art Club
John Harris
Ballet & AgeNI
Pauline Buller
The total regular group representstives nominated is 11, so up to 6 Public representatives may be elected at AGM.
Nominations were confirmed for public representatives as follows. There is space for one more and it was noted
that volunteers can also be cwpted at a later date.
Public Representatives wishing to stand again in 2024
Matt Hull
Chris Buller
Andrea Huff
Stephen Bann
Femando Gutierrez
Vacant
The public representatives were proposed by Chris Buller and seconded by Stephen Bann.
Two Speci81 Advisers were acknowledged for their continuing important wort(." Ruth Macauley, Bookings and Carol
Redpath, Safeguarding.
New Reps and Trustees
John Harris will be the new Art Rep- Pauline will meet up wrth him in June to induct.
Another local man, lan Christie volunteered to become a committee member. Pauline will go through induction at a
mutually suitable date.
Officers
Al the first committee meeting of the management trustees after AGM, the following Offi￿r$ and other posts were
appointed and elected. All are on a voluntary basis and training is given as required. If we cannot appoint from within
the committee, interested parties can be c¢>opted into post.
Members of the committee are encouraged to consider taking on a post in order to enable the committee to function
properly and to lake pressure off individuals.
Legal office￿ for following 3 yea
Chairperson- Anne Miskelly, vic￿chairperSon - Matt Hull, Secretary - Pauline Buller, Treasurer- Chris Buller
others..
Marketing & Publicity, including Website and social media - Fiona Maree. lan Christse and Peter Rusk l.T. - Femando
Gutierrez
Booking Secretary - Ruth Macauley
Safeguarding - Carol Redpalh
Programme and Courses -Pauline Buller
H&SIFire Officer- Anne Miskelly and John Harris as Deputy
maintenan￿ Cttee- Matt, Chris, Lewis, Femando and others as required
End of 2024 AGM Report
Other AVH Business in 2024
Grants 2024
LCCC - Community Services Grant 24
TNL People & Communities
Hedley Foundation
Enkalon
LCCC- Xmas Grant
LCCC- DIY Grant
Total
Fundraising 2024
Art Exhibition
80.00
Afternoon Tea
275.00
Rock n Pop Night
£ 1,000.00
Upholstery Donations £
192.18
Christmas Donations £ 364.93
Other Donations
360.00
Core costs
Activity Prog 202&26
Elderty Hardship
Core costs
Christmas
Maintenan
4,730.00
46,822.00
2,500.00
500.00
1,000.00
1,305.00
£56.857.00
Grand Total
£2.272.11
HMRC on Donations £
249.28 to be added to this figure.

Aghalee Village Hall
TRUSTEES. REPORT
for the financial year ended 31 Decernber 2024
We thank all of those funders and indNiduals who have made donations andlor awarded grants and funds to enable
Aghalee Village Hall to continue its work in the comrnunity. IAfithout your valued support, none of what we do would
be possible.
The
Llsbum a
Castlerea9h
Clty Councll
Hedley Foundation
A Grant Giving Charity
Ballot Prizes 2024
We re￿iVed brilliant support from local businesses to the ballot prizes totalling more than £750 and we thank them
very much'_
Hannons Transport- 2 Glasgow Express coach trip vouchers, Classic Kitchens- Steam cleaner, Aghalee
Taekwondo Club- 6 weeks lessons and insurance cover, Aghalee Vehide Services- Voucher £50, Centra Aghalee -
Voucher £50, Beeches Resource Centre- Wool Wire Sign. Agha1￿ Pharmacy- Cushion, Trish Rogers Originals -
Cheeseboard & Coasters, Breadboard and Tealight holder, The Copper Tree- Xmas fused glass decoration,
Aghalee Building Supplies- Voucher £30, Relatively ceram1cs-P￿e of pottery, Nifty Needles- Snowman and
Sewing kil and other prizes from various AVH members.
We thank each and every one of these companies and individuals for their continuing generous donations of prizes
for our ballots and events over the year.
Wice Chairperson
Matt Hull was absent for a couple of rnonths while having a new hip, and returned to committee in July.
Retirements
Walter Robertson decided to retire from the committee, but hoped still to able to help out at ChrL8tmas. Waller has
been with the committee since 1995, some 29 years. and has helped overthe years in numerous ways. The
committee thanked Waller for his Servi￿ and wished him very well in his retirement.
Sheila Hull had been unwell and retired from worf(ing as cleaner at the hall after worting for us for 22 years. The
committee thanked Sheila for her Servi￿ and offered her its best wishes.
Cleaning Arrangements
Lindsey Matchett, took on the cleaning wort until the end of December. She has expressed an interest in taking on
the work as per Sheila's hours, should it become available. The committee agreed a 3-month trial {Jan-Marchl. The
role is not that of an employee and will be invoiced on a monthly basis.
Centre manager
We made an application to Halifax 40 Invest for funding towards salary of plt centre manager and are looking also at
The Fore and Heritage Lottery funding to further develop this role.
Annual events 2024
Country Night and Solstice Walk were not held this year
Art Exhibition and Afternoon Tea- 20th to 22th1 September
The combined Art exhibition and Aftemoon tea events were held be￿een Friday 20th and Sunday 22nd September.
The SRC art group exhibited the work the had created over the previous year. This event opened on Friday night and
was very well attended over the weekend. The group donated £80 from sales made. The Afternoon Tea event was
well attended again with committee member Fiona Maree making all the baked goods and sandwiches for the event,
ably helped by other committee members acting as watbng and kitchen staff. A total of £275 was donated after
expenses. Many thanks to everyone who worf(ed so hard and were involved in making the weekend such a success.

Aghalee Village Hall
TRUSTEES. REPORT
for the financial year ended 31 December 2024
De-stash event pics- 2yh June
This year the hall was hired for its first d&stash event. This is not a craft fair but an event where crafters and other
like-minded people come together lo sell on excess crafting gcK)ds and items. AVH sel up the small hall as a tea
room and made £130. It is planned by the organiser to hold up to 4 events next year.
Rock & Pop Night- P October
The Village Hall was On￿ again the venue for the annual Rock and Pop gKJ night on Saturday 5th October. The
audience was entertained by regulaTS, Dazed and The Renegade Kings as well as 3 acts appearing for the first time.
All performers appeared free of charge with takings going to support the Village Hall.
Dazed opened the evening with their blend of 70's classics, such as Baker Street, Stamian and Nights in Vvhite Satin.
Next up were the newcomers Eddie and Connor playing a mixture of old and new material, followed by Liz, who sang
a solo of'Torn' followed by a duet with John of the The Renegade lfjngs and finally Siobhan who performed two
beautiful solo ballads.
Following a very well supported raffle, The Renegade Kings took to the stage to perfomi hits from the likes of Bruce
Springsteen, Queen and many more, as well as a few of their own composTtions. (Keep an eye out on social media
for their upcoming appearan￿51.
Once again everyone had a great night, a total of £1,000 was raised and hopefulty we can do it all over again, same
time next year. Huge thanks to everyone con￿rned.

Aghalee Village Hall
TRUSTEES. REPORT
for the financial
ear ended 31 December 2024
}lT,
Craft Fair- November
Local woman and artist, Trish Rogers On￿ again hosted the annual Christmas
craft fair at the hall. AVH Secretary Pauline and her daughter Katherine and
granddaughter Abigail, took a table at the fair and along with sales from their
crafts made a donation of £200 to AVH.
Rock Choir Nl- 17th November
We held 8 Rock Choir Nl event to raise funds for Demenba Nl.
We had a full house, a wonderful time and £450 in donations was raised.
Christmas Switch on- yh December
This was a wonderful event in the hall. After the fesb.ve lights were repaired, erected and lil up, we held our annual,
free. Community switch-on event, which was attended by The Mayor of Lisburn & Castlereagh City Council, Cllr
Kurtis Dickson, who conducted the countdown. Our three partner schools each sang a Christmas song and Toby
Pinecone was there to check who was on the naughty or ni￿ list. The hall was full of happy people who were served
refreshments by Ruth Macauley and a band of ladies from the committee.
10

Aghalee Village Hall
TRUSTEES. REPORT
for the financial year ended 31 December 2024
Santa Visits- D8cember
Following the switch on event, we held our annual Santa visrts. The Paul Green Hall had been transformed for the
duration into the Grotto and Waiting Room by many of the committee. Over the Friday evening and Saturday despite
Storm Darragh, this also went very well apart from 16 no show families, due to the very bad weather on the Saturday
moming. Santa saw 51 families and 114 children including babes in ams. Between choirs on Thursday night and
Santa visits we gave out 162 dairy and non4airy selection boxes and 4 books, leaving 43 selection boxes which we
donated to Moira foodbank.
The total raised between the 2 events of £364.93
Activities Pr(uramme 2024
The 2024 activities programme was greatly reduced from 2022 + 2023, due to few grants being available. In the first
3 months of 2024 we carried out the workshops and courses diSpla￿d by the filming at the hall during the end of
2023, and from April to the end of December we completed the programrne for the year. The stats for the reduced
2024 programme'_ we held 36 workshops and 11 courses. There were 350+ pla￿$ available and all pla￿S were
booked. The programme was funded by grants re￿iVed in late 2023 from.. Halifax Foundation Nl and LCCC MAC.
We thank both of them most sincerely as wtthout their support we jijst would not have been able to provide such
wonderful opportunib.es to the community. AVH made up the balan￿ of around £5,000.
IL
ra
11

Aghalee Village Hall
TRUSTEES. REPORT
for the financial year ended 31 December 2024
i.ry
New activity
We took new bookings.. Adult Yoga- Wednesday 24 April belJ¥een 1 Oam and 12pm & Child Yoga- Monday 3
June belween 6.30 and 7.30pm lon a 4 week trial basis),. these new classes addressed a couple of ihe findings from
the survey. The aduh yoga was successful and has continued through the rest for the year, but sadly, the children's
and family programmes didn't survive once children retumed to school in septern￿r.
YOGA
eech Brae Wellbelnl
ds.. SÈretch & IleF tp
12

Aghalee Village Hall
TRUSTEES. REPORT
for the financial year ended 31 December 2024
Loss of Activity
After 20+ years with Aghalee Village Hall, the Jeanne Cree School of Ballet left the hall at the end of October and
moved lo Craigmore Church Hall. This was because of their need for additional hours on a Thursday which we were
unable to give. We are sorry to see them go, they will be a great loss to us in both incomeluse of the hall and in
bringing people to the hall. We thank Mrs Cree for her use of the hall over the years and wish her well in Craigmore.
Activities Programme 2025- 2026
In May, we heard we had been awarded a total of £46,822 over 2 years by The National Lottery, People &
Communities, for a conlinualion of the Acb"vities Programme into 2025r26. This was wonderful news and we are
deeply indebted to the Lottery for this wonderful award to continue to host the programme in 2025 and 2026. Within
the month the hard work of finding tutors and new activities along with the timetabling startedl Advertising for term 1
started on 17 November for applications opening on 24 The public was notified via the usual noliceboards,
webpages and social media posts. The Secretary managed Ihis. This year we asked people lo pay up front for the
activities they were suc￿sSful in obtaining. We look forward to the activities starting in January 2025. In total there
will be 47 workshops and courses over 2025 reaching children. teens, families, SEN and adults and the cost for the
whole of 2025 will be approximately £22,000.
COMMUNITY
FUND
Temi 1 Activities
Caretaking
This year we continued to require caretaking help required from club reps and we thank them for their help and
support..
TUESDAY NIGHT- Taekwondo Club- after dass put out tables and chairs forAgeNI on Wed morning.
WEDNESDAY NIGHT- Exercise Class- after class put out against wall 16 tables for Thursday Upholstery.
THURSDAY NIGHT- Either Taekwondo Club or Ballinderry Badminton Club (depending on who is the last group
using the h811 on a Thursday night)- after dass put out and erect 15 tables for SRC use on a Friday morning.
One of the new committee members has very kindly offered to help out with caretaking arrangements and it is hoped
this will prove to be surtable and will really help us manage more effiryenily and we thank them for their offer of help.
Other Hall Actffvity- Regular Progrdmme
AgeNI WEDNESDAYS in the Main Hall- 10.00am- 3.00pm lover 65}- Contact.. Gillian Thompson
Manager- Contact.. 07733 912 876 Gillian.Thom
son
eni.or
Aghalee Taekwondo Club TUESDAYS - in the Main Hall- 6.30pm - 8.00pm (Age 7+1 THURSDAYS- in the
Main Hall- 6.30pm-8.00pm (Age 7+} Contact.. Michael Beacham- 07548 885 114, or email
Mi¢haelb5717478
btintemel.com
AVH Upholstery Classes THURSDAYS mornings- 9.30am- 12.30pm in the Main Hall. Contact.. June
Acheson 028 9261 9177
Ballinderry Senior Badminton MONDAY evenings and THURSDAY evenings 8 to late. Contact.. Text or call
Bobbie Hamill on 07919 123 027 or Derek Blakely on 07791 267 636.
13

Aghalee Village Hall
TRUSTEES. REPORT
for the financial year ended 31 De￿mber 2024
Book Club FIRST TUESDAY of each month - In The Loli Contact.. Clare Ward 028 9265 0377
Needlecraft Group SECOND TUESDAY of each month- In The Loft.
Southem Regional College- Hobby Art MONDAYS in the Paul Green Hall- 10'.15am- 12'.15pm. Contsct..
Jim Cunningham 07711981 732 or College on 0300 123 1233.
Southem Regional College- Upholstery Classes FRIDAYS in the Main Hall. 10.00am to 12.00pm and
12.30pm- 14.30pm. Contact.. Jim Cunningham 07711 981 732
Yoga for adults- Tuesday momings in the Main Hall and Wednesday momings by arrangement 10.00am to
12.00pm. Contact.. Lynn on 07808 174467.
Hire increases
In January we implemented our new hire charges which hadn't been increased since 2015. We made some modest
increases and we feel the hire of the hall is still very good value for money. We have 3 rooms to choose from.. the
main badminton sized hall for larger groups, private parties and hires, the Paul Green hall suitable for dasses andlor
workshops and the Loft for small groups: such as yoga, smaller dubs etc. We adverb'sed through various methods to
encourage further hire of the hall and will contsnue to do this in 2025.
Legal status
We considered options for AVH legal ststus as we said we would do this as part of our strategy review. Information
was gathered with help from CCNI, NICVA and the consultant about the options available lo AVH regarding a review
of ils stslus, these being.. stay as il is or becoming a company limited by guarantee. This was discussed at length and
a unanimous decision was made to stay as we are. We will review again in some years time.
Maintenance
A1￿Y-WaY- a non-slip surface- we had work carried out on this and
complained to the contractor that the Surfa￿ they pul down was not
suitable and had lrfied off and that AVH was very dissatisfied with the
seN1￿. An apology and full reimbursement were received.
T￿p1-￿ -*-
Main woths- March
Major repairs lo the rear of the hall were carried out. This work was
remedial work to the original 1930s high woodwork along with
replacement soffit and fascia at the Paul Green Hall and the rear of the
main building. We painted the high areas of the hall and repaired various
gutters and spouts. We also pul in a rear fire door from the kitchen along
with a ramp to setvice the change in ground height. Other items such as
interior painting, replacement of all lights with LED lights and
replacement curtains will be completed whenever funds allow. These
main repairs to cost a total of £19,998, which we had saved towards over
the previous couple of years.
Legionella r8quiTrments- water impn)vem8nls
We also spent time and effort in upgrading our plumbing after a Legionella audit, which showed there was room for
improvement. We repla￿d the tank water storage plumbing with direct main input to designated water heaters for
each area meaning there would be constant hol water as and when required and that this would also comply with
Legionella requirements. Old doglegs pipes were removed and the whole plumbing system overhauled. One of the
committee undertook to carry out the monthly paperwork requirements and ched(s
Policy Reviews
Our Safeguarding Advisor Carol had reviewed and a draft utwjated Safeguarding policy and Code of Conduct for
discussion and consideration. Commtttee members were each expected to sign Code of Conduct and also to
undertake the training to complete the revEw of our Safeguarding Policy.
Details of suitable training were sent round. We agreed that 2 people would complete training each year and the
revised Safeguarding Policy was proposed. seconded and agreed.
14

Aghalee Village Hall
TRUSTEES. REPORT
for the financial year ended 31 December 2024
Strategy pmgress
Pauline has been conb'nuing to work with the consultant on this. We looked at working up an application for some
possible funding opportunities {several have been identrfiedl to fund a part-time Centre Manager. We also asked
NICVA lo review our Consb"lution lil appeared the AVH Trust document had been amended over the years to become
a Constitution on one document and this had been accepted by the Charities Commission as our governing
document) and to advise on possible changeslimprovements to enable us to remain on track for the future. They are
to come back to us with recommendations. We had to consider what'heritage, with regard to the hall is, as heritage
means different things lo different people.
We spoke with both Maghabery and Aghagallon ￿MMunity halls and the findings from these were
surprising. We seem to be doing well despite our concems about the future and both of the other groups are also
having difficulties very similar to our own, despite Maghaberry re￿Iving Council grant aid towards 1 full time and 2
part-lime employees and Aghagallon re￿NIng grant aid for a part-lime admin employee. In both cases the groups
had to make up the difference in wages from their letting incomes. We also spoke with Rural Community Netsyork of
which we are a member, and they reviewed our Govemance, were very impressed, and said we should be
congratulated for the way in which we work and manage ourselves. We spoke to local Councillor Claire Kemp, wrth
regard to the Council Community Facilities Audit to see how this might impact on AVH and found that many of the
other groups wanted lo have a forum for Killullagh area and have a 'borrowing' facility in place whereby all the groups
could advise what equipment they held and from which others could borrow. We advised Claire there were insurance
implications with this proposal as AVH insurers were not keen for us to 'lend' items off premises as they are then not
covered.
SuFvey- a community survey was Ca￿led out JanlFeb asking what people would like to see happening al the Hall, as
well as opinions requested from each grouplworkshop using the hall.
After reviewing the information gathered, it was fell there weren't many surprises from results of the survey.
As usual, we were in equal opinion". doing welllnot doing enough, addressing all we We￿ askedlnol addressing
enough, providing enough activitieslnot providing enough. We are already addressing many of the rtems requested,
bul it was acknowledged that we did need to try and publicise the hall more in the near future to try and attract more
regular and other users which would in tum provide more activities and income. Dayts'me Yoga classes in the Loft
were already planned in April for a trial 6 weeks. The main hall remains open for public hire for private parties and
aclivilies. The Activrty ProgTamme which is based mainly in the PG Hall would finish al the end of May. There were a
number of requests for a Men's Shed but there aren't really any suitsble rooms in which lo house a venture like this
as equipment would need to be safety contsined, but it is possible a men's group could meet on a ￿gUlar or drop in
basis. Also requested was Youth club at the hall, but without official input from Education Authority it was felt this
would be very difficutt lo achieve. Regarding other, village matters that came out of the survey, they remain.. - the
stsle of the towpath, traffic calming on different roads and dog fouling, none of which it was felt we can really do
much about. The details of the survey wll be added into strategic planning.
Other Work. Events & Activities of AVH in 2024
Aurora- Twicel
Aurora spectacular- We were treated to an amazing light show over Northem Ireland on the night of Friday 11 th May
and On￿ again on 10 October.
Not usually seen over Nl, the lights were visible after some of strongest geomagnetic stoms in more than 20 years
hil the earth. The most active conditions tend to occur at the maximum of and 11 year solar cycle, and it was
expected to be possible to see the lights for a few days after this. deF￿ndIng on doud cover and pollution.
The lights appear as bright swirling sheets or curtains of light in the night sky and can range in colour from green
through lo pink, purple and red. They are caused by charged particles from the storms in the sun hitting gases in the
earth's atmosphere. The drfferent colours occur due to different gases being energised by the charged particles. The
most common gases affected are nitrogen and oxygen. Oxygen glows green and nitrogen varies pink, purple and
blue. Oxygen at higher levels glows red. whi￿ these can be seen by the naked eye, they aren't often seen to their full
beauty until captured by either camera of phone, which see more than the human eyes. The most impressive auroras
occur when the sun emits very large douds of particles during a solar slomi, called 'coronal mass ejections,.
15

Aghalee Village Hall
TRUSTEES. REPORT
for the financial year ended 31 December 2024
Bank- The Bank changed banking arrangemenls when r( closed in Lurgan. The next nearesl branch is in Portadown
and the only alternative is to use the Post Office to lodge cash and cheques. In 2024 a PIN number with debit cash
lodgement cards was required to make cash lodgements. We had to write asking for new cards and PIN numbers to
be sent out. Paperwork T&Cs for these cards was approved and accepted by the committee with Pauline Buller being
the named person to lodge on behalf of the organisalion.
Blueways- We were ￿ntacted by j￿ Nelson of Aghagallon Community Group abo￿ possib￿ funding
opportunilyldevelopments for Greenways and Blueways through both council areas.
We had talked in the past about the possibility of connecting our respective villages by reopening the towpath from
Aghalee to Aghagallon. ABC Counal is still committed to their preferred Greenway investment being Aghalee to
Portadown. Aligned with the Greeways are the Blueways, which are a brand-new outdoor recreation offering.
currently unique to Ireland. They encourage the use of lakes, canals, rivers and coastsl environments for walking,
cycling, swimming, kayaking, stand up paddle boarding while engaging with nature and heritage. The Waterways
Community is lobbying for this locally with Aghagallon Community Centre. We agreed that AVH would support the
venture and committee member Ketry Quinn had agreed to be our representative., she will contact Joe and advise
about our situation, and confirm our agreement to support the venture.
Book
A message came in about a new book that would be of great historical interest to the people
of Aghalee and Soldierstown - the memoirs of a young boy from Sandy Row in Belfast
evacuated to Aghalee during World War11. It must have felt as though he was hundreds of
miles from home- yet it's a journey many make now on a daity basis to go to work. While the
book is only in part about his time in Aghalee, the story as a whole will be a fascinating one
to many.
"Aghalee and Soldierstown residents will find a new book fascinating.
The tide is 'Sandy Row Bom and Bred, by the late Gordon Freeman who devoted a whole
chapter to his experiences in the Aghalee area when he
was evacuated there as a child from Sandy Row, Belfast during Wodd
War11. The chapter is entrtled,'The Famierfs Boy, which he ￿rtainlY was
not, and perhaps he would never have survived the country but for the
close friendship he struck up with Teddy Dugan. They were both pupils at Soldierslown School. The book tells of the
adventures they had together. l understsnd Teddy is no longer with us", not sure when he died. It would be interesting
to know if any of the families mentioned have still family connections with the area. It would also be interesting to
know if some of the place names ments.oned in the book are slill used today. For example, would anyone today know
the whereabouts of McKinstry's Hill? The book will make a very important inclusion in the local history of the Aghalee
and Soldierstown area. The book is not for profit and any proceeds after the cost of producing the book, will go into
community work in the greater Sandy Row area in Belfast The paperback book can be purchased through Amazon.
There is also a Kindle edition.
Bus Sheliers
After several years of asking Translink for bus shelters in the village, they finally admitted they had 'mispla¢ed' our
application. MLA David Honeyford contacted them on our behalf and championed our cause again. The result of this
is that, after asking for 4 shelters we are to get 1, this on Ballycairn Road, for the bus going into Lisbum, as Translink
say this is the busiest stop.
Chip Shop Planter
We are indebted to Christine Lynn, from Down to Earth Gardening for continuing to sort out and replant this container
every season. It's lovely to have this sort of job carried out by a local business on a voluntary basis
16

Aghalee Village Hall
TRUSTEES. REPORT
for the financial year ended 31 December 2024
Community Transport
We met with Richard Dougherty, manager of Lagan Valley Rural Transport, which now includes Aghalee in tts area.
Registration with LVRT means those of us in the Aghalee rural area within Lagan Valley electoral area, with little or no
a￿sS to public transport or those who have disabilities. can avail of a booking system for tn.ps into Lisburn and all
points East. This service will prove to be a real boon to our community.
Dtyjyou
Deaths in the community
There were a number of deaths affecting commrttee members plus a large number of deaths in the local community
2024 and we offer our sincere condolen￿$ to those who have been bereaved.
Committee related deaths included-
Nat Skelton
ph February, father of committee mernber Anne Miskelly.
Matt McFarland - 5 July, father of committee member Pal McAdams.
Rita Blak8ly- 6th July, mother of committee mern￿r Derek Blakely. Rrta was involved in the worf( of Aghalee Village
Hall and helped to run Agha￿e Tiny Tols Playgroup in the 1980s. There are many children from the village who will
fondly remember being looked after by Rita.
Maureen Taylor & Emie Taylor- 22￿ June & 23 September, both fomier badminton players who spent many happy
hours at the hall. Maureen was also a fomier village Hall commrttee member 1978-1985.
Gwen Johnston & Geooe Johnston- 4th May & 2Ph September- George was a fom)er Secretary of AVH for 10
years 1985- 1994. Sadly prede￿ased by his wife Gwen in May. George & Gwen moved to Aghalee in or around
1979 and look a great interest in matters going on in the village. They both became involved in various ways in the
work of the hall. On retirement from business, George was able to spend much more of his time involved with
Aghalee Village Hall and during his tenure as Secretsry, was instrumental in the great refurbishment of 1985186. After
his retirement from the hall commrttee, George was often consulted about matters relating and gave of his immense
knowledge so willingly to those seeking his help. As re￿ntlY as a week before his death the current Secretary called
in with him to chew over a problem that needed a fresh perspeth've and some sage advi￿, which was given in a
measured and carefully considered way as always, and more to the point, was so very appropriate.
Kathleen Searson- 20th October, mother of Seamus Searson volunteer and mother In law of committee member
Fiona Maree
Roly Lyons- 9th December- Roly was a committee member and representative of Aghalee Badminton Club in 1987
and again from 1993 to 1996. He was a great mentor for young players just learning the game and always great craic
at the same time. He especially enjoyed the 'round robin. nights when young and okl pitched in playing against each
other.
Festive Lighting
In early 2023 AVH had agreed to fund the infrastructure to a refurbished Dn lighting column at Coronation Gardens,
to enable our festive IKJhting to be displayed there at Christmas. sin￿ then several other Dfl columns have either
become faulty or had infrastructures removed for one reason or another.
In December'24 Chris repaired the
festive lights and had arranged for these to be put up on the working columns with help from Nigel Grant and Frank
McGrady. Electrical contractor Stephen Magee Electrical supervised as per DfiINIE licen￿ requirements, but il
transpired several columns didn't work.
AVH continued to peti(ion Dfi as to why we should be expected to fund the replacement or repair when it has largely
been through the actions of Dn that these no longer worked. The result in late De￿mber 2024 was that Dfi agreed to
repairlreinstate a number of columns to enable the festive lighting to be properfy restored from 2025.
Fire Officer
17

Aghalee Village Hall
TRUSTEES. REPORT
for the financial year ended 31 De￿mber 2024
We needed someone new to undertake training for the Legionella requirements and Scan Alami Fire checking
requirements and carry out the monthly safety cheths at the hall.
Also, fire evacuation checks will need to be undertaken by each
user group at least once per year and records kept. It is expected
each group represenlab.ve will carry this out. Anne Miskelly agreed
to undertake training as Fire Offi￿r and John Harris agreed to be
Deputy.
Football changing facility
The Council plans for a replacement changing fa￿lty at the
playing fields are now approved and although there is as yet
no date to start building, the demolition of the old facility will
be a huge improvement to the playing field.
Noted that there is no public toilet in the Village and AVH
has asked whether one woukl be included as part of this
development.
Fly tipping and litter
We have highlighted episodes of fly tipping around the area to try and discourage this and other littering. On different
roads in the district, in both council areas, items such as fridges, lorry loads of tyres and black plastic bags of rubbish
have been dumped. Both councils have responded to remove the items. There are number of local people who
regulady collect litter fomi the sides of the roads and we thank them and their efforts lo keep our community cleaner.
Gold lamé- Filming legacy
The gold lamé backdrop to the stsge left by CBBC crew in 2023 has proved to be a big hit with all our users and
those who perform on the stage. It ￿rtainlY adds to the sense of entertainment at the hall.
Lost & Found + New social media page
18

Aghalee Village Hall
TRUSTEES. REPORT
for the financial year ended 31 De￿rnber 2024
Over the year we adverb.sed lost or found pets on our social media page and had reports of at least 16 dogs, 14 cats
and 5 cattlel We also had a report of sheep tangled up in barbed wire. In the main everyone was happily reunited. We
were also asked continuously over the year about permission to advertise on our social media page. We don't
advertise on this page but responding to demand, we opened a new page. Aghalee Notice Board for people to
freety post items of interest.
Men's Group
After a post to gauge interest, one of our committee, lan Christie suggested a cohort of those interested could
arrange to meet lo discuss what might be possible to organise. He agreed to convene a meeting in the Loft early in
2025 to see how this might develop.
Moira Station
The plans for the new arrangement at Moira train station were
finally approved and it is expected work will start in Spring 2025
to provide an additional 466 parking spa￿s, 23 disabled Spa￿S,
secure cycle parking and related supporting structures, allowing
improved links lo Belfast and other towns and cities. Work is to be
completed by the end of 2026. There is slill considerable
disappointment about the continuing very poor egress on to the
A26, safe pedestrian access over the A26 from Maghaberry
direction, nor for addf(ional lighting on the approach roads, bui
local politicians continue to petition on behalf of the community.
Seats and path at Wildllower meadow
One of our committee, Stephen Bann, worked with
the Council to improve the seating and install a path at
the wildflower meadow area in the village. By June the work
was completed and it looks very well, with seasonal planters
inSts1￿ in front of the seab'ng area.
Thank.you meal 2024
We met in The Gate Inn on Friday 31 at May 2024 for our'thank you, meal for all our regular volunteers over the year.
This went very well with 23 people attending and having a super meal and the best of craic.
Traffic Calminglupdate
Money for this was to have come frorn Small Villages Scheme but due to all the restrictions we were unsure when the
work would finally be carried ovl. Work stsrted on 19 March and was expected to last 4 weeks. We approached the
Council about the roses which were removed from the beds opposite the hall to facilitsle the wotl(s as the contractor
advised these had been dug up and discarded. By June the work was completed. In October the roses were
replanted. There have been a great number of complaints about peop￿ driving down the centre of the humps and
misusing the measures put in pla￿ and we have direded complainants to Dfi directly. Planning is now being sought
for speed ramps on part of the Soldierslown Road al the housing to slow traffic as it enters the village from there.
There is no date yet for these works to commence.
19

Aghalee Village Hall
TRUSTEES. REPORT
for the financial year ended 31 December 2024
Soldierstown Road Improvements
Volunteers- thanks
Very many thanks to all the volunteers and helpers who have helped OLrt in any way over the past 12 months. There
are those who have.. set out tables and equipment, put Ihis all away again, looked after bookings, collected subs and
ticked off names at workshops, washed dishes. seryed food, given of their time to fundraise, sell ballot tickets, do the
H&S paperwork, sort the accounts. become elves and other Christmas VIPS, and make the hall what it has been over
2024. Thank you all- without you the Village Hall would not be able to continue its work.
Youth worker- Aghalee
There continues to be no dedicated youth worker for the young people in the community. The Education Authority
have been unable to attract anyone suitable to the posL despite advertising a few times. We will continue to work with
the EA lo try and find some provision for our youth.
Wildlife
We are all very fortunate to have such a beautiful area of the world in which to live. Our social media pages are full of
pictures of the life that goes on around us.
Credit- Lindsay Clarke
Credit- Bob McGlade
20

Aghalee Village Hall
TRUSTEES, REPORT
for the finanual year ended 31 December 2￿24
CigJrt-AbNJail Lksyd
Credit- Paulne Bullef
Future- Planning for 2025
The future for Aghalee ViFJage Hall is secvre for the Short term. The￿ are fvnds in the bank frorn vaiious attivittes,
our major ACtNIt￿ Prograrnme i£ calered for ovcr 2025126 and w¢ heve the staff to athieve what need to.
For Ihe medium lerrn. we need to consolLdale our pO￿lI0n. br¥ig in more regular users to the hall. expand our
8divitie8 and above all. fiTrJ the ￿$oUr￿$ to employ a part4ime ￿￿tre managerto relieve sorne of the pressures on
a few dedicated indtvtduaLs.
For the lOngerte￿n. we swll meel and discuss ¢)pti￿￿ appropriate agenci8s and adv￿0[$ and by the end of
2025, shoukl hOpefv￿ be in 8 P￿1b0￿ lo hdentfy ourstr* forttB kn9 lemi futwe ofthe hall Mrythin the
communty.
Compliancewith Sector4Wide Legislation and Siandard¥
The company engages pro-aclNety ￿￿th Jegislation, standards ￿ cr4Jes wlmth are developed forthe sector. Aghalee
Village Hall subscribes lo and is compliant wrth the following..
The Charities SORP IFRS 102)
Publlc Benefit
The charity has 9iven careful consKleration to the Chaiity Commiss￿rI for Northem IreL8nd's guidance on public benefft
to ensure that the actnirties entered into during the year have helped to achieve the Charitys objeGlive5 and actNilies,
8$ weu as PTOVtdin9 publi¢ benefrt.
Approved by tho Board of Tfustqes on 19 March 2025 and signed
Its b•haK by:
Anne Mlskdty
Trustse
Chris
Trus
her Buller

Aghalee Village Hall
STATEMENT OF TRUSTEES. RESPONSIBILITIES
foT the financial year e￿ed 31 December 2024
The trttsie•s are wponsibje for preparirg Ihe finanaal slatemènls In a¢cordance with apk4icable law and ￿￿1¥bOn5.
The law appI￿able to charities in Northem Ireland ￿qUIreS the Iruslees to prepare financial siatements for each
finarKial year which give a true and fair view of the a5set$. IvabililE5 and financial position of the cornpany as at the
financial year end date and of the suiws or defirA of th8 ¢>ynpany aTrJ otherw?se compty with the Charities Aet
(Northem Ireland) 2008.
In pTeparing these finanual slate￿t$. lh& tr￿lee$ are requNed lo:
sclcct ￿uitab￿ 8c¢ounting pol￿1￿5 and appty them consistentty".
observe the methods and principles in the chan￿ SORP
make judgements and accounting estwnates that are reasonab￿ and w￿lent,.
stsle whether the finanGial slatements have been prepared n accordarKe ￿￿th 8ppknb￿ accounling standards.
identify those standaTd5, and note the effeet and the reasort5 for any material departure from those standard5, and
prepa￿ the financval statements on ￿ g(*ng COr￿*M basi% vnle55 it 1$ ir4ppwpriate to pre5umD that the rnrnpany
will continue in OFeration.
Th? trustees confinm th81 they ha¥e ¢L￿P1•ed whh lh• atV4e w¢quiMienis in prnparing th? financial 8taiements.
The trust¥ are reSports￿le for keepThwJ ats]uate accountin9 records that are suffic*nt to show and explain the
rnmpany's tIansactK)ns and dis¢Jose with ￿3$onabl& accuracy al ary t￿ne Ihe finanaal position of the Ixmpany and
enab￿ them lo ensure that the financkal slalements comply with the ChantEs Ad (Northern Ireland) 2008. They are
also r¢SponSib￿ for safeguardin9 the assets of the company and hen￿ for taking reasonable steps for the preventKJn
and dete￿10￿ of fraud and other i￿egU￿rItieS.
Approved lry the Boartl ot Trustees on 19 March 2025 and slgned Its behalf by:
Anne Mi5keJly
Trustee
Chrlsto
Trus
èr Bull
22