AGM | Barrowden Village Ha

Barrowden Village Hall CIO Annual General Meeting 2024

Village Hall 30 April 2024 19.00

Present: Valerie Fraser (Chair), Brian Edwards, Charlotte Bradshaw, Sara Barrett, Robert Wright
(Treasurer), Peter Jones, Ann Hillier, Terry Curtis (Secretary)

1. Apologies Paul Diver
This meeting had been well publicised in the community as presenting an opportunity for all villagers to
attend and find out about the village hall development – twenty one members of the public attended.
Valerie Fraser opened the meeting and gave an overview of the agenda and proceedings.

2. Minutes of the Last Meeting – accepted, proposed by Valerie Fraser, seconded by Robert Wright.

3 Chair’s Report on behalf of the Trustees
Valerie Fraser presented the chair’s report which is included with these minutes at Appendix A
There were no questions regarding the report.

4 Treasurer’s Report
Robert Wright presented the treasurer’s report which is included with these minutes at Appendix B
There were no questions regarding the report.

5 Progress report on the Village Hall rebuild
Steve Preston gave the following update.
Support for project
The Public Works Loan was approved following BPC consultation and a village referendum, it
provides £50k to support the National Lottery application.
The National Lottery application Stage 1 approval in August enabled applications to other funders
over the winter. So far, fifty applications have been made, about five are still in the pipeline and we
are hoping to raise another £25k on top of £120k already raised.
The Barrowden Charity has granted us a soft loan of £50k.
Fund raising has been successful with £750k raised so far towards the build budget which including
professional fees is estimated at £800k in total.
Tenders
Our architects Harris McCormack, drew up the hall specification in the autumn at a cost of £50k.
Meetings were held with key users to steer the internal design.
Five tenders were sent out and four responses received in February, all were within budget. The
trustees appointed Messenger Construction in April.
The basis of the contract is that we expect have enough money to complete the building and hope to
not spend too much of the contingency, we will know more once the foundations are in place.
However, we still expect to have to raise funds for items such as a flexible stage, AV system,
sound system, tables and chairs.

Construction
We expect to start work in late May and complete by Christmas with a build time of thirty weeks
Various things need to be put in place to allow safe working, there are three key areas – all
interrelated, and covered by legal agreements between the relevant parties.
The paddock will be used for contractors’ vehicle parking and the site compound as agreed by
Burghley to keep construction vehicles o Wakerley Road and Kings Lane. A new permanent car ff
park will be built at the rear of the surgery which has a build time 3-4 weeks, this provides for
alternative shop parking.
During the build, the shop car park will be closed and will be part of the building site which will be
enclosed by safety fencing and boarding to secure the site. Only once this is in place can demolition
begin, timetabled for late June. Temporary signage will be provided to help shop customers and shop
deliveries.
During the build there will be an onsite foreman who will be the key point of contact for site
management and the village, to address any issues which arise.
The hall trustees and our architect will still be involved and available, we will issue updates
throughout the build and we believe we’ve put in place measures which will make the build go as
smoothly as possible.
In summary, the trustees have put in an enormous amount of work to make the dream of a new hall
a reality. We believe the hall will be a fantastic asset to the local community and make Barrowden
and Wakerley an even better place to live.
The following questions were raised from the floor.
Q Will there be access to the shop from Wakerley Rd? - Jo Beattie
A No access for pedestrians or cars. All access is via the Kings Lane - Steve Preston
Q What methods of donating online are available? – Sue Edwards
A Two new methods have just been tested, both accessible via the village hall website. You can click on a
link to take you to the CAF donations page, or scan a QR code which takes you to the same page. - Valerie
Fraser
Q Can you still accept cheques for donations? – Meicia Ashford
A Yes, but there is no gift aid payable therefore online donations via CAF are preferable – Robert Wright

6 Election of Trustees and Officers
All trustees and committee officers stood for re-election. Valerie asked if anyone else would like to become a
trustee they should get in touch with her or one of the trustees.
Votes were taken from the floor as follows:
• To re-elect all trustees and officers for 1 year. Carried – majority vote
• To formally elect Charlotte Bradshaw as a trustee, (Charlotte having been co-opted as a trustee last
July). Carried - majority vote

The meeting closed at 7.45 PM with a short session for drinks and an opportunity to discuss the hall plans.

Appendix 1
Chair’s AGM Report 2024
BARROWDEN VILLAGE HALL CIO CHAIR’S REPORT TO AGM 30TH APRIL 2024
Our village hall has had a very good 12 months with a wide range of activities and private hirings, over 300 in
total, an increasing number of users and event attendees and a consequent increase in income, highlighting
the importance of this amenity to the community and helping to facilitate our preparations for the new hall.
Musical events such as the Ceilidh evenings and the monthly Open Mic nights were very popular and the
talks by John Thomas about the Trojan War Mosaic found in Rutland were a sell out as was the Raise The
Roof musical evening earlier in the year.
We held a very successful Burns night in January which was attended by over 50
villagers who enjoyed good food and musical entertainment by Dick Clarke and Chris Dunn, our local folk
duo.
Other interesting events during the past year included a talk on the life ofThomas Cook, who lived in the
village, a Dementia Awareness event, organised by Rutland County Council and a Christmas Fair, run by our
local artist, Hilary Moralee. There were several private village celebrations held this year, including Birthdays,
Christenings and Wedding Anniversaries and sadly also funeral wakes.
Immediately following the AGM last year, a past Chair and Treasurer, John Haddon stepped down from his
role as a trustee, having moved to Stamford and taken on more local voluntary responsibilities. We are very
grateful to him for all the hard work and dedication he gave to the village hall over many years, and was
instrumental in initiating and moving forward the new building project.
Also at last years AGM we were very happy to welcome Charlotte Bradshaw as a new trustee who was co
opted at the subsequent Trustee meeting and as she is happy to re-stand, will be elected as a trustee at this
meeting.
The Village Hall committee which is responsible for the use, operation and maintenance of the hall itself now
comprises:
Sara Barrett (Trustee)
Charlotte Bradshaw (Trustee)
Robert Wright (Trustee, Board treasurer)
Terry Curtis (Trustee, secretary to the Board of Trustees)
Paul Diver (Trustee, Development Group co-chair)
Brian Edwards (Trustee)
Valerie Fraser(Chair of Trustees),
Ann Hillier (Trustee, Lunch club representative)
Peter Jones (Committee member, Parish council representative)
Steve Preston (Trustee, Development Group co-chair)
Following the meeting tonight, the Village Hall will be officially closed for the process of demolition and
rebuilding. Several days of clearing and storage of equipment will take place and then the contractors will
take over control of the building. Access to unauthorised people will not be possible. For any necessary
access, please contact a member of the committee or phone 748655.

Appendix 2
Treasurer’s AGM Report 2023
2023 was a year divided into normal hall activities and activities related to the development of
the new hall.
This report excludes new hall activities other than to say over £70,000 of financial transactions went through
the accounts but the majority of it was in our new bank account with CAF Bank, opened to deliberately
separate out existing hall and new hall income and expenses.
In November 2023 our 2022 accounts were audited by external auditors Max Wealth Accountants and were
approved without any comments. We will have our 2023 accounts audited by the same accountants within
the next few months.
The Village Hall opening bank balance was £29,645 on 1st January 2023 and closed the year on 31st
December with a balance of £9,427. As at 31st March 2024 the balance was £10,267. These numbers hide a
lot of new hall income and expenses and the figures outlined below are just for normal hall activities:-
I
Income
Total income from normal activities amounted to £10,816 compared to £7,421 in 2022. Hiring income
increased significantly from £3,979 in 2022 to £6,136 in 2023 and event proceeds also increased year on
year by 31% to £4,041. The first quarter of 2024 continued the upward trend with £3,269 of income in just 3
months.
Expenses
Expenses increased significantly in 2023, the primary reason being electricity. Increased activity
and poor weather had the cumulative effect of increasing electricity costs from £1,267 in 2022
to £4,590 in 2023.
Given the dilapidated state of the hall £1,094 of maintenance costs were also incurred contributing to total
costs of £9,453 in 2023 compared to £3,723 in 2022. Year to date costs in 2024 as at March 31st were
£1,334 but with Q1 fuel costs yet to be invoiced.
The net result from normal hall activities in 2023 was a surplus of £1,363.

BARROWDEN VILLAGE HALL

CHAIR’S REPORT TO AGM JUNE 2022

Bookings in 2021 were again well below 2019 due to COVID restrictions. The hall was closed until May 2021 and from then only 31 bookings were made until the end of September 2021. From October last year to date, there have been 180 bookings so the future is looking much brighter. The regular events and groups taking place during this period, and ongoing are, in no particular order:

Tai Chi, Scottish Country Dancing, Barrowden Lunch, Barrowden Parish Council meetings, ukulele group, Cinema club, Indoor Bowls, WI, Art Group, Open Mic nights, Keep fit.

Details for all these groups can be found in the parish magazine and they are often advertised on village email too.

Occasional events included Birthday parties and other private celebrations, our highly successful Burns supper, the Police commissioner elections, Christmas craft fairs run by the Woods and the Morallees, Annual Parish meeting, Bridge day, shop AGM, First4adventure training day, shop Christmas order distribution, an illustrated talk about the Balkans, a ceilidh with live band and we recently were a feeding station for the 100mile RAFA cycle ride round Rutland.

Photos from some of these events and information about forthcoming events can be found on our facebook page, Barrowden Village Hall.

Anyone wishing to start up a new group or hold a one off event is very welcome to discuss it with any of the village hall trustees.

During the year, the Parish council arranged and are currently paying for broadband in the hall which is now available to all users free of charge.

Our main concern for the hall is the ongoing deterioration of the fabric of the building and rising costs for heating and maintenance.

The kitchen roof needed more attention recently from Ronnie Fraser which has hopefully stopped the leaks. The main roof suffered more serious damage in the spring gales where tiles were torn off and holes appeared in the roof. This led to serious water ingress but luckily Ronnie was able to access the damage and repair it as it was near the gable end. Any future damage further away from the edge will not be able to be repaired by volunteers and will not be a simple job as the tiles contain asbestos.

In February this year, the committee commissioned a survey of the hall from Smithers Purslow in Glaston which is available to view on the village web site on the village hall page. The conclusion of the surveyor was that retaining the existing building and carrying out extensive refurbishments should not be considered as a cost effective or viable option for the future of the village hall. The rising costs of heating and the considerable ongoing maintenance required to prevent the hall from becoming unusable are going to continue increasing to a point where it may not be viable to stay open, or even be insurable.

However, our very committed group of trustees are working hard on finding ways of replacing this building and will be providing us with an update following on from this.

During the year, the village hall committee saw some trustee changes. At the last AGM, Terry Curtis joined the committee as a trustee and stepped up to the role of secretary and has provided excellent note taking and advice. We are very grateful to him and glad that he is happy to continue in a demanding role.

We are also grateful that Gill Coleman has agreed to continue as treasurer, a vital role that we could not do without.

We were also very fortunate to co-opt Robert Wright onto the committee as a new trustee, and have now appointed him formally to that status.

The village hall committee which is responsible for the use, operation and maintenance of the hall itself now includes: Sara Barratt, Gill Coleman (treasurer), Terry Curtis (secretary), Paul Diver, Brian Edwards, Valerie Fraser(Chair), Kate Haddon, John Haddon, Ann Hillier, Peter Jones (Parish council representative), Steve Preston and Robert Wright.

I will be commenting on the trustees’ decision to convert to CIO status later.

Questions on any of the above.

I’d now like to ask Paul and Brian to update us on recent developments in both fundraising and realisation of our plans for the village hall.

Many thanks to Gill Coleman, Village Hall Treasurer, for preparing the accounts below.

Valerie Fraser - Chair of Barrowden Village Hall

FINANCIAL SUMMARY FOR 2021

Income

The VH usage in 2021 was still seriously affected by the pandemic

There were no bookings from January to May 2021 and limited use in June

Some regular bookings returned in September but the total income from hires was only £1,725

The only fund raising events were 2 ‘Open mike’ nights and the net income from these was just £72 after deducting the expenses

We received a donation of £250 from the estate of the late Colin Frost

This was used to purchase an indoor bowls kit from another Village Hall and bowls has become a regular afternoon event

With this level of income the Village Hall would not have covered the overheads and expenses

The government grants to support businesses affected by the pandemic has increased the income for 2021 by £19,032 leaving us with a healthy bank balance at the end of the year

Total Income was £ 21,109

Expenditure

Overheads and expenses totalled £ 3,369

£ 3,000 was repaid to the Barrowden Charity

This was a loan received to support the hub development project

Total Expenditure £ 3369.41 + £ 3000 = £ 6369.41

The bank balance at the end of the year was £ 27,220

Going forward in 2022

There are regular bookings for the hall in 2022 and income to date from these stands at £ 1,310.

There have been several successful events including the bridge tea, ceilidh, Burns night supper, talks and open mic nights adding over £1,500 to the income

The special open mic to support Ukraine raised £ 400 which was paid to the Disasters Emergency Committee fund in March 2022

We are fortunate that the Village Hall currently has a fixed contract for electricity supply which expires in April 2023 so we have not been affected by the price rises yet

There was £ 1,069 left in the VH development account at the end of 2021 and this money has been transferred into the VH current account to prevent it being eroded by bank charges

The balance in the VH account on 1st June was £ 30,000

Gill Coleman - Treasurer of Barrowden Village Hall