This year we have continued to review our financial situation and ongoing maintenance due to the age of the building.
All costs incurred by the hall have continued to rise and are reviewed to find other ways to reduce outgoing expenditure. We have changed our general waste collection and internet provider this year to save some costs. Our fixed utility contracts came to an end this year, so we changed providers, but these have risen considerably as we were previously on a 3-year fixed contract.
The play area continues to require ongoing maintenance/repairs during the year. We carry out regular checks on the play area and have an Annual inspection by ROSPA. This year we have worked towards replacing some equipment and this will be installed in April. We are also going to replace the hedge along the play area with a fence to match the rest of the play area.
We still continue to encourage more Trustees to join the Trust and help with the running of the hall. Currently we only have 6.
We have made some improvements to the small hall this year, it was decorated and we have installed a projector with the smaller screen from the large hall and a whiteboard. This allows the space to be used for training and meetings, which we have had requests for in the past. We used a grant of £475 from NISA LOCAL via Yallops towards this work.
We have lost a few regular hirers, but we have also gained some new ones during the year. The hall is used most weekday evenings, with space available on Thursdays. We also have some availability during the daytime during the week, but we have had 2 new daytime groups with another hoping to start later in the year.
Other event bookings continue to do well, with some months the hall booked every weekend.
Discussions have continued with Mundford Football Club to provide a new licence for their use of the Facilities. This would provide improved understanding of responsibilities on both sides.
The Football Club have provisional planning application to build a club house beside the pitch, but there are still some additional surveys to be carried out before full planning is completed.
The website continues to be an accessible source of information regarding booking and group details. We appreciate all the help and guidance given by Rosemary Godfrey to keep the website updated.
We continue to use Instagram and Facebook to advertise our facilities and activities.
We have had assistance from Community Action Norfolk to move towards becoming a Charitable Incorporated Organisation. We would remain a charity, but this change is to help protect the Village Hall and its assets for the future. The Public Meeting publicised in accordance with regulatory requirements will be held alongside our AGM. Community Action Norfolk will be at the AGM to help with any questions residents and hirers may have.
We have continued to sell books in the foyer as a source of fundraising asking for donations for them. We raised £37.67 this year from sales.
This year we held the Hall of Stalls for the 1st time since Covid 19. It was a joint venture to raise money for the hall and for Bone Cancer Research Trust. It was good to see other groups coming together to make this happen. We raised a total of £1291.34.
In May we held the Big Help Out to celebrate the Coronation. This was well attended by regular hirers and groups to help encourage new members. We raised £64.70 towards the play area fund.
Extract from the Trustees’ Annual report for the year ending 31-Mar-24
Mundford Village Hall 