Hartington Village Hall AGM 21st October 2026: Chair’s Report

I trust that this report usefully summarises key points over the past year to members of the community. A full 2025/6 finance report will follow along with a draft budget plan 2026/7, but it is important at this point in time that decisions about our Hall are made against a clear understanding of what is affordable.     

  • Trustees and Management Group Membership: We have six trustees in total, supported by a Management Group of a further 8. We would like to recruit a seventh Trustee to replace Leon Goodwin who resigned following his move. Leon continues to manage our website and online booking system. We would like a  member of the community  to join as a Trustee. Please let us know if you are interested ( it’s not an onerous role) and we can have an informal chat about the role. The Village Hall is owned by the community and entirely run by volunteers.

 

  • Cleaning and general maintenance: we are so grateful to our volunteers who clean and carry out routine maintenance such as weeding, fitting insulation, fixing lights, and painting. The number of bookings for the Hall has increased so if anyone wishes to join our cleaning teams (currently five teams so c10 weekly cleans over the year) then please let Liz Broomhead know. It’s not too time consuming and for big events a number of us ‘muck in’. 

 

  • 2024/25 external audit: During 2024/5 the audit revealed:

 

 

2024/5

2023/4

2022/3

2021/2

2020/1

2019/20

Income from hire

£20,222

£17,208

£12,503

  £8,257

  £2,341

  £4,489

Donations

  £2,188

    £508

£1451

  £1,226

         £45

       £145

Fund raising incl grants

£11,908

£27,535

£18,202

£13,545

 £36,746

£25,393

Gift Aid

      £613

           0

£638

 

 

 

Interest

        £77

 

 

 

 

 

TOTAL

£35,008

£45,251

£32,793

£23,027

£39,562

 £30,130

EXPENDITURE

£27,110

£37,841

£40,573

£29,292

£51,660

   £7,994

BALANCE on YEAR

+£7,897

+£7,410

-£7,780

 -£6,265

-£12,098

+£22,136

 

 

NB:  Funds held at the year end on 31/08/2025 were £29,111, up from  £21,254.

No issues of concern were identified by the external audit, and indeed that has been the case since the current Treasurer assumed the role. Our thanks go to Kate Craven, our Treasurer.

 

  • Current financial situation:

 

As of 31st August 2026 (end of financial year) our finances stood at:

  • Nat West bank account  £13,286
  • Nationwide Business Savings Account         £20,638
  • Preliminary analysis suggests an operational profit over 2025/6. See the draft accounts for details. One fund is ringfenced as we hold £2,398 for Arts based initiatives, this fund being generated by Arts & Crafts Fairs organised by Andy Papas.
  • A full analysis will be circulated prior to the AGM. All accounts and minutes are published on our website hartingtonvillagehall.co.uk
  • In summary, our hire income can normally cover routine operational costs, but property improvements will continue to need to be substantially reliant on our lottery income and grants.
  • The decision was made in March 2023 to raise our hire charges to £14ph for local use and £20ph for external hire. The Bakehouse charge is now £9ph for local use and £10ph for external use. Weekend wedding receptions are now £700. In March 2026 the decision was to hold our hire fees from September 2026 at the existing rates. While costs such as oil, electricity, waste disposal and insurance continue to rise we can hold off raising hire fees because of increased use of the Hall, especially from external groups.

 Maintenance issues:

(Blue indicates work undertaken since October 2025.)

 

The maintenance issues identified in the 2020/1 AGM report have seen the following progress over 5 years:

  • Replacing the heating system/oil storage tank/asbestos removal (DONE Autumn 2021)
  • Kitchen/bar area (COMPLETED JUNE 2023)
  • Ensuring the electrical system is efficient, functional and compliant (Electrical re-wire and 5 year installation report AUGUST 2026)
  • Bakehouse wall masonry – pointing/reducing damp (SW GABLE DONE AUTUMN 2022)
  • Insulation of roof voids over Bakehouse and toilets (DONE 2021)
  • Painting and decorating on a regular cycle (ONGOING)
  • Replacing rear fire doors (Replaced AUTUMN 2024.)
  • Maintenance of outside areas- front and back (Courtyard Screen added JAN 2026/Remedial work on Gable End Terrace MAY 2026/new Planters SPRING 2026).
  • Maintenance of Staffs Blue roof tiles. (DAMAGED TILES REPLACED AUGUST 2022)
  • Clearing of valley plus gutters. (DONE ANNUALLY) 
  • Install nappy/baby changing facility (DONE 2021) 
  • Smart meter installed (Oct 2022 and working from April 2023).
  • Lift and replace badminton court lines (COMPLETED SEPT 2023)
  • Replace blown window panes in kitchen (JULY 2023)
  • Replace the green carpet in Lower Bakehouse/entrance  (COMPLETED Jan 2024)
  • Replace ‘blown’ window panes in Main Hall and replace rotted wooden frames (COMPLETED 17/10/2024)
  • Monitor damp in Lower Bakehouse/Boiler room (work done on gable wall 2022 helping)
  • Carpet the Upper Bakehouse ( AUTUMN 2025) plus add blinds (DONE AUTUMN 2024).
  • Replace fluorescent tube lights in toilet corridor and entrance. (COMPLETED SPRING 2024)
  • Re lay drain above the Bakehouse plus use sandbags to prevent flooding of Bakehouse ( COMPLETED AUTUMN 2023)
  • Replace 20+ year old smoke alarms and add security features (New Fire Alarm Control System AUGUST 2026)
  • Install RING alarm system (DONE AUGUST 2025)
  • Modify the stage by reducing the permanent size by 50% and buying portable units (COMPLETED AUTUMN 2025)

              The Management Group will discuss further improvement priorities in their meeting.

Another priority is to continue to rationalise our stock of historical documents and artefacts. The plan is to site certain materials in the Lower Bakehouse. A grant from Alstonefield Leaden Boot has part funded display cabinets. The materials will then be more accessible to the community. This work will also make the Upper Bakehouse a less cluttered meeting and teaching area. A considerable amount of rationalisation and creation of folders of categorised historical materials has been done by a small team of volunteers led by Liz B. There is a potentially exciting development connected with National Heritage.

  • Lottery update:

 The 2020/21 our small society lottery raised £2850 in income towards the replacement heating costs. The 2021/2 lottery raised £4110 and the 2022/23 lottery raised £3,900 with both lottery incomes being devoted to the kitchen refurbishment, monies that were then matched by grants from The Bingham Trust (£5K) and Foundation Derbyshire/Freemasons (£2K). The 2023/24 lottery income of £4160 was designated to go to the refurbishment of the toilets. A government grant of £13K significantly contributed to the costs.

The 2024/25 income (£4,100) was spent on replacing windows and installing the alarm system.

The 2025/6 lottery was directly targeted as seed monies towards stage modifications (£5,638). In addition a courtyard screen (£2,700) and remedial work to the terrace/cellar (c£10,750) were undertaken with the lottery scheme being used to illustrate community backing for the works. A government grant of £10,296 was secured which  met the majority of costs (UK Shared Prosperity Fund: Community Resilience Grant ).

In addition we highlighted the lottery subscriptions as illustrating the  commitment of our community to the Hall improvements  and successfully secured £18,971 in grants from three sources ( National Lottery Community Fund £10,701 , Vernon Robert Bowmer Trust £4,270, and the Bernard Sunley Foundation £4,000). These grants supported the major project of replacing the 60+ year old electrical infrastructure of the Hall together with the installation of a new fire alarm control system at a cost of £20,114.40.

The intention is for our 2026/7 lottery income to fund resurfacing of the courtyard and a narrow strip of land to the right of the approach to the terrace steps.

  • Legal action over a Right of Way

In response to Trustees submitting comments to Peak District National Park Authority regarding a planning application that Trustees believed would impact on Village Hall land Trustees were served with a solicitor’s letter requiring us to install a mesh driveway. Various other demands had been made verbally.

Trustees decided to seek legal advice from a company specialised in property related concerns, not simply to address the issues relating to what had escalated to a dispute but to provide absolute clarity on the rights and responsibilities related to the right of way for our successors over the decades to come.

The Right of Way running down the northern and western elevations was granted in 1924 (or earlier) when motor vehicles were rare, and the then yard served a modest commercial function. The permitted use is tied to what was “at present enjoyed” at that time — primarily foot traffic, horses, carts and light commercial deliveries consistent with a village merchant’s yard. It is important to note the precise wording of the grant: the right is “for all purposes as at present enjoyed.” This deliberate and limiting phrase is critical. The physical width and surface of the route is itself evidence of what was intended: a narrow yard passageway, not a vehicular highway.

 A right of way is a right to pass and repass. It does not include parking or leaving vehicles standing for extended periods unless this is expressly granted, which was not the case.

As trustees of a registered charity (no. 525048), we are subject to legal duties that go beyond those of ordinary landowners. The Charity Commission’s guidance (CC3) makes clear that trustees must act to protect the charity’s assets, ensure they are used only in furtherance of charitable purposes, and avoid exposing them to undue risk. This is a legal obligation. Allowing a third party to acquire de facto rights over the Village Hall’s land whether by acquiescing to unauthorised gravelling or other surface modification, by permitting habitual parking, or by failing to resist an excessive intensification of the Right of Way could amount to a failure to protect a charitable asset and, in a serious case, a breach of trust.

At the centre of the dispute was whether Trustees were acting unlawfully by maintaining a grassed surface. The legal advice is that a servient owner (Village Hall) has no positive duty to maintain or improve the  surface. The dominant owner (an adjacent property with access to the Right of Way) may enter to carry out reasonable maintenance but cannot demand an upgrade to the route. It would be normal practice for a dominant owner to discuss with the servient owner, who holds the deeds to the right of way, any maintenance that might be carried out. The route has been maintained as mown grass for over 25 years. On the current evidence the legal advice is that the legal test for substantial interference by the Village Hall is not met. There is no obligation to install any type of surface engineering unless the dominant owner can show the route is wholly unusable. The dominant owner’s rights extend only to repair and not to any improvement that increases the burden on the servient land owned by the Hall.

The full Right of Way Advisory Memorandum compiled by our solicitor is filed for reference by future Trustees.

Trustees now have  clear legal guidance on the rights and responsibilities of those acting for the community owned Village Hall, as well as the three property owners who have ‘dominant owner’ rights and responsibilities.

The legal costs associated with the dispute were £3,132.

We stress that at no point were the new owners of Bank House involved in the dispute and indeed withdrew the application element relating to a rear car park on their land.

Energy scenario:

We have a new EDF electricity contract fixed for 2 years from May 2026. In respect of oil costs, we enter the Autumn  with c800 litres in storage. We are part of a bulk buying scheme with Rural Action Derbyshire  and historically have been typically paying 56p/litre. However the current cost is in excess of £1.15p/litre, a doubling in cost. Prices are volatile given political strife in the Middle East so we will carefully monitor prices and seek to order, when possible, in periods where prices are lower.

 

  • Constitution: our previous constitution dated from 1944 and has only been amended once in the 1970s to permit the sale of alcohol. While the original purposes remain as objectives which we still deliver over 80 years later there is no doubt that the document needed a review and revision. David G, Richard G and myself have now completed this work and a draft was discussed and adopted in March 2026. The Village Hall is in the ‘beneficial ownership of the community’. We have informed the Charity Commission of our final revised constitution. Please note the final sections that detail potential routes that may be taken in the future should significant sums of money be needed, for example to fund maintenance or, more drastically, should the Hall cease to operate. The former Constitution had similar provisions should radical steps be needed. Two such scenarios might have arisen in the last decade – at one point a developer offered as development gain a new Village Hall should a large number of houses be built on what is now Peakland Grange, while in 2017 the Hall came very close to bankruptcy.

 

Keith Quine

 

Chair of Trustees

Hartington Village Hall

 

28/09/2026