Another year has flown by and it is time to present the annual report to the people of Weston Lullingfields. I have attempted to summarise the past year of the village hall and also using the opportunity to comment about the task the group of volunteers undertake who manage the hall for the benefit of the community.

 The energy and determination of the people of Weston Lullingfields who built this village hall provided us with a community resource which remains an important feature of village life. It is only due to the continued support of people from the village and beyond that we can continue to enjoy and benefit from a building and an ethos created almost sixty years ago.

 As I wrote last year, and I include this paragraph again because I consider it to be important, there is no doubt that the experiences, tastes, expectations and way of life of many residents now differ widely from those of those residents of 1968. It would be easy to argue that the community cohesion, or community spirit, many consider to be the most attractive characteristic (beyond the scenic) of a typical English village is, in fact, wearing very thin in the face of modern life and the changes to the work and leisure activities people enjoy. I suspect that back then far more residents had been born locally and almost everyone knew the names of everyone else in the village, with more of them sharing experiences e.g. farming, attending the same schools, going to church etc. as well as going to events in their new village hall. All of this would bring them closer together and so familiarity and a sense of community would be more natural. Much of this is no longer the experience of most people as changes in the way we live our lives have brought material benefits but made isolation far more common.

 It is in the face of the above that the three ‘pillars’ of our village, the school, the church and the hall, continue to try and provide, with varying degrees of success, what they were set up to do. Unfortunately, much of what we all try to provide is dependent upon receiving enough funding, and for the hall that depends almost wholly upon the income we receive from the hiring of the hall and the profits from events we operate ourselves. As the financial report shows, so ably managed and produced by John Darling, we end the year in a similar positon to how we started it, with a relatively small reserve and having covered our costs and made a few improvements.

The financial challenges facing the hall are significant, with quite an effort required just to stand still, never mind make progress, and large scale projects such as replacing the floor or the windows remain beyond our immediate reach. Whilst the day to day operating costs are covered, large scale repairs and replacements require a significant increase in funds. The huge increase in the price of electricity we have all had to endure has meant the hall has had to pay out a great deal more for heating than in previous winters. Trying to manage the swelling of the floor by increasing ventilation and keeping some heaters on has cost a lot, but we have managed to reduce the disruption caused when the floor swells. Dry weather and the recent shaving of some of the boards have also helped significantly. An estimate for full floor replacement and some work on the slab to prevent moisture in the ground rising up and through was £20 000 but this will continue to increase as costs for everything continue to increase. Of course, there are many varieties of flooring available, but in terms of a village hall, we will have to invest in something that will last decades- you buy cheap, you buy twice.

 The windows will also require replacement at some point in the future and, again, the cost will be huge. It seems as if I am painting a grim picture here, but nothing lasts forever. We may, however, have several years before any sudden need to replace, and our gentle coaxing of the floor has kept it going for several years longer than expected at one point, but it is right to flag up the need for long term planning.

 In terms of raising income, the hall is being hired rather more frequently now and perhaps the disruption caused by covid is finally losing its grip. The continued use of the hall by the school, regular classes and events, the money from the bar, the solar panels and the hundred club provide us with much of our income. We have been able to reduce costs by the committee taking over the cleaning of the hall, but then much of this saving is taken up by the costs of the wi fi, so it is ‘swings and roundabouts’. If we are to fund ourselves going forward then we need to be able to do more of what brings in money and this relies upon the support of people who are willing to come along and support us. The recent replacement of the water heater cost us almost £1000, but this kind of replacement is essential if we are to provide a suitable venue for hirers.

Our usual events have been largely successful in terms of people support, with our most recent, the Bat and Chat evenings starting to build a following. We purchased one table tennis table and had one donated, as we felt that table tennis was a popular sport but very few people had space for a table at home, so the hall would be a good venue. Our medium events have proved very popular with some people travelling a long distance to attend.

The Pop Up Pubs are regular and, along with the pizza van, provide something purely social in place of any other such opportunity in the village. We have been delighted with the reintroduction of the highly enjoyable Bingo evenings with Pam and Alan, with these being truly joyful events for people of all ages. Planning and delivering any of these events has taken a great deal of time and effort, and is reliant upon volunteers putting in the hours to ensure they go ahead, but the ultimate success of an event always depends upon people coming along to support. It is, therefore, important that events are what people want but that villagers are also aware that support for the hall is what keeps it alive.

We have tried to ensure value for money when setting prices, but we remain constrained by the cost of everything continuing to increase and our fundamental duty to cover those costs e.g. the insurance costs us £1000 before we even open the doors. This means that as well as covering our costs for any individual event we provide, we also need to factor in additional profit to cover all the fixed costs the hall pays throughout the year. With this in mind, and assuming that costs are not going to fall, it is highly likely that the next committee will look at increasing the prices charged going forward.

Whilst the report so far seems to be lacking in joy, the same cannot be said for the life of the hall itself. After almost sixty years, Weston Lullingfields Village Hall continues to be the main resource for the village as a venue for a wide variety of public and private functions, with car parking, accessibility, wi fi, fully equipped kitchen, toilets, space and a homely feel. From Christmas to christening celebrations, birthdays to bingo nights, pizza to PE lessons, elections to evenings of mediumship and quizzes to table tennis the hall remains the centre of social events in the village. Our development of the outside area will continue in order to provide a comfortable place for people to sit outside and enjoy a different space during events, once again trying to widen the appeal of the hall through the offer of a variety of possibilities for people. It is only with the continued support of the community that the committee can ensure the village hall continues to thrive.

The hall has again been used to raise money for Macmillan Cancer Support and we also collected donations at events to raise funds for the Critical Care Unit to race on the Severn to support the Severn Hospice (£331.50). Our commitment to hosting a defib for the village continues and funds are dedicated to maintaining it, primarily ensuring that up to dat pads are available.

I would like to thank all the members of the committee, past and present, who have provided support and given of their time and energy, both at meetings, working parties and events. I would also like to thank everyone who continues to support the hall through attendance at events, helping out at events, buying hundred club tickets or through donations.

Accounts Year-Ending 31st March 2025