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Hawkesbury Upton Hospital Hall - Chairman’s Year End Report - February 2016
As I come to the end of my first year as Chairman of the Hall’s Management Committee I am now in a better position to realise the effort that has been required by past Chairmen and the support needed to keep the Hall fully operational. So my first comment is a huge thank you to all the current Management Committee without whose help this building and the recreation field would not be readily available for daily use. We should also not forget the Parish Council members who also contribute in various ways to the operation of the Hall and there have been a number of volunteers, particularly on the maintenance working parties, who have given up their time to ensure the Hall is fit for purpose.
It is now 65 years since the Trust Deed was signed putting Trustees in charge of the then former hospital and land surrounding it. Those Trustees, known today as the Management Committee, were required to be made up of specified organisations in the village who would promote physical and mental training together with recreational, social, moral and intellectual development. I think if anyone looks at the range of organisations using the Hall now then those who originally granted that Deed would be well satisfied that those objectives are being achieved. Whether its badminton, karate, history, drama, pre-school education or just a good dance then the Hall has this and lots more opportunity. We hope to market this even better in the coming year with regular features in the Parish Magazine.
However, I suspect that the when the original grant was made those making it and taking it up never anticipated the increasing levels of administration in connection with legislation, health and safety and insurances that would be required in the 21 st century. So this is an area where we have been reviewing what is required in order we can determine how best to tackle it without the detriment to the use of the Hall. Ideally we would hope that Hawkesbury common sense can prevail in such matters. One area that has become particularly important is the need for another Licensee for the Bar, Angelo has done this for a long time and needs some help. We are working on it but volunteers shouldn’t be afraid of coming forward.
The Hall is dependent up on regular use by the community and many years ago it was agreed that the users should pay a reasonable proportion of the running costs. This works reasonably well and last year we had a surplus of funds amounting to nearly £1500 and on top of that there were sufficient funds to repay some of the organisations a share of the bar funds amounting to just over £1000. As Dickens’ Mr Micawber would have said – "result happiness". Thank you to Bill Cullen for his work on maintaining the accounts and managing all the funds.
However, the surplus funds raised from the users are insufficient to carry out some essential maintenance or development work and this has to come from other sources. We were particularly fortunate that David Anderson and Jim O’Brien made a tremendous effort in running the length of the Cotswold Way in 24 hours raising funds for the Hall. Numerous associated organisations also contributed to this fund raising.
The Drama group continue to make a tremendous contribution to the community and a grant was received from South Gloucestershire to help provide the new speaker system in the Hall.
Jane Stanbridge and Kate Bashford have both had great success in raising funds particularly in respect of the proposed refurbishment of the kitchen, which was finally made possible with a tranche of money coming from the Big Lottery Fund and the work will be completed over the Easter period. An extra big thanks to Kate also for getting everything together in connection with the kitchen design and fitting out. Our Hall Breakfast on the 24 th April will be an opportunity to test run the new kitchen.
We are also in the process of having a make-over of the upstairs committee room spearheaded by the Youth Club, which will make it a more sociable and comfortable environment for all the users. This again has been supported by Grant funding. Probably the biggest project proposed, which is right at the start of the planning process, is an extension to the Hall for the use of Toddlers and Pre-school. The hope is that this will make an area that is lighter, with better views over the recreation field and customised for the needs of young children. There should also be a ground floor meeting room and it frees up the Hall for other users. There will be more on this in the Parish Magazine.
However, we must not forget that the Hall needs regular maintenance, whether this is cleaning on a daily basis or the replacement of light bulbs, sealing worn floors, recovering shed roofs, painting the oil tank, replacing worn play equipment and the list is endless. We had the front wall repaired and the trees lopped as a Health and Safety precaution, all this done with grant funding. A big thank you to all who help in this area particularly Angelo Sauro and Neil Fozard, both of whom are regularly on site doing some job or other. We should also say a big thank you to our Secretary, Fiona Steeds, who ensures that all our actions are recorded and keeps everyone advised of what has gone on. Also our Booking Secretary, Lorraine Rutter, who has the thankless job of vetting all the potential users and making sure they sign all the forms and know where to pay their money.
So into the New Year with lots of activity especially some events where funds raised will be shared with Charities and the Hall, so everyone benefits. That is the spirit that I think encapsulates the community of Hawkesbury Upton and fulfils the purpose of the Hall.
Thank You
Chris Rispin - Chairman