Business Plan 2023-2024

Bramley Village Hall  Bringing People Together

Charity Number 301765

Bramley Village Hall Trust: Business Plan 2023-24

Bramley Village Hall Trust is a charity established to manage and support a community facility, the Village Hall (BVH or ‘the Hall’).  Our objectives are:

To provide and maintain a village hall for the use of the inhabitants of the Parish of Bramley, Hampshire without distinction of political, religious or other opinions.  This should include it’s use for meetings, lectures and for other forms of recreation and leisure with the object of improving the conditions of life for inhabitants of the Parish. [BVH Deed of Covenant, 1969]

In line with our strategic objectives (as set out in our Strategy Document) the Trustees will ensure that the Hall is available in a useable condition with appropriate amenities functioning to the required standard; we will ensure the Hall is maintained and repaired to meet Health and Safety requirements and that all necessary licensing and authorization requirements are met.

The Hall is used as follows:

  • Regular groups using the Hall for their purposes include:
    • a village pre-school who meet daily;
    • organized community groups e.g. WI, Brownies, Rainbows, Guides, and Parish Council meetings;
    • commercial operators which run groups e.g. ballet classes, yoga, fitness classes; and
    • village groups who organize social activities e.g. Badminton, Short Mat Bowls.

  • Annual events, such as the Bramley Show, that enable local people to showcase their products, skills and hobbies.

  • Ad hoc events, such as private bookings for children’s and adult parties which provide a source of income for the Hall.

As a charity the Trustees will endeavour to ensure that the Hall generates sufficient funds to meet maintenance and service objectives and does not operate at a deficit. Whenever appropriate the Trustees will seek funding from the Parish Council and other providers to meet specific objectives.

Key Issues from 2022

During the post-pandemic year of 2022 we returned to ‘business as usual’ with the full return of our regular users and new hirers joining our community. Weekly footfall increased although we retained sufficient capacity, with the additional space in the Frith Room, to meet hirers needs. But increased usage put additional pressure on our energy consumption, and consequently our expenditure, especially on gas, has risen sharply since the summer of 2022. The installation of solar panels and a battery storage system in August 2022 has eased the pressure on our electricity costs.

Despite investment in refurbishment over the past four years, maintenance costs remain high and we will strive to reduce this overhead in the year ahead. Due to increased costs our charges for party hirers were increased on 1 October 2022 and for regular users by 10% from 1 April 2023. These changes were communicated to hirers in advance. We are confident that our hiring rates remain competitive compared to similar facilities in North Hampshire.

Key Objectives for 2023-24

This business plan covers the Financial Year 2023-24 and assumes a ‘business as usual’ approach, with no significant resurgence of Covid-19 and no (or limited) reimposition of Government restrictions. Alongside maintenance of service, an overarching priority will be recognition of inflationary pressures and appropriate steps to mitigate rising costs wherever possible. Following are our key objectives:

  • Ensure the Hall is available to users in a clean and safe state and that reported defects are remedied as quickly as possible.
  • We will continue to seek opportunities to attract new users, including acceptance of some risk in supporting new start-up groups.
  • Deal with repair and maintenance issues on a planned basis and flag-up long-term infrastructure issues. A key refurbishment requirement will be revarnishing of the floor in the main hall during the summer of 2023. Plans to refurbish the kitchen in the main Hall will be costed and put into effect once funding is available.
  • Maintain a healthy cash flow, reviewing hiring charges at least annually, seek additional funding through grant applications and continue to maintain a strategic cash reserve to meet unanticipated issues.
  • Continue to identify opportunities for increased sustainability; plans to ‘re-wild’ the grassed areas adjacent to the carpark will contribute to this, at the same time reducing our maintenance costs by removing the need for lawnmowing by contractors.
  • Explore opportunities to carry out more routine maintenance work through volunteer teams to further erode maintenance costs.
  • Continue to promote the work of the Trustees with the aim of attracting additional volunteers and build resilience within the team. We remain supportive of the concept of the ‘Young Trustee’ and would welcome expressions of interest in this scheme from persons aged 17-24.

Date of Approval:                 6 February 2023

Date of Next Review:          February 2024