New Trustee

We are pleased to welcome Mark Singleton as a new trustee, representing the Computer Café group.

Charity Commission Reports

As a registered Charity, Slinfold Village Hall is obliged to submit annual 'SORP' (Statement of Recommended Practice) Reports to the Charity Commission.

The Reports that we submitted for 2008-09 and 2009-10 have recently been added to the Hall's website, and the Report for 2010-11 will be added within the next few weeks.

These, and other documents relating to the running and governance of the Village Hall Charity, are available from the Downloads column of the Trustees — Contacts — Volunteers page of the Village Hall website.

Cooker

Some of you will know that there was a problem with the cooker after the Carol Service on 18^th December, in that the hobs apparently did not work and could not be used for heating the mulled wine. Later that evening the hobs seemed to be working properly.

We have since had an engineer out to look at the cooker and he could find no problem with it: intermittent faults are, of course, notoriously difficult to identify. Nevertheless, it does now seem to be working properly - but please advise us if any further problems are encountered.

(Also, please note that the hobs operate only when the glass cover is raised: if the cover is lowered when the hobs are switched on, they will automatically turn off.)

Dishwasher

Following complaints that the dishwasher was washing glasses with cold water, we have been in touch with the manufacturers. They have now advised us - contrary to the advice that we were originally given - that, as the dishwasher is not in regular/continuous use, it is necessary to allow a warm-up time of 60 - 90 minutes for the wash and rinse water tanks to heat up prior to use. Once the tanks have heated up, each wash cycle takes only about 2 minutes.

So please switch the dishwasher on - at the wall socket and on the front panel - at least 60 minutes before you expect to need it for washing up.

We would also remind users that the cylindrical 'plug' inside the dishwasher must be pushed in firmly (such that it needs a 'tug' to pull it out again) otherwise hot water will be continually leaking from the machine and be being replace with cold water.

Slinfold Magazine item - January 2012

Slinfold Village Hall News

Hall Redecoration

By the end of January we hope to have completed a substantial redecoration programme. The outside of the Hall was repainted during the autumn, and the Entrance Hall and Main Hall in the week before Christmas. The floors are next: the carpets are to be cleaned and, for the first time since the 2000 refurbishment, the hard floors are to be stripped down, retreated and re-polished. This is planned for one day in January and it is hoped to avoid any disruption of bookings.

Governance

An item in last month’s magazine opened by commenting on “the loss of much of the 'Golden Oldie' [volunteer] support” and on the potential implications for the financial situation and the “present excellent state [of the hall]”. The article then went on to question some of the Hall’s policies – specifically on Reserves, Openness and Accountability.

The financial and legal implications of running an operational charity precludes going into much policy detail here, but more information continues to be available on the Hall’s website and in the publicly-available annual report to the Charity Commission (also available from the Hall’s website).

Reserves

• The Charity Commission and various fund-awarding bodies (eg. WSCC) require a forward plan and policy on Reserves.
• In order to maintain the excellent state of the hall, an annual allocation of funds enables major fluctuation in maintenance and replacement costs to be averaged out over several years.
• Each year, the forward plan is reassessed as part of the annual inventory audit, and then the budget, including Reserves allocation/draw-down, is discussed and agreed at the AGM – which is open to all local residents. This year’s AGM agreed a net reduction in Reserves of £3.1k, in part to fund the redecoration programme outlined at the top of this article.
• More information on Reserves and their calculation is available on the Hall’s website.

Openness

• The amount of Village Hall information readily available far exceeds that previously published, and is actively being increased when volunteer resource permits. As well as the detailed information on the website, the ‘News’ column on the home page is regularly updated; and news items are included in most issues of this magazine.
• The Village Hall is a registered charity not a public body. Charities do not normally publish minutes of their operational meetings, which may include confidential business – and as far as the current Trustees are aware it has not ever been the practice for the Hall to do so.

Accountability

• The Governing Document provides for the AGM to be the primary forum for accountability of the Trustees to local residents. The AGM is held in June each year and is open to all local residents, and the minutes and accounts are published on the Hall’s website.
• The majority of the trustees are representatives of local groups that regularly use the Hall – this provides an ongoing mechanism for communication between regular hall users and the Trustee body. There are also four trustees who are nominated and elected by public vote at each AGM.

For more information or to offer your services as a volunteer, contact Neil Peachey (Chairman), Trevor Dayneswood (Vice-chairman) or go to SlinfoldVillageHall.co.uk

Slinfold Magazine item - December 2011

Slinfold Village Hall News

New Helpers

We are pleased to welcome Jo Haines and Audrey Jackson as new helpers. Between them they will cover the daily housekeeping checks on the Hall and ensure that hirers have left the building and equipment in a clean, fit and proper state for subsequent use. Ideally we like to find one more person to help with these checks, for just 10 minutes, once or twice a week.

Angela Angel and Brian Tanner have agreed to look after the weekly heating programme to keep it aligned with each week’s hiring schedule.

We are still looking for more people to help with the day-to-day ‘housekeeping’ of the hall, and others to help with occasional internal and external maintenance and ‘odd-job’ tasks on the building.

Gardening Help required

The Hall has three small flowerbeds and a couple of flower pots. We need a volunteer to keep these neat, tidy and watered as necessary throughout the year. It just needs a few minutes at a time, depending on the season.

Hall Redecoration

You may have noticed that the outside of the Hall has recently been repainted. Now it’s the turn of the inside: the Entrance Hall and Main Hall are scheduled for redecoration from Mon 19^th to Fri 23^rd December, which is a quiet time for bookings. The Hall will not be completely out of use for the week, but access and use will obviously be restricted.

Summary of Trustee Meeting Decisions - Nov 2011

1. Trevor Dayneswood (as Web-Manager) has authority to develop, test and release web-site changes in line with agreed prioritisation. Mark Singleton (on behalf of Computer Café group) can develop Computer Café group page(s) in line with overall slinfoldvillagehall.co.uk guidelines. Code to be tested and released by Trevor
2. Hall premises licence to be changed so that Designated Premises Supervisor (DPS) is the Management Committee, and that operational restrictions (no films Monday to Thursday) are ‘tidied-up’ to reflect experience.
3. Slinfold Village Hall will not follow other halls in granting Trustees free-of-charge use of the hall for personal events.
4. Delegated Authority limits changed to £150 for Minor Repairs and £250 for Urgent Work & Repairs.
5. A Morris Dancing group can use the free Wednesday-night slot on a renewable six-month basis. A Furniture Restoration group can use the Parish Room, subject to them using adequate floor protective sheeting.
6. Go ahead with proposal for developing new marketing materials with Hilary Bates.
7. Develop Google Calendar as a short-term replacement for the various Bookings / Usage Schedules currently manually produced each month. The current Bookings-to-Invoices spreadsheet will continue to be used.
8. The internal and external lock codes will be changed in January, in line with Insurance Requirements and our Security Policy,
9. Internal redecoration of the hall will be done this time by Adam Cheeseman. Costs will be met from Reserves.
10. Stripping and re-surfacing of hall floor will be done this time by Nigel Davies of TrueClean, Southwater. Costs will be met from Reserves.

Slinfold Magazine item - November 2011

Denis Ingleby

The Village Hall Trustees were very sorry to hear of the death of Denis Ingleby on Sunday 25th September 2011, and extend their sympathies and condolences to Ann and the family.

We are very grateful for the considerable amount of work that Denis has put into the Village Hall over many years. He was very involved with the building of the extension and the modernisation of the hall around the turn of the millennium. He has continued as a Trustee and headed up the 'Works Group' looking after the regular maintenance of the Hall. Denis continued to be active in his roles as a Trustee and as 'Head of Works' until he went into hospital just a few weeks prior to his death. His invaluable contribution to the Hall, both in overall input as a long-standing Trustee, and in his practical and organisational contributions to Hall maintenance, will be sorely missed.

Slinfold Magazine item - October 2011

Slinfold Village Hall

Barbara Muller
For many years we have been very fortunate to have Barbara Muller as 'Head of House' for the Village Hall, looking after its day-to-day running, checking the hall most days, supervising the cleaning, checking supplies, setting the heating to come on for hirers, putting the wheelie bins out and in, and many other routine — and often unseen — tasks, all of which are important to ensure problem-free running of the Hall for those who use it.
Barbara resigned from the Trustees some 18 months' ago, but has continued helping in these and many other ways. She has now expressed her intention of stepping down as ‘Head of House’ at the end of October, and we should like to take this opportunity to express our huge thanks to her for all the time and effort she has spent 'behind the scenes' in contributing to the smooth running of the Hall.
Volunteers needed urgently
This brings us to the continuing need for more volunteers to help with the running and maintenance of the Hall. Several Trustees already put in a lot of time and effort in ensuring the hall is kept in good condition, and many Trustees are already committed to helping other groups too. We are looking for help in two main areas:

• to help with some of the ‘House’ tasks listed above: it does not require one person doing everything, nor being committed every day — jobs can be shared; and
• help with routine 'DIY' maintenance through occasional working parties: occasional more thorough cleaning, re-painting, gutter clearing, fixing or replacing broken items — all the type of jobs you have to do to your own property.

If you could find a little time to help maintain this community facility for the benefit of the whole village, or would like a little more information, please contact one of the Trustees, or Neil Peachey (Chairman) or Trevor Dayneswood (Vice-chairman).
Dishwasher
Earlier this year we had a commercial dishwasher installed in the Hall, capable of washing a load in just 2 minutes, after initial heating. We recently had to call out the service engineer for a fault that turned out to have been 'Operator Error'. We would ask users to note that this is a commercial dishwasher, and is not operated in the same way as a domestic dishwasher. If you use it, please ensure that you read and follow the instructions carefully - if in doubt, please ask for a demonstration. In particular, it is critical to ensure that the tubular plug inside the machine is pushed in firmly — such that it needs a firm tug to remove it. If this is not done, the machine continually replaces lost hot water and fills with cold water, resulting in the wash not being hot enough, and more than a year’s-worth of very expensive detergent being used-up in just a few washes.

Summary of Trustee Meeting Decisions - Sep 2011

1. As per previous discussions, the Village Hall is not subject to the FoI Act so minutes will not be made publically available, though decisions summaries will be produced for the web-site if and when time allows.
2. Agreement reached with all parties regarding Rent-Free use of Hall by St. Peter's Church
3. Delegated Authority limit set at £100 for Training and Documentation.
4. Slinfold Village Hall to subscribe to the new AirS Village Hall service.
5. External re-decoration to proceed at once with Adam Cheeseman. Costs to be met from Reserves.
6. Internal re-decoration and floor resurfacing to take place over winter, once competitive quotes have been received.

Slinfold Magazine item - August 2011

Slinfold Village Hall

AGM: The Village Hall AGM was held in June and we were pleased to see a few residents attending in addition to the trustees. By the time you read this, the Minutes of the AGM and the Accounts for 2010-2011 should be available for download from the Village Hall website at SlinfoldVillageHall.co.uk.
Retired Trustees: We would like to express our thanks to the following Trustees who retired either during the past year or with effect from the AGM: John Ferguson (moved away from the village); Prue Duncan (who has long represented Parent & Toddlers and Short Mat Bowls); Wendy Coad (Youth Club); Margaret Dunkerton (Parish Council); and Charles Chatwin (Village Cinema).
We would particularly like to thank Charles Chatwin for his work as Treasurer for the past ten or so years. And, although she stood down as a Trustee twelve months’ ago, Barbara Muller has continued to act as Head of House while we look for people to help with the many behind-the-scenes tasks that she has so willingly and readily undertaken for very many years. Thank you Barbara for all the many hours and much effort that you have put in since time (almost!) immemorial to help keep the Hall running smoothly.
New Trustees: We are pleased to welcome three new Trustees: Monica Edmonds (representing the Parish Council); Nick Shields (Short Mat Bowls); and David Thompson, who took over from Charles as Treasurer from 1st April 2011.
Rental Charges: The AGM decided that, despite there being a small operational deficit and given the financial constraints facing us all, we should keep rental charges unchanged at present.
At the July Trustees’ Meeting, the Trustees re-elected Neil Peachey as Chairman, and Trevor Dayneswood as Vice-chairman.
Finally, you should soon see a new brass plaque in the entrance hall acknowledging — some 10 years’ late! — all those who helped towards the extension and refurbishment that gave us the excellent facilities we now enjoy.

More volunteers wanted

To keep hall rental charges down, the hall is managed and maintained by volunteers. We are now urgently in need of more volunteers to help with various tasks, including checking the hall, preparing it for bookings, odd jobs, periodic maintenance, administration, etc.. Without more volunteer help, we may have to employ a caretaker, which could force rental charges to be raised substantially. If you feel you could help in any way — however small — or would like more information, we would love to hear from you. Further information is available on the Village Hall website at SlinfoldVillageHall.co.uk, or please contact: Neil Peachey or Trevor Dayneswood.

Summary of Trustee Meeting Decisions - July 2011

1. Neil Peachey and Trevor Dayneswood unanimously re-elected as Chairman and Vice-Chairman.
2. Donation from Slinfold Society should be used toward the improvements items agreed at the recent AGM.
3. External repairs to elevated woodwork to proceed as soon as possible.
4. Pro-active replacement of boiler parts not required, as call-out service is good.

Slinfold Magazine item - June 2011

Slinfold Village Hall

Helpers wanted: In order to keep hall rental costs as low as possible, the hall is managed and maintained by volunteers. We have lost several helpers over the last year as a result of retirement and house moves, and are urgently looking for additional help for various tasks, including checking the hall, preparing it for bookings, odd jobs, periodic maintenance, administration, etc..  If you feel you could help in any way — however small — or would like more information, we would love to hear from you. Further information is available on the Village Hall website at SlinfoldVillageHall.co.uk, or please contact: Neil Peachey (Chairman of the Trustees) or Trevor Dayneswood (Vice-chairman).
Village Hall Kitchen: the kitchen facilities have recently been enhanced by the addition of:

• An Autofill Water Boiler (replacing the old urn): once up to temperature (about 20 mins), almost-boiling water (96 deg C) is available ‘on tap’ for hot drinks and washing-up. For only small amounts of washing up, it may be easier and more economical to use a small amount of very hot water from the new Water Boiler rather than switch on the immersion heater for the hot tap water.
• A commercial Dishwasher with a wash cycle time of 2 mins per wash & rinse (again, after an initial heating time of about 30 mins). This is not expected to be used for small amounts of washing up, but should prove very useful for larger functions and parties.

The Village Hall Trustees are grateful to the Parish Council for a grant that covered most of the cost of the new equipment.

Summary of Trustee Meeting Decisions - May 2011

1. Trustee Indemnity Insurance agreed to cover the event of anyone challenging the Trustees’ running of the charity, at a cost of £110 per annum.
2. Brass Plaque to be produced in appreciation of the all the time and effort put in to delivering the hall’s extension and refurbishment in 2000.
3. We should consider taking a stall at next year’s school fair.
4. No events to mark hall’s 130^th anniversary, it would clash with the church’s 150^th anniversary.
5. Not feasible to get hirer’s electrical equipment PAT tested. It is the responsibility of the hirer to ensure the suitability of any electrical equipment that they bring in.
6. For the next door code changes, cards will be numbered and kept track of.

Slinfold Magazine item - May 2011

For your diary

Slinfold Village hall

Annual General Meeting

Monday 20^th June at 7:30 for 8:00 p.m.

All residents are welcome
The Village Hall is run by the Trustees as a charity
for the benefit of the whole Slinfold community.
The A.G.M. provides an opportunity to discuss future plans and
for you to tell us what you want from your hall.

SlinfoldVillageHall.co.uk for more information about the hall

Summary of Trustee Meeting Decisions - March 2011

1. New web-based accounting packaged agreed at a cost of £5 per month.
2. Trevor Dayneswood to be added as authorised signatory.
3. Fidelity Insurance agreed to cover the event of fraudulent administration, at a cost of £10 per annum.
4. External door code to be changed as per security policy.

Summary of Trustee Meeting Decisions - Jan 2011

1. New Treasurer to be David Thompson
2. Oven and Parish Room carpets to be professionally cleaned
3. External Lettering repainting (as agreed at AGM) to go ahead once the weather improves. Costs to be met from Reserves.

Slinfold Magazine item - December 2010

New Village Hall Website

The Trustees of the Village Hall are grateful to Mark Singleton for previously producing and hosting their first website free of charge, until his retirement from his IT business.
The Trustees are now pleased to announce a new Village Hall website at SlinfoldVillageHall.co.uk. Please visit it, and if there is any information about the Village Hall that you cannot find and would like to see there, please let me know.
Details of each forthcoming Village Cinema are shown on the home page, together with other news items.
You may be interested in the list of organisations regularly using the hall. If any group feels they have been omitted, again please contact me. Please note that it is the responsibility of the respective group to advise of changes to their information.

Trevor Dayneswood, Vice-chairman & Web-manager

Slinfold Magazine item - September 2010

Dear Editors,
People retire; they are made redundant - even retire early.
They soon find they have time on their hands; yes they do!
There are some parents whose children have moved on to a senior school not in this village.
Some of these men and women could now contribute to - or if you don't like the phrase - help - this village, the village where you live.

HOW?

By offering your time, some of it, in fact very little of the time you now have, to the Village Hall.
All sorts of things have to be done to keep it ticking so well - and to keep it up to a high standard for your children's use, for the old people, and indeed for everyone's use because, let's face it, the Village Hall is at the centre of this community. Granted, there are tennis, cricket and football clubs and the churches, but everyone can use and be entertained in the Village Hall. But a fact of life is that the team now helping out in running and maintaining it have been at it for 20 years or more and new blood is now needed.
Why not give it a try? All sorts of people are needed - YOU could be one of them.

Contacts:- Chairman Neil Peachey
and Vice chairman Trevor Dayneswood

Give the octogenarians a rest - come and give a hand

Yours sincerely
Jeremy Atkinson

Slinfold Magazine item - June 2010

Slinfold Village Hall

New Presentation facilities have recently been installed in the Parish Room, considerably enhancing its attractiveness for meetings of up to about 40 people.  A ceiling-mounted projector, pull-down screen, amplifier and speakers now provide ‘plug-and-play’ facilities for presentations, slide shows, videos, etc..  These can be fed from one of the desktop computers provided, from a laptop computer, or from a DVD player.

A new Windows 7 computer and wide-screen monitor are also now available for the use of hirers as well as for use during the Friday morning ‘drop-in’ Computer Café sessions to assist residents with computing issues.

We would like to thank the Parish Council for grants
which covered most of the cost of the new facilities and equipment.

Wireless broadband internet is also available throughout the building.  In the Parish Room, this can be used in conjunction with the new presentation facilities to view internet pages on-screen.

If you would like a demonstration of any of the above facilities,
please contact ... .

Slinfold Village Hall A.G.M. Monday 21st June – 7:30 pm – Parish Room “Slinfold Village Hall Refurbishment  2000 – 2009” a new video compilation by Jeremy Atkinson, accompanied by tea & coffee — followed by A.G.M. (about 8:00 pm) ØØ All residents are welcome ××

The Village Hall is run as a charity for the benefit of the whole Slinfold community.  All residents are welcome at the Annual Meeting (details above) to discuss our future plans and tell us what you want from your hall.  The video being shown may be of interest to both older and newer residents.

The hall is managed and maintained by volunteers (keeping rental costs low).  A number of long-standing volunteers are reaching their ‘second retirement’ and we would welcome ‘new blood’, both on the management committee and amongst regular helpers.  If you are interested in helping — even in a small way — please come to the AGM and/or contact the chairman.

Slinfold Magazine item - March 2010

Slinfold Village Hall - Energy-Efficiency Improvements

The end of January finally saw the end of a 4-year programme to double-glaze, or replace with double-glazed replicas, all the windows in the Victorian main hall. The final window replaced was the large gothic main window, which was originally planned to happen just before Christmas. Unfortunately the storms in December took the roof off the window factory, and the top of our new window too — which then had to be remade.

As the various phases have progressed the difference has been noticeable - with a marked reduction in draughts and a decrease in the time for the hall to heat up. However, as well as energy-efficiency, the improvements will have further benefits - reducing ongoing maintenance, increasing security and improving the sound-proofing of the hall.

Thank you to all the organisations and individuals who have contributed to the funds to do this work over the past few years - Bridge Lunches. Gatwick Airport Community Trust, Grassroots Sussex Community Foundation, Hall & Woodhouse, Horsham District Council — Section 106 Grant, Slinfold Parish Council and West Sussex County Council.

Neil Peachey

Chairman of the Trustees. Slinfold Village Hall