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Location
The Hall is situated in West Street, Sompting, on the north side a
few yards west of Sompting Recreation Ground and almost opposite Loose
Lane, which runs south alongside the west side of the Ground. Despite our peaceful location in
the village, there is easy road access to Worthing only 3 miles away. An adjustable-scale map and
satellite view, with the Hall in the centre, can be accessed here.
Objectives
and activities
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The charity
provides premises and facilities for training, recreation and development
for community organisations and individuals based in Sompting and its
immediate vicinity. The Hall’s
current regular user bodies include an amateur musical productions troupe,
model railway societies, a wine makers’ club and other local recreational
groups. Although most of our
user groups are recreational in nature, the Hall is also available to small
local businesses with a community-flavoured product; currently our business
users include a nursery school, slimming groups and a family portrait
photographer.
The Hall is
also available for occasional and one-off use, such as for wedding
receptions, meetings, fund-raising events, theatrical performances and
exhibitions, and to local and other authorities as occasion demands. We are available to all bona fide
users regardless of politics or religion, and have no such affiliations or
representation.
The Hall is
accredited under the Hallmark quality standards scheme Level 1 for village
halls. It has a car park,
excellent kitchen and toilet facilities, storage, disabled access and a
Premises Licence. We can
accommodate up to 70 seated, and have large tables available. Terms and hire charges are
available via the Hirers page.
Here are
testimonials from three of our users:
“Many thanks for
accommodating us at such short notice. …having used the facilities before I knew how good they
were.” (FH)
“We had a wonderful family
get-together in the Village Hall this afternoon, following my grandson’s
christening. I trust I have
left the Hall in the same immaculate condition as I found it.
Many thanks
BD”
“I would like to take the
opportunity to thank you for your assistance since we have started using
the hall. It is a great venue for our smaller practices and the
facilities are excellent, and obviously well cared for. You have been
very accommodating and have allowed bookings, sometimes at what I
appreciate is very short notice, for which I am grateful.
Regards
AW”
“Myself and my family hired Sompting
Village Hall on xxx for a surprise for my mum's 75th birthday. It was
certainly a surprise and all went very well.
I would like to thank you for all your
help…. It was difficult trying to arrange with us all living in different
parts of the country but it all worked out brilliantly.
The comments about the hall were very
positive. I am surprised at the amount of local people we invited who
hadn't been in the hall before but have said they will remember it if they
need somewhere in the future.
Not everyone wants a bar and being able to
supply many cups of tea was a big hit as apart from family it was mainly
older people who enjoy their cuppa.
I will not hesitate in recommending
Sompting Village Hall if I ever hear anyone needing a hall.
It is well kept and you get a lovely
welcoming feeling when you enter.
Once again thank you very much and you
never know we may be calling on you again.
Kind regards
CR”
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The charity’s recent achievements include:
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A
successful refurbishment in 2006, including a new oven, redecoration,
refitted toilets and fire-proof curtains
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A fire
safety risk assessment and associated remedial action (2006)
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A review
of governance arrangements and restructuring of the Committee of
Management to help streamline and expedite decisions and actions and
avoid the trustees having conflicts of interest between their user bodies
and the charity
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A Premises
Licence, granted in 2007
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Four new
regular user groups have joined us in the last 3 years: Sompting Village
Morris, one of the best known Morris Dancing groups in the UK; Worthing Edwardians,
a concert hall troupe performing in aid of local charities; South Shore
Group, a model railway society specialising in North America; and New
Southern Musical Productions, an amateur musical society
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Participation
in the 2007 to 2009 Sompting and Adur Festivals by way of Open Days
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Publicity
measures, in particular the construction and launch of this website,
including a free web page facility for each of the Hall’s regular users
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Documenting
and publishing the Hall's history, accessible on this site
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Award of
Level 1 Hallmark
status, accrediting us as well-run
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A formal
hiring agreement is now in place for all regular hirers, to help ensure
that the Hall’s, its users’ and our neighbours interests are protected
and their responsibilities are clear
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The charity’s beneficiaries are
the residents of Sompting and its vicinity and members of user
organisations, these being mainly based in the area. In terms of formal population
sectors the beneficiaries are:
• Children and young people
• The general public and mankind in the area of Sompting
We aim to
maintain a wide range of regular users and raise the charity's profile so
that more local people support the hall and benefit from its
facilities. Our current plans
include:
• Further researching and documenting the
Hall's history
• Making the Hall available to the authorities when needed for civil
emergencies and otherwise in the public interest – for example we are
pleased to make the Hall available free of charge for public interest
meetings and campaign activities
·
Progressing to Levels 2 and 3 Hallmark and
implementing any agreed recommendations for improvements made during the
assessment process
·
A long-term maintenance plan, to help ensure that
the Hall’s fabric is maintained to a high standard and that related funding
needs are built into our hire charges structure
The trustees
strive to be accommodating and flexible but responsible in their approach
regarding usage, and to encourage and assist user groups to flourish. The trustees believe that a high
level of diversity and responsibility in usage has been achieved, as
reflected by the varied activities that take place and the very low number
of noise and other complaints received from our neighbours and users.
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Organisation and management
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Our
beneficiaries are actively involved in the work of the charity, by each of
the established user groups nominating a representative. Non-business users’ representatives
may, but need not, become a trustee, participating in governing the charity
and setting its policies. The
trustees, whilst taking part in decision-making and overseeing the running
of the Hall, are expected to act in the best interests of the charity as a
whole rather than of their user groups.
The charity’s
present trustees, and members of the Committee of Management, are:
•
Barbara Earley* (Independent) (Hall Manager)
·
Joe Kirk* (Independent) (Secretary/PRO)
•
Richard Norton* (Independent) (Minute Secretary)
·
Sue Winder* (Independent) (Treasurer)
·
Pat Absolon (Mrs) (Independent)
·
Marion Dolbear (Independent Order of Foresters,
South Downs Branch)
• Colin Edkins (Sompting & District Model Railway Club)
•
John Gray (West Sussex N Gauge Society)
·
Muriel Mead (Sompting WI)
•
Caroline Pickett (Rainbow’s End Line Dance Club)
• Derek Smith
(Worthing & District Edwardian Club)
·
Steve Stripp (South Shore Group)
·
Anita Watkins (Sompting Village Morris)
The trustees have delegated *a
management team to handle day to day matters, reporting back to the
trustees on a regular basis and additionally as required. The management team, all unpaid
volunteers, carry out the bulk of the work of governing the charity.
The post of Chairman is
currently vacant, and the trustees would welcome enquiries from those
interested (please contact our Secretary - see Contact page). Business users are not permitted to nominate trustees,
in view of the danger of conflicts of interest, but are encouraged to
engage with the trustees and may be invited to attend Committee of
Management or other meetings to discuss points of interest to them. The contractual arrangements for
users have been formalised via a hiring agreement.
The Committee
of Management recognises the importance of sound trusteeship, and aims to
encourage all members to play a full part in the charity’s affairs and
undergo appropriate induction and update training. The charity is in close touch with Adur Voluntary
Action and subscribes to the Action in rural Sussex Village Halls Advisory
Service, together giving the trustees access to news, advice and training
across the full range of issues affecting the charity. Our progressive evaluation under
the Hallmark quality accreditation scheme for village halls will also
inform and enhance our progress.
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Constitutional and legal matters
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The charity’s constitution is embedded in a 1953
conveyance, which transferred the Hall to a charitable trust. Under this the trustees are charged
with making the Hall available for training, recreation and social, moral
and intellectual development through reading and recreation rooms, library,
lectures, classes and entertainments or otherwise, for the benefit of the
inhabitants of Sompting and its immediate vicinity. Our constitution can be accessed here.
Under the
Charities Act 2006, the charity qualifies as such under the following
classifications:
• The
advancement of education
• The advancement of health or the saving of lives
• The advancement of citizenship or community development
• The advancement of the arts, culture, heritage or science
• Other purposes currently recognised as charitable and any new charitable
purposes which are similar to another charitable purpose
Also in light
of the Charities Act 2006, the charity makes the following statement of
public benefit:
Users
enjoy the Hall's homely, well-equipped and spacious facilities for
constructive, community-based activities at a fraction of the cost that a
commercial organisation would charge.
The trustees require users to undertake in writing to use the Hall
responsibly with proper concern for our neighbours. The representatives of the
non-business user groups participate in governing the charity.
The charity’s
entry on the Charity Commission Register, detailing key financial and
regulatory data, can be seen here. Further governance information can
be found on our Guidestar entry here. (Please note that the financial
analysis provided by Guidestar is incorrect.)
The trustees
have engaged Messrs Burnand
Brazier Tisdall, Solicitors, as the charity’s legal advisers.
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Finance
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Following increases in casual hire bookings, the
charity now receives income, mainly from hire charges, of some £13,000 annually. Substantially all expenditure,
normally of around £8,500 annually, is on maintaining, improving and
running the hall for the benefit of the users. The resulting surplus enables the charity to build up
reserves to enable development and any necessary long-term maintenance,
repairs, equipment replacement or similar. With the benefit of a reasonably assured income and
controlled spending, the charity enjoys sufficient financial stability to
be able to offer users the Hall's facilities at a fraction of the cost a
commercial organisation would charge.
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Annual report and accounts
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The financial affairs of
the charity again ran smoothly in 2009. Our surplus was £5,126. Although rather higher than 2008 at £4,746, these
results are on a receipts and payments basis, in line with the format of
our accounts. Exceptionally,
some £1,100 of 2008 hire income was not received until 2009. Taking debtors and creditors into
account, the adjusted surplus for 2009 was £3,982 (2008: £4,810). Our cash and bank balances
increased to £26,998 (2008: £21,872) and our net monetary assets to £26,431
(2008: £22,449).
The paragraph above is a brief summary of our financial results and
position, and does not contain sufficient information to allow a full
understanding of the charity’s financial affairs. It is not audited or independently examined. For full information the latest
Annual report and accounts, setting out our financial results and position
for that year and the associated Trustees’ report, should be
consulted. This was approved
on behalf of the trustees on 17 February, and was presented to the
charity’s AGM on 28 February.
Hard copies can be obtained from the charity’s Secretary, at the
address given on the Contact page or by clicking here
(a small fee will be charged to cover our costs). It can be accessed on-line free here.
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History
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We
embarked in 2007 on a project to document the Hall's history. The history is now available on this
website, and will be updated as more information becomes available. A potted version is given below,
while a full, illustrated, version can be downloaded here
(updated 17.4.09). The
trustees are also keeping a scrap book for posterity.
Any past
press cuttings, letters, other documents, recollections or anecdotes about
the Hall which visitors can make available to us would be much
appreciated. Copies will be
taken and originals returned if desired. Please see our Contact page.
Sompting
Village Hall was built by Henry Peter Crofts, JP, DL, of Sompting Abbotts,
in 1889 as reading and recreation rooms for the community. It was for many years known simply
as the Reading Room, and later as the Parish Hall.
The building
ousted some inveterate drunks from a run-down area, and instead provided a
comfortable place, out of the weather and heated, where ordinary people
could go to socialize or improve their education and chances in life
without the temptation and expense of alcohol. Henry nominated six inhabitants of the Parish to
preserve good order and the maintenance of proper rules.
Henry died in
1890. His widow, Ellen, added
a boys' room away from the main building.
In the early
1890s, entertainment featured heavily in goings on at ”The Reading Room”,
especially in the winter months.
God Save the Queen was traditionally sung on completion.
In May 1941
the building suffered significant bomb damage to the roof, porch entrance,
doors and glass, plus a burst water pipe. In 1949 electricity was installed, at a cost of £85.
In 1953 the
Hall was gifted by Henry Crofts’ grandson, Major Guy Henry Tristram, Royal
Artillery, to a charitable trust administered by local trustees. His vision was to put the
facilities on a better footing so that the community might gain more
benefit from them.
Modern
sanitation was installed in 1957 at a cost of £610. In 1998 the trustees secured
National Lottery funding of £31,564 for extensive repairs to the roof,
floor and outbuildings. There
was a further refurbishment in 2006, providing new toilets, a new oven and
hob, fire-proof curtains and re-decoration (total cost £15,163).
The Hall’s current regular user bodies and other, occasional,
users enjoy the Hall’s spacious and homely facilities for a fraction of the
charge a commercial organisation would make. The Hall holds open days as part of the annual Sompting
and Adur Festivals, several of the user groups putting on impressive
displays, and in 2008 became the first community facility in West Sussex to
receive a Hallmark award.
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