Sompting Village Hall Registered Charity No 305423 West Street, Sompting, West Sussex, BN15 0BE www.somptingvillagehall.org West Sussex’s first, and Lancing and Sompting’s only, Hallmark-accredited community facility

admin@somptingvillagehall.org Tel: 01903 766065/07875 224779

Organisation & management

Constitutional & legal matters

Finance

Annual report & accounts

History

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

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 line dance 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 Zumba class and slimming groups.

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.

 The charity’s recent achievements include:

·	A successful refurbishment in 2006, including a new oven, redecoration, refitted toilets and fire-proof curtains
·	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
·	A Premises Licence, granted in 2007
·	Several new regular user groups have joined us in the last 3 years.  These include: 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; and South Shore Group, a model railway society specialising in North America
·	Use of the Hall by public authorities for meetings, consultations and exhibitions
·	Participation in the annual Sompting and Adur Festivals.  The Hall now makes a significant contribution to the events, and to the Sompting Festival organising body.
·	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
·	Documenting and publishing the Hall's history, accessible on this site
·	Award of Level 1 Hallmark status, accrediting us as well-run
·	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

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

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.

top

Organisation and management

Our beneficiaries are 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)

Colin Edkins (Sompting & District Model Railway Club)

John Gray (West Sussex N Gauge Society) (Secretary)

Richard Norton (Sompting & District Model Railway Club)  (Chairman)

Caroline Pickett* (Rainbow’s End Line Dance Club) (Treasurer)

Derek Smith (Worthing & District Edwardian Club)

Steve Stripp (South Shore Group)

Anita Watkins (Sompting Village Morris)

Sue Winder* (Independent) (Treasurer)

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. 

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 are 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.

top

Constitutional and legal matters

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.  A copy can be obtained from our Secretary, at the address given on the Contact page or by clicking here (a small fee will be charged to cover our costs).

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. 

The trustees have engaged Messrs Burnand Brazier Tisdall, Solicitors, as the charity’s legal advisers.

top

Finance

The financial affairs of the charity run smoothly.  Following increases in casual hire bookings, the charity has in recent years received income, mainly from hire charges, of some £12,000 annually.  However this is expected to fall in 2011 due to our biggest user, a nursery school, moving to the village school from July, and to remain at a reduced level until new users are found.

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 maintain reserves to fund development and any necessary long-term maintenance, repairs, equipment replacement or similar. 

With the benefit of a normally assured income and controlled spending, the charity previously enjoyed sufficient financial stability to be able to offer users the Hall's facilities at a fraction of the cost a commercial organisation would charge.  Fortunately we have significant reserves to cushion the blow of losing so much income, but these will not last indefinitely.

top

Annual report and accounts

Our surplus for 2010 was £3,433 (2009: £3,982).  Our net monetary assets increased to £29,864 (2009: £26,431), representing a Maintenance fund of £2,850 and a General fund of £27,014.  The Maintenance fund exists to provide for planned maintenance and improvements over a 30-year period, whilst the General fund forms a contingency reserve.

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 Annual report and accounts for 2010, setting out our financial results and position for that year and the associated Trustees’ report, should be consulted.  These were approved on behalf of the trustees on 13/17 February 2011 and presented to the charity’s AGM on 27 February.  They are not required to be audited, independently examined or submitted to the Charity Commission.  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.)

top

History

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 and a serialised version is featured in 2011 editions of local magazine The Local Vocal, while a full, illustrated, version can be downloaded here (updated 3.9.11).  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.

top