2010 Annual Report
Report to the Annual General Meeting by Katie Lindenbaum - Chair of the Old Village Hall Trustees
As Chairperson, I once again welcome you all to Old Village Hall AGM and have pleasure in presenting my report. The past year has proved to be one of great activity for both the old and the new village halls – and of course that means the Village Hall Trustees too.
The sale of the old hall site was a very protracted affair, due to the recession particularly affecting the housing market. We were hugely helped and encouraged by Adam Farnsworth of Berry Bros who worked hard to find prospective buyers. Two or three came and went, but eventually a firm offer of £240,000 was made by Shelley Homes in the late summer. Concurrently with this, the lease agreement between ourselves and Old Parish Charities progressed slowly as our lawyers ironed out all the outstanding items. We were fortunate that Shelley Homes were patient, as no contract could be signed with them until the lease on the new site was ready for signature. Eventually both came together in the New Year and both documents were duly signed.
In the meantime, we were fortunate to secure further funding, notably a Biffaward for £40,000, a grant from West Northants Development Fund for £7,750 towards a cinema screen, projection equipment and retractable staged seating, and £15,000 from COMMA towards the extension car park. Other smaller amounts added to the total, which gradually rose to £600,000 for the new hall. Last summer, we appointed a Project Manager, Tim Acott. He oversaw the all important tender process, based on a Bill of Quantities. This time we were helped by the building recession, as the prospective construction companies competed keenly for the work and the tenders came in much lower than anticipated. The lowest tender, came from a local company Steele & Bray, and they were contracted to build the new hall. Their start date in late February, coincided with completing the sale of the old hall site and the signing of the lease with Old parish Trustees.
Inevitably, the start was slow because of the extended winter. It was marked by an official First Sod Turning Ceremony attended by Old Parish Council, Old Parish Charity Trustees, the Chair of the County Council, our District Councillor, our village Hall Advisor from ACRE and others. However, the extension car park is now completed, although we are still waiting anxiously and impatiently for the grass to grow before the first cricket match. The steel frame was erected last week and the new hall at last seems a reality. The finish date is scheduled for October and we will keep you all informed of progress – and the all important opening celebrations.
We are all very aware that building a new hall is not an end in itself. It is there to be used, and it is you, the villagers of Old, who will make it live and enable it to take its place at the heart of the village.
We continued to run events in the old hall during the last days of its life, with a summer dance and wine tasting & supper party in the autumn. We were also very pleased to organize the bonfire & fireworks in November. After the closure of the hall, we turned to Walgrave for a children’s play ‘Peach Boy’ from Northants Touring Arts in January, and ‘Those Magnificent Men’ from New Perspectives Theatre in March.
We have a spring dance on 15th May in Walgrave, welcoming back the excellent Latin American group ‘Lament’ by popular request. Tickets are now available and we hope to see as many of you as possible there. This will be our last event before the new hall opens in the autumn.
I have many thank yous this year to many who have supported our efforts – firstly to Jalil Asif as Chairman of Old Parish Charity Trustees, who, with the support of the Clerk, Judith Willis, oversaw the final stages of the lease agreement to ensure it was completed in time.
Also, our most sincere thanks to David Parton, who gave his time and expertise unstintingly in acting for us with regard to the sale of the old site.
To Will Beers and Mark Knight who helped in clearing the old site and to Will for his help in storing all the hall contents.
To Frank Keightley and the Cricket Club for their support and practical help, particularly from Tim Keeber who oversaw much earth moving on the new site before they made the new boundary fence – and also for their patience in the coming season as they manage without proper changing facilities. We hope this will be more than made up for next year.
I also want to thank local residents for their patients during the period of construction – both on the new and old sites. It cannot be easy with the noise of construction all about, but hope that the inconvenience will be short lived. Access to the playing field has been unavoidably limited in the last few weeks, but we are reassured that normal access will be available again in the near future – indeed as soon as the grass begins to grow. The new car park will be available before the cricket season gets underway and we are doing all we can to ensure that vehicles are not parking in Charles Close so as not to inconvenience local villagers.
Lastly, my enormous thanks to my fellow trustees - to Katie Summers who has supported me throughout, and given her legal expertise to many matters arising throughout the year. Anne-Marie Cooke, who has managed a complicated year with funding coming in – and no going out. To Neville Mackman who has provided help and advice regarding the new build. But above all, to all of you who have delivered leaflets and flyers, helped with decorating the hall for events, cooked, set up, cleared away and lent support, which has been so much appreciated.
We look ahead to the coming year with great anticipation and excitement and a hew landmark achievement for all the village.
2009 Annual Report
Report to the Annual General Meeting by Katie Lindenbaum - Chair of the Old Village Hall Trustees
I am pleased to see you all here this evening and to welcome you to the Old Village Hall Annual General Meeting and present my report on a very positive and active year.
It began last May with the offer of a grant from The Big Lottery Community Fund of £264,000; the culmination of a protracted 2-stage application. It was the best news we could have had and brought with t the certainty that Old would one day have a new hall and changing rooms.
The reality gradually sank in as over the coming weeks milestones were established, targets set and contracts signed. I still occasionally and with incredulity, check the number of 'noughts' on the grant offer to make sure it really is over a quarter of a million pounds!
With monies already raised, we now had £330,000 towards the new hall. However we still needed to make progress towards providing the match funding from the sale of the old hall site and planning permission continued to be elusive. However new planning officials at Daventry District Council brought greater openness and co-operation, assisted in this process by the planning department at Berry Bros. land agents, Kettering. Eventually, in the New Year our architect, Peter Timlen, obtained planning permission for three houses on the site. The tree preservation order on the beech tree was lifted with the provision that this was to be replaced by another species on the triangle of land behind the War Memorial, which the planners considered to be in the public domain, rather than on the site of the new hall.
The old site was put on the market in early March with a guide value of £300,000. Although there has been quite a lot of interest, no-one has as yet made us an offer. Like so many, we are caught in the downturn in the property business. No one said it would be easy and we can now only be patient, hoping that the right person will come along.
In the meantime, we continue to apply for additional funding to close the gap. We were awarded £3,120 from the Grass Roots Fund towards the extension car park and £2000 from the Garfield Weston Foundation. Other applications amounting to £50,000 are pending the results of which will come through later this summer.
Turning to the new hall, planning permission for the revised plans was renewed last summer. We appointed a Project Manager to work with our Architect. Detailed plans are underway which will form the basis of a bill of quantities and the building tender process can be initiated.
We continue to run events and services in the old hall. The short-mat bowls and cycle clubs are as always, our most regular hall users. We had a very good audience for 'Sir Gawain and the Green Knight' produced by New Perspectives Theatre last December and were pleased with the support for our first film show from Central Screens, Leicester of 'Mamma Mia'. We would like film screenings to become a regular fixture in the new hall, a moderately priced 'cinema' within walking distance of many.
Fund raising events included the summer pig-roast, Pimms and jazz evening. The annual wine tasting and supper last September, bonfire and fireworks in November, race night in January and spring dance with ceilidh in March.
I hope you all found something to take part in and enjoy and would like to say thank you most sincerely to many villagers for their staunch support for all these events.
I hope you already have in your diary the date of the Summer Pig Roast , with Latin American group supported by Northants Touring Arts on Saturday June 27th. Tickets are already on sale.
I would now like to thank my fellow trustees for all their unstinting hard work throughout the year; to Katie Summers for her huge support as Vice-Chair and Secretary, Margaret Gill who patiently continues to look after the hall bookings, Anne-Marie Cook who, as treasurer keeps our accounts on the straight and narrow. And thanks to everyone for typing, managing the website, advice on building and design and running so many functions , cooking clearing up, selling tickets and for their cheerful hard work.
It has been 10 years since the project to build a new hall began in 1999. I hope that this Autumn will the first foundation being laid and the fulfilment of a dream.
Thank you.