Bramley Village Hall  Bringing People Together

Bramley Village Hall Trust: Business Plan 2024-2025

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.

The Trustees’ Annual Report for 2023-24 provides a summary of the key developments for the year.

Key Objectives for 2024-25

This business plan covers the Financial Year 2024-25, and our key objectives are as follows:

• 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. We anticipate continuing growth in footfall and a recent review has identified that we have sufficient capacity available across all spaces at the Hall. Our hiring charges were increased during 2023-24 and have not changed since April 2023. We remain confident that our hiring rates remain competitive compared to similar facilities in North Hampshire and we will keep our pricing policy under regular review.
• To deal with repair and maintenance issues on a planned basis and flag-up long-term infrastructure issues. Key refurbishment projects this year will include replacement of the kitchen in the main hall in July/August and the installation of a new fire alarm system around the same time. At some point we may need to replace the control panel for the air-conditioning system in the main hall and a survey is required of the original flat roof over the old entrance hall and toilet block; there is some evidence that the roof structure is weakening. Grants from the Parish Council and other providers will ensure the delivery of these projects.
• We will 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.
• We will continue to identify opportunities for increased sustainability; the re-wilding of 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. We will continue to develop the role of volunteers in managing our external spaces. We will replace our external storage (the garden sheds) with a larger and more secure facility and upgrade the side access footpath at the same time.
• We will maintain a close liaison with the Parish Council over the planned development at Stock’s Farm and take appropriate steps to ensure that the Village Hall boundaries are protected, and that the development work does not impact on the Hall’s viability, security or sustainability.
• We will continue to promote the work of the Trustees with the aim of attracting additional volunteers and build resilience within the team. We greatly appreciate the time and energy expended by those volunteers engaged in the ‘Ground Force’ and we will encourage more individuals to offer their support by volunteering for garden work or maintenance projects at the hall. In addition, 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: 9 April 2024

Date of Next Review:   April 2025