Chairman’s Annual Report to the AGM on 17th July 2022
Given that the last annual report was delivered in October last year this has been a rather short reporting period, however it is without doubt one of the most vibrant and optimistic reports that I have the privilege to deliver.
Emerging from the constraints of the Pandemic we have had a very strong demand for hiring of the village hall for life events like birthdays, weddings, baptisms, funerals, family celebrations etc. This has been in parallel with our portfolio of regular users such as line dancing, yoga, dominoes, classical singing, bingo, ballet classes, history society, knit and natter, local lunches, slimmer’s world, Sunday concerts, book club, baby and toddler creative sessions, coffee mornings, church ladies group and of course our very supportive W.I. Indeed the use of the village hall is so prolific that I fear I may have missed off a particular group and for that I apologise. In fact I have just remembered the rather tune full group, the ukulele players. As well as all the aforementioned we have an expanding bowling club and a lively scout group.
We have had several major events such as the Christmas market and the Spring fair, both of which were very well organised and successful in their own right. Unfortunately we had to cancel the Family Fun day as it coincided with the construction of our new car park.
We did manage to get the car park completed in time for the Queens Diamond Jubilee lunch which was an event that we were asked by the Parish Council to co-host along with the Church. It was a real community event that saw more than 140 people in attendance. Don’t forget we have the Classic Vehicle Show coming up on the 14th August and if it is anything like last year we are in for a real treat.
2022 saw the launch of our website as well as our Facebook and Instagram pages which are an essential of the modern world. At www.hoolevillagehall.co.uk you will find information about forthcoming events as well as contact details of the various user groups and much more. It’s really worth a visit.
You may be aware, and I hope you are, that following the last AGM we have carried further consultation on how we take forward the development of the MUGA. Claire Sutton has taken the lead on this project and organised the consultation to find out which are the most popular games/sports that the MUGA would be used for. Five-a-side football and tennis appear to be in more demand than some of the other sports. Full results of the survey are on display in the foyer and I am sure Claire would be only too pleased to expand on the details later if requested.
The construction of the car park brings to an end our contract with S A Estates to build this magnificent Village Hall and I would like to take this opportunity the thank Harry Sutton and his team for allowing us to start the building with the knowledge that we had not got all our funding in place. What I can say is that our decision based on a leap of faith to start to build two years ago was the right one. If we had waited to gather more funds we would never be able to construct this hall at today’s prices.
The anticipated final account of the contract and related works for the build is
Including professional fees £595,828.45
Other costs, paid directly from the Village Hall building fund, for finishes, fittings,
curtains, carpets and furniture (approximately) £ 93,610.00 Total build cost £689,435.45
All the above include VAT where applicable.
The planting at the entrance, carried out by the hard work of Ronnie Dalton, really sets the place off and is further enhanced by tasteful landscaping in the car park by the Coffee Morning organisers. The place looks well loved.
It is clear in my opinion that we have created a great community hub for the people of Hoole. Past contributions of time, money and effort have been the building blocks of where we are today so we must look forward to rejuvenate our members who will take our vision of a vibrant community asset to the next level.
