Kingston Village Hall is available for hire by residents and non-residents. There are two halls, a well-equipped kitchen and a small car park. For details click to go to the Village Hall Hire webpage.
I think the hall is currently in good shape in terms of its condition, finances and lettings. We have had a very successful year for fund-raising and must express our thanks to Suzy and her team of helpers for the Christmas Fair, to Mark and Katherine for the Quiz and Chips, with its record bar sales and to the whole committee who made the BBQ a success despite reduced numbers. Simon Draper’s art exhibition was a new event that also contributed to our income.
I would also like to express my thanks to Peter, our unofficial clerk of works, to Miki and her team of helpers for the Coffee Mornings and to Chris for keeping our accounts in good order. Sarah continues to manage lettings without a hitch and obtained the Emergency Services contract that made up for the loss of the karate class. I would also like to thank Jill for regularly checking the condition of the hall between lettings.
In terms of the coming year, we now have a projector and screen, purchased with the help of a donation from the Parish Council, and a large screen TV donated by Pat’s family. Importantly, we have obtained all necessary TV, music and film licences. Sarah has written confirmation from South Cambs that the three events a year limit for music etc. has now been removed and there are now no limits. We screened the Coronation and some of the Rugby World Cup on the big screen, and the TV was used when audiences were small.
We must now ensure we get value from these considerable investments and I would like the committee and interested villagers to put some thought into this. We have also looked into Sky and BT subscription channels, but as we are a licensed premises open to the public we would be classed as a business subscriber at around £275 per month, which is unaffordable.
We could do with more lettings and we should examine ways to advertise the hall more widely. We must also continue to impress on the village that we are a management, not a social committee. We need to get the message across that if people have a good idea for a club, such as Music Night and Table Tennis, we will provide support, and possibly some equipment. The installation of picture rail for art exhibitions is another good example. It was suggested at the last AGM that we might try and attract local businesses for conferences, training events etc. Advertising in other parish magazines turned out to be far too expensive so I did a leaflet drop of our “Open for Businesses” flyer in Hardwick and Toft, but with no results. However, our advertisement on Cambridgeshire Halls for Hire and the nationwide HallsHire websites have produced good results, including the Emergency Services contract.
Our committee consists of nine, five of whom are over 70 and have served for many years (some of us for 40 years) and so we need to encourage more from the middle and younger generations to join as members or friends, and take over as people retire.
Managing our energy costs is important and our investment in a remote control for the boiler and a timer on the hot water system is helping reduce unnecessary waste of energy.
Finally, we must be mindful that we have had a considerable windfall income from South Cambs during lockdown. We have used this to invest in equipment such as the screen and projector, table tennis and fuel saving controls for the boiler. From now one we must concentrate on getting returns from our investments and move to a position where our income from lettings and fund raising covers our outgoings. We must also conserve our capital reserves for planned and unforeseen maintenance in a 10 to 15 year timeframe when the public purse may not be as generous as it has been.
So the basic message is, we have a beautiful and well-appointed hall, with an efficient management committee. The village must be made aware that this is a wonderful facility, and they should take advantage of it and not just wait for others to organise events.
Paul Wright
Copies available in pdf format for download
Kingston Village Hall Bookings
Sarah Wright
Copyright © All Rights Reserved