Village Hall

Hall for Hire

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.

Chairman’s report to the AGM on 30 January 2025

I think the hall is currently in good shape in terms of its condition, finances and lettings.

I would 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 and managing the bar. Sarah, our secretary, continues to manage lettings without a hitch and I would also like to thank Jill for regularly checking the condition of the hall between lettings.

Chris is also putting a lot of effort into finalising our CIO status. With the help of ACRE’s CIO consultant, Louise Beaton, the Charity Commission has registered the merger of KINGSTON VILLAGE HALL (274947) with KINGSTON VILLAGE HALL (1197094) on 21 January 2025. The CIO has also been registered with Barclay’s Bank and, finally, our new title to the Village Hall now has to be lodged with the Land Registry. All this takes time and effort and we are grateful to Chris for giving both.

As you are aware, a number of planned village events, not just those connected to the Village Hall, were cancelled this year mainly because of lack of support. Meanwhile, more casual, drop-in events such as pub evening, coffee morning and art and music nights continue to flourish. The Quiz and Chips was also a sell-out. Therefore, we need to look critically at our traditional main fundraising events, notably the BBQ and Christmas Fair, to examine how they might be refocused or replaced.

We have put a lot of effort this year into looking at potential savings in our running costs. In September we installed solar panels and batteries with the aid of a £9,300 South Cambs Zero Carbon Communities Grant. We are grateful to the Parish Council for contributing £500, while we put in another £500 from our own reserves. Once an agreement has been set up with our supplier to sell surplus to the grid (this is not a simple process), we should have enough to cover our daily standing charge, plus providing a small income. Cleaning costs had risen to a point where they were out of proportion to our letting income and Peter Stokes, after much searching, has found a local cleaner who will halve our costs. Finally, we have cancelled our film licence as there has been no use made of it, but we can still screen live events through our BBC licence.

We do need a new generation of committee members (trustees) to begin to shadow the key posts of chair, secretary, treasurer and clerk of works. Apart from that of the treasurer, those posts are held by people of advanced years and this is not sustainable. Without these key posts filled the hall would have to close, as has happened elsewhere in the county.

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. Another possibility is the creation of a social sub-committee to take on the planning and management of social events.

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 solar panels, screen and projector 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 the coming decade when the public purse for grants may not be as generous as it has been.

Paul Wright