Summary
Chair’s report for the year ended 31 march 2023
Good evening. Welcome and thank you for coming to the Castle Caereinion Recreation Association Annual
General Meeting
You will be aware of the circumstances of the last AGM and the formation of the new committee and I am not going to
dwell on it beyond saying that from a standing start with absolutely no knowledge or experience of being trustees of a
charity we believe we have made slow but steady progress, but there is still much to be done.
Our first priority was to discover what we were supposed to do, and who was supposed to do it. We elected a chair, a
treasurer and a secretary and rounded up a posse of people who would be willing to act as trustees.
Research showed that the constitution was in desperate need of updating and this work was undertaken by Bob
Whiteoak the secretary; with the assistance of the Powys Association of Voluntary Organisations the constitution is
now ready to be presented to the community for a vote to be taken on its adoption and this we will do shortly.
Lucy Mason was appointed treasurer and has forged ahead with updating how the ccra takes care of its money and
initiated the use of telephone banking and is currently on the verge of adopting internet banking. This activity has been
somewhat inhibited by the banks no longer operating specialist accounts for charitable trusts.
We thought we were off to a good start, but in August the foundations of the CCRA were rocked by the closure of the
village school; there have been two major consequences: firstly the association lost its major source of income as Powys
County Council ceased payments for the use of the hall’s facilities and secondly the school closure has led to a period
of inertia as no official body, either Powys County Council or the Church in Wales, which owns the school building has
given any indication of what their plans may be.
Fortunately, as you know, the CCRA was the beneficiary of a very generous bequest from Michael Rogers.
This money has enabled the committee to take on certain liabilities and try and improve the facility, for example with
the introduction of business Wi-Fi to attract potential users and to obtain quotes for the replacement of wooden
framed windows and doors which are rotten with upvc and this should commence very soon. There are also plans to
invest some of the money to provide an income to replace that lost from Powys County Council. We have also made a
capital investment and bought a sit on lawnmower, which will save us £3600 per annum and will be used by volunteers,
this saves us £200 each time the grass is cut.
We have had to increase charges to hire the hall to cover the heightened energy costs inherent in the present cost of
living crisis, but we are still charging less than other village halls in the area.
We are aware that there is still work to be done; we certainly need to start holding more events so that we can bring our
income up, the money from michael shouldn’t be used for the everyday running of the hall and we need to invest it and
live within our means as much as possible.
But from a standing start we have built on our enthusiasm and we believe we have all the requirements of the charity
commission in place once we vote to accept the new constitution.
We stand ready to engage with the diocese of the church in wales regarding the attached school building and the impact
of whatever their plans on our village hall may be.