How the Yoxall is Run

The Yoxall Village Hall is a registered charity under the name of Yoxall Institute (Charity number 221859) and runs in accordance with a constitution registered with the Charity Commissioners. The constitution requires a voluntary Management Committee to run the Yoxall, consisting of:

    • Representative Members of Local Groups (not necessarily Yoxall users)

    • Up to 9 Public Members (any adult can stand as a public member)

An AGM (Annual General Meeting) must be held every year, where the Public Members and then the Secretary and Treasurer are elected. The Chairman is elected at the first committee meeting after the AGM.

Committee members are trustees of the charity and their details are registered with the Charity Commissioners (see their website). Trustees have certain responsibilities and liabilities. Most importantly, the trustees must make sure that the charity accounts are run correctly and that the charity remains solvent, by checking reports presented by the Treasurer.

Chairman - elected at the first Committee Meeting after the AGM, works closely with the Secretary and Treasurer.

The Chairman is the figurehead for the Yoxall, running meetings in accordance with the Constitution, checking that the Management Committee and sub-committees are working within guidelines and keeping overall track of what is happening within the charity.

Secretary - elected at the AGM, works closely with the Chairman to organise quarterly Committee Meetings and the AGMs.

Other responsibilities include circulating Agendas, distributing Minutes, dealing with correspondence,

Treasurer - elected at the AGM and supported by the Booking Clerk(s) and Finance Committee.

Duties include: book-keeping, receiving payments from bookings, paying cash into the bank, preparing balance sheets for quarterly Committee Meetings & AGM, organising annual audit of accounts, planning finances with the Finance Committee (see below).

Cash payments from Yoxall accounts are authorised by two signatures and the accounts are externally audited every year to ensure that everything is properly run.

Booking Clerk(s)

Casual (one-off) and Regular bookings are quite different and may be done separately by several trustees working closely with the Treasurer with respect to fee levels, invoices, payments and receipts. Tasks include:

    • New Regular Bookings - agreeing terms (website Calendar slot & fees), organising paperwork, arranging a show-around if required, exchanging keys for deposit, updating the website Calendar, recording details centrally.

    • Existing Regular Bookings - populating the website Calendar each year, adjusting bookings for clashes and cancellations, calculating quarterly invoices, chasing payments, and writing out receipts.

    • New Casual Bookings - agreeing terms (Calendar slot & fees), organising paperwork, arranging a show-around if required, organising and supplying a key code, exchanging advance payment (& deposit) for receipt, updating Calendar, recording details centrally, returning deposit.

Yoxall Hosts

Prospective bookers can see the facilities online, but may need to be given a show-around. This is organised by a Booking Clerk, but may be carried out by any member of the Management Committee or a member of one of the regular user groups before or after their session by prior arrangement.

The Building Committee is a sub-committee of 3-6 trustees that meets 4-8 times a year depending on demand.

It looks after the fabric of the building and its contents, ensuring that the Yoxall and the surrounding land is well-maintained. Paying maintenance invoices, wages and utility bills are also dealt with by the Building Committee. It replenishes consumable items and researches into new equipment or work that is needed, before reporting back to the Management Committee.

In this way, all Yoxall Committee Members have a say in what facilities the building and grounds have.

The Finance committee is a sub-committee of trustees, including the Treasurer, that meets at least once a year (early in the calendar year).

It is responsible for financial planning, monitoring investments, looking at future income and expenditure, setting charges (regular & casual fees, deposits etc). Recommendations by the Finance Committee must be approved by the Management Committee.

In this way, all Yoxall Committee Members have a say in major financial decisions.

Other Jobs for Committee Members

Help with note-taking at meetings, maintaining Yoxall documents (policies, risk assessments, notices etc), updating the website, monitoring our Facebook page and messages, hosting show-arounds (see above), general maintenance, spring-cleaning and organisation.

The constitution has a procedure for calling an EGM (Emergency General Meeting) in the event that it was thought something untoward was happening. This is standard for most constitutions and gives a safeguard if something is going wrong.

Meetings: Management committee meetings are usually held 4 times a year (4th Monday in February, June and September & 2nd Monday in November) with the AGM in November. Building committee meetings are every 1-2 months. Finance Committee meetings are once or twice per year.