October 2023

16 Buckden Roundabout October 2023 Village News Bookings After a quiet August our bookings are picking up. We have several kids ’ parties, a weekend - long jive dancing hire and a week - long corporate training hire this month alongside all our regular hirers. Enquiries for christenings, anniversaries and weddings are also increasing, so please do keep the Hall in mind if you are planning an event. AGM Thank you to the members of the public who attending the Trust ’ s AGM on 5 th September. The Trust is always keen to hear the view of local residents. If anyone has any queries at all regarding the running and management of the Hall or Valley area please email Jo on admin@buckdenvillagehall.co.uk Long term financial planning and strategy The Trustees are developing strategic funding plans for the next one - , three - and five - year periods. Parts of the Village Hall are now over 40 years old, and even the extension built with Millennium funding grants is almost 25 years old. Maintenance and repairs are an on - going cost – during Covid we spent £40,000 replacing the floor in our Main Hall. BVHT is obliged to meet net zero EPC standards to renew leases which will be another heavy investment requirement to upgrade our huge gas boilers. Just a reminder that BVHT is a self - funding charity and, although we are grateful for the grants and playground costs underwritten by the gener- osity of Buckden Parish Council, we still need to work very hard to meet our operating expenses @ c. £65,000 p.a. As the Trustees develop their strategy, we want to incorpo- rate residents ’ views into our priorities for funding and re- furbishment. We would like to hear from residents on what projects and improvements YOU would like us to focus our efforts. Please email any views or opinions to admin@buckdenvillagehall.co.uk with positive and con- structive feedback. All our strategic objectives require significant investment and expense, so we will need to apply for external funding. Funders always want to know that our fund requests mirror the views of the residents, so we always welcome your thoughts. Potential projects on our strategy list are: • Relay the main footpath on the playing field • Refurbish the MUGA pitch (the tarmac area near the containers) • Replace old storage containers • Install outdoor gym equipment for table tennis • Install play equipment for older children (no room for a skate park sadly) • Make further improvement to the Valley (aerator, planting etc) • Replace our aging boilers and electric lights with en- ergy - saving measures That said, all this is contingent on successful fund - raising so please do volunteer or be patient and supportive as we for- mulate strategies, budgets and fund applications which are very labour - intensive when the Trustees are all volunteers. We have applied to various charitable funds with varying degrees of success, and we will seek to build on our learning experience. Bulb donations please! If anyone has any flower bulbs spare, please can you bring them to the Hall any weekday morning. We would like to plant bulbs in the next month or so in the Valley ready for spring in the hope we will have some very pretty flowers to cheer us all up after the winter! (If donating bluebell or snowdrop bulbs we can only accept them if they are native.) Although wildlife plantings are great, they do have a limited blooming period. Bees and other pollinators need support in the early spring and autumn when the wildflowers have stopped blooming. Early and late flowering bulbs really help the pollinators survive. We also have plans to turn the area by the new hedge into a wildlife garden, if possible, so please let us know if you would like to volunteer to help with this work. Please email admin@buckdenvillagehall.co.uk Vandalism and anti - social behaviour If anyone witnesses vandalism or anti - social behaviour tak- ing place around the Valley, Hall building or playing field, please report it directly to 101 or online at www.cambs.police.uk. The Police can then keep a log of reports and will be able to spot recurrent issues. Please report any damage to the Hall Manager on ad- min@buckdenvillagehall.co.uk Fundraising to support the Village Hall The Village Hall is a completely self - funding charity. We are totally reliant on our room hire and fundraising to support our operations. Every little amount helps us to keep the (Continued on page 20) Burberry Road, Buckden, Cambridgeshire, PE19 5UY Tel: 01480 811101 www. buckdenvillagehall.co.uk email: admin@buckdenvillagehall.co.uk