The Ashburnham Village Hall Appeal bank account was opened at Lloyds Bank in 1986 by the Village Hall Committee at that time in order to have a separate account for income and expenditure from fund raising events. It has no separate committee and is administered as part of the village hall charity by the Sole Managing Trustee.
For many years money raised from events was transferred from the Appeal Fund to the Village Hall Committe’s funds as required to maintain solvency or fund projects. After June 2015 fund raising activities for the village hall came to a virtual standstill when many represented organisations on the village hall committee at that time withdrew to concentrate on fund raising for a new village hall to be built at the cricket ground in Church Road.
Since then the Appeal Fund bank account has continued to be used as a convenient repository for specific fund raising initiatives such as Queen Elizabeth’s Diamond Jubilee where monies for a specific cause can be ring fenced without muddling the basic accounts of the village hall. Currently there are two ring fenced funds in the Appeal Fund account. One is the New Village Hall project and the other is the original Village Hall Appeal for which the fund was set up. Each ring fenced fund has additions made as and when the proceeds from a fund raising event for that cause are banked.
Monies spent on village hall maintenance or improvement projects have attracted a generous subsidy from Ashburnham Thanksgiving Trust (to whom ownership of the hall would revert should the hall cease to be used as a village hall). The Trust donates £3 for every £1 raised by fundraising activities with the donation total being capped at £50,000. The £3 + £1 creates a pool from which the village hall can draw 75% of the cost of maintenance and improvement work.