We are in need of more trustees to manage and run the hall.
If you have lived locally for some time, you have probably got fond memories of events at the hall, whether birthday parties, courses or social events. If you are new to the village, perhaps you haven’t yet ventured inside our well-equipped hall.
In either case, we need you to get involved and secure the future of the hall for the whole community. The 2026 committee consists of seven trustees, some of whom have been in post for over ten years. Like all good organisations, we need a succession plan to ensure that there is no panic when people move on.
What does it mean to be a trustee?
Committee members become official trustees of the hall charity, Pant Memorial Institute. The charity is well-organised, financially solvent and all reporting to the Charity Commission is up to date. The procedures and systems to run the building safely and in accordance with law are also all in place, and regularly updated, so that means it’s easy to join the committee and play your part. Several current trustees also have full time jobs; we are organised to make sure that being a trustee will not dominate your life!
Scroll through this gallery of ‘before and after’ to see just some of the improvements at the hall since 2017 – we’ve also done work on the toilets, added new facilities and much more. We did it all with grants and donations – we work very hard to keep the fees low. Wouldn’t it be a shame to lose all this?
What needs doing?
We need general committee members who are willing to get involved in the management of the building. This means four evening committee meetings a year, plus the general tasks that keep the place running.
In particular, here’s what needs doing:
- weekly/monthly tests of the fire alarm and emergency lighting, and monthly check of the first aid kits. This is done on a flexible monthly rota, the jobs don’t take long and we need more people to join the rota.
- deputies for the booking secretary, treasurer and secretary
- someone to manage the website, update it and maybe even revamp it
- additional ‘voices’ for our facebook page and parish magazine articles
All we seek is your time and knowledge – charity trustees cannot be paid, but all agreed expenses are reimbursed.
Trustees don’t do the cleaning – we pay a cleaner. A wonderful volunteer looks after the garden, although help with that is always appreciated too.
Who is eligible to be a trustee?
Anyone 18 or over who is not disqualified from being a charity trustee can stand for election to the committee. Trustees are elected either at the AGM (held each April) or at a special general meeting – we can use the latter to elect trustees at any time of year.
Trustee eligibility is defined on the charity commission declaration (from the Charities Act 2011) which all new trustees sign; the declaration can be downloaded here. Anyone over 18 who would not be disqualified from running a business should be eligible.
What happens if we don’t have enough trustees?
We hope it would not come to this, but for completeness…
Closing the charity (and hence selling the building and all the assets) would be a tremendous amount of hassle. It would also be very sad after the hard work and dedication put in by generations of people in Pant over the last 105 years. While we hope that the community will also be able to revive the Cross Guns pub, the two venues complement each other and we want to make sure we keep what we have!
Losing the hall would also displace long-standing and thriving hirers such as Pant Women’s Institute, our Scottish dancing group, our fitness groups plus all those who use the hall for family gatherings, parties and other events. This area has limited public transport and we really need an affordable local venue.
It really would be much easier (and better for the community and our hirers!) to keep the hall running, so please do consider joining the committee. Please contact secretary@pantmemorialhall.org.uk if you are willing to get involved or would like more information.