About Us

Who manages the Hall?

The Hall is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (Charity Number 1195647) run by a committee of trustees.

The current trustees are:

Peter Walton – Chairman

Jonathan Van Baars – Secretary

Andrew Turner – Treasurer

Joanne Austwick & Julie Batchelor – Booking Secretaries

Margaret Walton

Penny Ruddock

Barbara Holtom

Nick Batchelor

The Trustees are charged with ensuring the charity achieves its object: “the provision and maintenance of a village hall for the use of the inhabitants of the Parish of Tolpuddle without distinction of sex, sexual orientation, age, disability, nationality or race or political, religious or other opinions, including use for meetings, lectures and classes and other forms of recreation and leisure-time occupation, with the object of improving the conditions of life for the said inhabitants.” Every year, as required by the Charity Commission, the Trustees produce an Annual Report and Accounts which are independently verified. They also hold an Annual General Meeting open to Topuddle residents who are encouraged to offer views on any changes they wish to see in the running of the Hall.

Hall Finances

The Hall needs to raise £5-6,000 per year to cover running and maintenance costs, with any major new investments/works requiring special fund-raising. The Trustees policy is:

To invest where we can to improve the facility for the benefit of Tolpuddle residents and to make it attractive for private and commercial hire;

To raise as much as possible of the revenues needed each year from commercial hire and outside sources, so that charges for residents can be kept as low as possible.

The village is fortunate to have the Martyrs Festival each year which brings several thousand people to the village in July. Jointly with the Church, we offer various catering services over the course of the weekend and this makes a major contribution to our annual funding. Beyond that our policy is that all events at the Hall should make some contribution to its costs (at least the equivalent of hire charges), though we are flexible about sharing any surpluses from community events at the Hall, many of which are now organised by the Tolpuddle Events Committee.