WHO WE ARE

The Institute was gifted to the villages via a Charitable Trust, which is overseen by a Board of nine Trustees.

The objects of the trust are: ”The provision and maintenance of a village hall for use by the inhabitants of the area of benefit without distinction of 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 inhabitants.”

The day-to-day management of the Institute is managed by a Committee comprising Trustees and Volunteers, and in recent years there have been between 9 and 12 people on the Committee at any given time.  Although there has been a steady turnover of people during that period, there are several who have been involved for 10 years – or in some cases even longer.

WHAT WE DO

The Committee has two main functions – to manage the upkeep of the building, and to promote and extend its use.

With regard to the first of these, in the time since the major renovation ended the Institute has always covered its costs, and the Committee has started to start to build a fund for any large works which might be needed in the future.  This is in no small part due to the annual payments that have received from the parish council precepts of both Farnhill and Kildwick.

However, we are also very conscious that the Institute is an old building, and that a major project such as roof repairs, for example, could easily use up our reserves. There is also an old heating system in the building.  We’re fortunate that a couple of our Committee members have backgrounds in heating and electricals, and between them they have been able to keep the system working and to improve its efficiency at the cost of only a few parts; but again, the system has a finite life.

Even with more minor maintenance the costs can and do mount up.  Less than three years ago we spent over £2,000 having the floor in the main room sanded and resurfaced; however, it has already deteriorated to the point where we have to consider having it done again.  And within the last year we have had to replace the two doors at the west end of the building, upstairs and down; again the cost was of the order of £2,000.

Moving on to our second function, there are really three types of users of the Institute.  There are a number of groups which use the building on a regular basis, including Farnhill Parish Council; there are one-off users who might hire one or more of the rooms for a private function of some sort; and there is the Institute itself, which organises events both to promote the use of the building, and also as part of its fundraising.

The Committee has worked hard to provide different types of events in the Institute; examples in recent years include Ceilidhs, Quiz nights, Bingo nights, a Beetle drive, Treasure Hunts, Art Exhibitions, Slide shows and Dance nights.

We have also produce a calendar in 6 of the last 7 years.  It remains popular both with current residents and with people who have moved away form the villages; however the market for local calendars gets more crowded each year while the costs of producing it increase with inflation, and we have questioned whether it merits the amount of work that goes into producing and selling it – this year the net profit was only around £100.

We’re always on the look-out for help, so if you’d like to get involved with running the Institute please Contact us.  We meet on the second Tuesday of each month at 7.30 in the Institute - you would always be welcome!

[Welcome ...] [Committee] [The Future] [Works] [History] [For Hire] [Contact us]