A flexible venue for local events.

Addison Centre - Terms and Conditions of Letting

Please read carefully. An application form must be completed before a booking is confirmed.

Updated 04/09/2023.

1. The hirer must provide a name, address and full contact details and be over 18 years of age.
2. The Centre will only accept modifications to the booking arrangements from the hirer. The hirer may nominate two other persons who may also modify agreed arrangements on their behalf.
3. Due to fire regulations, the maximum number of persons permitted to be in the Hall at any time is strictly limited to 250 people seated or 400 standing.
4. The hirer must receive, read and sign a separate undertaking in relation to fire safety throughout the period of the hire. To comply with Fire and Disability regulations, access from all areas must be left clear to disabled toilets and escape routes.
5. A responsible adult must be in attendance throughout the hire.
6. Provisional bookings will be held for 7 days only. When a booking is confirmed, a non-refundable deposit of 50% of the hire charge will be required. The outstanding balance must then be paid within 45 days of receiving the final invoice for the hire. If the hall is unavailable due to unforeseen circumstances or as the result of government legislation, the deposit will be returned in full.
7. Payment must be made by the due date on the invoice, or the booking could be cancelled. A security and damage bond of £250 is also required. The Addison Centre will take all details relating to the hirer’s credit card. No money will be charged to the card, provided all areas covered by the hire agreement are left in an acceptable state and the terms and conditions of hire have been adhered to.
8. The hirer of the Hall is responsible for leaving the Hall in a clean condition. All rubbish, including unsold items from bazaars and jumble sales, table decorations, posters and fliers, must be removed by the hirer on termination of the letting.
9. If the kitchen is included in the letting, the floor must be swept and wet mopped.
10. All toilets should be flushed before leaving.
11. Alcohol and soft drinks may only be drunk on the premises, including the car park and land surrounding the Centre, if purchased from the Addison Centre. No alcohol or soft drinks may be brought into and consumed at the Centre from any other source. The bar service can provide a soft bar only if preferred.
12. The bar will close 30 minutes prior to the end of the event.
13. The hirer shall ensure that all necessary steps are taken to prevent persons in the neighbourhood being unreasonably disturbed by noise, including noise made by persons leaving the premises.
14. All electrical equipment brought onto the premises must be in good repair and carry proof of PAT testing by a qualified electrician.
15. Nails, screws, drawing pins, adhesive tape and Blu-Tack are not to be attached to any surface in the Hall. The hirer will be responsible for any paint or other damage caused by misuse.
16. No furniture or equipment may be removed from the building without the prior permission of the booking secretary.
17. The hirer of the Hall shall be solely responsible for ensuring that the Hall is not used for any performance of dramatic or musical works which infringe copyright law. The Trustees shall not be responsible for the cost of any prosecution or fine issued as a consequence of such a breach during the period of hire.
18. Children are not allowed to play on the stage during hirings unless as part of a supervised performance. There is expensive electrical equipment behind the curtains and any damage will be taken from the deposit.
19. Permission for lighting or illumination other than that already provided must be obtained at the time of booking. No naked flame candles, tea lights, indoor fireworks or party explosives are permitted on the premises. Fireworks must not be used in the car park or surrounding grounds. Any breach may result in the withholding of a deposit pending police, licence or damage claim enquiries. Fireworks may not be let off anywhere within the building, car park or surrounding grounds without written permission from the Trustees.
20. The Trustees will not accept any responsibility for damage caused to any vehicle using the car park.
21. Hiring of the Hall is at the discretion of the committee. The Trustees reserve the right to alter, change or cancel the hiring and to enter the Hall at any time to ensure compliance with these terms and conditions.

Enquiry form and payment details

The enquiry form asks for the hirer’s contact details, the proposed hire date and time, purpose of hire, expected attendance, bar requirements, seating and table requirements, spotlighting, microphones, hot water urns and kitchen requirements. The hirer must confirm agreement to the terms and conditions and to the fire safety instructions and requirements.

1. Definitions

i) Personal data is information about a person which is identifiable as being about them. It can be stored electronically or on paper, and includes images and audio recordings as well as written information.

ii) Data protection is about how we, as an organisation, ensure we protect the rights and privacy of individuals, and comply with the law, when collecting, storing, using, amending, sharing, destroying or deleting personal data.

2. Responsibility

i) Overall and final responsibility for data protection lies with the management committee, who are responsible for overseeing activities and ensuring this policy is upheld.

ii) All volunteers are responsible for observing this policy, and related procedures, in all areas of their work for the group.

3. Overall policy statement

a) Kempston Community Association Limited needs to keep personal data about its committee, members, volunteers and supporters in order to carry out group activities.

b) We will collect, store, use, amend, share, destroy or delete personal data only in ways which protect people’s privacy and comply with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and other relevant legislation.

c) We will only collect, store and use the minimum amount of data that we need for clear purposes, and will not collect, store or use data we do not need.

d) We will only collect, store and use data for:

• purposes for which the individual has given explicit consent, or
• purposes that are in our group’s legitimate interests, or
• contracts with the individual whose data it is, or
• to comply with legal obligations, or
• to protect someone’s life, or
• to perform public tasks.

e) We will provide individuals with details of the data we have about them when requested by the relevant individual.

f) We will delete data if requested by the relevant individual, unless we need to keep it for legal reasons.

g) We will endeavor to keep personal data up-to-date and accurate.

h) We will store personal data securely.

i) We will keep clear records of the purposes of collecting and holding specific data, to ensure it is only used for these purposes.

j) We will not share personal data with third parties without the explicit consent of the relevant individual, unless legally required to do so.

k) We will endeavour not to have data breaches. In the event of a data breach, we will endeavour to rectify the breach by getting any lost or shared data back. We will evaluate our processes and understand how to avoid it happening again. Serious data breaches which may risk someone’s personal rights or freedoms will be reported to the Information Commissioner’s Office within 72 hours, and to the individual concerned.

l) To uphold this policy, we will maintain a set of data protection procedures for our committee and volunteers to follow.

4. Review

This policy will be reviewed every two years.

Kempston Community Association for the Addison Centre

The Addison Centre is governed by the Trustees of the Kempston Community Association.

The Kempston Community Association employs staff to run the Centre on their behalf. This includes a Centre Manager, caretakers and bar staff.

Trustees and employees have a duty to safeguard vulnerable users of the Hall. They should respond to any concerns they may have regarding the physical, sexual, emotional or psychological safety of a vulnerable person or concerns relating to discriminatory or financial violation or exploitation of a vulnerable person.

This policy is in place to protect all vulnerable persons regardless of gender, ethnicity, disability, sexuality, religion or faith.

Vulnerable users could include:

• children
• young people
• adults with learning difficulties or physical disability
• people who have an illness affecting their mental or physical health
• people who suffer from drug or alcohol problems
• frail, elderly people
• carers

Principles

• The welfare of the child or vulnerable adult is paramount and is the responsibility of everyone.
• All children and vulnerable adults, without exception, have the right to protection from abuse, whether physical, verbal, sexual, bullying, exclusion or neglect.
• Bullying, shouting, physical violence, sexism and racism towards children or vulnerable adults will not be permitted or tolerated.

Policy statement

• No member of the Trustees or any employee will have unsupervised access to children or vulnerable adults unless they have been appropriately vetted and trained.
• All suspicions or allegations of abuse against a child will be taken seriously and dealt with speedily and appropriately.
• All Trustees and all employees will be made aware of this policy.
• Kempston Community Association has nominated David Longman as the Safeguarding Officer to whom suspicions or concerns must be reported within 24 hours. This will normally be done through the Centre Manager. Details can be found on the website www.addison-centre.org. The named officer has the responsibility for immediately reporting concerns to the relevant Authority.
• The Trustees will endeavour to keep the premises safe for use by children and vulnerable adults. The Trustees recognise that a higher standard of safety is required where use is made by small children, those who cannot read safety notices and physically disabled children and adults.
• Any organisations or group hiring the Hall or meeting rooms for the purposes of holding activities involving children or vulnerable adults is required to have its own up to date and adequate Safeguarding Policy, and make this available at any time to KCA if requested.

This requirement does not include individuals hiring the premises for private parties arranged for invited friends and family.

• The Trustees will ensure that hirers are made aware of their obligations under the Licensing Act 2003 to ensure that alcohol is not sold to those under the age of 18.
• Hirers will be required to ensure that if any entertainment is of an adult nature they will ensure that age appropriate restrictions apply to those attending.

Procedures

• All Trustees and employees will be required to sign a written declaration that they have no conviction in relation to abuse before taking up their post and consent to a Disclosure And Barring Service check (DBS). Anyone unable to sign such a declaration must discuss their reasons with the responsible officer.
• All Trustees and employees will be given information about safeguarding and child protection and will be encouraged to attend training where appropriate.
• New Trustees and employees must be given a copy of this policy and must understand their responsibilities.
• A copy of the policy will be displayed for the attention of all at the Addison Centre, on the Centre website and be made available on request to hirers.
• Organisations hiring the Hall for activities for children will be asked to show their Child Protection Policy before the first booking commences.
• Organisations hiring the hall for activities specifically involving vulnerable adults will be asked to show their Vulnerable Adults Protection Policy before the first booking commences.
• Other organisations or individuals hiring the Hall whose activities may involve vulnerable adults will be made aware of this policy.
• The Trustees will require hirers to report any damage, breakages or safety issues needing attention which may cause harm to a vulnerable person. These will be dealt with as soon as practicable, in the light of the circumstances, with provision to prevent access by children and vulnerable adults pending repair where appropriate.
• A hiring agreement which includes appropriate clauses will be entered into for all hirings for licensable activities.
• The Trustees and/or employees will ensure these provisions are observed when licensable activities are being held including ID checks to determine an individual’s age if purchasing and/or consuming alcohol.
• Contractors engaged to carry out work at the premises must not be allowed unsupervised access to children or vulnerable adults. Appropriate supervision will be arranged if necessary.
• If the premises might be used by more than one hirer, the attention of hirers will be drawn to the need to ensure that children and vulnerable adults are supervised when using toilets.

This policy was adopted by the Trustees of Kempston Community Association on 22 February 2024.

The Trustees will review this policy annually or when changes occur in national or local procedures.