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HALSTEAD TOWN COUNCIL |
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DRAFT MINUTES OF ANNUAL TOWN MEETING PUBLIC SESSION MINUTES 20 April 2026: at 19:15 |
In attendance: Cllr James Bond, Cllr Malcolm Fincken, Cllr Linda Hilton, Cllr Felix Preston, Essex County Councillor Chris Siddall, Sarah Greatorex (Town Clerk)
Paul Satti – Halstead Rotary, John Suckling – Halstead 1163 Squadron Air Cadets, Wendy Pickess – Sudbury Town Council & Halstead Community Connections, Martin & Christine Lawrence – Halstead in Bloom, John Miners – Halstead & District Local History Society, Emily Hume – Sunnydays Baby & Toddler group, Claire Cannon – League of Friends of St Andrews Church, Cheryl Woods & Linda Thorogood – WI,
Malcolm McWilliams – Halstead British Legion Club, Margaret Tyler & Linda Hilton – Halstead Brownies & Guides.
1. APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE
Received from Cllr Smith due to work commitments, Cllr Munday for personal reasons and Cllr Pell due to being unwell. Cllr Bond proposed acceptance of the apologies, seconded by Cllr Fincken and unanimously agreed.
2. MINUTES
Cllr Bond proposed acceptance of the Minutes of 7 April 2025, seconded by Cllr Fincken. This was unanimously agreed.
All reports available on the website.
3. HALSTEAD TOWN COUNCIL’S REPORT
Halstead Deputy Mayor, Cllr Jim Bond, read the Mayor’s annual Town Council report.
4. HALSTEAD TOWN CLERK’S REPORT
A report from Halstead Town Clerk had been written and circulated.
5. DISTRICT COUNCILLORS’ REPORTS
Cllr Munday had sent a report on his duties at District Council.
Cllr Fincken had sent a report on his duties at District Council
6. COUNTY COUNCILLOR’S REPORT
Cllr Siddall had sent his County Councillor’s report.
7. GRANT REPORTS
Reports had been received from those who had received grants in 2025, including Halstead & District Local History Society, Hope for Tomorrow, Brownies and Guides, Sunnydays Baby and Toddler group, Halstead Cricket club, Halstead choral, Wonderkids, Halstead Templars Rugby club.
8. PUBLIC QUESTION TIME
- Malcolm McWilliams requested help with establishing whether the house adjoining his was approved for multiple occupancy. He had contacted Braintree District Council many times, and they had never got back to him with information. Cllrs Bond and Fincken said they would help him.
- Emily Hume had an enquiry about the Halstead Community Fund, and how to apply for it. Cllr Hilton provided information.
9. GRANT FORMS
Cllr Bond stated that the Clerk had provided forms to apply for the next round of grants to be offered in 2026. Halstead charities can apply for up to £500, and forms must be returned to the clerk by 30 June 2026.
10. Cllr Bond introduced the guest speaker, Cristina Huddleston of Community 360.
Cristina explained that she had joined Community 360 just 16 months earlier, after it collapsed.
She talked about the major changes in our society which will make a deep impact on our lives – Local Government reorganisation, devolution and the restructuring of the NHS. She also talked about the need for communities to remain visible, resilient and supported as governance moves further away from towns and parishes.
Community 360 itself deals with social isolation, transport poverty, connecting communities, volunteer drivers, and believes in all working together to get their voice heard.
Cllr Bond thanked Cristina for her presentation
There was no further business. Meeting closed at 20.40
Mayor’s report to the Annual Town Meeting to be held on Monday 20 April 2026
My year as Mayor has been busy, with over 15 official Civic engagements in addition to the background meetings required to Chair the Town Council and help the Council steer Halstead in the right direction.
I would like to thank the town council staff, both new and existing, as well as all Member Councillors, for their hard work, help and support to the Council during the year. It is a testament to the efforts of all concerned that this Council is still only one of six that hold the Foundation, Quality, and Gold awards in the Local Council award scheme.
Despite the uncertainty of change, house building growth, changes seen, and soon to be seen, in our high street shops, our Town continues to show that its heart is still very much community based, and can boast of over 50 clubs, societies and other organisations that generously offer their time and effort, typically as unpaid volunteers, to make Halstead a great place to live. The Council has continued its efforts to network local voluntary and charitable groups/organisations, the Halstead Community Connections initiative is going from strength to strength and all involved should be applauded.
I won’t repeat the content from the annual report from the Town Clerk, suffice to say that I endorse all of this report; it clearly shows the large range of activities and duties that the Town Council is involved in and is well worth reading to understand the complexity that exists within our own.
My charity this year again supports Dementia Friendly Activities in Halstead, and in doing so I aimed to assist those activities to help the many people in our community living with dementia. It is a horrible illness with no cure and sadly will affect millions more people nationally as the years progress. I am proud that this town is accredited with being a dementia friendly town, but we need to expand awareness so that we are a dementia friendly community, encompassing all aspects, businesses, and organisations to become dementia aware. I continue to work with groups and organisations to raise awareness of the effects of living with dementia as well as fundraise to ensure that Halstead dementia projects can continue to benefit those living with this disease. I am on target this Mayoral year to have raised funds to support a calendar year of Dementia activities in Halstead.
Halstead will see changes as the years progress, but the Town Council, its members and staff, who care deeply about this town, will continue with the best of their ability to do the right thing for the town wherever possible.
As my closing remark, let’s all continue to be proud of what we have, do our best to keep our community together and safe, and our Town a wonderful place to be. It is a privilege to serve the Town as Mayor and I would like to thank everyone again for their support. Thanks.
Report from Essex County Councillor Chris Siddall
MY ROLES AT ESSEX COUNTY COUNCIL
– Chairman of the Braintree LHP (Local Highways Panel), there are 12 panels in Essex which look at small schemes to improve road safety. These panels are now focused on completing the schemes already in the pipeline in order to complete as many as possible before LGR (Local Government Reorganisation) takes place.
– Vice Chairman of the Audit Governance and Standards Committee.
– Member of the PAB (Pension Advisory Board) which oversees the Essex Pension scheme, it is one of the largest funds in the country with over 180,000 members, and some 800 employers, including local councils, schools, academies and businesses. The membership comprises a mix of active contributors, deferred members and retirees.
– Member of the Transformation Board, looking at how the Council can change the way it delivers it services in the future.
LGR (Local Government Reorganisation)
– 2026 was supposed to be the year you would be voting for the Mayor of Essex as a first step for LGR this has now been delayed until 2027.
– With the proposed LGR and Devolution, the ECC 2025 elections were postponed for one year, the decision on how many unitary councils will replace the existing councils is expected to be announced by end of March 26. But is likely to be either 3 or 5 Unitary’ s. This year in May 2026 you will have the opportunity to vote at the ballet box for your Essex County Councillor.
GROUPS AND PROJECTS SUPPORTED WITH ECC LOCALITY FUND
– Funding for grants is available from your Essex County Councillor and this is to continue in 2026, the idea is to support initiative from activities of the Parish council and community groups, schemes should be put forward to you Essex County Councillor for consideration.
ROAD IMPROVMENTS AND MORE TO COME
– Significantly more money has been invested this year in road network repairs some £80m, but clearly we need invest even more money if we are to solve our road repair issues. Its my opinion that we really need the new unitary and central Government to agree a strategy for the future. Many years ago we used to have the “Road Fund Licence” which was collected and then used in it’s entirety for local roads, todays “Road Tax” paid by Essex drivers is collected by central Government and is not all given back to Essex County Council and spent locally, only an amount decided upon by central Government is returned to where it was collected, I believe this is quite wrong, Last year the Road Tax raised in Essex stay was around £160m, if this was all spent in Essex it would solve our road repair issue.
– The member pothole and pavement repair scheme is to continue, I very much welcome this and have got many pot holes and pavements repaired.
– Major improvements to road repairs have already been seen, such as on Colchester Road in Halstead, both quantity and improvement in quality but there is still much to do.
COUNCIL TAX INCREASE
1.95% for the general ECC council tax precept.
2 % Increase for Adult Social Care – costs have increased significantly, the total population of Essex is around 1.5 million, Essex County Council has a main budget of around £1 billion, with around half of this, £500 million is spent on 17,000 persons who are the most vulnerable in our society.
If you need to get in touch please email me at:- cllr.chris.siddall@essex.gov.uk.
District Councillor Report 2025/26 – Cllr. Andrew Munday
Full Council Meetings
I have attended seven out of the eight Full Council meetings this year (inc AGM) – 87.5% attendance
Planning Committee Meetings / Planning Members Forum Meetings
I have attended twelve out of fifteen Planning Committee Meetings this year – 80% attendance
I have attended many of the Planning Forum meetings this year; these meetings are not mandatory and are therefore not recorded on the BDC website.
Governance and Audit Committee Meetings
I have attended three out of five meetings this year – 60% attendance
Local Plan Sub Committee Meetings
I have attended twelve out of twenty meetings this year – 60% attendance
Member Evenings and Members Skills Training
I have had no member training this year; however I have attended the following Member Evenings:
Devolution/LGR, Budget proposals 2026/27 and Procurement.
Councillors Grant Scheme / Awarded Grants
I did not award any of my grant allocation last year, therefore my allocation this year was £1750 (£500 carried over from 2023/24 and added to my allocation of £1250 for 2025/26 = £1750). This year I have spent £1750 of my grant allocation, awarding this to the Dementia Friendly Activities charity that maintains Dementia Choir and Cinema at the Empire Theatre.
I am happy to elaborate on any of the above topics should any Councillor so wish.
Cllr. Andy Munday
Braintree District Council
St Andrews Ward
Cllr. Malcolm Fincken’s Braintree District Council Report 2025-26
The year was dominated by the Local Plan Review process. I sat on the Local Plan Sub-Committee which considered over 300 sites for development throughout the district. A scheme for 2770 new homes was proposed on the eastern side of Halstead, which includes provision for a bypass, two new primary schools, pre-school provision, expansion of the Ramsey Academy and investment in health facilities. There were also further proposals for including developments on several smaller sites within Halstead in the plan. The Council’s Draft Local Plan Review Document has been submitted for public consultation, which ended last week, and the Local Plan Sub-Committee will now consider the responses and make any recommendations for amendments which will go to Full Council. There will then be a second period of consultation before the plan is finalised. I was also a Member of the Planning Committee, which granted planning permission for a number of sites in and around Halstead.
I also sat on the Corporate Policy Development Committee, which monitored the delivery strategy for the Council’s Waste and Recycling Policy. The communication of the changes to residents and the delivery of the new bins have gone well so far and it will be interesting to see how well the new arrangements work when the scheme is fully implemented in June. Other issues considered by the Committee included the Council’s strategy for dealing with Anti-Social Behaviour, the enforcement of the protection of public spaces and the Council’s policy for asset transfers from the District Council to Town and Parish Councils, charities and voluntary organisations.
Local Government Reorganisation was a vital issue for the Council this year and there was much discussion of the best way forward. My group supported the proposal for five Unitary Authorities, which was accepted by the government. Voters will elect Councillors to the new Northeast Essex Unitary Authority in May 2027; Braintree District Council will be dissolved and the new councils become fully operational in April 2028.
The Council’s scheme for Councillors’ grants continued to provide valuable support to some of the town’s organisations and this year I supported Sunnydays Baby and Toddler Group.
Cllr Malcolm Fincken
Halstead Town Council
Annual report by Town Clerk
May 2025- April 2026
Community engagement
This year has been one of increased engagement with the community on many levels. The Mayor has with great determination focused on raising funds for dementia awareness in Halstead, through events he has organised, and the traditional lights switch-on and torchlight procession, and through personal efforts at the Maldon Mud Run.
Support for those with dementia has been provided by the council in the form of a monthly free drop in morning at Queens Hall. There is no charge made by HTC to those organising the drop in.
The initiative to create a network of local voluntary and charitable organisations has continued, and there will have been 3 meetings of Halstead Community Connections over the year, each one with a speaker on a topic relevant to the groups, and a chance to network as well. The Community Shed, the Rotary, and Wendy Pickess, formerly of Halstead Library, have been key organisations in establishing this, along with the Clerk and the Administrator at HTC.
The third area for community engagement has been the possibility of preserving the historic Empire Theatre building and at the same time extending it to provide a Community Arts Centre which will offer the opportunity of access for all abilities, all ages and all interests to state of the art facilities for meeting, sharing a coffee or a glass of wine, going to an exhibition, taking part in a rehearsal, singing or watching a live show or a film. This project has moved from an idea to the point where there has been a public survey, meetings with the public, the formation of a trust, an application for a charity to manage the project, agreement from the Council to go forward with the project, pre-planning approval, the appointment of an architect, and now, the search for funding.
Members and officers
At the Annual Town Council meeting in May, Cllr Andy Munday was elected Chairman of Halstead Town Council, with Cllr Jim Bond as Deputy Chairman. Finance has been managed this year by Cllr Janet Atkinson with Cllr Andy Munday as deputy, and then by Cllr Andy Munday with Cllr McCoyd. Planning has been managed by Cllr Jackie Pell, with Cllr Paul Nunn as deputy.
The Streetwarden’s post is funded currently by the PFCC until March 2026, and the council has decided to make the post permanent, as it is felt by all that having a streetwarden is a good thing for the town. There has been less antisocial behaviour in general, and Matthew keeps a sharp eye open for anything out of the ordinary taking place in the town, from shoplifting to abandoned cars, to accidents. He assists our car park attendant with 2-person jobs, as the other car park attendant left in August 2025.
Our Administrator Ed Merry was appointed in January 2025, and has settled well into the job, showing many useful skills for a 21st century council. He is currently undergoing CILCA training.
In September 2025, HTC took on an apprentice groundsman, Frankie Couling, who is undergoing training at Writtle College once a week, and is otherwise being trained by our groundsmen, in particular by Tim. The college is sending good reports of his work and he is gradually learning the skills needed for the job. He is learning to drive, and says he would like to stay with the council after his training.
Champions
Of the Champions chosen to represent particular areas of interest in the town, regular reports on the doctors’ surgery are received, and also from the Open spaces representatives, who assist in deciding what areas of the town should be on what is now called the Potential Open Spaces Improvement plan (POSI).
Local Council Award scheme
Halstead Town Council attained the Gold award in 2021. This lasts only 4 years, and in spring 2025 the Clerk reapplied. HTC was fortunate to be re-awarded the Gold status in July 2025, and the certificate was presented at the November meeting.
Council offices and Queens Hall
The team has continued to enjoy the new, more convenient, spacious and warm offices at Queens Hall. Bookings are very steady for all kinds of groups. The U3A, the model flying club, the Wine and social club, the Horticultural society, and The Big Sing are regular clients. Provide, part of the NHS, regularly holds sessions. Queens Hall hosts yoga, as well as seated exercise and a Tea Dance. In addition, there are regular parties for young and old. The hall is averaging 47 bookings per month, having lost a few regular bookings, but others appear constantly, proving its value as a community asset. The hall has now been completely rewired, repainted and the floor resanded, as well as a state-of-the-art microphone system being installed, and many clients have commented on the excellent facilities offered by the hall.
Finance
HTC endeavours to keep the precept for Halstead (the part of the Council tax collected by BDC and given to HTC to run the council) at a modest level, with a very moderate increase each year to keep in line with inflation. It was agreed at the Council meeting in December 2025 to raise the council tax in the financial year 2026/27 by 9%, equal to an increase of £4.89 per household per year in Band D Council Tax. This is essential in order to allow for unavoidable increases in the cost of energy, and staff costs.
HTC has continued to perform well financially this year, largely due to car park income and the popularity of Queens Hall as a venue.
A new internal auditor was appointed in autumn 2019 and she has carried out all internal audits since then. External audits have been returned satisfactorily with no comment.
HTC has continued to explore the opportunities offered by direct credit online payments. All payments approved at Council meetings are now paid through direct credit, and this is not only much more efficient than writing a cheque and posting it, but it is also a much cheaper way to pay our suppliers. The council also made the decision not to accept cheques in payment after 31 March 2026.
Since finally giving up Sage in January 2024, HTC has made full use of Rialtas, the accounts package designed specifically for Councils. The budgeting and year-end processes were much easier for the clerk using Rialtas. Now, all office staff are using Rialtas, to take all bookings and produce associated invoices, and to manage allotments and their invoices. This package has recently become web-based, and moving to this package will allow HTC to take advantage of all upgrades and improvements carried out.
Activities
An Easter Egg hunt was organised by the Council and provided much fun for children of primary school age, this time exceptionally with a grant from the Essex Growth hub. There were 3 bands in the park, and an outdoor screen showing 2 films and international rugby. All events were accompanied by the provision of teas or food vans. Bands are always a great success, but the films were poorly attended so are unlikely to be repeated.
In this year, HTC was able once again to run a full programme of 5 excursions, which were much enjoyed by all who went on them and followed by a Christmas party for those who had taken part. In addition, the traditional Christmas Fayre and Lights switch-on took place, followed by the torchlight procession. This year we were extremely lucky to have the support of the Halstead Young Farmers club with their tractors, and we hope this support will be repeated. The torchlight procession was this year run with the help of volunteers from Braintree District Council, the Fire Service, the Rugby club and HTC staff. This was followed by the civic reception. The civic service will be on 3 May 2026. Cllr Smith has stated that the 2026 Summer Fair will be her last, and that she will not run the Christmas Fair in 2026.
Communication and digitisation
Over the past year the Council has begun to explore the Rialtas accounts package for all it offers. It is now used to produce the budgets and year-end figures. In addition, the Allotment management and bookings management modules have been taken on, and staff have been trained in their use. Now all bookings at the Queens Hall and at Courtaulds sports ground can be managed through this system and invoices easily generated and delivered by email. Similarly allotment invoices and agreements can be generated en bloc rather than individually. In addition HTC now has the Cloudbased version of Rialtas, where all the updates are made.
Planning
HTC considers all planning applications made for Halstead through BDC. HTC is a consultee and therefore cannot make decisions, but can make recommendations. All sites destined for large developments have been handled with particular care for detail. The Council considered in detail this year all sites which may possibly be considered for development under the new Local plan, and held a public meeting in Queens Hall to discuss the possible consequences of the developments, and this was extremely well attended by the public.
Car Parks
The 4 carparks in the town which are owned and managed by HTC, are well used, and the opportunity to buy permits is greatly appreciated by both residents and local businesses. These cost approximately half the cost of a daily ticket for the year. Permits were offered in the Chapel Street car park for the first time in 2018, and all 9 offered were taken up. A further 6 permits were offered at the Chapel Street car park from April 2019, and all have been taken up. There are also some permits in the other pay and display carpark at Butler Road. It remains free to park in pay-and-display car parks after 15.00. There is no plan to increase carparking charges in the coming financial year. The charges are now all multiples of £1, and this makes it easier for those who still would like to pay by cash. The council has recently taken on the Parksmarter app offered by IPS, who provide the parking machines. This app offers increased income to HTC, unlike Mipermit which costs the council.
There has been increasing takeup of the possibility of paying for parking by card or phone, and there is now greater income from these methods than from cash payment. There are correspondingly slightly fewer penalty tickets being issued, as the different ways of paying remove any opportunity for an excuse.
The EV charging points installed in Chapel Street carpark in 2023 are well used, and HTC hopes to increase the number of charging points in the town in collaboration with Essex County Council, to encourage visitors, and to help those who cannot charge at home.
It is clear that there is now a need for more parking places in the centre of Halstead, as the Chapel Street and Butler Road carparks are frequently full at most times of the day, due to the influx of population arising from the developments on the outskirts of Halstead. This is an issue which must be thoroughly addressed over the next few years. With a likely increase in population of around 7000 in the next 15 years, more parking is essential.
Allotments
There are approximately 200 allotments for rent in Halstead. There has been increased demand for these during recent lockdowns. Rent for the allotments remains at £4.50 per rod for the coming year.
BDC has promised to pass ownership of the allotments over to HTC as part of the changes in local government, along with other possible asset transfer.
Infrastructure
The Council has been working with members of BDC, ECC and the local surgery to explore and contribute to the changing infrastructure needs of the town, in terms of schools, roads and health. This work on infrastructure forms part of the Action plan for the Council, which can be viewed on the HTC website. This work is ongoing, and will need the dogged determination of future councillors, and their understanding of the processes, in order for them to be able to assist in preparing the town for its growing population. The work now is being carried out by pairs of Champions working on different aspects of the infrastructure, and updating the Action Plan as progress is achieved.
Most of the planned action to regenerate the town centre has now taken place, apart from the area outside what was WH Smith, and the possible installation of an island at the top of the High Street, to ensure safer crossing for pedestrians. This is under discussion between HTC, BDC and ECC.
Discussion on the strategic lorry routes through Halstead and Sudbury was revived and it was agreed with Essex Highways that the recommended route for heavy traffic from the A12 would be changed so that heavy traffic would continue up as far as Colchester and then go to Sudbury from there. These discussions are still ongoing as there has been no agreement to use a different route for heavy traffic coming south from Sudbury through Halstead. The only option now available to redirect traffic coming from Sudbury would be a weight restriction. This is now being considered at Suffolk County Council.
Plans for the tennis courts at Courtaulds Sports Ground are now going forward, funded by S106 developer contributions. Linemarkings are due to be painted at the end of April. It is planned that they will open to the public in summer 2026.
Halstead in Bloom
Halstead in Bloom’s plea for help in 2022 has finally been resolved. After much discussion between ECC, BDC, HTC and HiB, it has been agreed that HTC will provide the extra labour needed to do the heavier work which the HiB volunteers can no longer manage. An extra groundsman was employed in 2024 for 4 months to carry out the watering, and continued to do the same work in 2025. This work may well be done by the apprentice groundsman in 2026.
Courtaulds Sportsground
HTC from 1 April 2025 has managed all aspects of the sports ground, including its finances, and all bookings for the pavilion and pitches. A new user Committee has been formed, managed by HTC, and the users are keen to work together with the council on planned improvements.
Grants
The amount to be awarded in 2026 is £4000. Applications must be with the Town Clerk by 30 June 2026.
Sarah Greatorex
Town Clerk
April 2026
GRANT REPORTS
1. Mobile Cancer Care Hope for Tomorrow East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust
Every year, over 420,000 people in the UK are dealt some form of cancer diagnosis. At Hope for Tomorrow, we provide purpose-built mobile cancer care units for NHS trust to utilise in rural and underserved communities across England, bringing cancer care closer to where patients work and live. By providing care closer to home, patients can benefit from a treatment plan that fits around their lives, avoiding the need to sacrifice working hours and pay, having to rely on friends family in order to get to and from the hospital, or having to deal with spending time and money on fuel, parking, and other travel related stress if they are driving themselves, giving the gift of time to do the things that matter most with the people that they love. What we do Registered Charity No: 1094677 Hope for Tomorrow pays for the initial build and ongoing servicing and maintenance of the mobile units, with the NHS providing the staff, vehicle insurance and fuel for them. On board a standard mobile cancer care unit, there are four treatment chairs, enabling care for up to 20 patients per day. We don’t receive any government funding for our units, and rely solely on the generosity of our supporters, fundraisers, and grant-making organisations and businesses to keep our wheels turning.
2. Halstead Cricket Club
On behalf of Halstead Cricket Club can I say a big thank you to the Town Council for their generous donation of £500 towards the renovation costs of our cricket nets.
The much-needed work allows safe continued use by players of all ages and abilities including girls, boy, women and men from 6 years old to beyond.
Our own club teams; Juniors teams, 1st, 2nd, 3rd XI, Veterans and High Street Rangers as well as local schools are able to benefit from using the up-to-date facility to benefit cricketing activity and development.
As the beginning of our season approaches, we have begun and completed the work to renovate the nets using the funded money as well as our own contribution ready for use throughout the summer months. Our first men’s training session begins on 8th April where they will use the facilities to practise and prepare for the season with our first Junior session starting on 11th April allowing the children to prepare for their matches or even progress to bowling and batting using the facilities which is vital for them to learn on a full-length wicket.
Finally, we’d like to thank Halstead Town Council once again for their support in helping fund this project.
3. Halstead & District Local History Society
(Charity No. 289304)
President: Malcolm Root, FGRA
Patron: Adrian Corder-Birch, D.L.
We asked for the grant towards the cost of a new book scanner but unfortunately the computer we use for book scanning will not up grade to Windows 11 so we have ordered a new computer which is currently being built for us. we have used your £500 as a deposit for that machine.
4. Report from the girl guides
On behalf of 5th Halstead Guides, 2nd Halstead Brownies and 1st Halstead Rainbows, a big thank you to all at Halstead Town Council for the £500 Grant given to us last summer.
Our yearly rent for St Andrews Hall for each of the three units is £204.75, a total of £619.25 and the money you gave us went a very long way towards paying for this.
5. Halstead Choral formerly known as Halstead & District Choral Society
Registered Charity No: 1072277
The members of Halstead Choral wish to say a huge “Thank You” to the Halstead Town Council for the Grant of £500 they received
We have valued the support of the Mayor of Halstead in the role of Patron of our choir, and the financial support of the Town Council in helping us with occasional Grants. We never take these supports for granted, but we express our thanks warmly and publicly.
We are all delighted, and most grateful, for this grant. It will indeed help us to achieve our aim of expanding live choral singing in Halstead. So, thank you very much.
David S Ainge
Treasurer of Halstead Choral
6. Halstead Community Choir
The grant awarded to Halstead Community Choir last year was for us to launch a Youth Choir. This has yet to happen, so we have kept the money in our funds in case we manage to launch a youth choir at some point in the future.
7. Wonderkids
In 2025, I applied for and received a grant of £500 from Halstead Town Council for the toddler group Wonderkids. Wonderkids is run by volunteers from St Andrew’s Church. We meet weekly during term time and are a free resource within the community for parents/carers and children up to school age.
The main reason for applying for the grant this year was to be able to replace our car table which was beginning to become unsafe. We replaced the heavy wooden table with two light weight plastic tables with metal frames. These tables are far more versatile as the road layout can be swapped for something else, or not used at all. We usually set up one table for cars and one for animals, swapping between a farm or a safari.
We have also had to replace the mats in the baby area. The baby area needs to be a safe and comfortable area for non-mobile babies to explore. We were able to purchase new blankets to keep the area safe and attractive.
Alongside these bigger purchases we have been able to continue to replace older or damaged toys and develop our role play opportunities. We have continued to add to our dressing up collection, with the children now requesting items to add to the box.
8. Grant report from Templars Rugby club
The Halstead Templars were in receipt of a grant to allow us to buy a safety critical piece of equipment for teaching children, who are new to rugby, how to be tackled and land safely, namely, a crash mat.
This crash mat has been put to great use in the early stages of our burgeoning youth set up and has become an integral piece of safety equipment.
Thank you for your support in allowing us to purchase this as without it we wouldn’t be able to operate safely at this early stage of development.
Liam Twomey
Youth Chair
9. Sunnydays Report 2024/5
Use of £500 Grant from Halstead Town Council
Sunnydays Baby and Toddler Group CIC
We would like to provide an account of how the £500 grant awarded by Halstead Town Council has been utilised to support the ongoing sessions at Sunnydays Baby and Toddler Group CIC.
The grant was instrumental in ensuring the continuity and quality of our weekly sessions. A significant portion of the funding was allocated towards essential resources, including arts and crafts materials, age-appropriate toys, and books, all of which contribute to a stimulating and nurturing environment for the children. Additionally, the funds enabled us to replenish hygiene supplies and provide healthy snacks and refreshments for both the children and their parents and carers, promoting wellbeing and inclusivity within our group.
We have also used part of the grant to cover venue hire costs, ensuring that our group can continue to meet in a safe, accessible, and welcoming space. Furthermore, the support from Halstead Town Council has allowed us to subsidise session fees for families facing financial hardship, making sure that the group remains open and supportive to all in our community.
On behalf of everyone at Sunnydays Baby and Toddler Group CIC, I would like to express our sincere gratitude for the Council’s support. The grant has made a tangible difference in sustaining our activities and fostering a positive, inclusive space for families.