If the Hirer is in any doubt as to the meaning of the following, the booking officer should be consulted. For the purposes of these conditions, the term hirer shall mean an individual hirer or, where the hirer is an organisation, the authorised representative. Fetcham Reading Room is operated by Fetcham United Charities, registered charity number 226276 (the “Charity”).
1. Supervision
The hirer, during the period of the hiring, shall be responsible for (i) supervision of the premises, the fabric and contents (ii) the health and safety of all persons utilising them (iii) the behaviour of all persons connected with the hirer’s use of the premises (iv) taking due care to prevent damage however slight and (v) taking appropriate action to limit disturbance to neighbours.
2. Use of the Reading Room (the “Premises”)
The hirer shall not use the premises for any purpose other than that notified to the booking officer and shall not sub-hire or use the premises or allow the premises to be used in any unlawful way. Hirers must check with the booking officer before bringing anything onto the premises which might damage the premises or invalidate the hall’s insurance. Commercial auctions are not permitted. Smoking, vaping or use of smoke machines is strictly prohibited inside the premises. The sale of alcohol and any gambling or betting activities are not permitted. No animals or birds may be brought into the premises except guide dogs. No animals are to enter the kitchen at any time.
3. Consideration for Neighbours.
The hirer shall ensure that users show due consideration for neighbours and that excessive noise is avoided including on arrival and departure. The use of foul language may result in the cancellation of all future bookings made by the hirer. Music is not permitted after 11:00 pm.
4. Hirer’s property
The Charity takes no responsibility for hirer’s property while at the premises or for the operation or effectiveness of any security devices installed on the premises. It is the hirer’s responsibility to safeguard such property and to arrange any insurance cover against damage or theft.
5. Licences.
For any licensable activity permission must be sought from the Charity in advance and the hirer shall then ensure that an appropriate licence (e.g. Temporary Event Notice) is applied for and shown to the booking officer or other authorised representative of the charity.
6. Public Safety Compliance
The hirer shall comply with all conditions and regulations made in respect of the premises by the Fire Authority, Local Authority, the Local Magistrates’ Court or otherwise, particularly in connection with any event which includes regulated entertainment such as public dancing or music or stage plays. The hirer shall ensure that they are familiar with the fire escapes, that these are unobstructed, the location of fire equipment and the location of the assembly point (which is in the Reading Room garden to the left of the building when facing the road).
7. Health, Hygiene and Environment
The hirer shall, if preparing, serving or selling food, observe all relevant food health and hygiene legislation and regulations. We urge all our hirers to try to avoid the use of single use plastic and to ensure that waste is recycled where this is possible. Users are responsible for removing all rubbish. There is no rubbish / recycling collection from the premises. Care should be taken when moving furniture and using the chair trollies.
8. Electrical Appliance Safety
The hirer shall ensure that any electrical appliances brought to and used in the premises shall be safe and in good working order and used in a safe manner.
9. No Alterations; Looking after the hall;
No alterations or additions, fixtures, placards etc may be made to the hall without the prior permission of the booking officer. Temporary decorations should not use Blutack, tape or drawing pins that will damage the walls – there are hooks in the woodwork panelling that can be used for this purpose. Hirer’s must: not attempt to move the piano or to use the fireplace, avoid overloading the chair trollies (maximum 20), not use Blutack, tape or drawing pins that will damage the walls.
10. Security
Keys shall not be copied under any circumstances. Requests for additional keys should be made to the booking officer and may be a charge for additional keys. All keys remain the property of the Charity and shall be returned at the end of Hire. The hirer shall ensure that the doors to the premises are not left in an open position when the heating is on and that the premises are fully secure when vacated.
11. Accidents and Dangerous Occurrences
The hirer must report all incidents involving accident or injury to a member of the public, a user or person working there, to the booking officer as soon as possible and complete and return an Accident Report Form available in the lobby area. The booking officer must be notified immediately of all accidents causing major injury and these must also be reported on an Accident Report form. This is in accordance with legislation. The first aid box is located on the wall by the door just inside in the kitchen.
12. Indemnity and Insurance
The hirer must indemnify the Charity and its trustees for (i) the cost of repair of any damage done to any part of the premises, grounds and their contents which may occur as a result of the hiring (ii) all claims, losses, damages and costs in respect of loss of property or injury to persons arising as a result of use of the premises by the hirer including storage of equipment (ii) all claims, losses, damages and costs suffered or incurred as a result of any nuisance caused to a third party as a result of the hiring. It is the responsibility of the hirer to have an appropriate public liability insurance. When requested, the hirer shall provide the Charity with a copy of the documentation of the hirer’s own public liability insurance arrangements. The premises are insured against claims arising out of its own operations.
13. Children, Young People and Vulnerable Adults
Organisations using the premises that provide activities/services for children under 18 will need to ensure that any activities comply with the provisions of The Children Act of 1989 and that only fit and proper persons have access to the children. Where relevant, the hirer is required to operate a recognised child protection policy based on the latest Home Office Code of Practice, e.g. ‘Working Together to Safeguard Children 2006’. All private children’s parties or gatherings must have a responsible adult nominated to be in overall charge and give assurance that there will be an adequate number of responsible adults appropriate to the number of children.
14. Start and Finish Times of Period of Hire
The hirer is reminded that the period or periods of hire are as per the hiring agreement and access to the premises is not permitted before the start times or after the finish times specified for each period, whether for the purpose of setting up or clearing up or otherwise, except by specific agreement with the Charity. Events must cease by 11 pm and the hall must be vacated before midnight following clearing the hall and cleaning.
15. End of Hire Period
At the end of each continuous period of hire the hirer shall be responsible for leaving the premises and surrounding area in a clean and tidy condition, properly locked and secured unless directed otherwise with any contents temporarily removed from their usual positions properly replaced. Chairs and tables must be returned to the storeroom. The hirer shall remove all rubbish, bottles and the like resulting from the hiring. Failure to meet these terms may result in an additional charge.
16. Cancellation by Hirer
Cancellations must be notified in writing to the booking officer. Where a hirer wishes to cancel a booking within 7 days of the event and the Charity is unable to secure a replacement booking, the hiring fee is still payable as a contribution to hall running costs. The booking officer has discretion to reduce this taking account of special circumstances.
17. Cancellation or Refusal of Booking by the Charity
The Charity reserves the right to refuse a booking without notice or to cancel this hiring agreement at any time either before or during the term of the agreement upon giving seven days’ notice in writing to the hirer. The hirer shall be entitled upon such notice to reimbursement of all monies paid in respect of that part of the term that is cancelled, but the hirer shall not be entitled to any other compensation.
The Charity reserves the right to cancel a hiring agreement in whole or in part without notice if the event or premises become unfit or unsafe or if the premises are needed as an emergency refuge or if the premises are required for use as a Polling Station. In this event the Charity will refund payment already made in respect of the cancelled period but the hirer shall not be entitled to any other compensation.
18. Hiring Fees
These will be as shown on the hiring agreement or invoice and must be paid in the timescale indicated. The Charity retains the right to review and amend hiring fees at any time and must give a minimum of 30 days-notice to the hirer of any such hire fee changes.
19. Parking and Road Safety
Users are required to respect the local parking restrictions that apply at specific times and are asked to be considerate to neighbours. Although some traffic calming measures are in place, care needs to be taken when crossing the Cobham Road especially with children and adults of limited mobility.
20. Fly Posting
The hirer shall not carry out or permit fly posting or any other form of unauthorised advertisements for any event taking place at the premises, and shall indemnify the Charity accordingly against all action, claims and proceedings arising from any breach of this condition. Failure to observe this condition may lead to prosecution by the local authority.