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THE STITHIANS CENTRE TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT 1[st] November 2024 (including fnancial year May 2023/April 2024)

Charity Name: THE STITHIANS CENTRE

Other name: The Stithians Centre Management Committee

Registered Charity Number: 1010543

Principal Address: The Stithians Centre, Church Road, Stithians, Truro, Cornwall, TR3 7DH

Charity Trustees :

Denis Nightingale (elected - Chair)

Cllr Philip Blease (Vice Chair and Parish Council Representative)

Gp Capt. (ret’d) John Colgate (elected - Treasurer)

Jeremy Lucioni (elected)

Judith Twigger (elected)

Andrew Moss (co-opted)

Rita Wood (co-opted)

Emma Cook (co-opted)

Jackie Barson MBE (Secretary, co-opted)

Ann Nicholls (Women’s Institute representative)

Mike Tatnall (Royal British Legion representative)

Neil Hamilton (Scout Association representative until June 2024)

Sarah Scrivener (Scout Association representative from November 2024)

Trustee for the Charity: Charity Commission

Advisers:

Account Examiner: Claire Morgan, Champion Accountancy

Solicitors: Thurstan Hoskin Solicitors Architect: CAD Architects, Mr Roger Hocking Quantity Surveyor: Ed Crossley and Associates Bankers: Lloyds Bank & CCLA Investment

Type of Governing Document: Trust Deed dated 30 Mar 90, as amended 28 Jul 04 and 19 Jan 07, 6 March 2014, amended 7 December 2016, as amended 4 November 2020

How is the Charity Consttuted: Trust

Trustee Selecton Methods: Four trustees are elected for one year by the beneficiaries at the annual general meeting, six may be co-opted, and the rest are appointed by some of the charity’s regular user groups. All serve to promote the aims and objectives of the charity.

Additonal Governance Arrangements:

Licences - The hall has a Premises Licence (including alcohol). The hall is licensed by the Public Performance Licence-Performing Right Society, PPL-PRS, for live and recorded music.

Insurance:

The Management Committee recognises that it is under a legal obligation to protect the building, its users and employees through adequate and appropriate insurance. The Stithians Centre is insured with respect to property damage (buildings insurance) by Ansvar Insurance (£1.6M cover). It is insured with the same company with respect to contents (up to £35,000) public liability (£5M) employers’ liability (£10M).

The Centre’s disabled person’s platform lift is covered by a combined inspection and damage insurance policy (up to £500,000) with Allianz Insurance.

The Natonal Lotery Community Fund: The Stithians Centre officially reopened for business in March 2008. The Centre had been the recipient of a capital grant under the Grants for Large Projects. In November 2024, correspondence between the National Lottery Community Fund and the Trustees confirmed that the Lottery Community Fund had lodged an application to the Land Registry with a request to remove the legal charge registered against the Titles associated with the Stithians Centre.

Summary of the Objects of the Charity: To manage the premises upon Trust for the purposes of a village hall and community centre for the use of the inhabitants of the Parish of Stithians in the County of Cornwall without distinction of political, religious or other opinions, including use for meetings, lectures and classes, and for other forms of recreation and leisure time occupation, with the object of improving the conditions of life for the said inhabitants.

The Stthians Centre November 2023-2024

In the years since the Covid lockdowns The Stithians Centre has been transformed. It is now a warmer, less crowded, more welcoming place than ever before.

It’s been another full 12 months as shown below. Tie all those activities in with rent from the preschool and income has been very good when compared to many previous years.

This summer asbestos was discovered in the roof space over the main hall. Trustees worked quickly and safely to have it removed and a new ceiling installed with little disruption to bookings. Good financial housekeeping meant we had the funds available to solve the problem quickly.

Major work replaced the kitchen roof which has leaked from time to time in recent years. New infra-red heaters have been installed in two of the rooms, including the main hall.

In common with other village halls, we need even more bookings. The trustees will continue to explore new avenues of revenue and ways of attracting people to use The Stithians Centre.

Clubs and other users:

There are currently many clubs and activities covering a wide range of interests and age groups, from Art, Ukulele, WI to Lunch Club, and 8 different Fitness Classes. Youth groups (Rainbows, Brownies, Beavers and Cubs) continue to have weekly meetings. One off full day bookings from major organisations have been strong in the past year contributing significantly to the income of TSC. Other regular events organised by our events team are growing in popularity. The Events team has shown 9 films since November 2023 and film club membership stands at 130. Both Quiz nights proved to be popular and brought in a combined profit of nearly £900. The Stithians Produce Market has been held monthly apart from August and been well attended. Christmas markets were especially busy and most enjoyable. The Centre is very grateful to the organiser, stallholders and the public who attend.

The Community Library continues to be a much-valued service in the Centre. This is run by a lead volunteer and her team, and their commitment is much appreciated.

Stithians Parish Council uses the Centre to host public meetings as well as its regular council meetings.

The Preschool continues to be successful and brings in much needed regular income. A new addition this year has been a twice weekly Post Office which has been well attended. The Centre is also available for hire for private functions including children’s parties, wedding receptions, funeral teas, community social functions and fund-raising fayres/events.

What has The Stthians Centre achieved since the last annual meetng in November 2023?

The Stithians Centre has emphasised its green credentials with the installation of infra-red heaters, as stated above, replacing an antiquated oil heating system. The roof covering the Foundry room and the kitchen was also replaced.

Our solar panels & Tesla batteries have continued to help our electricity bills. Carpets in the library, a storeroom and the main entrance have been replaced with easy to clean flooring. New noticeboards make the Centre look much more professional. Hallmaster for room bookings online remains very successful.

The Centre continues to use TicketSource: for promoters and ticket purchasers to manage bookings for events.

Zettle: The Stithians Centre uses a Zettle account for contactless card payments. This is a useful facility as less and less people carry cash. It also reduces risks associated with cash payments.

Publicity and Promoton –

The Stithians Centre makes active use of website marketing and social media to promote events, regular clubs and activities, and venue hire to a wider audience. Events are still advertised by poster and in The Stithians Times.

Website: The website continues to support the aims and objectives of TSC with 48686 hits since it was set up.

Newsletter: The Newsletter now has just under 600 subscribers who are updated on events and activities through a monthly email newsletter, and special event bulletins.

Facebook: TSC promotes through its own Facebook page (570 followers) and shares posts with Stithians Community Stithians Noticeboard Facebook group (6600 subscribers), as well as neighbouring village pages.

Instagram: The Instagram account opened in September 2020 to promote TSC as a hire venue as well as events now has 239 followers.

Stithians Times: A new editor has changed the layout and the content very much for the better. This has seen increased sales.

The Stithians Directory: This is being continually updated on TSC website providing contact information on community groups and vital service. The Directory continues to bring in a small income through advertising.

Advertising Leaflet: A trifold leaflet has been printed promoting events and activities at the Centre, as well as opportunities for venue hire. A supply of leaflets is available in the entrance foyer and is also delivered to every home in the parish each December as part of a combined parish leaflet drop which provides TSC with a very cost-effective means of reaching c.1000 homes.

Policy on Reserves: The Trustees seek to hold in reserve a minimum of six months’ operating costs of the facilities which they manage. This is primarily to allow for seasonal variations in use and to safeguard against any period when the facilities might be wholly or partially unavailable due to damage or maintenance works. Accrued reserves are invested in bank deposits to best

advantage in terms of returns and risk minimisation whilst ensuring access, if required. In addition, there are reserves being held for major capital expenditure such as the roof.

Details of Any Funds in Defcit: Nil.

Further fnancial review details:

The accounts for FY23/24 have been examined formally and approved without adverse comment or recommendation.

The Centre’s overall funds at the end of the FY stood at just under £81K, slightly down on the preceding year. However, FY22/23’s figures benefitted from windfall donations of over £18K, not matched in FY23/24, so the underlying figures for this year are much stronger than the headline infers. We have seen healthy growth in our core income stream of room lettings, whilst avoiding hire rate increases. Our solar generation and battery storage system continues to help keep running costs down, so that we have been able to keep overall expenditure for the year down to roughly the same level as previously, whilst maintaining the level of general maintenance.

General fund-raising income overall remains disappointing. Despite our best efforts, attendance at events and spending thereat is lower than historical norms, perhaps reflecting the post-Covid picture across the wider hospitality sector. Lower printing costs have helped produce more profit from Stithians Times and it has been given a re-launch with new format and editor, but it can no longer be relied upon as a significant contributor to the Centre’s funds, albeit it remains an important publicity and information exchange vehicle for both The Centre and the wider community. Fortunately, sound letting income means that we do not need to rely on fundraising for routine running costs.

Given the strength of the income stream, the trustees felt able to draw down some of our capital to fund a further series of improvements to the Centre infrastructure at an overall cost of around £50, split across FYs 23/24 and 24/25. Discovery of asbestos in the roof brought an unexpected £15K cost, but reserves were sufficient to cover this. Once the current round of work is complete, there will be a period of restraint on major expenditure to allow the reserves to recover, but enough remains to avoid any concern.

In summary, The Centre remains on a secure financial footing and letting income is at a level sufficient to meet our running costs, including a reasonable level of routine upkeep and preventative maintenance. We must still be prudent, but there is scope for optimism.

We look forward to seeing even more people using The Stithians Centre over the next year.

Signed:

Date:

D Nightingale- Chair

Independent examiner's report on the accounts

Section A Independent Examiner’s Report

Report to the trustees/ members of

Charity Name

The Stithians Centre Management Committe

30[th] April 2024

1010543

On accounts for the year ended Charity no (if any) Set out on pages

1 and 2

(remember to include the page numbers of additional sheets)

Responsibilities and basis of report

I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the above charity (“the Trust”) for the year ended 30/04/2024.

As the charity trustees of the Trust, you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 (“the Act”).

I report in respect of my examination of the Trust’s accounts carried out under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying out my examination, I have followed the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the Act.

Independent examiner's statement

I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination which gives me cause to believe that in, any material respect:

accounting records were not kept in accordance with section 130 of the Act or
the accounts do not accord with the accounting records

I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.

Signed:

IER

October

2018

Date:

18/09/2024

Name:

Claire Morgan

Relevant professional qualification(s) or body (if any):

FMAAT

Address:

East Lynne, Mithian Downs, St Agnes TR5 0PY

Section B Disclosure

Only complete if the examiner needs to highlight matters of concern (see CC32, Independent examination of charity accounts: directions and guidance for examiners).

Give here brief details of any items that the examiner wishes to disclose .