RAVENSHEAD COMMUNITY PROJECT
ANNUAL REPORT AND ACCOUNTS
Year ended
30 September 2020
RAVENSHEAD COMMUNITY PROJECT (RCP)
Principal address: 46 Swinton Rise Ravenshead Nottingham NG15 9FR Constitution: Originally adopted on 28 November 1996 - amended on 24 September 1997 and 27 September 2010
Trustees and Officers: The present trustees are: David Grenham Chair David Antill Richard Baker Paul Baskcomb David Cooper Peter Russell Roger Scott The officers who served during the year are: Wendy Woodcock Treasurer Jackie Salmon Minutes Secretary Eve Griffith Administration Cover
Activities: The Project owns four and operates three 15-seater wheelchair accessible minibuses for the benefit of the community of Ravenshead and surrounding area. The Project provides registered route services around Ravenshead and other local villages, plus ‘Dial-a-Bus’ doorto-door services. The minibuses are also available for hire to Affiliated Groups. **** The fourth minibus is currently not part of the operational fleet and is scheduled for disposal at the earliest, available opportunity.
Bankers and fundholders: National Westminster Bank PLC Mansfield Building Society Nottingham Building Society United Trust Bank Independent examiner: EA Connett Date of registration as a charity: 19 December 1996 Charity registration number: 1059851
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RAVENSHEAD COMMUNITY PROJECT
REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES
Year ended 30 September 2020
The Trustees are pleased to present the Project’s 24th Annual Report.
Aims and Organisation of the Project:
The Project’s principal objective is to provide community transport for the benefit of all the communities within a ten-mile catchment area of Ravenshead, with particular emphasis on elderly, socially isolated and disabled residents, in order to:
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reduce social exclusion;
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provide a door-to-door service;
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enhance their quality of life, giving greater independence and higher self-esteem.
All the Trustees and Officers are voluntary members of the Management Committee, which meets every two months to monitor and review operations, and plan future services and activities. Three minibuses are driven by a team of fully-trained, volunteer drivers and the day-to-day operations are controlled by a contracted Customer Services Manager (CSM).
Review of progress and achievements:
Our operations have been significantly affected as a result of the Covid-19 Pandemic and the varying, associated government restrictions placed on people and transport during the year. This can best be considered in four distinct periods.
October 2019 - February 2020:
We experienced another successful period of operation using our three, 15-seater wheelchairaccessible minibuses to provide our customary wide range of services, including: -
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“Hail-and-Ride” timetabled half-hourly registered routes Service (445A) around Ravenshead on Tuesday and Thursday mornings providing access to local amenities, shops, Health Centre and the main Nottingham/Mansfield (Pronto) bus services
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“Hail-and-Ride” timetabled registered routes from Blidworth via Ravenshead to Kirkby-in-Ashfield (445B) on Mondays and Wednesdays
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Friday shopping specials to various destinations including Sutton-in-Ashfield, Downtown Superstore (Grantham), Lincoln, Mansfield, Nottingham, Derbyshire, McArthur Glen Factory Outlet and Arnold
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Tuesday afternoon specials to local supermarkets, garden centres and Mansfield
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Door-to-door transport for Group meetings, particularly Ravenshead PHAB
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Affiliated Group Travel
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Ravenshead Travel Club
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Cornwater Evergreens Foundation Trust (Ravenshead Day Centre)
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• Private hire
In December 2019, we introduced a new low-floor, accessible minibus into our fleet, offering a low entry height of just 27cms. This vehicle offers accessible transport for all levels of mobility and wheelchair users are able to enter the minibus via the wide entrance and gently sloping ramp, to access a designated area for travel. This vehicle was used extensively on our local Routes 445A & 445B, which RCP continued to provide without any financial support and was well received by passengers. It was also used on our local “Dial-a-Bus” Specials operating as flexible demand services within a 15-mile radius of Ravenshead. Both groups of services accept concessionary travel passes, issued by Nottinghamshire County Council (NCC). However, the longer-distance Shopper Specials which are arranged on some Fridays are all fare-paying services and no concessions are permitted.
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RAVENSHEAD COMMUNITY PROJECT
REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES - continued
Year ended 30 September 2020
We continued our support to local businesses by transporting residents into the Ravenshead Village Precinct with all its associated amenities, i.e., shops, post office, library, hairdressers, chemist, dentist, etc. In addition, the service passes the Health Centre twice on all 6 Routes every Tuesday and Thursday morning. It also passes both the Ravenshead and Blidworth Health Centres several times on the Monday and Wednesday, Blidworth/Ravenshead/Kirkby routes.
It is important for the village and the precinct facilities that we continue to operate the routes on Mondays to Thursdays and thus emphasise our support for our local shops and facilities, as well as providing opportunities for people to connect with the main bus routes into Mansfield and Nottingham on the A60 at Newstead Abbey Gates.
February – March 2020:
Advice from central government increasingly encouraged vulnerable people to exercise extreme caution and stay at home, using public transport for ‘essential’ travel only. Our passengers heeded this advice and many of our services and group hires were cancelled during this period. However, we continued to operate our registered Routes and Dial-a-Bus services to enable passengers to access to essential shopping destinations and support local businesses.
March – July 2020:
With the introduction of the nationwide ‘Lockdown’ from 23[rd] March, all passenger services were cancelled. In response to the need to support local communities, RCP engaged with local businesses to provide essential food and medical delivery services to vulnerable and shielding residents within the village. During Lockdown, we provided food deliveries on behalf of Bradburys on 59 days, as well as several collections/deliveries for our local chemist, offering a vital supply link for residents. In addition, RCP registered its willingness to assist Gedling Borough Council’s Community Hub, offering support to the wider, local community.
During this period, we made extensive preparations to enable RCP to resume passenger services, for when restrictions came to an end. The safety of our volunteers and passengers was our principal objective, ensuring total compliance with government regulations for combatting the virus in terms of social distancing and hygiene. A number of adjustments to our vehicles were put in place, including:
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The physical removal of seats from two minibuses, to ensure an absolute maximum capacity of six passengers could be carried. This also required the installation of various measures to ensure the flooring on these vehicles remained safe;
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Each vehicle to display notices advising passengers of revised regulations;
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Perspex screens were installed behind the driver’s seat for added security for our volunteers;
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Personal protective equipment was provided on each vehicle for volunteers and passengers, where necessary;
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Hand sanitisers were installed on each vehicle for use when boarding or alighting and volunteers equipped and trained to disinfect hard surfaces on the vehicle after each trip;
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A ‘fogging machine’ was purchased, which would enable the whole interior of each vehicle to be cleaned and sanitised with an antiviral, disinfectant solution after each week of use.
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RAVENSHEAD COMMUNITY PROJECT
REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES - continued
Year ended 30 September 2020
July 2020 – September 2020.
With the end of Lockdown and following an extensive risk assessment, we were able to resume a very limited level of service. Whilst very few group hires operated, the main emphasis was the reestablishment of the local route services. However, conditions for operating and the limited seating capacity meant that we were unable to resume our usual hail-and-ride service. Consequently, ‘shopper specials’ were gradually reintroduced covering our usual Monday to Thursday and Friday destinations, but all seats had to be booked in advance via our CSM, to ensure compliance with regulations and keep passengers safe. These services have been very well received by those wishing to travel, although limited to a maximum of six passengers on any journey!
RCP intends to resume a more normal level of service as soon as conditions allow and will continue to support local residents and businesses wherever possible.
We continue to provide the comprehensive in-house ‘Minibus Driver Awareness Scheme’ (MiDAS) training programme for all drivers of the Community Project’s Mercedes minibuses, including regular refresher courses. Our in-house training continues to give welcome financial savings compared to the high cost of having to outsource both the initial MiDAS training and all the refreshers. Following successful completion of training, RCP issue their own “Permit to Drive” which allows a driver to begin driving our minibuses with passengers.
We had 38 registered volunteer drivers during the year, which includes several who only drive for specific affiliated groups. Our volunteers’ warm, friendly and courteous service is very much appreciated and valued by all our customers. As with most other community transport providers, there is an ongoing need to continue to attract new volunteer drivers on a regular basis to enable us both to cover natural retirements as well as to meet the continuing demand.
Group emails are used to communicate and share information with all volunteers, who are also invited to attend several social events held throughout the year.
During the year, the Project operated 1,724 journeys (3,676 in 2019), covering 23,401 miles (53,274 in 2019), with 11,154 passenger boardings (24,117 in 2019). These figures suggest that during the first five months of the year, we continued to experience a high year-on-year demand, similar to the previous 23 years. The dramatic decrease in each category compared to the previous year (in excess of 50%) clearly demonstrates the effect of the Covid-19 Pandemic, the period of lockdown and ongoing restrictions.
It has been a very different and challenging year for the organisation and as well as performing her usual tasks of dealing with hire requests, passenger bookings, scheduling drivers and vehicles, maintaining the monitoring system, our Customer Services Manager has provided a telephone support service for our customers and volunteers during the crisis.
The CSM also prepares a regular monthly article which is featured in the free Ravenshead Newsletter and delivered to every household in the village, which has proved to be an important outlet for information to our customers.
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RAVENSHEAD COMMUNITY PROJECT
REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES - continued
Year ended 30 September 2020
RCP again provided regular transport for local people attending the Cornwater Evergreens Foundation Trust (CEFT), Friendship and Memory Clubs on Mondays to Fridays until mid-March 2020, when CEFT were obliged to cancel sessions, as a result of the pandemic. It is hoped that we shall resume transport for CEFT members, as soon as possible in 2021.
Ravenshead Travel Club, managed by Mike Preston, continued its popular and successful outings, until interrupted by the pandemic. It is hoped that journeys may resume when social distancing requirements are relaxed and we can welcome back a full bus of passengers.
The number of local village groups who have affiliated to the Project during this financial year is 71. Each group pays an annual fee of just £10, which entitles it to a 10% discount on hiring charges and six votes at Annual and General Meetings.
The in-house developed, computerised monitoring and statistical recording system continues to record information for each bus, divided across the 18 types of service provided. The information produced from the system enables the Trustees to have an extensive and professional management control, as well as monitoring of the Project and includes: -
Number of journeys Number of passenger boardings Mileage including hire buses Quantity used and cost of fuel
The system also provides information for the following required Returns –
BSOG – Section 19 (Affiliated Group Travel and longer non-concessionary Dial-a-Bus trips) BSOG – Section 22 (Registered routes and short concessionary Dial-a-Bus trips) Concessionary fares rebates NCC monitoring reports
The following is a summary of the minibus usage in the three most recent financial years of operation:
Number of journeys: Ravenshead Village Routes Blidworth/Kirkby Routes Dial-a Bus (eg. specials, shopping runs) Ravenshead Travel Club CEFT Friendship and Memory Clubs Remainder of Affiliated Group Travel Private hire Total journeys |
2020 294 576 162 20 230 322 120 1,724 |
2019 612 1,200 182 80 628 716 258 3,676 |
2018 618 1,176 176 80 642 784 244 3,720 |
|---|---|---|---|
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RAVENSHEAD COMMUNITY PROJECT
REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES - continued
Year ended 30 September 2020
| Number of passenger boardings: Ravenshead Village Routes Blidworth/Kirkby Routes Dial-a Bus (eg. specials, shopping runs) Ravenshead Travel Club CEFT Friendship and Memory Clubs Remainder of Affiliated Group Travel Private hire Total passenger boardings Total income generated from fares and hirings |
2020 1,114 1,558 1,366 292 1,828 3,726 1,270 11,154 £26,547 |
2019 2,347 3,250 2,030 1,168 4,184 8,442 2,696 24,117 £46,027 |
2018 2,301 2,797 1,742 1,170 4,661 9,088 2,422 24,181 £46,353 |
|---|---|---|---|
Total income generated from fares and hirings
With the arrival of our new low-floor minibus in December 2019, arrangements were in hand to sell our oldest minibus, maintaining a fleet of three accessible minibuses. Again, due to the pandemic, we have been unable to conclude a sale and the vehicle is presently in storage to be sold at the earliest opportunity in 2021.
The Trustees would like to acknowledge and thank Nottinghamshire County Council for their continued financial support. We have a 3-year Annual Revenue Grant of £13,430 per annum (July 2018 to June 2021), which was maintained throughout this year, along with receiving all anticipated payments associated with NCC’s Concessionary Travel Scheme
Finally, we would particularly like to thank: -
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➢ The following organisations for their support this year: -
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- National Lottery Awards for All England
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Allen Lane Foundation
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Blidworth Parish Council
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J N Derbyshire Trust
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Linney
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*Nottinghamshire Community Foundation
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Nottinghamshire County Council
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*Severn Trent Water;
NB: Funding from organisations marked ‘*’ has been kindly donated to provide financial support to RCP during Lockdown, and more importantly to assist in the recovery from Lockdown. This will enable RCP to restore progressively our many valued services in a safe and responsible way. Consequently, whilst a proportion has been spent during this 2019/20, the majority will be spent during 2020/21, enabling RCP to emerge successfully from the extended periods of Lockdown.
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➢ Ravenshead Parish Council for their continuing support;
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➢ The Sherwood Ranger for their continuing support with parking spaces for all 3 buses;
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➢ Our 38 Volunteer Drivers, without whom we would not be able to continue so successfully in providing much needed Community Transport Services;
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➢ Our Customer Services Manager, Karen Parsons, for her dedication to caring for all our passengers, hirers, affiliated groups and volunteer drivers, whilst assisting Trustees in managing the Group and maintaining RCP’s presence on social media. Also, Eve Griffith for providing administrative cover during holiday periods.
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➢ Our current Maintenance Team, led by Roger Scott, who together with Yardley’s Garage, ensure our minibuses are maintained and cleaned to the highest standards;
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➢ Our MiDAS Driver/Assessor Trainers, Richard Baker and Roger Scott, together with the other members of our Driver Administration Team, David Cooper and David Antill;
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➢ Alan Connett, who kindly volunteers as the Independent Examiner of the Annual Accounts;
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➢ Our current officers, Wendy Woodcock (Treasurer) and Jackie Salmon (Minute Secretary);
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➢ The Trustees and Officers of the Management Committee, who control, monitor and manage the Project.
David Grenham – Chair of Trustees
25[th] January 2021
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INDEPENDENT EXAMINER’S REPORT TO THE TRUSTEES OF RAVENSHEAD COMMUNITY PROJECT
I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the above charity (charity no 1059851 - “The Trust”) for the year ended 30 September 2020 which are set out on pages 9 to 12.
Responsibilities and basis of report
As the charity’s trustees, 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 Act and, in carrying out my examination, I have followed all 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:
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the accounting records were not kept in accordance with Section 130 of the Act; or
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the accounts did not accord with the accounting records; or
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the accounts did not comply with the applicable requirements concerning the form and content of accounts set out in the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 other than any requirement that the accounts give a ‘true and fair’ view which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination.
I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.
EA Connett
25[th] January 2021
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RAVENSHEAD COMMUNITY PROJECT
STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES
Year ended 30 September 2020
| 2020 | 2019 | |
|---|---|---|
| Incoming resources: | ||
| Passenger fares and concessions | 13,598 | 13,334 |
| Group and private hire | 12,949 | 32,693 |
| Bus service contracts - Notts County Council | - | 7,538 |
| Bus Service Operators’ Grant (BSOG) | 4,099 | 3,435 |
| _____ | _____ | |
| 30,646 | 57,000 | |
| Nottinghamshire County Council - annual S19 grant | 13,430 | 13,430 |
| Other grants and donations | 34,437 | 2,716 |
| ______ | _____ | |
| 78,513 | 73,146 | |
| Sponsorship income | 3,986 | 4,379 |
| Affiliation fees | 592 | 616 |
| Interest received | 2,828 | 2,505 |
| ______ | ______ | |
| Total incoming resources | 85,919 | 80,646 |
| ______ | ______ | |
| Resources expended: | ||
| Customer services and accounting | 21,365 | 28,733 |
| Fuel and oil | 6,945 | 15,077 |
| Minibus maintenance and repairs | 12,174 | 7,327 |
| Insurance, licences and permits | 7,888 | 6,678 |
| Other bus operating costs | 799 | 1,399 |
| Training and drivers’ costs | 2,862 | 3,889 |
| Marketing, telephone and other office costs | 1,601 | 2,505 |
| Depreciation | 13,568 | 3,133 |
| ______ | ______ | |
| Total resources expended | 67,202 | 68,741 |
| ______ | ______ | |
| Net incoming resources for the year | £18,717 | £11,905 |
| ===== | ===== |
The notes on pages 11 and 12 form part of these accounts.
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RAVENSHEAD COMMUNITY PROJECT
BALANCE SHEET
As at 30 September 2020
| Note Fixed assets Tangible fixed assets 2 Current assets Debtors and prepayments 3 Cash at banks and building societies: Restricted for future vehicle replacement Other Current liabilities Creditors falling due within one year Grants received in advance of expenditure Net current assets Net assets Restricted funds 4 Unrestricted funds 5 Total funds |
2020 67,555 6,997 168,218 75,600 __ 250,815 249 6,715 _____ 6,964 243,851 _ £311,406 ====== 158,106 153,300 _____ £311,406 ====== |
2019 - 13,804 211,140 76,606 __ 301,550 2,146 6,715 __ 8,861 292,689 _ £292,689 ====== 213,661 79,028 ______ £292,689 ====== |
|---|---|---|
The notes on pages 11 and 12 form part of these accounts.
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RAVENSHEAD COMMUNITY PROJECT
NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS
Year ended 30 September 2020
1. Accounting policies
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(a) The report and accounts have been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 and the Statement of Recommended Practice “Accounting by Charities” issued by the Charity Commissioners for England and Wales.
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(b) Fixed assets are stated at cost and are depreciated on a straight line basis over their estimated useful lives: Minibuses – 5 years Equipment – 3 years
2. Fixed assets
| 2. Fixed assets | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Minibuses | Equipment | Total | |
| Cost | |||
| At 1 October 2019 | 203,774 | 2,669 |
206,443 |
| Additions | 90,555 | 568 | 91,123 |
| ______ | ____ |
______ | |
| At 30 September 2020 | 294,329 | 3,237 |
297,566 |
| ______ | ____ |
______ | |
| Capital grants | |||
| At 1 October 2019 and 30 September 2020 | 182,775 | - |
182,775 |
| Received in the year | 10,000 | - |
10,000 |
| ______ | ____ |
______ | |
| At 30 September 2020 | 192,775 | - |
192,775 |
| ______ | ____ |
______ | |
| Depreciation | |||
| At 1 October 2019 | 20,999 | 2,669 |
23,668 |
| Charge for year | 13,426 | 142 |
13,568 |
| ______ | _____ |
______ | |
| At 30 September 2020 | 34,425 | 2,811 |
37,236 |
| ______ | _____ |
______ | |
| Net book amount | |||
| At 1 October 2019 | - | - |
- |
| At 30 September 2020 | £67,129 | £426 |
£67,555 |
| ====== | ===== | ====== | |
| 3. Debtors and prepayments | |||
| 2020 | 2019 | ||
| Insurance & licence prepayments | 5,396 | 4,449 | |
| Deposit on new Minibus | - | 5,000 | |
| BSOG grants | 1,540 | 1,540 | |
| VAT recoverable | 61 | 297 | |
| Other debtors | - | 2,518 | |
| _____ | _____ | ||
| £6,997 | £13,804 | ||
| ===== | ===== |
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RAVENSHEAD COMMUNITY PROJECT
NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS - continued
Year ended 30 September 2020
| 4. Restricted funds | |
|---|---|
| At 1 October 2019 | 213,661 |
| Set aside from Unrestricted Funds | 25,000 |
| Release of Restricted Funds re cost of minibus acquired | (80,555) |
| ______ | |
| At 30 September 2020 | £158,106 |
| ====== | |
| 5. Unrestricted funds | |
At 1 October 2019 |
79,028 |
| Set aside to Restricted Funds for future minibus replacement | (25,000) |
| Release from Restricted Funds re cost of minibus acquired | 80,555 |
| Net income for the year – page 8 | 18,717 |
| ______ | |
| At 30 September 2020 | £153,300 |
| ====== |
Restricted funds represent amounts set aside for future investment in minibuses and equipment.
Unrestricted funds represent the remainder of the Project’s funds, and are available for general operating purposes.
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