AGE (ne
Chalgrove Area
Board of Trustees
Annual Report for the year April 2023 to March 2024
Note : In response to government direction in managing the Covid-19 Pandemic, all ACCA services were suspended after the Tuesday Club meeting on 17[th] March 2020 until September 2021. ~~po~~
Structure, governance and management
Age Concern Chalgrove Area is an unincorporated association granted charitable status in November 1998 (No 1073799) and became independent of Watlington on 1st April 1999. Registered Address: 9 Langley Road, Chalgrove, Oxford OX44 7SZ.
Its governing document is the Constitution originally prepared by Age Concern England (now Age UK) with additional Regulations as formulated and agreed by the Trustees at the inception of the organisation in 1999 and revised in July 2019 for adoption at the July 2019 Annual General Meeting
Policies and Procedures
All existing policies and procedures remain in date. A new Policy for Operating the Minibus was agreed in 2020.
Trustees
Two Trustees, Maggie Lindley and Alma Fitzgerald, resigned in summer 2023. Glynn Leaney joined the Trust Board in Summer 2023 and Gwen Klepping in Autumn 2023. Both have proved real assets.
Trustees and Officers appointed at the 2023 Annual General Meeting (AGM) on 11[th] July 2023
Trustees: Glynn Leaney.
Officers: Treasurer, Glynn Leaney,
Meetings have taken place bi-monthly as decided in 2021. This has proved more than adequate to address the work of the Trustees.
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Staff
The charity continued to employ two professional staff: Naheed Qureshi as Day Centre Manager and Rita Reynolds as Admin Officer. Both continue to exceed our expectations in their dedication to their responsibilities.
Our excellent Tuesday meals continue to be provided by Jeanette Barrington.
Objectives and activities
Main objectives
Age Concern Chalgrove Area aims to promote the wellbeing and enjoyment of older people in Chalgrove and the surrounding villages. It is particularly focused on minimising social isolation for the elderly.
Main Activities
Age Concern Chalgrove is dedicated to providing companionship and entertainment for the members, who could perhaps otherwise be remote or completely removed from outside contact and village activities. Our main enterprise is the Tuesday Day Care Centre.
Shopping trips, Musical entertainers, Keynote speakers and other events and activities, such as chair Pilates and chair exercise, are also in the programme.
Membership numbers dropped after the resumption of activity in September 2021 and sadly are only growing very slowly. The number attending the Tuesday Club averaged 20 during the year 202324.
Tuesday Day Centre
Our Tuesday Day Centre continues to be popular with an interesting and varied programme ably managed by Naheed Qureshi. We had a special day in June 2023, when we celebrated the 100[th] birthdays of both Betty Farrell and Peggy Waugh. We had balloons, cake, fizz – and the presence of Deputy Lord Lieutenant Lynda Atkins. Betty was one of our first members when Age Concern Chalgrove Area began in 1999.
Volunteers
Apart from professional Day Centre management and catering, all of ACCA’s services are provided by volunteers. We are so lucky to have a generous number of kind and giving volunteers who make it all happen. And new volunteers arrive regularly. About 15 volunteers, including several of our Trustees, regularly assist at each Tuesday Club session in serving refreshments and lunch, setting up and clearing away, chatting to our members and by shopping for consumables. There is also a rota of volunteer minibus drivers. There are too many to mention individually but we thank each and every one of them.
Activities
Activities and entertainment on Tuesdays range from musical entertainers to indoor Kurling, which is always hotly contested. We have horse racing DVDs to coincide with major events in the racing calendar, such as Ascot and the Cheltenham Festival, and this year we have had continued with films that take us back into the past, and bring back so many memories of how life used to be. We also have religious services to mark the major events in the church calendar – Easter, Whitsun, Harvest,
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Christmas, and a Remembrance Service – provided by our local vicar. And at Christmas 2023, we saw the return of the school choir to entertain us before our own Carol Service.
Future Plans
Having come to the end of our funding from OCC, our income and thus future plans depend on the annual subscription, weekly charges, fund-raising and donations.
Financial review
The charity’s financial position is given in the 2023-24 accounts. At close of year, the charity posted an operating surplus of £4,266.11. In addition, £77,078.07 is held as reserved funds for minibus replacement and other items as itemised in the Cash Reserves Policy. From now on our finances will rely on weekly charges, donations and fund-raising activities. In March 2024, we ran a Quiz Night, which raised almost £1400. And we have been very fortunate in receiving unexpected donations from various local sources: £500 from St Mary’s Christmas Appeal and £750 from the May Festival 10K Run. In fact, we had a remarkable year for donations. By the end of March 2024, we had £6,123.33 in donations from various sources, both groups and individuals, as well from funeral collections. This has made a significant difference to our finances. Just before the end of the financial year, we were approached by Oxfordshire Community Volunteer Action (OCVA) to offer us a grant of £5000, as they had money remaining to distribute before the end of the financial year. This was a wonderful surprise. Most grant giving bodies require an organisation to have a ‘project’ which will benefit from any grant given. Our only project is our continuing existence, so we do not qualify for grants as a rule.
The move to a Finance Team has been successful, with two Trustees on duty each week, banking of money at the local post office thanks to an account with Metro Bank, and all financial activities recorded on weekly sheets, together with all receipts/invoices/payment slips etc. The figures from the weekly sheets are entered into a spreadsheet monthly. The Trustees continue to provide sound and financially prudent management.
Summary
Although the number of attending members has dropped, the charity continues with an interestfilled programme for the socially isolated of Chalgrove and environs each week. This is only ever possible by the efforts of our excellent staff and the army of volunteers we are blessed to have. So many thanks are owed to our volunteers, our two members of staff, our caterer and my fellow Trustees.
Judith Bennett OBE Chairman Age Concern Chalgrove Area July 2024
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CHALGROVE AGE CONCERN BALANCE SHEET AS AT 31 MARCH 2024
| INCOME Donations, legacies Grants Fundraising events Interest on deposit account Members’ subscriptions Lunch fees Beverage fees Transport Income from outings and trips/contra entry Debtor: o/s cash payments TOTAL PROFIT BANK BALANCES |
£7,340.97 £5,000.00 £4,940.72 £1.58 £680.00 £9,559.00 £1,236.00 £834.00 £1,185.86 £33.00 £30,811.13 |
£7,340.97 £5,000.00 £4,940.72 £1.58 £680.00 £9,559.00 £1,236.00 £834.00 £1,185.86 £33.00 £30,811.13 |
|---|---|---|
| £4,266.11 | ||
EXPENDITURE
| Cost of fundraising events Wages, salaries and national insurance Pension Contributions Rent/hire of rooms Printing & Stationery Bank interest and charges Lunch catering supplies Beverage costs Transport Costs Administration costs TOTAL |
£1,908.44 £6,055.29 £1,032.40 £2,901.50 £44.00 £60.00 £10,382.50 £62.07 £3,185.24 £913.58 £26,545.02 |
|---|---|
CAF: Opening Balance: £753.46 Closing Balance: £496.01 Difference: £257.45 METRO: Opening Balance: £25,251.29 Closing Balance: £20,270.86 Difference: £5,476.44 BANK LOSS £5,733.89 SKIPTON BUILDING SOCIETY: Opening Balance: £67,078.07 Add: Transfer from Bank: £10,000.00 Plus interest: £2,198.24 Closing Balance: £79,276.31 BUILDING SOCIETY PROFIT £2,198.24 OVERALL PROFIT: £6,464.35
AGE CONCERN CHALGROVE AREA CHARITY No. 1073799 TO THE TRUSTEES OF AGE CONCERN CHALGROVE AREA INDEPENDENT EXAMINER'S REPORT i have examined the statements on pages that have been prepared on the basis of the established accounting policies. Respective Responsibilities of Trustees and Examiner The trustees of the charity are responsible for the preparation of the accounts. They consider that the audit requirement under section 43(2) of the Charities Act 1993 does not apply. I have been appointed under section 43 of the Charities Act 1993 and report in accordance with regulations made under section 44 of the Act. It is my responsibility to examine the accounts, without performing an audit, and reDOrt to the trustees. Basis of Examiner's Statement This report is in respect of an examination carried out under section 43 of the Charities Act 1993 and in accordance with the directions given by the Charity Commissioners under section 43(7)(b). An examination includes a review of the accounting records kept by the charity trustees and a comparison of the accounts and making such enquiries as are necessary for the purposes of this report. The procedures undertaken do not constitute an audit. Examiner's Ststement Based on my examination, no matter has come to my attention that gives me reasonable cause to believe that in any material respect accounting records have not been kept in accordan with section 41 of the Charities Act 1993 or that the accounts presented do not accord with those records or comply with the accounting requirements of the Charities Act 1993. No matter has come to my attention in connection with the examination to which, in my opinion, attention should be drawn to enable a proper understanding of the accounts. NEIL TOPPING 21 January 2025