## NORTH TAUNTON PARTNERSHIP ## ANNUAL REPORT 1[st] APRIL 2023 ## to ## 31[st] MARCH 2024 Registered Charity no.1078827 ## CONTENTS |ITEM|PAGE| |---|---| |Mission statement|1| |Trustees|2| |Staff|3| |Volunteers & Partners|4| |Our Community|5| |Chair’s Report|6 & 7| |Manager’s Report|8 & 9| |Breakdown of service users|10| |Delivery Plan|11-14| |Photo’s|15| |Funders|16| |Treasurer’s Report, Reserves Policy &
Trustee Declaration|17| |Statement of financial activities|18 & 19| |Notes to the Accounts|20| |Independent Examiners Report|21 & 22| |Future plans and Trustee’s
declaration|25| ## MISSION STATEMENT The Charity’s objects are to promote charitable purposes for the benefit of the community of North Taunton and in particular the advancement of education, the promotion of health and the relief of poverty, sickness and distress _“If it wasn’t for the community centre we would have nowhere to go” John_ ## APPOINTMENT OF TRUSTEES The constitution governs the appointment of Trustees who are elected at the Annual General Meeting. |NAME|POSITION|ELECTED|RESIGNED| |---|---|---|---| |Paul Tooze|Trustee
Chair|April 2011
September 2017|| |Brenda Weston|Trustee|September 2016|May 2023| |Mark Wood|Trustee|February 2019|| |Andrew Glass|Trustee
Treasurer|October 2020
February 2021|May 2023| |Melanie Butt|Trustee|June 2021|| |Gill Harrison|Trustee|September 2021|| |Verity Underhill|Trustee|July 2022|| |Jonathan Barter|Trustee|September 2023|| |Jeanette Keech|Trustee|September 2023|| Pau l has lived in Taunton for over 13 years and works at the United Kingdom Hydrographic Office. He represented the area as a district councillor before becoming a trustee. Mark grew up in Priorswood. He works in software engineering and helps with youth and children's work at Wellsprings Community Church. Gill worked in Education as a teacher, head teacher and SENCo before joining the WATCH project as a wellbeing course facilitator. She now works for Spark Somerset as part of The Open Mental Health Community Engagement Project and chairs Taunton Food and Support Alliance. Verity lives locally and trained as a mental health nurse with the NHS, then in the private sector as an area manager with the responsibility for staff appointment and retention for 6 nursing homes. She volunteers in the community centre one morning a week on reception. Mel has lived in North Taunton for over 25 years and has a background in administration. She volunteered in the community centre before becoming a Trustee. Jonathan lives in a local village and is head of history at Pyrland Secondary School. Jeanette lives locally and had a career in marketing and public relations within the aviation and drinks industries, followed by a term as trustee of Age UK Somerset and director of Crimestoppers West of England. Becoming governor of a sixth form college and appointed as Non-Executive Director at Musgrove Park Hospital. Currently chair of the Lyngford Park GP patient group and governor of Somerset NHS Foundation Trust. ## STAFF Lesley Councill – Manager lesleycouncill@priorswoodcommunitycentre.co.uk Tracy Wood – Finance Administrator tracywood@priorswoodcommunitycentre.co.uk Lisa Herd – Office Administrator & Activities Coordinator lisa@priorswoodcommunitycentre.co.uk Lee-Anne Dew – Cleaner All staff work part time and equate to 1.9 full time equivalents. Lesley joined as Manager in 2006, previous roles included PA at an electrical contractors, insurance underwriter and childminder. She has 3 sons and lives locally. Tracy joined as finance officer in 2012, she took on extra hours in 2018 as the events coordinator, she took early retirement in 2022 but returned in March 2024 as the finance officer. She is married with two sons. Lisa joined the team in July 2022 having a background in finance and office administration, she is married with 2 sons. _“Keep doing what you are doing”_ 😊 NHS Somerset Integrated Care Board ## VOLUNTEERS Management costs are kept to a minimum through the use of volunteers for daily operation of the Community Centre. We have 38 regular volunteers and 8 occasional volunteers who gave a total of 4063 hours of time during the year. In addition, 7 Trustees gave 336 hours during the year. This represents £54547.60 of unpaid hours working on the minimum wage . We had 1 new volunteer, 6 attained their one-year certificate, 1 received their 5 year key ring, 1 a 10 year pen set and 1 volunteer attained their 15-year award receiving an engraved vase. 30 live within the local area, our eldest volunteer is 89. |Partners|Partners| |---|---| |Age UK Somerset|Somerset Community Credit
Union| |Avon & Somerset Police|Selworthy School Oakhill and
Hazlebrook Campus| |Citizens Advice Taunton|Sky College| |Devon & Somerset Fire & Rescue|Spaeda| |Everyone Active|Somerset Activity and Sports
Partnership (SASP)| |Friendship & Sons|Somerset Council| |Get Set Services|Somerset Skills & Learning| |Leonard Houlden Court (Housing
& Care 21)|St Andrews Church| |LiveWest Housing|St Peters Church| |Lyngford Park Primary School|St Teresa of Lisieux Church| |Lyngford Park Surgery|Taunton North Youth Club| |North Taunton One Team|Taunton Area Debt Advice| |Oakwood Church|Taunton Street Pastors| |Priorswood Library|Taunton Town Council| |Priorswood Primary School|Wellsprings Community Church| |Pyrland School|Wellsprings Primary School| |Read Easy Taunton and
Wellington|Zing Somerset| |Rowbarton Church|Somerset Community Credit
Union| ## OUR COMMUNITY North Taunton is an area of multiple deprivation with one area being ranked as 10% most deprived in the country. The total population of the two wards in North Taunton is just under 22,000 and is made up of mainly white British with 12.2% classed as other ethnicities. Council tenants make up 30% of the population with 1507 Council owned properties. 10.4% of households have no access to a car or van. 2.6% are carers providing 20 hours or more compared to 2.1% across Somerset. Around 30% of the population have either a long-term health condition or disability. North Taunton has a great community spirit with the Community Centre being seen as the hub of the community. We have 4 primary schools; Lyngford Park Primary, Wellsprings Primary, Priorswood Primary and St Andrews Primary School. A secondary school: Pyrland School A special educational needs school: Selworthy School with two campuses and Sky Academy for students in years 5 – 11 who have an EHCP. ## POLICY REVIEW The trustees have a robust system in place for reviewing policies and procedures which are reviewed in line with good practice. The Governance Code, Health & Safety, Safeguarding and Data Protection are reviewed annually along with others that are either reviewed annually or bi-annually at an executive meeting. _“The newsletter is very well presented and has proved a valuable resource for staff, patients and visitors to the hospice”. St Margarets Hospice – Sunflower Centre_ ## Chair’s Report by Paul Tooze I am pleased to report that the Community Centre has had another successful year and continues to be a vital hub within the North Taunton area. We have continued to explore new activities and classes aimed at a range of age groups. Our aim is always to provide a good mix of enjoyment, education and positive health outcomes. Our seasonal bazaars and Christmas Market have helped to raise much needed funds, and more importantly have offered entertainment for Priorswood residents. Our now Ape ty well established Summer events in the park, again offered free fun for families and young children during the school \y holidays. It would be amiss not to mention that the identification and securing of adequate funding in order to provide all the activities we would like to of had, has been challenging. The severe financial situation being experienced at the Somerset Unitary Council has also started to have an affect both in terms of funding available and the number of surgeries that take place. A significant number of staff hours needed to be allocated to complete funding bids, and this of course occupies time that could be spent working within the centre and interacting with visitors. On a more positive note, the new Taunton Town Council was established this year, following elections in May, and their initial impact has been very positive, with grant funding being made available, and officers responding very quickly to our questions and issues. It is worth noting that from next year that it will be the Town Council, not the Somerset Unitary Council who will be responsible for ae on, ~~ Lyngford Park, where we hold our Pride In Priorswood Summer events. Whereas the Jubilee Park in front of the centre will continue to be leased by us, under the ownership of the Unitary body. We are very fortunate to have Tom Deakin and Lee Baker as local councillors who are both very supportive of the Centre, and North Taunton as a whole. This year, as always, I have been extremely fortunate to have been supported by a marvellous team of trustees. Across the year they have spent many unpaid hours ensuring that the charity has a robust level of governance and that it continues to be a very well-run Charity. I would like to thank them for their dedication and time, they each bring their own skills and make a unique contribution. We are always seeking to add to our team, so if you are reading this, and believe you can offer value in a trustee role, then please do get in touch. I am eternally grateful to the Centre’s core team of staff. Lesley, Tracy and Lisa, all provide a high level of commitment, professionalism and hard work throughout the year, managing issues day-to-day, and also ensuring our future events are planned and delivered successfully. Lastly a huge thank-you to all of our volunteers who offer up their spare time to ensure that the centre operates smoothly and is a safe and welcoming place to visit. Without them the centre would not be able open its doors! I am sure that whatever challenges are faced in the future, that we have the right team of staff onboard to see us through. ## Paul ## Managers’ report by Lesley Councill This year has been a year of changes, we’ve seen many of our surgeries withdrawn, this has been mainly down to either the reorganisation of Somerset Council or funding cuts, this has left us taking stock and looking at different ways we can serve our community in the future with the resources we have. We held various additional workshops including budgeting, reminiscence with the Museum of Somerset and health and wellbeing workshops. We started a walking group for those that are less mobile and just wanting to get out and meet likeminded people. We linked with the Recovery College who came and ran sessions and our history group attended Hestercombe House and Gardens working with their historian to discover local knowledge to add to their archive. We held our Spring and Autumn bazaars which brought in additional funding and gave local residents the opportunity to purchase clothes and household items at very low costs. The highlight of the year was the Kings Coronation Event in May where we held a cream tea in the community garden and invited all of our volunteers, group members and regular users of the community centre, the weather just about held and everyone enjoyed the afternoon. ae SS AN i:NN g I was lucky enough to be invited to attend the Kings E | og Wir Coronation concert in Windsor Castle which was a truly amazing experience and one that I shared with my son. With grant funding from the National Lottery we were able to purchase a trailer which enabled us to safely move equipment from our garage to the park | ie for the summer activity days and our Christmas market, this proved invaluable and made life so much easier. The summer activity days proved very popular again with many new stalls and activities on offer, children tried out various activities and learnt new skills, parents enjoyed the time in the sun and Grandparents got some well-earned rest from childcare duties in the home. Our lunch club had a wonderful day out to Minehead and enjoyed a roast lunch in a local garden centre, some walked along the sea front while others, with support from volunteers, enjoyed the shops. To end 2023 we held our annual Christmas Market which was enjoyed by all, various craft stalls attended selling everything from knitted hats to cakes and jewellery. Father Christmas spent the evening greeting everyone and handing out gifts to the children, such a wonderful event with so many happy smiling faces. 2024 did not have such a good start as we lost one of our longest serving volunteers who passed away unexpectedly after 16 years volunteering in the community centre and tending the community garden, she will be greatly missed by all of us and a real loss to the community centre. As we moved into the new year, we welcomed back Tracy as our finance officer who had worked with us previously and returned after a two-year break, this meant we could look to the future with a fantastic band of volunteers and a strong staff team. Thank you to everyone that has supported us over the year, to our funders, partners and especially our loyal service users. “Thank you again for your time today. What an incredible place and people you have there, it felt like such a safe and valuable space for people”. Amanda, Watch Project ## BREAKDOWN OF SERVICE USERS ||2023/24|2022/23|2021/22| |---|---|---|---| |Covid-19 (Ceased April 23)|0|0|155| |Zoom Socials (Ceased April 23)|0|0|114| |Cafe Customers|5192|4591|3165| |Events|3965|2240|859| |Bric-a-Brac sales|1934|1828|2006| |Scrabble Group|261|262|123| |Circuits Exercise class|306|285|300| |Lunch Club|299|461|456| |General enquiries|528|434|1205| |Tai Chi Class|244|247|222| |Dominoes & Games Group (Ceased 2022)|0|0|15| |Digital support group|117|104|32| |Knit, Natter & craft group|101|190|106| |Citizens Advice|56|48|10| |---|---|---|---| |History Group|135|32|39| |Thursday Talks (Ceased April 23)|0|0|36| |Somerset Council Benefits advisor|8|53|8| |Cooking Group|13|17|23| |Job Club (Ceased 2022)|0|6|1| |Write2Read|7|48|24| |Somerset Council Housing Advisor
(ceased 2023)|0|8|0| |Health Walks (Started 2023)|23|0|0| |Police|14|14|6| |Credit Union|6|24|21| |Creative Writers Group|41|49|16| |Workshops|100|36|0| |NHS & Health Related|11|70|128| |Bereavement Support (Ceased 2023)|0|2|37| ||||| |Menopause Support Group (Started
January 2023)|46|24|0| |TOTAL SERVICE USERS|13142|11073|9107| Data shows a snapshot of users to the Community Centre. There were 3445 unique visits to our website. There were 228.788 hits on our social media sites. 2021/22 numbers decreased due to the Corona Virus Pandemic |DELIVERY PLAN:
Business Plan 2023/2024|DELIVERY PLAN:
Business Plan 2023/2024|DELIVERY PLAN:
Business Plan 2023/2024|DELIVERY PLAN:
Business Plan 2023/2024|DELIVERY PLAN:
Business Plan 2023/2024| |---|---|---|---|---| ||Objectives|Desired Outcomes|Measures and
Timescale|Actual
Outcome| |1|Recruit and
train volunteers
and trustees.
Offer training
opportunities.
Produce
updates
through
meetings,
newsletters
and a
volunteers|Open to all.
Maintain volunteers.
Reflect our
community. Build
self-confidence; use
existing knowledge &
skills, learn new
skills, role
satisfaction, seek
employment,
recognition through
awards.|Increased
numbers.
Numbers gaining
paid
employment.|38 volunteers.
7 trustees.
1 volunteer
gained their 15
year award and
received an
engraved vase.| ||manual.|Recruit professionally
qualified volunteers
for specific jobs.||| |---|---|---|---|---| |2|Operate the
Community
Centre.|Gain funding to meet
core costs.
Maximum potential|Community
Centre Usage|Footfall 13142| |3|Host advice
surgeries|Citizens Advice
SW&T Benefits
Police
Access to advice and
support|All surgeries to
be held.|Footfall 78| |4|Maintain
Hallmark 1
accreditation.|Maintain Hallmark 1
accreditation.|Ongoing.|Hallmark 1
maintained.| |5|To offer a
collection
facility for
Credit Union|Offering people the
opportunity to save|Ongoing|£1,146.90
saved| |6|Organise
weekly social
groups.
Scrabble
Knit & natter|Offer a warm, friendly
environment to
socialise and enjoy
activities facilitated by
volunteers.|To be attended
by a minimum of
5 people.
To be self-
funding|Footfall 362| |7|Provide
transport and a
hot meal via a
Lunch Club|Provide a hot meal.
Sufficient volunteers.
Transport.
Outing once a year.
Collect and bank the
money.
Move towards
sustainable self-
funding.
Residents benefit
from:
Regular nutritious,
affordable hot meal in
a friendly
environment
Opportunities for
social interaction|To be attended
by a minimum of
10 people.
One outing a
year
Timescale
ongoing|Footfall of 299
Outing to
Minehead in
July| |8|Provide fitness|Provide a venue and|To be attended|Footfall of 573| ||classes.
Circuits
Tai chi
Walking Group|tutor.
Collect and bank
money.
Move towards
sustainable self-
funding.
Participants benefit
from:

improved health
and mobility

the opportunity for
social interactions|by a minimum of
6 people each
week.|| |---|---|---|---|---| |9|Organise food,
nutrition and
cookery
classes.|Teach basic skills.
Provide education
about diet and health.
Participants
experience improved
health through:
Increased
understanding about
healthy eating
Gain confidence and
develop new skills
Participating in group
learning sessions|A minimum of 6
people
attending.|Footfall 13| |10|Offer support
with health &
wellbeing.
Menopause
Group
NHS sessions|Offer support
Signposting
Social, health and
fitness groups|Ongoing support|Footfall 57| |11|Deliver open
access
community
events aimed
at young
people.
Raise funds to
hold the
events.|Access to
experiences and
activities that
entertain, educate
and provide
diversionary activities
aimed at reducing
anti-social behaviour.
Parents,
grandparents and
carers have
opportunities to share|1 day events
attended by a
minimum of 30
young people.
School holidays.|Footfall 3000| |||experiences with their
children, meet others
and talk to a range of
public service
providers.||| |---|---|---|---|---| |||||| |12|Work with
schools and
colleges to
offer work
experience.|Participate in a
working environment,
develop skills to add
to their CVs.|Offer as many
opportunities as
possible.|1 College
student 2
weeks work
experience| |13|Organise
educational
groups;
Digital support
History
Creative
Writers|Gain knowledge and
learn new skills,
facilitated by
volunteers and tutors.|To be attended
by a minimum of
5 people.
To be self-
funding|Footfall 300| |14|Organise
bazaars in
Spring and
Autumn
Christmas
Market
World Book
Day event
One off
events|Raise awareness of
the Community
Centre.
Recruit volunteers.
Raise funds.
Residents are able
to:

learn about
services on offer

find volunteering
opportunities

buy items at low
cost.|To raise:

£750 from
bazaars

£1000 from
the Christmas
Market.|Bazaars raised
£1012.19
Christmas
Market raised
£1808.70
24 Stallholders.
World Book
Day raised
£48.92 sold
245 books
Footfall 1065| |15|Host Somerset
Council
community
computer.|On-line access.
Volunteer-assisted.
Develop IT skills.|Recruit and train
volunteers
Timescale –
ongoing.|| |16|To be the voice
of the
community
whilst staying
politically
neutral.|Enable those
adversely affected by
and concerned about
current issues or
changes to have their
say and forward
concerns to the|Ongoing.|Concerns
re-laid to those
agencies
concerned| |||appropriate agency.||| |---|---|---|---|---| |17|Work in
partnership
with the North
Taunton One
Team and
North Taunton
Development
Group.|To work with the
coordinator to
exchange
information.
Residents benefit
from the ‘joined-up’,
inter-agency
approach.|Timescale
ongoing.|Attended North
Taunton
Development
Group
Meetings| |18|To be
dementia
friendly.|Visitors greeted in a
friendly and
welcoming manner.|On-going|| |19|1. Produce a
community
newsletter.
2. To hold
information
leaflets.
3. Signposting
facility.|Residents are well
informed of events,
services and
opportunities.
Offer a signposting
facility.|Spring, Summer
and Winter|3000
hardcopies
produced and
distributed.
Electronic
copies emailed| Lunch Club Outing Summerfield Builders grant presentation Brad comes in daily for a coffee and chat _“I have only met you all twice but I felt so at home today. Thank you for creating such a lovely welcoming group” Menopause Group_ We would like to thank our funders, without their support the Community Centre would not be able to function. McCarthy Stone, _Life, well lived_ ## Magdalene Hospital Trust ## The National Lottery ## Somerset Council We would like to thank all those organisations and individuals who have generously supported the charity. North Taunton Partnership has continued to support many local residents who have benefitted from our services. Details of restricted grants are shown in the accounts. ## RESERVES POLICY The Trustees are aware of their obligations under charity law and therefore set out the policy for the use of reserve funds. The intention in establishing this reserves policy is to ensure the continuation of the charity’s normal activities through any medium-term shortfall in funding. For the financial year to 31 March 2024, the trustees’ policy is to maintain free reserves (defined as unrestricted reserves not invested in fixed assets) equivalent to 4 months’ budgeted expenditure, approximately £25,000. The trustees feel it is also prudent to have a reserve of £2,500 for any substantial unexpected and urgent need for which funding cannot be obtained in the necessary timeframe. Free reserves at 31 March 2024 were £44,682 (2023 £56.316). ## FUTURE PLANS A Business and Development Plan has been produced by the Trustees setting out the objectives for the Partnership and Community Centre for the twelve months April 2024 to March 2025. The Trustees declare that they have approved the report as above and that they have paid due regard to the Charity Commissions guidance on public benefit. Signed on behalf of the North Taunton Partnership’s trustees Paul Tooze Chairman Date: 14[th] August 2024 I￿N TAupifc•i PP￿RsHIp T¢1¥ 61•*5 Star¢5 41A22 174 4K• 174 S21 1.621 Fwth15 HMlthir*Wall S.2Yi L119 12?2 156 2Jll 156 J.s Sull L035 579 &559 L53B F¢ .232 1&02 IvrnTrwl 145 s(c*p 5(F Cpstgl LAiryOiN 13•2 ## NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS ## Accounting Policies Section 133 of the Charities Act 2011 permits a charity to prepare a receipts and payments account and a statement of assets and liabilities where gross income in the financial year does not exceed £250,000, therefore receipts and payments accounts and a statement of assets and liabilities has been prepared and presented for the year ended March 31st 2024; this is consistent with previous years. All Income, including grants, is recorded when received. All Expenditure is recorded when paid. **----- Start of picture text -----**
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Outing to art workshop _“Thanks for sending your excellent Report, which I will circulate to all our trustees. The whole programme looked very worthwhile and impressive that you were able to lay on so many activity days. You were clearly meeting a real need”. Magdalen Hospital Trust_ RTH TA NT PARTNER OEPENDENT EX*AMNEA RE THE r4go$ 2 b) 3 reqwed tr ths seckn 144(2101 >)11 2011 thai Exath fvx(tyJr4s mJ8r 14S c4tl* 2011 ￿J￿ 149SXbl ol th 2011 8ASIS OF INDEPENDENT WII11￿.0 REPORT INOEPEMDENT STATEMENT To k••p •¢r4JLrthw •xikn 1>) ￿#4 2011 *tyXkn4411M•l oftr• mothy r￿a•n FCMA TA18 7BY Dat•.. 3)24 Priorswood Community Centre 13-14 Priorswood Place Eastwick Road Taunton TA2 7JW 01823 353643 Email: lesleycouncill@priorswoodcommunitycentre.co.uk Facebook: www.Facebook.com/PriorswoodCommunityCentre www.priorswoodcommunitycentre.co.uk