Annual Report 2020- 2021
The Longford Neighbourhood Service Centre- (also known as The Roy Humphreys Centre) 86 Sandy Lane, Warrington Tel 01925 414631 Charity No. 1088840
Chairperson - Jean Chester
Report completed by Amanda Gillespie – Centre Manager
Overview
This Year the centre continues to be focused on improving the existing venue, maximising the offer to the community, improving wellbeing, reducing Isolation, reducing poverty, signposting to specialist services including the employment groups, wellbeing Hub, sports e.tc.
We work closely with Warrington Council, Warrington Voluntary Action, Torus and other organisations to ensure the community are accessing all the support they require.
This year we were impacted by the Covid 19 Virus – Pandemic. We had to close initially from March 2020 – April 2020, when it was announced that hospitality needed to close. During this time, I Amanda looked at ways that the centre could open to be a support hub ensuring that we can support wellbeing and deliver hot food to residents and service users who were told to isolate and shield.
I applied for funding and was able to get funding from Cheshire Foundation to deliver a hot meal project, and The Steve Morgan Foundation to Support Marries Wages half of them for three months. As time progressed, we were able to get further funding to support all frontline workers to access free breakfast barms and hot drinks. We also were able to access further funding from Coalfields and the Community Shop to access ingredients towards meals and to help the café while we have not been able to make much income due to closing, takeaway and changing ways we were allowed to open.
We are looking to make the centre sustainable in these difficult financial times. In 2020/21 our priority is to look at more ways of saving money and gaining support Building and maintenance plan and marketing the charity including social media guidance. We are working closely with our Trustees and Neighbourhoods and Voluntary Action to help us look at this. I was able to get the post of older people’s engagement worker extended for 1 year by Cheshire Foundation, however this is only for a year. I will re look at funding to fund my role and as discussed also need to explore part time centre manager as I am supporting the
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running of the centre. We also need to rent space out as we have lost income due to the pandemic and Emerging futures have also left during the pandemic. Sustainability and professional support, Chris Skinks and Alison Cullen are helping to look at how we can make the centre sustainable and have continued to support the centre and offer advice.
We are already seeing saving due to putting in spending limits on café purchases and orders and making sure the centre is not spending more that is coming in, the charity is no longer negative and considering we have lost income and been able to get support grants from the government. We have managed to balance the books, some of the income is for funding and set projects. Alison Cullen has supported the charity to transfer over to the new Charity Commission account, all accounts and finances will now be under the new charity number.
In 2021/ 22 we will continue to look at strengthening the trustees that are jointly in charge of running the charity and look at more ways to fundraise and modernise the centre including digitally, the way we do banking and payroll. We have applied for funding to upgrade the office computer and community computers to ensure that we can support the community more with educational challenges. In the funding we requested new kitchen equipment as this outdated. I have also been able to get the maintaince extended till 2022, however we will need a long-term plan for this as we are unsure if Torus will continue to support the centre with maintaince This would be a huge cost to the centre and would hinder the progress.
During Covid we temporarily had to reduce our café worker’s wages to sixteen hours as we were unable to pay her as her wages and Jean Humphrey’s treasurer suggested this was reduced to 16 hours, wages are normally taken out of café income and this was reduced. However, I explored employment law and it can only be temporarily during covid. Any changes about the centre need to be made collectively by all trustees when we are able to meet.
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Longford Neighbourhood Services End of Year Accounts 31[st] March 2021
| Opening balance 01/04/2020 Residents association Credit Union income for 01.04.2020- 31/03/2021 Emerging Futures - Rent Café Takings funding rents from groups WBC Grants residents association Credit union Expenditure from 01.04.2020 31.03.2021 payroll Building Maintenance/Refuse Funday Refund Telephone/Broadband Council Tax/Insurance/Utilities Salaries/HMRC Café Groceries/Expenses training credit union Xmas Party petty cash Closing balance 31/03/2021 |
24,570.27 5535.91 4,000.00 |
|---|---|
| 34,106.18 | |
| 1,050.00 3,639.35 17,563.38 3,570.00 |
|
| 25,822.73 1,330.44 0.00 0.00 822.83 5,177.36 13,362.58 1,377.55 0.00 543.68 |
|
| 22,614.44 37,314.47 |
Verified by Alison Cullen, Chief Officer Warrington Voluntary Action
28[th] January 2022
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