2023-09-30-accounts

Trustees’ Annual Report for the Period

From 01.10.2022 (Period start date) To 30.09.2023 (Period end date)

Charity name: Ashington Veterans and Elders Institute

Charity registration number: 1101024

Objectives and Activities

	SORP reference
Summary of the purposes of the charity as set out in its governing document	Para 1.17	To provide facilities for recreation and other leisure time occupation, in the interest of social welfare, with the object of improving the conditions of life of the inhabitants of Ashington and the surrounding areas.
Summary of the main activities in relation to those purposes for the public benefit, in particular, the activities, projects or services identified in the accounts.	Para 1.17 and 1.19	Members still have 8am until 11pm access to the building which provides snooker, billiards, darts and indoor table games. They can socialise over refreshments, watch tv, or use the institute as a drop-in centre if they wish. Members can join local snooker and billiards leagues which enables contact and establishes friendship with others in the local community who have similar interests. We have five teams playing in local snooker and billiards leagues. During the year we once again ran internal competitions and held special events including barbecues, an exhibition match in October 2022 with John Parrot and six Music Nights during the year. We now include bingo and quiz sessions in these nights, run a raffle and provide pie and peas, and free tea and coffee. Members and visitors continued to have access to our established community garden to either work in or relax in. We continued and extended our woodworking workshop which members can join and either help with institute projects or use equipment for their own private tasks. We included other organisations like Brightside, Northumbria Early Intervention in Psychosis and BUZZ Learning in our painting workshops.

		Our established local guitar group continued to practice twice a week and small crafts and activity workshops were held occasionally. Northumberland Early Intervention in Psychosis ran eight sessions in our committee room throughout the year. We introduced daily excursions for the first time. We went to Carlisle and Scarborough. We sold out both trips, giving our own members first chance to buy tickets before opening sales up to the community. We combined these trips with friendly snooker and billiards matches against snooker centres from both places.
Statement confirming whether the trustees have had regard to the guidance issued by the Charity Commission on public benefit	Para 1.18	Trustees have access to Charity Commission files which they can print off themselves if they wish to have hard copies. They are encouraged to do this. Any changes are communicated at committee meetings. Each Trustee now has to log on to The Charity Commission website with their own password. The Treasurer and Secretary have advanced access which allows them to make changes to and update our details where necessary.

Additional information (optional) You may choose to include further statements where relevant about:

	SORP reference
Policy on grant making	Para 1.38	The charity does not normally make grants to other organisations.
Policy on social investment including program related investment	Para 1.38	The charity does not normally get involved in social investment.
Contribution made by volunteers	Para 1.38	The charity only normally seeks contributions from volunteers when working parties are needed for the upkeep of the premises. Volunteers help to keep the place clean and tidy, organise events and help to maintain the quality of the snooker tables. Around 12 volunteers are involved in running the community garden, and a volunteer who had previously taken up the role of Garden Club Organiser is now a Trustee. More volunteers joined our woodworking project this year, raising money for local

		charities. Activities include cutting, painting and selling. Volunteers themselves suggested improvements and new designs all the time, and one of them who had previously taken up the role of project co-ordinator, is now a Trustee. Coffee mornings became an even stronger part of the institute this year, and our Garden Club members continued to run these events themselves. These are held on the first Saturday of every month. One of our volunteers is a member of Ashington Camera Club and he continued to showcase the activities of AVAEI. He once again photographed Brightside volunteers in action, Buzz volunteers in action, our garden club members carrying out their activities and our coffee morning activities, as well as the exterior of the building. He continued to photograph our Music Nights and exhibition matches, so these photos could be displayed around the building, used on social media and used on our website. He once again produced collages of our main activities. More of our members are helping to set up the institute for our events, and staying to clear away after they are finished.
Other		Earth Balance granted us a licence to use one of their buildings for us to carry out our woodworking in. This gives us some security should there be a change of direction or ownership at Earth Balance. We obtained funding to kit out and improve the safety of the building we use. Brightside Adult Services continued to help us in the Community Garden and with our woodworking projects, Buzz Learning and Akzo Nobel helped us repaint the outside of our work shed at Earth Balance.

Achievements and Performance

	SORP reference
Summary of the main achievements of the charity, identifying the difference the charity’s work has made to the circumstances of its beneficiaries and any wider benefits to society as a whole.	Para 1.20	Our main achievement was to receive an “Outstanding – Level one” award from the judges in Northumbria In Bloom events. This was a direct result of what has been achieved in our community garden. Our volunteers have done a fantastic job in developing the rear and side of our premises into a really beautiful garden, and their efforts were rightly recognised by the judges who visited us in the early summer of 2023. One of our Trustees was appointed Deputy Lieutenant to The Duchess of Northumberland in 2023. We once again had representatives attend the Royal Garden Party at Buckingham Palace. We had many of our own King’s Coronation events at the institute. We ran snooker, billiards and dominoes competitions, held a free members event, and decorated the inside and outside of the institute with bunting while we held our many activities. Our main Coronation Event was especially for those who’d made a contribution to the institute as volunteers. We invited 80 local people for a free buffet, free raffle and live music and entertainment. This event was organised by our newly- formed Steering Group of mostly new members. Admission was ticket only. We increased our member numbers, introduced more Garden Club members and again encouraged more women to get involved in our activities. For the second successive year, AVAEI has a full committee compliment of ten Trustees, the most our Constitution allows.

We generated more interest from the local community by improving and extending our activities at Coffee Mornings. We maintained links with ASDA, and Newcastle Building Society, where we used their meeting room for our OGM in June 2023 and for our AGM in October 2023, and formed new links with local branches of the NHS. We maintained links with the local Scouts by holding a King’s Crown decorating competition as part of the Coronation events we ran. They presented us with a certificate, thanking us for involving them in our events. We were invited to attend their 10[th] anniversary tea party. We continued with the upgrade of the premises by replacing the rear fire door and installing our own PA system. We continued to sell our popular charity products at our coffee mornings, which again generated more revenue for us as the public got even more behind the project this year. Local crafts and jewellery groups are now part of our coffee mornings, and we now feature live music as well. We have now sold over 3,500 products and raised over £20,000 for the NHS and SSAFA locally. We hired a stall at Northumberlandia, and we had stalls at several Town Council events which allowed us to sell these items to people from outside of our local community. We further-developed our Community Garden by installing two water features, adding height and sound to the place. We submitted plans to extend our premises so we can get more people into the institute at the events we run. We always sell out. This project will allow us to create a larger meeting room, where we will be able to host larger groups who have already expressed an interest in using our premises. Plans were approved in September 2023 and work is due to start in the spring of 2024. We have already received considerable funding towards this project, with other decisions still awaited.

Additional information (optional) You may choose to include further statements	Additional information (optional) You may choose to include further statements	where relevant about:
Achievements against objectives set	Para 1.41	We completed all of our outstanding projects and committed to further improvements to our premises this coming year, namely the extension project. We continued with our committee at the maximum number our Constitution allows. We amended and improved our Safeguarding Policy with the help of The Community Foundation. Our social media groups now have over 300 members, an increase of 50% on last year, and our website is again fully-up to date.
Performance of fundraising activities against objectives set	Para 1.41	We kept our table fees the same as previous years. We kept our annual subscriptions the same as the previous year. We again raised money from our refreshments sales, coffee mornings, room hire and selling through our Small Lotteries Licence. Our two excursions also helped increase revenue. Our coffee mornings are now a major income stream for us and help us to connect with the local community. We are committed to holding them every month.
Investment performance against objectives	Para 1.41	Not applicable.
Other
Financial Review
Review of the charity’s financial position at the end of the period	Para 1.21	Trustees were very happy with the financial position at the end of the year. The charity still financially sound, Our regular income is growing but we did face enormous increases with our energy costs. We estimated these to grow from an annual cost of around £900 a couple of years ago, to over £4,000 per year and perhaps even higher. This forecast proved to be accurate, but we were successful in obtaining a number of grants which helped us and gave us peace of mind going forward.

		Decisions on what can be spent and on what projects would have been difficult but for this external support from a number of funders.
Statement explaining the policy for holding reserves stating why they are held	Para 1.22	We are a not-for-profit organisation and any surplus at the end of the financial year is always put back into the future running of the institute. All surpluses are used for the benefit of members, and a year’s regular income held in reserves is our aim.
Amount of reserves held	Para 1.22	£54,000
Reasons for holding zero reserves	Para 1.22	Not applicable.
Details of fund materially in deficit	Para 1.24	Not applicable.
Explanation of any uncertainties about the charity continuing as a going concern	Para 1.23	We are confident we have a sound financial structure and operating model, we have a sound membership base and committed Trustees and volunteers, along with with the support of the local community. Unlike last year, our Trustees have no major concerns about the charity continuing as a going concern. We are now actually looking to increase our activities and extend our facilities, thanks to our sound membership numbers and increasing support we seem to have from the local community.

Additional information (optional) You may choose to include further statements where relevant about:

The charity’s principal sources of funds (including any fundraising)	Para 1.47	Income from snooker table usage and membership fees, room hire, refreshment sales, events and small lottery income. More groups used our committee room, which generated more income. We will develop this even further in the coming year once the extension is completed. We now have an Events Group who will increase revenue from this larger space. Our coffee mornings have once again been a major success, as we’ve increased the number of activities we feature on the day. We’ll continue to run internal competitions and exhibition matches. We will run more excursions this coming year. We have a good operating format and have sold out every one we’ve featured. We’ll keep prices as low as possible.

Investment policy and objectives including any social investment policy adopted	Para 1.46	None planned.
A description of the principal risks facing the charity	Para 1.46	We are pleased to be forecasting another increase in regular revenue this financial year. We are not at all complacent, but Trustees feel that now we have our energy costs under control there are no significant risks facing us this coming year.
Other		Not applicable

Structure, Governance and Management

Description of charity’s trusts:		None
Type of governing document (trust deed, royal charter)	Para 1.25	Constitution
How is the charity constituted? (e.g unincorporated association, CIO)	Para 1.25	Charitable Institute
Trustee selection methods including details of any constitutional provisions e.g. election to post or name of any person or body entitled to appoint one or more trustees	Para 1.25	Nominated and seconded by members, appointed at AGM. Election by ballot at AGM if required. Notices for nominations on display one month prior to AGM. Constitution allows for four Honorary Officers and up to four Lifetime Presidents to form a committee of at least six and up to ten. Non-members can be elected as trustees, but have no voting rights.

Additional information (optional) You may choose to include further statements	Additional information (optional) You may choose to include further statements	where relevant about:
Policies and procedures adopted for the induction and training of trustees	Para 1.51	New trustees receive links to The Charity Commission website and are encouraged to read about their role as a Trustee. They receive a copy of our Safeguarding, Health and Safety and Equal Opportunities Policies at their first meeting following their appointment. These policies are all on display on the main notice boards.
The charity’s organisational structure and any wider network with which the charity works	Para 1.51	Chair, Vice Chair, Treasurer, Secretary, one Lifetime President and five other trustees. We currently have no vacancies on the committee. We are an individual charity.
Relationship with any related parties	Para 1.51	Regular contact with Age UK, Newcastle Building Society, Earth Balance, Brightside Adult Services, Buzz Learning, the scouts, NHS and SSAFA.
Other		Networking with similar snooker clubs in the area. Developing our website and social media pages. We now have over 300 members of our own Ashington Community Garden Facebook page, (50 % up from last year) the institute’s main way of informing the public what is happening in the garden. We regularly update our website to show the latest news and activities around the institute. We contact the local press if we feel they might be interested in the activities we run. They have featured a number of our

activities, including our exhibition matches with former World Snooker Champions.

Reference and Administrative details

Charity name	Ashington Veterans and Elders Institute
Other name the charity uses
Registered charity number	1101024
Charity’s principal address	Woodhorn Road Back Ashington Northumberland NE63 9AG

Names of the charity trustees who manage the charity

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20	Trustee name	Office (if any)	Dates acted if not for whole year	Name of person (or body) entitled to appoint trustee (if any)
	William Thompson	Chair
	Lynn Gray	Vice Chair	Aug 2023 to Sept 2023
	Kenneth Hicks	Treasurer
	Keith Green	Secretary
	John Hume	Lifetime President
	Ian Besford	Trustee
	Colin Neary	Trustee
	Alan Oliver	Trustee
	Helen Anderson	Trustee
	Diane Reed	Trustee

– Corporate trustees names of the directors at the date the report was approved

Director name

Name of trustees holding title to property belonging to the charity

Trustee name	Dates acted if not for whole year
Keith Green
John Hume

Funds held as custodian trustees on behalf of others

Description of the assets Not applicable. held in this capacity Name and objects of the Not applicable. charity on whose behalf the assets are held and how this falls within the custodian charity’s objects Details of arrangements for Not applicable. safe custody and segregation of such assets from the charity’s own assets

Additional information (optional)

Names and addresses of advisers (Optional information)

Names and addresses of advisers (Optional information)	Names and addresses of advisers (Optional information)	Names and addresses of advisers (Optional information)
Type of adviser Name Address
Name of chief executive or names of senior staff members (Optional information)

Exemptions from disclosure

Reason for non-disclosure of key personnel details

Other optional information

Declarations

The trustees declare that they have approved the trustees’ report above.

Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees

Signature(s) Full name(s) Position (eg Secretary, Chair, etc) Date	K Green	K Hicks
	Keith Green	Kenneth Hicks
	Secretary	Treasurer
	27.11.2023
	27.11.2023

( Period from: 01-Oct-2022 to 29-Sep-2023)

Ashington Veterans and Elders Institute 2022/23 Profit & Loss Statement Income Category Associate Membership Community Garden Membership Community Garden Income Garden Club Income Competitions Income Chalk & Tips Money Donations Third Party Donations Income Full Membership Grants (Restricted Income) (1) Joicey Trust 2022/23 (2) R W Mann 2022/23 (3) Barbour Foundation 2022/23 (4) NCC E.C.P.I 2022/23 (9) Ashington Town Council 2022/23 (5) James Knott Trust 2022/23 (10) Ashington TC Energy 2022/23 (11) Persimmon Homes 2022/23 (12) The Veterans Foundation 2022/23 (13) National Lottery Coronation Event (14) YAPP Energy 2022/23 (15) NCC Coronation Community Fund (16) John Bell Trust CF 2022/23 (17) Barchester Healthcare 2022/23 (18) Ashington TC Coronation 2022/23 (19) NCC Comm Extension 2022/23 Miscellaneous Income Meters Refreshments Income Room Hire Small Lottery Income Special Events Income Tea & Coffee Money Visitors Fees Total Income Total Grant Income Total Non-Grant Income Expenditure Category Community Garden Expenditure Garden Club Expenditure Competitions Expenditure (3)(5)(10)(12)(14)(16) Gas and Electric Insurance League Fees Maintenance & Repairs Grant Expenditure (1)(2)(3) Table Upgrades 2022 (2)(3)(9)(11)(17) Earth Balance Fitting Out (4) Garden Easter Flower Event (13)(15)(18) Coronation Event May 23 (19) Building Extension Third Party Donations Expenditure Miscellaneous Expense Miscellaneous Supplies Refreshments Expenditure Council Rates Security Small Lottery Expenditure Snooker Equipment/Maintenance Special Events Expenditure Stationery Tea and Coffee Supplies Telephone & Broadband Cleaner Toilet/Cleaning/Kitchen Supplies TV Licence Water Rates Total Expenditure Total Grant Expenditure Total Non-Grant Expenditure Total Profit/Loss Regular Profit/Loss Grant Excess/Depletion Accrued Expenditure Adjusted Regular Profit/Loss	£264.50 £264.50 £46.50 £311.00 £311.00 £4,255.81 £4,566.81 £4,566.81 £23.20 £4,590.01 £1,717.20 £6,307.21 £10,623.00 ######## £2,080.50 ######## ######## £400.00 ######## £1,500.00 ######## £5,000.00 ######## £500.00 ######## £500.00 ######## £5,000.00 ######## £500.00 ######## £1,000.00 ######## £900.00 ######## £2,929.00 ######## £1,000.00 ######## £500.00 ######## £5,000.00 ######## £750.00 ######## £500.00 ######## £5,000.00 ######## £497.57 ######## £5,411.40 ######## £1,971.74 ######## £1,383.00 ######## £109.00 ######## £4,061.40 ######## £569.56 ######## £75.50 ######## £64,068.88 £30,979.00 £33,089.88 £888.55 £888.55 £1,457.94 £2,346.49 £150.00 £2,496.49 £4,839.21 £7,335.70 £928.45 £8,264.15 £48.00 £8,312.15 £498.48 £8,810.63 £8,810.63 £2,709.98 ######## £4,523.70 ######## £260.00 ######## £3,928.99 ######## £298.00 ######## £10,623.00 ######## £1,719.82 ######## ######## £1,442.86 ######## ######## £183.31 ######## £20.00 ######## £68.49 ######## £2,261.00 ######## £144.05 ######## £104.08 ######## £452.67 ######## £450.00 ######## £232.90 ######## £158.70 ######## £367.77 ######## £38,759.95 £11,720.67 £27,039.28 £25,308.93 £6,050.60 £19,258.33 £6,050.60	Balances Cash in hand as at 01-Oct-2022 Opening Bank Balance Available Opening Balance Transferred to Savings A/Cs Transferred from Savings A/Cs Profit (Loss) to 29-Sep-2023 Cash in Hand as at 29-Sep-2023 Current Bank Balance - Accruals for this Year Available Bank Balance + Payments from Previous Year Current Savings Balance Total Cash (including Cash in Hand) ` Funding Grants (1)Joicey Trust 2022/23 (2)R W Mann 2022/23 (3)Barbour Foundation 2022/23 (4)NCC E.C.P.I. 2022/23 (5)James Knott Trust 2022/23 (6)Co-op Society Garden Grant (7)National Garden Society 2021 (8)NCC Covid Grant 2020/21 (9)Ashington Town Council 2022 (10)Ashington TC Energy 2022/2 (11)Persimmon Homes 2022/23 (12)The Veterans Foundation (13)National Lottery Coronation E (14)YAPP Energy 2022/23 (15)NCC Coronation Community (16)John Bell Trust CF 2022/23 (17)Barchester Healthcare 2022/2 (18)Ashington TC Coronation 202 (19)NCC Comm Extension 2022/2	£95.84 £41,020.33 £41,020.33 £60,000.00 £30,000.00 £25,308.93
			£36,425.10
			£339.82 £36,085.28 £36,085.28
			£36,425.10
			£30,000.00
			£66,425.10
			2021/22 /22 /23 3 vent Fund 3 2/23 3

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Independeiit Fxaminers Siatement In connectiun with my exafftindtion. no malters hdve come lo my attt.ntion. whiLh Lybvi% mi. r£'-Iwn41bli¥ 144U%L. lu bL.li*'vi' th11, 111 ar)y rr).iieri.Il re%i)cc.r. Ilie requirements.. 'I'n keep 'iccr)uvling record% iii Jcc()rdince with .%L'Ltiiin IJO of thi. Chdrilies ALI 2011. dnd Tv prL'parL' dLLvunls wIiiLli aLiurd willi (kiL' accounling records and cnn)ply wilh ihe accountin% reqiiiremcnts nf thc ("harities Acr havi. Ix￿.￿ nii.t. SiRned //(_ Ken CA)nroy 7 October 2023