## **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
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