## **Trustees’ Annual Report for the period** **From** 01.10.2023 **Period start date To** 30.09.2024 **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 continued to 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.
We once again ran internal competitions
and held special events including a free
member’s day, two exhibition matches and
six music nights during the year.
We continued to include live acts, 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 projects.| |||We included other organisations like
Northumbria Early Intervention in
Psychosis in our painting workshops.
Our established local guitar group
continued to practice twice a week for most
of the year and small crafts and activity
workshops were held occasionally.
We continued to run excursions, going to
York and Whitby. We sold out both trips,
giving our own members first chance to buy
tickets before opening sales up to the
community.
We combined the Whitby trip with billiards
matches.| |---|---|---| |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 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.
This year we amended our Constitution in
line with Charity Commission guidelines.
At the next meeting following our AGM,
Trustees sign a declaration confirming that
they will act in the interests of our charity.| ## **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. We had a good response from volunteers as we went through various stages of our extension project this year. Around 12 volunteers are involved in running the community garden. More volunteers joined our woodworking project again this year, raising money for local charities. Activities include cutting, painting and selling. Volunteers themselves suggested improvements and new designs all the time. We added clocks and lifeboat items to our range this year. Coffee mornings became an even stronger part of the institute again this year, and our Garden Club members continued to run these events themselves. These continue to be held on the first Saturday of every month, even during the winter. More of our volunteers got involved in these activities this year. One of our volunteers is a member of Ashington Camera Club and he continued to showcase the activities of AVAEI. He continued to photograph our music nights, excursions 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. Another of our volunteers is a talented artist, and he has donated paintings of our premises to be displayed inside the building. Another member runs flower arranging sessions in our activity room. Other ## **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 this year was to
raise enough funding to extend and
modernise the institute, and to deliver the
project on time and without using any of
our reserve finances.
We improved the layout, created a new,
larger activity room, installed a fire alarm,
redecorated and rewired the place, bought
new furniture and equipment and upgraded
our access toilet.
All of this enabled us to increase numbers
at our events. We also created a new
Social Member option – over 30 such
members joined us last year.
We again increased our member numbers,
introduced more Garden Club members
and again encouraged more women to get
involved in our activities. 47 females were
members at the end of the year.
One of our Trustees who was appointed
Deputy Lieutenant to The Duchess of
Northumberland in 2023, has been active
in the community, attending functions,
helping with community projects and
presenting awards.
We once again had representatives attend
the Royal Garden Party at Buckingham
Palace.
For third 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. Live music
being one example.
We maintained links with ASDA, and
Newcastle Building Society.
We continued to sell our popular charity
products at our coffee mornings, which
again generated more revenue for us.
Local crafts and jewellery groups continued
to be part of our coffee mornings, and we
invited other local charities to fundraise at
these monthly events.| We have now sold over 3,800 products and raised over £30,000 for the NHS and SSAFA locally and now for the RNLI at Newbiggin. We had stalls at several Town Council events including their Christmas lights switch-on and their Summer Fair, which again allowed us to sell these items to people from outside of our local community. Our social media groups now have over 700 members, and our website is again fully-up to date. ## **Additional information (optional)** You may choose to include further statements where relevant about: |Achievements against
objectives set|Para 1.41|We once again kept our table fees the
same as previous years.
We kept our annual subscriptions the same
as the previous year.
We increased our membership numbers,
and we broadened our activities and
increased numbers attending them.| |---|---|---| |Performance of fundraising
activities against objectives
set|Para 1.41|We again raised money from our
refreshments sales, coffee mornings, room
hire and selling through our Small Lotteries
Licence.
Our excursions, music nights and exhibition
matches also helped increase revenue.
Our coffee mornings are now a major
income stream for us and help us with our
connections with the local community. We
continued to hold them every month, even
during the winter.| |Investment performance
against objectives|Para 1.41|We do not invest anywhere, other than
through our savings account at Lloyd’s
Bank.| |Other||| ## **Financial Review** |**Financial Review**||| |---|---|---| |Review of the charity’s
financial position at the end
of the period|Para 1.21|Trustees were once again very happy with
the financial position at the end of the year.
The charity is still financially sound,
Our regular income is growing and we
were happy that energy costs seemed to
be levelling off after worrying increases in
recent years.
We produce regular projections on revenue
and expenditure which ensures we have
constant awareness of our present and
anticipated finances.| |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|£60,046| |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|Trustees have no major concerns about
the charity continuing as a going concern.| ## **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.
Room hire will increase this year.
Exhibition matches, internal competitions,
music nights, coffee mornings and activity
sessions.| |---|---|---| |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|Nothing anticipated, but an aging
membership is always a concern in case
membership numbers fall.
We have locked energy costs into longer-
term contracts so uncertainty with potential
increases is not as much of a concern.| |||| Other ## **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.
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 can 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.
This year we amended our Constitution in
line with Charity Commission guidelines.
At the next meeting following our AGM,
Trustees sign a declaration confirming that
they will act in the interests of our charity.| |The charity’s organisational
structure and any wider
network with which the
charity works|Para 1.51|Chair, Vice Chair, Treasurer, Secretary,
and six other trustees. We currently have
no vacancies on the committee.
One Lifetime President acts as an Advisor
but is not now one of our ten Trustees
following our las AGM.
We are an individual charity.| |---|---|---| |Relationship with any
related parties|Para 1.51|Regular contact with Age UK, Newcastle
Building Society, Earth Balance, RNLI,
NHS and SSAFA.| |Other||Networking with similar snooker clubs in
the area and in wider locations.
Developing our website and social media
pages. We now have over 700 members of
our own Ashington Community Garden
Facebook page, (double last year) the
institute’s main way of informing the public
what is happening in the garden and
around the institute itself.
We regularly update our website to show
the latest news and activities around the
institute.
We contact the local press and local radio
station if we feel they might be interested in
the activities we run.| ## **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||| ||Kenneth Hicks|Treasurer||| ||Lynn Gray|Vice Chair||| ||Keith Green|Secretary||| ||Ian Besford|Trustee||| ||Alan Oliver|Trustee||| ||Diane Reed|Trustee||| ||Colin Neary|Trustee||| ||Helen Anderson|Trustee||| ||John Hume|Lifetime President||| |||||| |||||| |||||| |||||| |||||| |||||| |||||| |||||| |||||| |||||| ## – 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**|Keith Green|Kenneth Hicks| |---|---|---| ||Keith Green|Kenneth Hicks| ||
Secretary|Treasurer| ||09.11.2024|| ||09.11.2024|| **( Period from: 01-Oct-2023 to 30-Sep-2024)** ## **Balances** ||||||Cash in hand as at 01-Oct-2023||£339.82| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| ||||||Opening Bank Balance|£36,085.28|| ||||||Available Opening Balance|£36,085.28|| |**Ashington Veterans and Elders Institute 2023/24**|||||Transferred to Savings A/Cs|£60,000.00|| ||||||Transferred from Savings A/Cs|£60,000.00|| |**Profit & Loss Statement**|||||Profit (Loss) to 30-Sep-2024|(£6,377.67)|| |||||||£30,047.43|| |**Income**|Category||||||| ||Associate Membership||£150.00|£150.00|Cash in Hand as at 30-Sep-2024||£495.99| ||Community Garden Membership||£69.50|£219.50|Current Bank Balance|£29,551.44|| ||Community Garden Income|||£219.50|- Accruals for this Year||| ||Garden Club Income||£5,203.65|£5,423.15|Available Bank Balance|£29,551.44|| ||Competitions Income|||£5,423.15|+ Payments from Previous Year||| ||Chalk & Tips Money||£20.40|£5,443.55||£30,047.43|| ||Donations|||£5,443.55|||| ||Third Party Donations Income||£4,366.26|£9,809.81|Current Savings Balance|£30,000.00|| ||Full Membership||£2,107.00|########|Total Cash (including Cash in Hand)|£60,047.43|| ||Social Membership||£390.00|########|||| ||**Grants (Restricted Income)**|||########|||| |**(18)**|Roy and Pixie Baker Trust 2023/24||£1,000.00|########|||| |**(13)**|W A Handley Trust 2023/24||£5,000.00|########|||| |**(14)**|C.F. (Coquet Fund) 2023/24||£4,000.00|########|||| |**(15)**|National Lottery 2023/24||£6,500.00|########|||| |**(9)**|ASDA Foundation 2023/24||£400.00|########|||| |**(10)**|Comm Action North'Land|2023/24|£500.00|########|||| |**(12)**|Ashington LP 2023/24||£20,000.00|########|||| |**(11)**|Co-op Grant 2023/24||£1,429.22|########|||| |**(16)**|Ballinger Trust 2023/24||£21,000.00|########|`||| |**(17)**|YAPP 2023/24||£1,000.00|########|||| |**(19)**|Wolfson Foundation 2023/24||£22,500.00|########|||| |**(20)**|Barbour Foundation 2023/24||£4,000.00|########|||| |**(21)**|R W Mann 2023/24||£1,000.00|########|||| ||Miscellaneous Income||£1,215.02|########|||| ||Meters||£5,452.40|########|||| ||Refreshments Income||£2,419.53|########|||| ||Room Hire||£576.00|########|||| ||Small Lottery Income|||########|||| ||Special Events Income||£3,428.92|########|||| ||Tea & Coffee Money||£516.99|########|||| ||Visitors Fees||£71.50|########|||| |||**Total Income**|£114,316.39||||| |||**Total Grant Income**|£88,329.22||||| ||**Total Non-Grant Income**||£25,987.17||||| |**Expenditure**|Category||||||| ||Community Garden Expenditure||£52.98|£52.98|||| ||Garden Club Expenditure||£1,758.08|£1,811.06|||| ||Competitions Expenditure|||£1,811.06|||| |**(2)(6)(17)**|Gas and Electric||£4,037.52|£5,848.58|||| ||Insurance||£1,218.77|£7,067.35|||| ||League Fees|||£7,067.35|||| ||Maintenance & Repairs||£109.13|£7,176.48|||| ||**Grant Expenditure**|||£7,176.48|||| |**(5)**|Earth Balance Fitting Out||£110.49|£7,286.97|||| |**(8,12,13,14,15)(16)(18)(19)(20)(21)** Building Extension|||£98,807.18|########|||| |**(1)**|NCC E.C.P.I. 2022/23||£168.05|########|||| |**(9)**|Volunteers thank you music night||£386.17|########|||| |**(10)(11)**|Pro-Score Snooker/Billiards Equipment||£1,824.51|########|||| ||Third Party Donations Expenditure||£4,366.26|########|||| ||Miscellaneous Expense||£1,455.67|########|**(1)**NCC E.C.P.I. 2022/23||| ||Miscellaneous Supplies|||########|**(2)**James Knott Trust 2022/23||| ||Refreshments Expenditure||£1,853.33|########|**(3)**Co-op Society Garden Grant 2021/22||| ||Council Rates|||########|**(4)**NCC Covid Grant 2020/21||| ||Security||£114.40|########|**(5)**Persimmon Homes 2022/23||| ||Small Lottery Expenditure||£20.00|########|**(6)**John Bell Trust CF 2022/23||| ||Snooker Equipment/Maintenance||£816.73|########|**(7)**NCC Covid Grant 2021/22||| ||Special Events Expenditure||£1,064.00|########|**(8)**NCC Comm Extension 2022/23||| ||Stationery||£127.67|########|**(9)**ASDA Foundation 23/24||| ||Tea and Coffee Supplies||£155.16|########|**(10)**Comm Action Northumberland 2023/24||| ||Telephone & Broadband||£697.96|########|**(11)**Co-op Grant for 23/24||| ||Cleaner||£847.15|########|**(12)**Ashington LP 2023/24||| ||Toilet/Cleaning/Kitchen Supplies||£198.38|########|**(13)**W A Handley Trust 2023/24||| ||TV Licence||£159.00|########|**(14)**C.F. Coquet Fund 23/24||| ||Water Rates||£345.47|########|**(15)**National Lottery 23/24||| ||||||**(16)**Ballinger Trust 2023/24||| |||**Total Expenditure**|£120,694.06||**(17)**YAPP 2023/24||| ||**Total Grant Expenditure**||£101,296.40||**(18)**Roy and Pixie Baker Trust 23/24||| ||**Total Non-Grant Expenditure**||£19,397.66||**(19)**Wolfson Foundation 2023/24||| ||||||**(20)**Barbour Foundation 2023/24||| |||**Total Profit/Loss**|(£6,377.67)||**(21)**R W Mann 2023/24||| ||**Regular Profit/Loss**||£6,589.51||||| ||**Grant Excess/Depletion**||(£12,967.18)||||| ||||||||| ||**Accrued Expenditure**||||||| ||**Adjusted Regular Profit/Loss**||£6,589.51||||| From: Ken Conroy 6 Carolyn Cres Whitley Bay NE26 3ED Phone." 01912530863 Mob: 07514498558 Ashington Veterans and Elders Institute Back Woodhorn Road Ashington NE63 9AG To Chair of Trustees, I report on the receipts and payments accounts for the Institute for the year ending 30 September 2024. The trustees are responsible for the preparation of the accounts. The trustees consider than an audit is not required for this year under section 144(2) of the Charities Act 2011 and that an independent examination is needed. l am satisfied that the charity is eligible for an independent examination. An independent examination is a form of external scrutiny that provides a limited check on specifkc matters. This limited form of check contrasts with an audit. I am only required to confirm whether any material matters of concern have come to my attention. whilst an auditor is required to provide an opinion on whether a chariws accounts give a 'true and fair view. As an independent examiner it is my responsibility to: Examine the accounts under section 145 of the Charity Act, Follow the procedures specified in the general directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5b) of the Charity Act, State whether any particular matters have come to my attention. My examination was carrled out in accordance with the directions given by the Charity Commission. The examinatRon included a review of the accounting records maintained by the charity and a comparison to the accounts presented with those records. It also includes consideration of any unusual items or disclosures in the accounts and seeking explanations concerning such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required in an audit and consequently no opinion is given as to whether the accounts present a 'true and fair, view. The report is limited to those matters set out in the following statement Independent Examiners Statement In connection with my examination, no matters have come to my attention, which gives me reasonable cause to believe that, in any material respect, the requirements: To keep accounting records in accordance with section 130 of the Charities Act 2011, and To prepare accounts which accord with the accounting records and comply with the accounting requirements of the Charities Act have been met. Signed Ken Conroy 16 October 2024