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← Enfield Borough Over 50s Forum

2025-03-31-accounts

Entield Borough Over 50s Forum

AnHhUAl Annual Report RepoOre

For the year ending 31st March 2025

This report to be presented at the Forum’s Annual General Meeting in the Chamber at Enfi eld’s Civic Centre on Tuesday 24 June 2025.

“Helping our members keep active, involved and healthy” “Helping cur menbeus Reep active, imuolued! aumal frecubtifigy’”

Registered Charity No. 1122859

June 2025

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Executive Committee 2024/25
Acting Chair Vivien Giladi Social Events Team
Secretary Tony Watts Roy Barrows
Vice Chair Peter Smith Heather Cole
Treasurer George Rufai Liz Fox
Health Team Lead Vivien Giladi
Olivia Goodfellow
Newsletter Editor Yvonne Mulder
Jan Oliver
Members: Clifford Appadoo
Jacky Pearce
Vicki Pite
Sue Scott
Talat Shaikh
Peter Smith Graham Thomas
Fund Raisers Jim Cantle
Finance Committee
Lynn Cantle John Ball
George Rufai
Tony Watts
Offi ce Staff Development & Offi ce Manager Ruth Fathaddine
Administration Assistant Diane Barron
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Representation on external organisations

John Ball:

Chair, Outer North London Companions Friendship centre Vice-Chair, Greater London Forum for Older People

Vivien Giladi:

Enfi eld Partnership Board CCG Access to Services group North Central London ICP/Enfi eld Clinical Commissioning Group’s Voluntary Community& Stakeholder Reference Group (VCSRG) group Working meetings on Isolation

Talat Shaikh:

MCEC Trustee & V.Chair NLCoM Committee member Faith Forum for London Member Enfi eld Faith Forum Member Brunswich Park Medical centre PPG Chair & Director of North London Adult Care

Peter Smith:

ASLEF representative and Executive Member on the NPC London Region. Patient Representative Forum (PRF) and Public Led Assessment of Care Environment (PLACE) at the North Middlesex University Hospital. Heathwatch Public Involvement Association

Vicki Pite:

Enfi eld in Bloom

Tony Watts:

Enfi eld Voluntary Sector Steering Group AgeUK National Policy Sounding Board

Forum Club and Group Organisers

Book Club Bingo Club Coffee Club Film Making Group

Sue Scott Lunch Club Sue Scott Jim & Lynn Cantle Lottery Peter Smith Sue Scott Poetry Group Brian Darby Jan Oliver Writers Group Hazel Kinsler

2

REVIEW OF YEAR

Tour Forum. Health, longevity and personal circumstances within our board of trustees resulted in uncertainty as to whether the Forum could continue to serve the older society in Enfi eld. However, a drive to get fresh blood has resulted in a number of talented and enthusiastic members with excellent skills coming forward to fi ll key positions and who will be nominated at our forthcoming Annual General Meeting,

Among those who have resigned as trustees are Vivien Giladi – our health guru, Yvonne Mulder – the newsletter editor, George Rufai – the treasurer, We have been extraordinarily fortunate to have benefi ted from their enthusiasm and the

skills they have used to great advantage over the many years they have been working for you - our members. For this support we must thank them. We must also thank our two staff – Ruth Fathaddine and Diane Barron for their patience and support during this uncertain and stressful period.

Throughout this time of uncertainty, the good news is that our social events team has continued to manage an imaginative programme of trips, holidays and gatherings. Equally, our clubs and interest groups have all prospered and met regularly throughout the year. With the talented group of members who we expect to be elected at the fortcoming AGM the future looks good.

MEETINGS PROGRAMME

During the year we arranged regular talks on topics of specifi c interest to older people in Enfi eld. We thank these speakers wholeheartedly for imparting their knowledge and Enfi eld Council for use of the Civic Chamber each month.

Last years Annual General Meeting with our keynote speaker, John McGeachey, talking about campaigning on older peoples issues.

3

Environment and Climate

Health Issues 2024/25

The Forum’s mission statement is to help keep older people healthy, active and informed. Health issues have been a major focus throughout the year from articles within the Forum’s newsletter, many of our meetings and presentations from speakers.

For many years Vivien Giladi has been the lead trustee for the Forum on health matters and represented us on a variety of local and national bodies. She ensured that our collective views were listened to by the health services and that their priorites were brought to the attention of older people. Sadly, Vivien stood down as a trustee during the year and on behalf of all members, we thank her for the real contribution she has made on our behalf.

One of our key contributors on health matters has been Glenn Stewart, Assistant Director of Public Health for Enfi eld. His key messages in our newsletters have included:

Besides these important messages we have had presentations from speakers on other health issues:

Through the year we have kept members up to date with local developments related to climate change and the environment, such as Energetik’s controversial District Heat Network using hot water from the Edmonton incinerator. However, the most signifi cant feature of the Forum’s work related to the environment during the past year has been to ensure members are aware of Enfi eld Council’s Local Plan.

The Local Plan is for 25 years and will change the physical, environmental, economic and social landscapes for generations to come. Members will be aware of the national housing crisis, created by a decade or more of government inaction, and the blighted lives of homeless families living in temporary accommodation at huge cost to the public purse.

The Local Plan provides for tens of thousands of homes to be built in Enfi eld, many of them “affordable” and our Forum applauds this. However, to achieve this the Council intends to build two very large developments on the Green Belt which our fi gures show is unnecessary. We support the “brownfi eld fi rst” policy of both the Mayor of London and the Government and consider that there is suffi cient brownfi eld land in Enfi eld to meet the need for homes.

We are concerned too that provision for older people’s accommodation does not comply with national regulations or the London Plan.

The Local Plan must be examined independently by a national Planning Inspector to determine whether it is “sound”. The lead up to this judgement consisted of several rounds of complex assessments, policy creation and consultation over almost a decade at a cost of £7 million so far, followed by public hearings that began this Spring and will continue into the Summer.

The Forum has played an active part at each stage, responding to consultations, preparing Hearing Statements in response to the Inspector’s questions and attending the hearings in public. There is more to come and we await the Inspector’s fi nal judgements and his a3 .

Le Firs Farm Wetland

4

Forum in Focus

The Forum’s newsletters have been posted out to all members and affi liate organisations every other month throughout the year. Our April 2024 issue focused on important issues such as:

All such issues are of real concern to our members and the older community. Other important campaign issues dealt with include:

A number of lead stories in the newsletters dealt with the need to fi nd a tranche of new trustees to deliver our mission statement of keeping older people active and informed in order to meet the challenges of our changing society,

The newsletter also promotes the extensive range of social and group activities (all organised /run by volunteers) and keeps people up to date with our fund-raising activities.

Publishing the newsletter is costly and we thank the advertisers and sponsors who help to fund the printing and postage. Lastly we thank the volunteers who write for, edit and proofread the newsletter and those who work to send it out.

5

Clubs and Groups

Clubs and Groups

Lunch Club

Members are fortunate to have so many opportunities to socialize, make new friends and expand our knowledge and fun factor? We also have a wide range of clubs that members are welcome join and these are as listed follows: Coffee club; Poetry group; Book Club; Crafts Club; Lunch Club; Garden Group[; Love dogs group; Whats app cinema group; Writing group; Bingo club; Film making group; Candlelit concerts group.

The club now meets four times a year at venues carefully selected with regard to prices, parking and ease of travel.

Poetry Group

4th Thursday of the month between 10:30am and noon in the Community Meeting Room of the Enfi eld Town Library to share, discuss and enjoy poetry and lyrical prose on a wide range of themes suggested in advance by our group members. Membership has seen a 30% increase over the past twelve months

Film Making Group (EBOFF).

comedies and 3 longer dramas). We fund ourselves by organising occasional fi lm and quiz events. Our fi lms are fun to make and often have some kind of social meaning – so this year we made one about loneliness, one about a missing woman and one about the consequences of searching out old fl ames. The latter fi lm (The Last Date) won a 4 star award and was shown at ns: the British International Amateur Me a et Film Festival in Birmingham. We were competing with international My Perfect Valentine fi lms often made by aspiring fi lm

directors and actors. So pretty good for an amateur

group with little experience and no funding!! We are looking forward to next year and are planning a ghost fi lm, fi lms about hoarding, dementia and work problems. We welcome Quiz runners up new aspiring actors or actresses as well as those who like to come in as extras.

WhatsApp Cinema Group

This is a new type of group allowing members to make arrangements to see local fi lms together at short notice. It has been very successful with around 40 members. As well as viewing local fi lms, we also review them for the benefi t of the rest of the group. We anticipate this may be the forerunner for other ways of organising groups. New members are always welcome, all that is needed is a smartphone and the willingness to participate in WhatsApp groups.

Book Club

During the past year, the Book Club has been going from strength to strength. We have had a wide range of books from A Town Like Alice to Songbirds, from Remembering Babylon to Crossing the Line. Members give a voluntary donation of £1 towards room hire and a donation to the Forum. We welcome new members and tend to get between 14 and 20 attendees at each meeting.

Coffee Club

The club met regularly every month at the Skylight Restaurant in Pearsons, where a space is reserved for us. We get an average 14 people attending depending on the weather.

and all are welcome. Poetic contributions, these may be either self-penned or the work of poets we personally admire. We’re happy to lend an ear to all forms of poetry; be it haiku, limerick, sonnet or epic saga, classic or contemporary, blank verse or rhyme. Even the occasional song lyric gets a hearing. To quote Cole Porter, anything goes! We simply share what we personally like and learn from each other in convivial fellowship. Lively conversation in a friendly atmosphere is the norm and though we may not be big on literary criticism; we’re always enjoy each other’s work. As ever, we guarantee a warm welcome to all newcomers and as you can see, we’re not a dull lot.

The clubs and groups social events are open to all. Members are welcome, particularly those joining in for the fi rst time and those coming on their own.

The Social Team is a small dedicated group and are always looking for new and challenging destinations to keep the membership happy. We are already planning for the coming year and beyond, so please keep supporting our efforts as it gives us feedback that we are getting it right!

If you can come and join us, we meet informally over lunch at Enfi eld Golf Club.. Particularly welcome would be offers to arrange theatre outings and evening meals, walks or day trips and ideas for freedom pass trips into London which don’t cost anything!!!

6

Social Committee Programme

The Forum has seen yet another year of varied and wonderful social opportunities from our small but very dedicated team.

Below are some of the offerings made by the small team of volunteers, who work tirelessly to keep the range and cost of our events in mind.

The Team arranged the following events during the year:

Liverpool city break

Turkey trip

Argentina trip

Fountains Hall visit

Note

.

(XX) = Initials of the Social Committee member listed in the inside cover of this report

Forum members socialising together

7

Fundraising - Bingo and the Lottery

Bingo Club

The Bingo Club started on 14th February 2019 with about 20 members in Malones cafe in Enfi eld Town. Many of the original members still partipate and we now meet at Jubilee Hall, Parsonage Lane. This is as much a social club as a bingo club and we meet every Monday including Bank Holidays. Doors open at 1pm and start with announcements at 2pm, play fi ve games, do the raffl e, have a break and resume for the last fi ve games.

June’s jokes are also a regular feature of the afternoon. For the sessions we have plenty of helpers. It costs £1 to get in to cover hall costs, John sells the bingo books for £2 a book for fi ve games and £4 a book for 10 games. We sell raffl e tickets with three cash prizes and these are usually drawn by our caller, Georgia.

The kitchen is well organised by Monica who provides tea and coffee for members who do need to bring their own mugs. A lottery based bonus ball game is run by Mary who also helps in the kitchen, with John and Yvonne set out the tables with Harry fi lling in when needed.

At our Jubilee Hall December meeting we have a festive party with all the trimmings including music, dancing etc to which everyone is welcome. Attendance averages at over 40 and the record was 55 players. We are proud of this achievement of having raised almost £20,000 for the Forum’s fi nances.

For more details contact Jim & Lynne Cantle on 0208 363 4969.

200 club

The 200 club lottery began in August 2015 and since that time have paid out £8700 in prizes. One lucky member has won £700 after his number was drawn on four occasions. During this time we have raised over £4,500 for the Forum. This amount was used to update our public address system equipment and helps towards the cost of producing our newsletter. Your committee thanks all the participants for their support.

The lottery is open to members, relatives, friends and neighbours over 18 years of age. At the moment the prize has reached £250 per month and when we have 200 members the prize will be £500 per month. Each number costs £5.00 per month which can be paid monthly by standing order, quarterly, six monthly, or annually by cash, cheque or card. Members can have as many numbers as they want.

The draw each month is made at the Civic Centre meeting and if the winner is not at the meeting they will be contacted for the cheque to be presented. The lottery is now run by Peter Smith and Ruth Fathaddine.

For further information or to discuss any aspect of the lottery please ring the Forum Offi ce.

Forum Fundraisers Jim & Lynne Cantle

Bingo helpers with Jim Cantle

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Tneeding to question its future continuance.he year 2024/5 has been turbulent with the Forum

However, at the extraordinary meeting in October a number of members came forward to take on trustee roles it was agreed that the Forum was needed by the older generation in Enfi eld.

Trustees will need to be endorsed at the AGM to meet with the Charity Commission’s requirements and we can look towards the new committee to regenergise our Forum. As noted elsewhere in the report although our income and total membership has declined our clubs, groups and social programmes continue to thrive. With a drive on membership and good house keeping look forward to acheiving our successes of previous years.

and Diane Barron, our adminstration assistant, have held the Forum together in this diffi cult period and we appreciate and thank them for their forebearance.

We must also thank our IT computer team - Clifford Appadoo, Jean-Claude Rassabi, Chris Chinnery and Aaron Charles for their efforts in upgrading our systems and working towarda a more user friendly database. All of this should reduce our annual processing costs. Chris Chinnery maintains our website and supports our network provider, Ruth Fathaddine manages our eNews and Diane Barron our Facebook page.

Georg Rufai acts as our accountant is handing over as Treasurer at the AGM. We thank them all for their efforts and stewardship over this fi nancial year,

Following the retirement of our newsletter editor, Yvonne Mulder we are gradually sorting out the editorial and the costs of maintaining a regular newsletter - the bedrock of our communications with members. Here we thank our other volunteers, both new and longstanding, who write the articles for the newsletters and those who manage the distribution. We are also thankful for those who advertise with us.

Our staff also from time to time arrange dance classes, Zumba sessions, coffee and cake mornings and board games at the Millfi eld centre.More activities for our members ae at the planning stage.

We are poud of the Forum’s role in promoting social inclusion and applaud the work of all our volunteers who run regular social events, outings and help in the offi ce.

There are plenty of opportunities for members to use their skills and efforts for the benefi t our older community, be it as a committee member, helping at events, stuffi ng envelopes for the newsletter, etc. Such involvement gets you out of the home, you meet other people and make friends - all very rewarding.

. All members are welcome to participate in any of the Forum’s groups, clubs and activities. Please look in the latest Newsletter for up to date information or contact the Forum Offi ce for details.

Finance

Our annual accounts in Appendix 2 shows that the expenditure exceeded income by £20,000 similar to the defi cit in the previous year 2024. However, our income from membership subscription fell by £15,000. These defi cits are partly caused by the reduced nature of the membership in part explained by the impact Covid had on membership numbers. To boost the increase in membership income, the executive agreed to increase the membership fees to £13 and £20 for a single and a couple respectively. However, it is too early to see this increase manifest to higher membership fees income.

The new trustee board has the task of revitalising our strategic objectives to reduce costs and increase income to the levels achieved prior to the Covid pandemic. Our current members can help this objective by encouraging friends and other over 50s to join the Forum and supporting our fundraising activities.

We thank Pisa Das and George Rufai for their diligence in managing our fi nanees and producing the end of year accounts and couple this with a vote of thanks to Kathy Hall who was the independent examiner for the year ending March 2025.

The accounts also show that our total reserves now stand at £68,000 of which £50,000 is an historical amount set aside should the Forum be forced to close.

9

APPENDIX I

Age UK Enfi eld BHP Bowls, Tennis and Social Club Enfi eld & Southgate Workers Educational Association

Enfi eld Asian Welfare Association Enfi eld Croquet Club Enfi eld Light Operatic & Dramatic Society Enfi eld Over 50s Fun Group Enfi eld U3A Gardening Friends Grovelands Bowling Club Knit and Natter Mayfi eld Athletic Table Tennis Club North London Adult Care North London Morning Orchestra

Oakwood Art Circle

Oakwood Horticultural Society Palmers Green & Southgate U3A Probus Club of Enfi eld Selborne Bowling Club Southgate Opera Group The Arts Society of Enfi eld The Enfi eld Arts Circle

The Historical Association -North London Branch The Rotary Club of Edmonton The Walkabouts Rambling Group Weir Hall Ratepayers Winchmore Folk Dance Club Winchmore Hill Bowling Club

The Forum thanks our affi liates for their continuing support throughout the year. In return the Forum promotes their activities and programmes in our newsletters, eNews and website. Affi liates can also insert their leafl ets in our mail-outs for a nominal cost.

The Walkabouts Rambling Group

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APPENDIX 2 EN￿ELD BOROUGH OVER 50S FORUM IRegi5tered Charrty numlw 11228591 RECEIPTS AND PAYMEKfs ACCOUNTfortheyearended 315t March 2025. Notsstothe A¢¢ounts RECEIPTS 2024125 202N24 1 Subs¢ription$- Indudes advance payments recaved for 2024125 and onvdrds and from lrfe memters. Unrestricted Restiicted Unrestricted 20,988.00 34.866.00 6,788.00 4.811.00 12320.00 10.966.00 4137.00 4.855.00 6,000.00 1.778.00 Subscriptions Grants andlordonations Newsjetteradvertising Grft Aid Tax refur 200 Club Lottery contritrAJt'I Bank interest Legacy Soaa Events OverlEad reo)very Staff saanes 2 Fund raising and Donations This iThJudes suwuses from the 200 Club. Bingo session aThJ rafi&4 during the year 71.00 3 Newsletter advertising indudes SUPPOrt by Stennet & Slennel. Ge￿ge TtrAJli- Burfinglon Weaih Management, H(fft Instead and Wn()more Hill Bo￿5 Club. 53,801.Th1 55.569.(MJ 4 GIftAkl darr6 uptD 31st Marth 2025 have been r￿1Ved PAYMENTS S Trips and Events. As showr on pJJe 6 ollhis repK¥t. the Foium oiganised numerous events and Iripsfor pullic benefit. L￿1 Eventswere orgain5ed which indud&l Any defiat in the year is dueto advan￿ Sup￿ler staff saaries, NIC, Pen New￿eter Design and Printing New￿etter wstsge and ddNery Stationery oriTr FQStage aThJ tdephone offi￿ equipments offi￿ rent and hall hire mi￿lIene0uS expenses Insurance Fals and Flu Day Heal & Eal Governan 45.1XOO 7,326.00 11,533.00 1,929.00 83.00 1018.00 {753.00 42.782.C 7.662.00 10.966. 2.686.00 218.00 2.637.34 6.956.00 6 Interest Acccrned- Amount ￿1ved as interest from sawng the reserved fund in Sh&¥brcKJk Bank 557.00 859.00 135. 165. 7 RaseN• Polky In &xthartewrth the rewmmendth.on fv(m the Chanty Cotnmission WÈ have trÈatÈd a C(rtingen¢y Reserve Fund to ptovidefor 6 nv)Ihs $￿a￿e$. ￿nIs. Wundan¢y. ￿fUnd part subscnpb.on fvom life mem￿$ and fees rettived in advartt from members 8nd other expendrture in the event the F(xurn d05ing down. 7329&W 0.00 75.486.34 SurpluWOv•tspend .19,4XW O.ThJ -19.919.34 ActivTiies for member5: Net receipts from trip5 Net receipts from events $83.47 771.26 .385 Total net receipts for the year .19,879.rAI 0.00 -18.W.61 FUNDS GENERAL FUND Balance 1st Aprll 2024 forthe year. Unrestrlct8d - R•strlctsd 3828&fy) -19,879.55 om S8,016￿5 -19,731.55 BalarKe 31$t March 2025 18A0&45 38,28&Th) This stat¢menl of Re¢eipts and Paym•nts and Notes to the a¢¢tsurts forthe year effid￿ 31st Mar¢h 2025 was p￿pared by Georg Rufai and apwoved by the Finan¢• SulKtynmitte¢. R$pr•sentsd by Bank balances and cash Bank Balan¢¢s- Bar¢lays A¢￿￿nts CAF Bank Intsrest at Shawbrook Bank Cash in hand 16.121.IKI 23,403.(IJ 12,653.fMI 2,179. .00 2241.¢10 Thi5 Statemert of Receipts and Payments and Note5 to the accounts foTthe year ended 31st March 2025 was Independenty Examined by: 18A1100 38,28&1XI CONMNGENCY RESERVE FUNO Babarbce 1st April 2024 and 31st March 2025 7 Kathken M Hall 50,000. 50,0M. 31st May 2025 li

Forum Activities include:

Meetings, Conferences, Special events and projects, Drop-ins, Advice sessions, working with Fusion Social programmes: Holidays: Trips; Theatre Visits, Lunches, Dinners, Walks. Groups: Writing; Readers; Poetry; Whats App Cine Club; Film Making; Coffee Club.

Tel: 020 8807 2076 Registered Charity 1122859 www.enfi eldover50sforum.org.uk