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bY4 HuntingdonshireV olunteerCentre

Trustees Annual Report

2024—2025

‘ Supporting Huntingdonshire Communities Through Volunteering ’

Registered Office

St Georges House

14 George Street

Huntingdon PE29 3GH

info@huntsvc.org.uk www.huntsvc.org.uk

Registered Charity: 1126811 Company Number: 6726114

Thank you to our supporters!

Thank you to all of our supporters for donating their time and shared their skills for our benefit and that of the local community.

Thank you also to those who have fundraised on our behalf or made individual donations, to our local councils for their continued support and to our amazing team of volunteers – without you we would not be able to deliver our services!

Your actions have greatly encouraged us and helped us to continue to deliver our services locally, across Huntingdonshire.

For your support during the financial year 2024/2025—We thank you!

Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Combined Authority, Town Councils: St Ives, St Neots, Ramsey, Huntingdon, Godmanchester, Parish Councils: Fenstanton, Bury, Houghton and Wyton Huntingdon Freemen’s Trust, Ramsey Wind Farm Community Benefit Fund, The Hunts Post, Kimbolton Dental Studio and Winter & Company.

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Trustees

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Mike Baker Anthony Clarke Jenny Clarke Robert Young Chris Myles
Chair Vice-Chair / Secretary Treasurer
Payroll
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eo 4PD i ‘
Richard Brown Dennis Steve Burdett Natalie Leigh- Russell Taylor
Camilleri Brown
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The Charity may by ordinary resolution at an Annual General Meeting appoint a person who is willing to act as a Trustee.

At least 14 clear days written notice shall be given to the members of the names of those nominated or otherwise standing for appointment or re-appointment as a Trustee.

The persons to be appointed as Trustees shall be determined by ballot of the members.

The Trustees may appoint a person who is willing to act as a Trustee.

Any Trustee appointed under this clause must retire at the next Annual General Meeting.

Staff

Marie Webb General Manager

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Tripti Woolf Natalie Goodwin
Huntingdon & Ramsey Area
Godmanchester Manager
Area Manager
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Kirsty Fletcher
St Ives Area
Manager
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Shona Martin Emma Cameron
St Neots Area Huntingdon Shop
Manager Manager
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Huntingdon Office: The Maple Centre, 6 Oak Drive, Huntingdon, PE29 7HN. 01480 414766 huntngdon@huntsvc.org.uk

Ramsey Office: Town Council Offices, Great Whyte, Ramsey, PE26 1HG. 01487 814117 ramsey@huntsvc.org.uk

St Ives Office: Town Hall, Market Hill, St Ives, PE27 5AL. 01480 301462 stves@huntsvc.org.uk

St Neots Office: Community Building, 6a South Street, St Neots, PE19 2BW. 01480 476047 stneots@huntsvc.org.uk

Huntingdon Together Shop: 1 Princes Street, PE29 3PA 01480 700290 biz@huntsvc.org.uk General Manager: 07718 272524 info@huntsvc.org.uk

www.huntsvc.org.uk

Chairman’s Report 2024/2025

Mike Baker

Thanks to the hard work of our staff and Trustees, we have enjoyed another very busy year with our car scheme, measured either by number of journeys or by number of miles travelled reaching record levels. Our major concern is a worrying worsening in our financial situation, resulting from declining income and increased expenditure. The reason for our falling income is twofold – a sudden reduction in grants from local councils and a fall in sales from our charity shop in Huntingdon.

We have tried to keep local councillors in all of our town councils fully aware of the work we do and its importance in the lives of so many people and perhaps it’s time for our clients to let local councillors know about this – if you can do this then please do so by writing to them. The financial situation at the moment is not likely to close us down, but it is serious and does cause us great concern.

The role of the Trustees is to appoint staff and set general policy guidelines. Our Trustees do much more than this – researching funding opportunities, applying for grants and looking at strategy for the organisation. My thanks goes to all of our Trustees – in particular Bob Young, our Treasurer, Jenny Clarke, our Secretary, Anthony Clarke and Dennis Camilleri, who have worked hard on strategy and finance and Steve Burdett who has looked after the Ramsey office so well and taken on a number of initiatives on fundraising. We welcome new Trustees, Natalie Leigh-Brown, who was the St Ives Office Manager a few years ago and Russell Taylor (who was co-opted during the year to support our St Neots Office).

Our General Manager, Debbie Windsor, left us for a full time job elsewhere and we will miss her. She was an intelligent and shrewd organiser, much liked by our staff and who was very capable of representing our organisation in public situations.

We have promoted Marie Webb, formerly our Ramsey Manager, to be our General Manager and she has already been busy making funding applications on our behalf. We have appointed Natalie Goodwin to be our manager in Ramsey and she enjoys working in the office in the amazing town centre premises owned by the Ramsey Town Council.

Shona has again done pioneering work in St Neots and organised another excellent Christmas party for drivers and clients, to which she invited the Mayor and Town Councillors to they could witness directly the work we do and could talk to the drivers as well as the people who use our services. Sadly Shona was not well enough to attend, so I was drafted in and although was a bit out of my depth, I enjoyed meeting the good team from St Neots. Kirsty has kept our very busy St Ives office running smoothly as well as organising the famous St Ives Christmas Day lunch. The lunch was meticulously organised and was a very great success. The Mayor of St Ives spent the whole day with us and was in raptures about the tremendous community atmosphere it created. Pat Jones, our cook, again excelled herself working quietly but effectively in producing a wonderful meal- we are greatly in her debt.

Tripti has been busy securing new drivers and as a result bookings in Huntingdon have increased. She has been very successful in applying for small grants.

Emma and her team of volunteers continue to cheerfully man the Charity Shop in Huntingdon. Her team work tirelessly and the fall in profits this year was a real blow. However, with a grant from The Huntingdon Freemen’s Trust, Emma is going to refurbish the shop and is determined to make more profit than ever in the coming year. She is a tremendous asset to us and is very well known and respected in Huntingdon, not just for manning the shop, but for all the food that she collects from Greggs, The Co-op, Marks and Spencer's (via the Foodbank), Morrisons and Anglian Water, which goes in to the fridge and is given out on a ‘take what you need, donate what you can’ basis.

One lady stopped me the other day and said ‘Your shop is much more than just about making money, it is a huge community asset, a place where people can volunteer and meet, it is excellent!’ I was delighted to hear what I know is true.

Medical evidence suggests that volunteering is good for you – giving you a purpose, meeting new people, making new friends and giving you a sense of satisfaction.

So I hope all of our volunteers get the pleasure and fulfilment you deserve for all the good work you do for our organisation and on behalf of all of the people we help in the District, I say a big Thank You.

We continue to be grateful to our funders – the Town Councils of St Neots, Ramsey and St Ives who have all given us financial support, as well as helping us with our premises. The Town Councils of Huntingdon and Godmanchester, the Parish Councils of Houghton and Wyton, Bury and Fenstanton, Huntingdon Freemen’s Trust, Winter and Company and Kimbolton Dental Surgery have helped us this year and we are grateful to them and also all of the other individuals and organisations that have made donations to us during the year.

Our organisation is about volunteering, and we depend on so many I ndividuals in our shop, our offices and those who drive. I would like to thank all of them because without them we could not exist. A number of individuals donate money for which we are very grateful.

“The volunteers feel they are part of a family in the shop, its about more than money, its about the community”

Treasurer’s Report

Bob Young

This report is for the fiscal year ending on 31[st] March 2025.

HVC’s Total income for the year was £114,929 and total

expenditure on charitable activities was £142,941. Total income was down by 6% and total expenditure on charitable activities was up by 17% over the last financial year 2023/24 due to more difficult trading conditions for charity shops and increased running costs for our car scheme.

Cash at the bank and the investment account is shown below along with the totals for the end of the 2023/2024 financial year:

	31~~st~~March 25	31~~st~~March 24
Cash at Bank	£36,876	£49,977
Cash Investment Account	£31,177	£30,000
Total Cash	£68,053	£79,977

This shows a fall of 15% in funds available for the coming financial year 2025/26.

HVC’s Income has four main sources:

a) Local council grants

These amounted to £36539 which was an 15.5% increase on the previous year. The efforts to attract additional grant funding were successful and we are incredibly grateful for the councils shown below for their generosity and support.

St Ives Town Council Huntingdon Town Council Godmanchester Town Council St Neots Town Council

Houghton & Wyton Parish Council Bury Parish Council Ramsey Town Council Hemingford Grey Parish Council Fenstanton Parish Council

b) Car Scheme

Our Car Scheme across all four offices in St Neots, St Ives, Huntingdon and Ramsey has delivered an increase in Income by 11% to £29404.

c) Charity Shop

Unfortunately our Charity Shop did not show a profit this year. Shop income decreased by 19% (£8533), and the running costs for the shop increased by £12566 compared with the previous year. The Trustees acknowledge the hard work and dedication of the shop’s staff and volunteers in a difficult climate for charity shops throughout the UK. The HVC shop has a positive impact on the local community it serves and we will continue to implement a proactive plan to return the shop to a positive financial performance in 2025/26.

d) Donations

This year HVC has again attracted a healthy level of donations from a wide variety of individuals and organisations. For example, many drivers donate their petrol cost and many clients give donations over and above the cost of their trip. Organisations who have supported us are:

Winter & Co

Rotary Club of St Ives MG Owners Club Rotary Club of Huntingdon Ramsey Hospital Charity Needingworth Good Neighbours Group Huntingdon Mayor’s Charity Kimbolton Dental Practice Hunts Post Tokens Scheme Huntingdon Freemen’s Trust

It is gratifying that so many organisations and individuals think highly enough of our work to donate and we thank them all.

The major element of expenditure is salaries/ wages. All were uprated in line with NJC pay scales and government minimum/living wage levels. Salaries and wages increase by 3%.

Following last year’s investment this year has been about consolidating and taking advantage of our new office structure and website. The new offices have, as we hoped, provided opportunities to develop and broaden our aims and aspirations. However, the additional rental costs have been reflected in the funds available for the coming year. Meeting this increase in overheads through increased income will continue be a major challenge for 2025/26. The Trustees have agreed the charity’s strategy going forward into 2025/26 and beyond which focuses our limited resources on activities that will sustain and grow our income while maintaining good financial management.

There has been some success in the efforts to expand and diversify our income stream. The trustees are determined to continue to focus on generating income from local authorities, local business and business organisations. A number of new potential sources of funding have been identified and applications are underway.

A qualified firm of chartered accountants, George Hay LLP, has independently examined the annual accounts which are summarised in the Trustees Annual Report booklet.

A copy of the full accounts will be posted on our website and available on request from our general manager Marie Webb.

General Manager’s Report

Marie Webb

It has been a very busy but productive year at HVC, filled with change and supported by great team work!

We were sad to say goodbye to Debbie, our General Manager. Her last day with HVC was on 31[st] October and so the staff met at the White Hart in Godmanchester to celebrate her time with us. I, as Ramsey Area Manager was asked to step into the General Manager role and officially started in this position at the beginning of January. We have since recruited a replacement Ramsey Area Manager, Natalie Goodwin, who has settled in very quickly and is doing a brilliant job in the Ramsey office!

In June we held our 2023-2024 AGM at Hemingford Abbots Village Hall. The meeting was well attended, including a number of local Council members. We shared video feedback from volunteers and clients, which was a fantastic way to share the positive impact that everyone at HVC has within the community.

In November we were asked to take over the running of the Needingworth and Holywell Good Neighbours Car Scheme, resulting in a large number of clients and drivers joining HVC, all capably managed by Kirsty and her team at St Ives and resulting in an increase in numbers of both volunteer drivers and clients of the car scheme.

Kirsty also did an amazing job organising the annual St Ives Christmas Day Lunch. The day was a huge success, supported by many volunteers and enjoyed by many local residents who would otherwise have been alone on Christmas day.

We have continued to build on our relationships with local organisations, including providing presentations at Rotary clubs and Lunch clubs, attending village and town community fairs and meeting with local councillors. All of these activities help to extend our reach to more clients in need, whilst also looking to increase the number of volunteer drivers available to provide this much needed service.

Tripti is now well settled in the Maple Centre and is building new relationships within the building, whilst continuing to provide a supportive environment for her busy volunteers and increasing numbers of clients.

Tripti also took charge of the Hunts Post Cash for Charities competition. Thanks to the help of our wonderful clients, volunteers, staff and their families and friends, we collected more than 7,000 Hunts Post Charity Tokens (the highest number collected by any of the nominated charities) and received £2,300 as a result of everyone’s support.

Shona has steered the St Neots office through a huge increase in the number of drives conducted throughout the year. She is to be commended for continuing to do so with a bright and positive outlook.

The Car Scheme has seen an increase in both the number of drives taking place and miles covered by our volunteers across all offices. As a team of Area Managers, we have pulled together and supported each other through what has been a challenging time, and I am sure we will continue to do so!

I would like to take this opportunity to say a huge thank you to the Area Managers for your hard work, and in particular for your support during this transition. You all work tremendously hard to ensure our organisation continues deliver this wonderful, much valued services to the community.

Each office is also supported by a team of hard working and dedicated Administrative Volunteers and wonderful Volunteer Drivers, and we simply could not deliver the service without them. Thank you all for your continued support.

Finally, thank you also to the Trustees for your dedication and commitment. The time you give up give up supporting us does not go unnoticed.

Our Community Car Scheme

The demand for our Community Car Scheme continues to increase and the statistics for 2024/25 are shown in the four tables below :

Annual Car Scheme Totals - Huntingdon Total Miles Total Miles Total Miles Medical Hospital Other 2,435 6,984 18,514 ~~Ee~~

Annual Car Scheme Totals St Neots Total Miles Total Miles Total Miles Medical Hospital Other 6,564 17,212 7,841 ~~Te~~ ry

“As a newbie to the team I just thought I would send a message to say:

So far, without question, all the clients I have done drives for have been full of praise and so grateful for what the team does for them - they say they don't know what they would do without the service.”

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Annual Car Scheme Totals
Ramseyy
Total Miles Total Miles Total Miles Total Miles
Medical Hospital Other
4,674 ,674 674 9,975 ,975 975 5,,217
-
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Annual Car Scheme Totals Ramseyy Total Miles Total Miles Total Miles Total Miles Medical Hospital Other 4,674 ,674 674 9,975 ,975 975 5,,217 ~~-~~

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Annual Car Scheme Totals e
St Ives
Total Miles Total Miles Total Miles
Medical Hospital Other
7,648 15,565 12,274
a Annual CarScheme Mileage
= Total Miles Medical = Total Miles Hospital = Total Miles
43,483 Miles
travelled for social & personal journeys such as shopping, exer-
cise classes and day care and lunch clubs
49,772 Miles 21,329 Miles
travelled to hospitals travelled to medical appointments
43% of total mileage such as doctors, dentists & opticians
18% of total mileage
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Highlights from St Ives Kirsty Fletcher

Our amazing Volunteers have been kept busy again this year and we could not run our office without them so a huge thank you to ALL of you for your support and effort in the past 12 months.

In November we were asked to take over the Needingworth Good Neighbours Car Scheme to ensure their clients were able to continue to get to appointments, and happily nine of the drivers also transferred over to our scheme.

We attended both St Ives Community Fair and the Age and Dementia Fair organised by St Ives Cares & St Ives Town Council

“It's a much valued service at extremely low costs to users. I think you're all amazing to be there for us in need.”

Community Car Scheme

The St Ives Community Car Scheme has had its busiest years ever. Our Volunteer Drivers carried out 3210 journeys covering 35,578 miles from April 2024 to March 2025 – that is over 680 miles every week – a 25% mileage increase on 2023/2024!

The 3,210 journeys were arranged by our amazing Admin Volunteers – Monica, Pam, Ann, Jenny and Jean – which is an incredible achievement. Once a client asks us for a drive our Admin Team contact the nearest available driver to see if they are free, if not they will contact the next driver and so on. Sometimes we get lucky and the first driver we contact is able to do the drive but more often than not it will be the third or fourth driver contacted who is available to do the drive.

So for 3,210 journeys we would have to make over 9,600 contacts and then get back to our client to confirm the drivers name which would make the total contacts 12,840 – you can see the amount of effort that is put in to fulfill the drives for our clients.

Every one of the 3,210 journeys our drivers did makes a difference to our clients, not only do they have peace of mind our drivers will wait for up to an hour for them but will take them from their door to the door of wherever they need to get to. Below comment from one of our clients:

“I wanted to say thank you so much for your help today. Your driver was so helpful and I truly appreciate the service. It's a truly wonderful service, & so good that the drivers wait until the appointment has finished. It's a much valued service at extremely reasonable costs to users. I think you're all amazing to be there for us in need.”

110 new clients registered with us this year and 8 new drivers so you can see the demand is increasing and our need for drivers is more urgent than ever.

Volunteers Morning: Our St Ives volunteers got together at Floods Tavern in February rather than our usual Christmas gathering. We received a kind donation which enabled us to offer some nibbles and chips which were much appreciated. It was great for all our Volunteers to spend time and chat with each other and the feedback was we would like to keep the gathering in February so we will do this again in 2026.

HVC were delighted to be sponsored by the MG Owners Club as the recipient this year for funds raised by their annual Snowdrop Run. This was thanks to having been nominated by MGOC committee member Glenn Pascoe, partner of our admin volunteer Monica. Over 100 classic MG’s gathered at Anglesey Abbey one Saturday in February for the drive to Jordans Mill at i rt a Biggleswade.

Kirsty and Anthony were invited to the MG Owners Club’s monthly meeting, where they were presented with a cheque for £2,000 as the proceeds from the recent Snowdrop Run.

We are hugely grateful to Glenn for proposing us to be this year’s charity recipient, and to the MGOC as a whole for their interest, support and hospitality. 17

Christmas Day Lunch 2024

St Ives office of Huntingdonshire Volunteer Centre (HVC) with the Free Church organised a fabulous lunch, it was so lovely to see over 50 guests who would otherwise be on their own on Christmas Day sharing a very tasty

two course Christmas lunch with coffee, mince pies and mints to follow. Mike Baker, HVC Chair, started the day off with a welcome to our Mayor Pasco Hussain and Shalom our organist who accompanied us as we all sang Carols before lunch. Rev Nick Witham joined us to say Grace.

The lunch is only possible due to generous donations, the food is donated by The Buckingham Emergency Food Appeal, cash donations from members of the public with drinks supplied by Morrisons and Waitrose. Pat Jones our marvellous cook and her

willing helpers started the lunch preparations on Christmas Eve and they were back early on Christmas Day to complete our wonderful lunch. Mavis, John and Free Church volunteers prepared the hall with decorations, set the tables including crackers which set the Christmas scene for the day.

We had over 40 raffle prizes donated by members of The Free Church, Fifi’s Cakery, Janet Church Interiors, The Golden Lion, West End DIY and our volunteers. Adams Cook & Pearce with the help of Simon Hepher set up the televisions so we could all watch the King’s Speech before our guests made their way home with a gift bag put together by Michael and his family containing hand made gifts from Star Crafters and homemade jams and chutneys made by Pat our cook plus lots of other goodies.

Our volunteers gave up their Christmas Day to ensure the lunch went like clockwork, welcoming guests and making sure everyone was comfortable, serving lunch and drinks throughout the lunch. We also needed volunteer drivers to collect those who would not be able to get to the venue and return them home at the end of the day. Thank you volunteers, you are amazing. The Christmas Day lunch takes an enormous amount of planning and preparation and without the help, kindness and support of all people mentioned we would not be able to run this event, we are extremely grateful to you all.

Highlights from Huntingdon Tripti Woolf

Huntingdon office has settled at the Maple Centre. The reception staff are friendly and willing to go the extra mile to help. The office continues to support individuals seeking volunteering opportunities and organisations by

advertising their opportunities. Many enquiries including Community Car Scheme bookings now come via the website, which is growing in popularity. The office also hosted a visit by the Mayor of Huntingdon Karl Brockett.

Huntingdonshire Volunteer Centre was one of the lucky organisations picked to receive a brand new laptop courtesy of Amazon.

Karl Brockett Mayor of Huntingdon, was impressed by the work carried out by the Volunteer Centre.

Celebrations

To celebrate Volunteers Week, a day out on the Ladybird was organised to thank our wonderful Community Car Scheme Drivers, Administrators and joined by staff and volunteers from Huntingdon Together Charity Shop. The trip was to St Ives with a fish and chips lunch at The Waits. It was a glorious sunny a e day. wae i roa > 1 bs /

We celebrated David Ford’s 80th Birthday. David has been driving for us for about two years.

A coffee morning was held for volunteer drivers and car scheme volunteers, in order that they met and got to know each other.

Community Car Scheme

It has been another busy year with an increase in bookings. There has been a 7% increase in the number of miles covered by our volunteer drivers and 60 new clients. Seven new volunteer drivers were recruited: Andy, Alison, Mark, Michael, Sandro, Sarah, Tim during the year. There’s been a significant rise in the number of new clients and also visits to other hospital many of which are private but used by the NHS.

Christmas 2024

Another annual event is our Festive get together with a meal at Hartford Marina attended by Staff , Volunteers, Mike Baker and Chris Myles.

“Thank you very much for all your help, its been valuable and much appreciated.”

All our volunteer drivers are very special, they go above and beyond their remit to help our clients from carrying shopping into their homes; getting wheelchairs and porters at the hospital and sometimes staying with them as they wait for their appointments, carrying out drives late in evenings or very early in the mornings.

A special mention to Stuart who took a lady to Hinchingbrooke hospital and spent 6hrs with her, taking her for her scans and waiting until she was admitted.

A huge thank you to a wonderful team of volunteer Car Scheme Administrator and volunteer drivers. Thank you very much for all your help and hard work.

[Highlights from St Neots ] Shona Martin

St Neots has significantly grown over the last 12 months, below are some of the key highlights;

38% increase in the number of journeys we have delivered compared to last years figures.
9 new active drivers
3 new administrative volunteers in the St Neots office
57 new clients Jan 2025– May 2025

I would like to thank all our amazing volunteers (drivers and admin staff), who make the St Neots car scheme such an amazing success. Without their dedication, compassion and the fact they always go above and beyond to ensure clients get to where they need to be, (sometimes with only a few hours notice from clients) we would not have been able to help over 1,800 passengers.

I’d also like to thank everyone who has kindly donated to keep this invaluable community service running. A special thanks to St Neots Town Council too for their continued support and generosity

We have also faced some challenges as although we now have a total of 21 drivers that have been DBS checked and able to assist, due to personal and unforeseen circumstances, we have on average, a maximum of 10 active drivers on a regular basis per week; but on average have about 35 drive requests a week. However I hope to alleviate some of the challenges we

face in the near future as I am currently processing 4 new drivers for the St. Neots office and hopefully one new administrative volunteer who can hopefully work in the office on a Thursday; at present it is only myself running the car scheme on a Thursday, which does impact the management role delivery.

"It was so wonderful to be able to book transport, having a cheerful person taking your booking, know it will arrive on time and to have a pleasant journey with a friendly and polite driver! 22 .

Our statistics:

We have over 650 clients registered to use our St Neots Car Scheme Service; with 57 of these being in the last five months/ since Jan 2025; this is due to clients sharing knowledge of the service with friends and linking with other service providers in the community.

“I think you’re wonderful... I’m nearly 88, and you’re a lifeline for me”

21 active DBS checked volunteer drivers
St Neots has 3 admin volunteers helping in the office Mon– Wed. I am optimistic that we will have a fourth admin volunteer who will be joining the team soon.

Between April 2024 – March 2025 we completed 2557 journeys, helping registered clients travel 31,617 miles. These journeys included medical, hospital and social appointments that they otherwise may not have been able to attend due to financial

constraints as many of our clients are on fixed incomes.

Christmas get together drivers, clients and ofce staff

The St Neots office continues to utilise the drivers donations and show the clients our appreciation

for using the community service by holding our 2nd Christmas get together for volunteers, clients and trustees. The Christmas get together was a fantastic way to get everyone together and celebrate success and meet new people. Although due to personal circumstances I was unable to attend, it was a great turn out from the community, and volunteer drivers kindly offered to do the return journey to clients for free. It was a relaxed environment with some nibbles, refreshments, presentation form our Chair, in our “getting to know our Trustees” section of the 2 hour event. There was even a raffle at the end. I look forward to this years community events. 23

Highlights from Ramsey Natalie Goodwin

I have now been in post for just over two months and have really enjoyed getting to know everyone involved with the charity. I have started building on the already good relationships that Marie has with members of the Town Council and the surrounding local businesses and charities.

Building a relationship with Ramsey Town Council and other local groups has been one of my priorities. Having the new office in the Town Council building and having the invaluable local connections and knowledge shared between ourselves and the local council is imperative and a real advantage to our new location. The Town Council have put up a leaflet rack in the foyer outside our office which I have used to put a variety of our leaflets in, I have also spoken to Lisa Renfree about putting an advertisement in the Ramsey Town Council Newsletter which is now ready to go out in the next edition.

“What a wonderful team Another important priority has been you have working there. establishing and becoming a part of the newly I do not regret giving up formed Ramsey Networking Group for which my car with the we have had two meetings so far. The aim of the group is to increase our reach and make the Centre more accessible. The meetings have been coordinated by Sallyann and Kathy from Hunts Forum (now Support Cambridgeshire), also present were representatives from Ramsey Rural museum, the Ramsey Mayor Val Fenley, Lisa Renfree the Town Council Clerk, Georgia Patterson from the Community Safety Partnership, amongst others. These were very worthwhile meetings in terms of making connections within the local voluntary community and discussions around what the network’s focus will be and how we will achieve that. Focus will be on understanding the needs of the Ramsey community and available services, networking with other providers and services, identifying gaps in current services, exploring funding opportunities, building connections to improve signposting and recruiting more volunteers. The next meeting will

take place in July and I look forward to building on the progress made so far.

The Volunteer Car Scheme

Ramsey and the surrounding villages have a particularly isolated position with many vulnerable individuals in our town struggling due to limited public transport to the more remote locations. The nearest hospitals for medical appointments are all a considerable distance away and this combined with financial difficulties, or physical disabilities can make this essential part of life almost impossible for many. This combined with the fact that our driver’s get to know many of our regular clients and often wait whilst they are in their appointments, even if several hours, give this personal touch that is not possible with a taxi service.

The number of new clients using the service has increased, with 88 new clients joining the Car Scheme during the year. During this year, our 13 drivers have accommodated a total of 1387 journeys with over 19,000 volunteer miles driven.

There was a decrease in the number of journeys at the start of 2025 and this seems a direct result to the improvements to existing bus services and a new bus route, increasing access for those capable of using public transport. An increase in hospital journeys has unfortunately also led to a large number of last minute appointments cancelled by the NHS. The need for this service in Ramsey is clear and is continuing to grow. We have seen a steady increase in journeys and expect a significant increase in the coming year.

I have been struck by how much our administrative volunteers do, not just taking details of drive requests, they are sometimes the only person that a client may speak to in a day and they take time to listen and get to know the people that call in, offering comfort and a caring ear.

“I really do love it here, I don’t know what I’d do without this little job. Because I live on my own I love chatting to the clients and drivers, as well as knowing I am helping the local community!”

Y HUNTINGDON

Highlights from Huntingdon Together Shop

Emma Cameron

Despite this being a difficult year for charity shops, we have continued to support the community and look forward to implementing our plans for improvements to the shop next year .

Raffles to raise funds!

We had raffles throughout the year orgainsed by Josephine Cameron, Donna Painter and Jackie Gebbie. Valentine’s day, Mother’s day, Easter, Summer, Halloween and Christmas. ;

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Ladybird Boat Trip May 2024
ux Centre
GraceZ .
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Once upon a time in Huntingdon

A huge thank you went to Warboys 1st Rainbows and Brownies for decorating our shop! We had a cake stall and lucky dip and raised lots of money on Huntingdon’s family fun day.

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26
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Part of BID’s Halloween Trick or

Treat trail! We had a cake stand, lucky dip and teddy tombola.

Christmas 2024

We celebrated our ninth year of trading! We held our annual stall at the light switch on, had many events and our Christmas party.

The Mayor’s Pancake Race 2025

Extra Funds Raised!

Online Books £2104.36 Ziffit £1351.23

We buy Books £753.13 -Thank you to Anthony, Mum, Michael and Callum and James Vintage Cash Cow £72

Vinted - Thank you to Jenna Rags £113.42

Volunteer Brokerage: 6715.5 hours PAT Testing: 1555 hours -Thank you Phil, Mum and Michael

Food – Not for profit but we ask for a donation for the upkeep of the fridge.

Our Community Fridge and emergency packs continue and support local people, whilst our shop continues to provide low cost goods to the community. We are very proud to be called by many a community hub! Thank you to Greggs, Anglian Water, Co-op, Godmanchester Food Bank Morrisons and the general public that

donate for this service! We are looking forward to serving the Community in 2025-2026!

The biggest THANK YOU goes to the amazing volunteers who work extremely hard to just keep the shop running and raise funds for HVC!!

Huntingdonshire Volunteer Centre is a small local Charity providing a volunteer led Car Scheme across Huntingdonshire, as well as promoting the benefits of volunteering across the region.

We are extremely grateful to all of our supporters for donating their time and skills for our benefit and that of the local community.

To those who have fundraised on our behalf and made individual donations — we thank you!

Our focus within our local communites is to

Continue to support our Volunteer Car Scheme
Raise funds to support our work through our Huntingdon Together Shop, Grant Applications and Project Work
Help volunteers and promote volunteering

‘Supporting volunteering across Huntingdonshire’

Huntingdon Office: The Maple Centre, 6 Oak Drive, Huntingdon, PE29 7HN. 01480 414766 huntngdon@huntsvc.org.uk Ramsey Office: Town Council Offices, Great Whyte, Ramsey, PE26 1HG. 01487 814117 ramsey@huntsvc.org.uk St Ives Office: Town Hall, Market Hill, St Ives, PE27 5AL. 01480 301462 stves@huntsvc.org.uk St Neots Office: Community Building, 6a South Street, St Neots, PE19 2BW. 01480 476047 stneots@huntsvc.org.uk Huntingdon Together Shop: 1 Princes Street, PE29 3PA 01480 700290 biz@huntsvc.org.uk General Manager: 07718 272524 info@huntsvc.org.uk

www.huntsvc.org.uk

REGISTERED COMPANY NUMBEIL" 06726114 (England and Wales) REGISTERED CHARTfY NUMBEIL" 1126811 Report of the TTUStees and Unaudited Financwl Slatem* for the Year Ended 31 March 2025 Hunlingdonshire Volunteer Centrg George Hay Partnership LLP Charter8d Accountants St George's House Ge(ffge Street Huntingdon Cambrtslgeshire PE29 3GH

HuntIngdoh1rP Volunteer Centre Contents of the Flnanclal Statements for the Year Ended 31 IAarch 2025 Page Report of tho Truste•s 1 to 3 Ind•pandoTrt ExaThnorf8 R•port Balanco Sheet 6 to 7 8 to 12 13

Hunttngdonshlre Voluirteer Centre Report of the Ttee5 for the Year Ended 31 March 2025 STrUCTURE. GOVERNANCE AND PIANAGEMEp¥r Goveming document The Gharity is ¢ontroKed by its governing dc4ment a de1 OF tru4 and I)rlieS a INed company, limited by guarantee. as defmed by Ihe cleS Act 2006. REFERENCE AND ADMINISTRATIVE DAlLs Registered Company number 06726114 (England and Wales) Reglstered Charlty number 1126811 Reglstered office St George's House 14 George Street Huntlngdon Cambridgeshire PE29 3GH TrustfrOS M G Bakgr R Brown S G Burdett D Camilleri J M Clarkè A Clatl(e C A Myles R Young N Lelgh-Brown 0CryJpat Community Dev8knwt Lead (applted 27.624) Indgpendent Examln•r George Hay Partnership LLP Chartefed Accounlants St George's House Georga Street Huntlngdon Cambriégeshire PE29 3GH Approygd by order of Ihe bowd of trustees on ..J.LN.£Jf.LX. 2 tsz and sifv on its behalf by: Trustee Page 3

HunllngdOhIre Volunteer Centre Report of the Tntstees for tho Year End 31 March 2025 Indopendent Examinerfs Report to the Trustees of Huntingdon5hift Yonteer Centre Independent examlnefs report to the trustees of Huntingdonshire Volunteer Centrè fthe Company? I report to the rhatity Injstees on my examination of the a(ountS of the Company tor the year ended 31 March 2025. Responsibilities and basis of r•port As the chanvs trusl8es of Ihe Company (and a150 Is directh fof the purposes of company law) you are respcffisbble for Ihe preparan of the oUntS kn accoftl wlh the requirernents of the Companies Act 2006 2006 Arf). Having satisfied My$f that Ihe accounts of the Comparry are required lo be aLKliled under Parl 16 of the 2006 Act and are eligible for independent examinalian, I repKJrt in respect of my examination of your charrtrfs accounts as carried out under Section 145 of the Chatiti8s Aci 2011 (Ihe 2011 Act.). In carrying out my examination I have followed tha DiY8CttO gven by 1he Chwty CornnlOn under Section 145(5) (b) of the 2011 Act. Independent examine3 8L3tement I have completed my examination. I corth that no matter¥ have to my attenlbn in COnnecn with the examinalton givin9 me cause to believe.. ac¢Cnting rerx)rds were not kept in respect of Ihe Company as requiyed by Section 386 of Ihe 2006 Act; or the accounts do not accord wilh Ihose reo)rds' or the accourrts do not compty with the accixllknng requirpments of S•Aion 396 of the 2006 Act olher than any requirement that the accounts gwie a true and fair vigw which ts not a matter corvsid•red as part of an indeperKtent exam4ialion: or the accounts have not been prepared in accordance with Ihe meth(MJs and principles of the Statement of Recommended Practi for accounting and reporting by tharities (applicable to chariti6s preparing Ih8lr a¢Unts in aCrdanr wth the FKial R£tIng Slandanl appbLth in th8 UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102)1. I have no coTrcems and have come a(¥oss no olher matteTr in conneLon *ith the examition to which attentson should b8 drawn in this report in order to enabk a proper uTrler5tanding of the accounts to be reached. C1¢Q4L Samantha Green ACA George Hay Partnership LLP Chartered Accountrdnts St George's House George Street Huntingdon Cambridgeshire PE29 3GH Date: ....... Page 4

Huntingdonshire Volunteer Centre Report of the Tnjstees for the Year Ended 31 IAarch 2025 2025 2024 Total funds unStriCted Restricied lund funds INCOME AND ENDOWMEiifs FROM Donattons aThJ legaies 114.930 114.930 122.408 EXPENDITURE ON Chafltable activitle3 Charitable Actbvities 142.942 142.942 INCOMEI(EXPENDrfuRE) 128.012) {28.012) (1,198) RECONCIUATION OF FUNDS Total ftjnds broughl fomrd 91.554 92.752 TOTAL FUNDS CARRIED FORWARD 91.554

Huntingdonshirn Voluntear Contre Report of the TrnsiÈes for thg Year Ended 31 MaTch 2025 2025 Totsl 2024 Total funds nd FIXED ASSErs Intangible assets Tangible assets 3,018 3,018 1.345 4,099 1.794 4.363 5,893 CURRENT ASSEfs Deblors Investments Cash at bank arrfl in harKI 3,312 31,1TT 3.312 31.177 37,060 6,237 30.026 T1.549 86.240 CREDITORS Amounts falling due within one year (12.370) {12,370 (579) NET CURRENf ASSErs 52.179 7.000 59.179 85,661 TOTAL ASSEfs LESS CURRENT LIABILtriES 56.542 63,S42 91.554 NET ASSETS 56.542 7.IX)O 63.542 91.554 FUNDS Unrestricled fund5 Restricted funds 10 56.542 7.)0 84.554 7.000 TOTAL FIINDS 63,542 91.554 Th8 charitable company is entilled to exemplion from audil under Seclion 471 cl the Companies Act 2006 for the year ermled 31 ma %)25. Th& members ha¥8 not r4uirgd Ihe rAJmpny to obtain an audit of ils fironcial stalements for the year ended 31 March 2025 in accoFdancè wilh Se<licffi 476 of the ComF)aMes 2(X)6. The trustees athedge their responsibilitie5 for (a) ensuring that the charitable conwny ke8ps accounting records thal cofflpty wilh seens 386 and 387 of the Companies Act 2006 and (b) preparing financial statements which give a true and fair view of the state of affair5 of the charitable company as at Ihe end of each financial year and of its SU or defiot for each financial year in accordance with the requirements of sectio 394 and 395 arKI whtch Other 1th the requirernents of the Companies Act 2006 relating to financial statements. so tsr as applicable to the charitable (wary. Page 6 continued...

Huntlngdonshlre Volunteer Centre Report of the Trustees for Iho Year Ended 31 March 2025 These flnancial statements have been prepared in accordance with the provisions applrcable to chatitable mpanS subject to ihe small companies regime. The financial statemen were approved by the Board of Trustees and authorised for issue on 1&7y.JL.>.LY.................. and weFe %gned on its behalf by: Trustee

Huntlngdonshlre Volunteer Centre Report of Ihe Trustees lor the Year Ended 31 March 2025 ACCOUNTING POUCIES Basis of preparing the financial slatements Th8 financial stalemarbls of Ihe charitable company. which is a pubEc benefit entiiy un(ler FRS 102. heve been prepared in 8¢c(wdan¢e wilh Ihe Charities SORP (FRS 102) Accwniing and Reporting by Charltles: Stalement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Stsndard appficable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) (effective 1 January 2019).. Fmanlial RewTling Standard 102 Tr FncIal Reporting Standard applicable in th8 UK arKI Republic of Ireland. ar the Companies Act 2006. The financial s&thments Incomo Income is shown within three main categories in the Slalement of Financial Activitses". vohjrrtary Vdunlary income ar8 donatKJns aThJ are ac{ for at the time of arising. volunteer Services provided by Ihe charity. Expenditure Liabilllles are recognised as expendttiKe as soon as there Ss a legal or constructive obligatn committing Ihe chartty to that expenditure, it is probable that a transfer of ery)rK)mic beneffts will be required tn settlemenl and the amount of the obFgatim can be measured reliably. Expenditure is accounted for on an a(xruais basis and has been Ctasslfd urKler headings that aggFegate all cost related to the categ{. WheTe costs canThJt be direcuy attributed to particular headings they have been allocated to activilies on a basis consistent with the use of fesources. Intanglblo assets Arnortisalion on Intangible assets is prtrmed at 25% on c05t in order to Tle off each asset over its 8stimat8d useful lif Tangible flxed assets Depreciation is provided at 1h8 fouwryng annual rates in order to wTrte off each asset ovw ts estimat8d us8ful life. Office Equlpment 25% on cost Taxallon The chaTiLy is exempt from corporation lax on ts dprrtable aclivitses. Fund accounting Unrestricted fvnds can b• used in aCc•]rd wth Ihe ch30 Objecti at th8 Iftscrelion of the trustees. Restricted funds have been wuS1Y recTrJnized in respect of the desired premises rel(Kation. As thFS is no longer considered viable. approval has been sought from th8 donors to instead use the funds to improve the existing fauliiies. There is no preser(£ timesc* on this prq'ect to the extenuattng drcumsta Furth8r explanation of Ihe nallwe and PL¥POS8 of each is in the notes to tho financial statements. Hire purchase and leasing c(Mnmktinents Rentals paid under operating kases are charged to ts statem of Finan(aal Acliviiies on a straight line basis over the peF¥)d d the lea3e. Page 8

Huntingdonshlre Volunteer Centrè Report of the Trustees for Iho Y•ar Ended 31 March 2025 for tho Year Ended 31 March 2025 ACCOUNTING POUCIES- ¢ontin4*d Reserv• po The reserves policy ststes that the Charities reseTves sh(wld be malntslned at a minimum of Ihree months operating expenditure. Due to Ihe ever dftging economy 1he Trustees are considering a change in this PLlicy to nIntaIn 6 monts expenditwe. The freety available Teserves as of 31st March 2025 amounted to £56.$42 which is strfficient to )Ver S thS expenditure. NEf INCOMEI{EXPENDrruRE} Net incom81(8xpenditure) is slaled after chargingl(uethting): 2025 2024 Depreciation - owned assets Hlre of plant and machlnery Oiher operating leases Websrte costs arnortisalion 449 25.213 1.081 15.039 225 TRUSTEEV REMUNERATION AND BENEFITS There were no trustees, Tèrnunwati or other benefits for Ihe year endad 31 Marth 2025 nor for Ihe year ended 31 March 2024. Trusts•s' expanses Thero were no truste8g expenses paid lor the year wKkd 31 March 2025 nor for the year ended 31 March 2024. COMPARAnVES FOR THE STATEMEKf OF FINANCIAL ACTivmE5 Total fvnds fund INCOME AND EIIDOWMENTS FROM Donations and Iwies 122,408 122.408 EXPENDrruRE ON Charitable activities Charitable Activities 123.606 123.606 NET INCOMEI(EXPENDTfuREI (1.198) (1.198) RECONCIUATION OF FUNDS Totsl funds brought foTward 85.752 92,752 TOTAL FUNDS CARRIED FORWARD 7.000 91.554 Page 9 continued...

Huntingdonshire Volunteer Cen Report of the Trns12es for the Y¢ar Ended 31 March 2025 INTANGIBLE FIXED ASSEtS Websiie COST At I ApTR 2024 and 31 Math 2025 4,324 AMORTISATION Al 1 April 2024 Charge year 225 1.081 At 31 March 2025 NET BOOK VALUE Al 31 March 2025 3.018 At 31 March 2024 4,099 TANGIBLE FIXED ASSErs Office Equlpment COST At 1 April 2024 and 31 March 2025 15.770 DEPRECIATION At 1 April 2024 Charge for year 13.976 At 31 March 2025 14.425 IIEf BOOK VALUE At 31 March 2025 1.345 At 31 Marth 2024 1.794 DEBTORS: APaOUl3 FALLING DUE vir(HIN ONE YEAR 2025 2024 Other debtr>rs 2,437 875 5.189 1.(M8 6.237 Page 10 conb'nued...

Huntlngdonshlro Volunteer Centre Report of the Trustees for the Year Ended 31 Ilarch 2025 CURREKf ASSET INVESTMEKrs 2025 2024 Olher 31,177 30.026 CREDITORS: AMOUP¥tS FALUNG DUE WfThllN ONE YEAR 2025 2024 Social security and olher laxes Accruals ar deferred incJ)n 5T1 11.799 579 12.370 579 10. MOVEMENT IN FUNDS Net movement in funds At 1.4.24 31.3.25 Unrestrlcted funds General fund (28.012) 56,542 Restrlcted fvnds Restncted furKI 7,000 TOTAL FUNDS 91.554 28.012 Net movement in funds. included in the 8Lx)ve are as follows. Inctsning Restxjrces Movement rgsources expend8d in fund8 Unrestrlcted funds General fund 114,930 {142.942) (28,012) TOTAL FUNDS 114.930 Comparalives for movement in funds Net movement in funds At 31.3.24 At 1.4.23 Unrestricted fun(ts General fd 85.752 {1,198) 84,554 Restricted funds Restncted fund 7.Crf)O TOTAL FUNDS 92.752 1.198 91,554 Page 11

Huntlngdopshlre Volunteer Centro Report of the Tntee5 for tho Year Ended 31 March 2025 10. MOVEMEiif IM FUNDS- conlinued Comparative net ffKyrfement ty) fuThJs. 11Kked in the above a as follows". in funds Unrestslcled funds General fund 122.408 (123.606) {1.198) TOTAL FUNDS 121408 123.606 A cuThent year 12 montts and prior year 12 months comlxrted rM)silion Is as follows: Net movement in funds At 31.325 At 1.4.23 Unrestrictéd funds General fund 85.752 {29210) 56,542 Restricted funds Restricted fund TOTAL FUNDS 92.752 29,210 63,542 A current year 12 monlhs afKI prior 12 monts rxjmbs'ned net movemerrt in funds, included in the abov8 aro as foll8. Incoming ReS0w Movement resour£x expended in funds UnrestrTCted fvnds General furKJ 237.338 (266,548) (29.210) TOTAL FUNDS 237.338 266.548 29.210) 11. RELATED PARTY DISCLOSURES Page 12

OpenCharities

2025-03-31-accounts

bY4 HuntingdonshireV olunteerCentre

Trustees Annual Report

Registered Office

Thank you to our supporters!

Trustees

Staff

Chairman’s Report 2024/2025

Mike Baker

Treasurer’s Report

Bob Young

b) Car Scheme

c) Charity Shop

d) Donations

Winter & Co

General Manager’s Report

Marie Webb

Our Community Car Scheme

Highlights from St Ives Kirsty Fletcher

Community Car Scheme

Christmas Day Lunch 2024

Highlights from Huntingdon Tripti Woolf

Celebrations

Community Car Scheme

Christmas 2024

[Highlights from St Neots ] Shona Martin

Our statistics:

Christmas get together drivers, clients and ofce staff

Highlights from Ramsey Natalie Goodwin

The Volunteer Car Scheme

Y HUNTINGDON

Highlights from Huntingdon Together Shop

Emma Cameron

Raffles to raise funds!

Part of BID’s Halloween Trick or

Christmas 2024

Extra Funds Raised!

Our focus within our local communites is to

‘Supporting volunteering across Huntingdonshire’