OpenCharities

This text was generated using OCR and may contain errors. Check the original PDF to see the document submitted to the regulator.

2023-03-31-accounts

REGISTERED COMPANY NUMBER: 06872992 (England and Wales) REGISTERED CHARITY NUMBER: 1132822

Report of the Trustees and Unaudited Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31 March 2023 for HALE COMMUNITY CENTRE LTD

HALE COMMUNITY CENTRE LTD

Report of the Trustees For the Year Ended 31 March 2023

The trustees who are also directors of the charity for the purposes of the Companies Act 2006, present their report with the financial statements of the charity for the year ended 31 March 2022. The trustees have adopted the provision of Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS102(2015).

Governing document

The Hale Community Centre is a registered charity, limited by guarantee, governed by its Memorandum and Articles of Association dated 2008.

Registered Company number

06872992 (England and Wales)

Registered Charity number

1132822

Registered office

Hale Community Centre 130 Upper Hale Road Farnham Surrey GU9 OJH

Independent Examiner

Roy Waight, CIMA

Bankers

The Co-operative Bank Business Direct P.O. Box 250 Skelmersdale WN8 6WT

Directors/Trustees

Norma Corkish - Chair Jean Hounsham – Secretary John Cattell – Treasurer (appointed 6th January 2023) Carol McFarlane Simon Porter Catherine Powell Tom Quinn – Harvey Wickham (retired 21[st] November 2022)

STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT

Recruitment and appointment of new trustees

Trustees who are also directors of the company are appointed in accordance with the procedures set out in the company’s Articles.

Risk management

The Trustees regularly monitor and review the risks to which the Charity is exposed.

OBJECTIVES AND ACTIVITIES FOR THE PUBLIC BENEFIT

Purpose:

To offer inclusive activities which support the education, training, employment, cultural and recreational needs of the local community.

Aims:

In deciding what activities the Trust should undertake during the year, the Trustees have paid due regard to the Charities Commission's guidance on public benefit and as appropriate and where relevant we ensure we reflect the standards within the Code of Fundraising Practice.

ACHIEVEMENTS AND PERFORMANCE

The year saw an increase in activity in many areas and a growth in others, with advantage taken of a release from Covid restrictions.

The appointment of our Projects & Engagement Coordinator proved to be very fruitful, resulting in increased contact with our local residents and many initiatives which have made a very positive difference to the lives of a number of our users. The data collected in community surveys, which highlighted well-being, living healthily, building relationships and being outdoors, was used to inform the Centre’s priorities. It has also led to the revamping of some of our marketing and promotion of the Centre, with a monthly e-newsletter and increased use of social media, and to improving accessibility to the Centre. We now have links with Dementia Advice and Sight for Surrey to advise us on how to ensure the building is accessible for people with dementia and sight impairment and alongside this developed training for staff and volunteers to raise awareness of the different needs of people entering the building. As a result of a meeting with parents of children with special education needs, we now have a bank of sensory aids and equipment that can be used by young people when in the Centre, along with ensuring there is a quiet space at all events and one that is well signposted. In addition, the reception area has been made more welcoming with a mural and a screen to help with sharing of information.

Accessibility was also improved by putting a gate on the perimeter of the community garden to be used as a main entrance to the Centre.

All efforts are made, with success, to ensure the centre is a safe space and environmentally friendly. We are continually looking at how we can improve on what we do to support the environment and how have, for example, various options for the community to recycle and are joining in with national awareness events such as plastic free week.

Our Community Cupboard & Fridge has been open 3 times/week with the outside cupboard open at all times. When activity was started the major objective was to save food waste by collecting food from the supermarkets that would otherwise be thrown away. Now, however, we are also aware of the need to provide food to people struggling with the cost of living crisis, with the result that we are increasingly being asked for emergency food parcels. We have between 60 and 70 visits each week and at the end of August 2022 there were 140 registered households consisting of 245 adults and 150 children, in total nearly 400 people.

At the end of June 2022 we started twice-weekly drop-in sessions to enable people to come in and find support, conversation, warmth, food and information. And also if wanted, the opportunity to join in activities, either as individuals or families, such as pebble painting and make your own pizza lunch. At one of these sessions we offer a light lunch using as much as we can from the Community Fridge, with people paying – what they can if they can and during the winter months the space was offered as a warm hub. We are now providing up to 25 meals/week. At this session, a Citizens Advice Advisor offers much appreciated support on housing, benefit checks, utility bill – management with signposting to relevant agencies as necessary we have provided 46 offers of CA support since start of the project.

The Youth Centre, renovated by Surrey County Council, was officially opened in May 2022. A number of clubs, engaging with over 75 young people, have been running successfully since September 2022:

During the summer 2022 holiday activities, commissioned by Active Surrey, for children on free school meals were provided.

And in order to share experiences and needs and, where possible, resources we coordinated meetings of youth practitioners in Farnham.

In addition, we were very proud that our Youth Leader, Tracy Yates, was nominated for a BBC Surrey Radio Make a Difference award in recognition of what she is doing for youth in Upper Hale via the Youth Centre.

A number of other activities took place during the year:

Community Garden continues to provide an oasis of colour and calm. It is overseen by a group of volunteers and a horticultural adviser and the fruit and vegetables grown are sold, used for family cookery sessions and to produce dishes such as soups for the community. As a result of the efforts and support of all, the garden was awarded Level 4 (Thriving) in the RHS and South and South East in Bloom.

Senior Group run by a volunteer provides support to those who are simply lonely and want some company, as well as a meeting place for those who enjoy meeting people and a respite for those whose partners are suffering from dementia or similar. A monthly quiz time has been introduced and well received and most of the members take advantage of our Wednesday lunches and some are also regular users of the larder.

– Craft Group Opportunities run by a volunteer has been meeting regularly throughout the year with involvement in a number of different craft activities.

Craft Café supported by Farnham Maltings helped with making bunting for the Jubilee and running a craft stall at the family fun day.

Stay and Play funded and led by Homestart with the purpose of providing early years’ support to local families has been running successfully throughout the year with appreciation as illustrated in this feedback from a user: ‘ We had THE BEST time today - thank you so much for bringing back the lifeline to the wider community - it makes such a difference to so many! ’ Between 14-20 children and their families attend.

Job Club – Job Club, funded by Waverley Borough Council, has continued to meet weekly and has, amongst others, supported Ukrainian famillies who are now living in Farnham.

Farnham swap shop continues as does TimetoShare.

Working with others within the community, in addition to our local residents and those mentioned above, is a core part of what we do.

Family Centre – we worked with Barnardo’s who run the Centre to create a slow cooker course for local families.

Farnham Health Inequalities Forum resulted in a ‘Living Well’ survey which highlighted key concerns, which will inform ongoing and future work: heating homes, access to information/communication, cost of living, work/life balance and inability to exercise sufficiently.

Surrey Care Trust funded a support worker to attend a peer support group, with a parent facilitator, once a fortnight to provide a space where carers can come to get advice and support from people who know what it is like to try to cope with the system.

Health Vaccination catch up clinics, which started early in 2023, are proving very effective.

We are also networking with the Farnham Younger People Task Force, run by Farnham Town Council, VIVID, our local Housing Association, Waverley Borough Council Leisure Services, Voluntary Action South West Surrey (VASWS), Farnham Connects and Waverley Safer Partnership Task & Finish Group.

The latest to add to the services being offered is a Stop Smoking clinic and mental health support services. There was also a visit from the hypertension bus and a couple of child vaccination catch up clinics, all of which have been well attended.

It is important that, to the best of our ability, we monitor and evaluate all our work to ensure that we are making a difference and are:

With this in mind we introduced an evaluation system for the Community Fridge enabling us to collect data on the effectiveness of this activity as well as engaging new visitors to register with the Centre and benefit from the activities we offer. A survey we ran in January/February 2023 when we asked the community about their wellbeing across two projects resulted in 100% of those asked saying they felt better for coming to the centre. Out of 49 people asked, 46 said that attending the project that day had improved their wellbeing. Consultation with our young people resulted in 100% of all attending saying that the youth centre had a positive impact on their self-confidence, self-belief, friendships and mental health and wellbeing.

All of what we achieved is down to the hard work and team effort of our committed staff – 9 (all part-time) – and our over 40 volunteers, ably led by our Centre Manager, and our trustees. In recognition of their contribution and of the need to have ‘fun’ we said a BIG ‘thank you’ to all our volunteers during National Vol unteer Week at the beginning of June via a card to each and a keyring gift. And in September, one of our Trustees hosted a BBQ at their farm for all of our volunteers. The volunteer contribution of nearly 3,000 hours goes far beyond a financial evaluation of their worth, but it is salutary to note that this is over £30,000.

Our achievements are also down to our donors, the major ones of which are: Reaching Communities, Farnham Town Council, Surrey County Council, Councillors, Waverley Borough Council, Surrey Community Foundation and the UK Prosperity Fund.

What is achieved, and how, goes far beyond the financial resources we have and in recognition of the need to diversify and increase our income we now have a subcommittee of the Board which is exploring the options open to us.

PR/Marketing

We recognise the importance of ensuring our local community and potential supporters know what we are doing and have on offer, and how they can support us and why. So we make extensive use of social media, a monthly e-N/L, several WhatsApp groups, our website and local media outlets to keep all informed.

Environment

Through our environment policy we continue to do all we can to support the environment. Clearly our community cupboard and fridge does this through reducing food waste and we have various options for the community to recycle items at the Centre and in all that we do we evaluate how we can reduce our negative impacts on the environment.

FINANCIAL REVIEW

Reserves policy

The Restricted Funds will be used exclusively to finance the cost of the designated projects as agreed with the funders.

As noted in the SoFA, in order to ensure monies are available for refurbishment of the building, in particular replacement of the roof when it becomes due in approximately 11 years’ time, it has been agreed to put aside £2,400 per annum into a designated fund. In addition, several infrastructure improvement requirements for the building have been identified that will need to take place in the near future. Therefore, a further £15,000 has been set aside for this purpose.

Trustees have agreed to availability of funds to cover 6 months' operational costs, which at the moment, including the staff salaries, stand at approximately £39,000.

Unrestricted reserves stand at £47,215 thereby providing a surplus of £8,215. Restricted g rants were primarily for the Community Centre’s youth projects (£94,381). Other significant restricted grants related to the Community Fridge (£10,500) and provision of a Health and Wellbeing Coordinator (£12,105).

Room hire income has increased substantially now that all Covid restrictions are in the past, but occupancy is now close to capacity.

We anticipate substantial increases in staffing costs next year to ensure we are offering competitive salaries and are adequately staffed in terms of weekly hours to support the many activities of the Community Centre. Aware of this we will, in the coming financial year, be exploring further ways of diversifying our income, which is likely to result in an additional investment. Because of these factors, the Trustees consider retention of this additional reserve to be prudent.

PLANS FOR THE FORTHCOMING YEAR

We will continue to implement our new Business Plan and work with our refreshed fundraising strategy to ensure that we continue to diversify our income and so ensure financial sustainability going forward. At all times we will continue to ensure that we keep our running costs to a minimum, but not at the expense of a quality service. And importantly we want to ensure that we are able to effectively demonstrate to our funders and all stakeholders that we add value and are making a difference and a positive impact.

RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE TRUSTEES

The Trustees are responsible for preparing the Trustees’ Annual Report and the Financial Statements in accordance with applicable law and regulations.

Company law requires the Trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year. Under that law the Trustees have elected to prepare the financial statements in accordance with United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice (United Kingdom Accounting Standards and applicable law). The financial statements are required by law to give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charity and of the surplus or deficit of the charity for that period.

In preparing these financial statements, the Trustees are required to:

The Trustees are responsible for keeping proper accounting records which disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charity and which enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with Companies Act 2006. The Trustees are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charity and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

Approved by order of the Board of Trustees on and signed on its behalf by:

Norma Corkish – Chair of Trustees

Independent Examiner's Report to the Trustees of the Hale Community Centre I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the above charity ("the Trust") for the year ended 31st March 2023 As the charity's trustees, you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 ("the Act")- I report in respect of my examination of the Trust's accounts carried out under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying out my examination, I have followed all the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5Xb) of the Act. I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination (other than that disclosed below.) which gives me cause to believe that in, any material respect.. the accounting records were not kept in accordance with section 130 of the Charities Act- or the accounts did not accord with the accounting records., or the accounts did not comply with the applicable requirements Con￿rning the form and content of accounts set out in the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 other than any requirement that the accounts give a 'true and fair, view which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination. I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached. R D Waight, CIMA The Old Vicarage, Church Lane, Rowledge, GU10 4EN 18th November 2023

Hale Community Centre Ltd Statement of Financial Activities Year Ending 31st March 2023

Incoming Resources
Grants
Donations
Room Hire
Bank Interest & Sundry Income
Gift Aid
HM Government Grants - Covid 19
Total Income
Expenditure
Payroll Costs/Project Management
Group Leaders Fees & Expenses
Childrens Holiday Events & expenses
Consultancy Fees
Resources and Equipment
Repairs & Maintenance
Cleaning
Core Costs Recovery
Other restricted fund expenditure
Other Property Costs
Events & Publicity
IT Costs
Bad Bebts written off
Total Expenditure
Surplus/Deficit for the year
Reserves Brought forward 1st April
Transfer to Unrestricted Use funds(notes 4&5)
Reserves Carried forward 31st March		 2022-23
Unrestricted
Use
Restricted Use
Total
3,000
131,672
134,672
6,430
3,364
9,794
41,713
41,713
2,715
2,715
831
831
2,000
2,000
56,689
135,036
191,725
35,395
12,792
48,187
1,264
43,426
44,690
0
850
850
168
0
168
4,269
14,575
18,844
5,984
0
5,984
9,451
49
9,500
-8,539
8,539
0
0
3,380
3,380
8,852
1,260
10,112
334
662
996
664
0
664
44
0
44
57,886
85,533
143,419
-1,197
49,503
48,306
75,035
48,352
123,386
12,377
-12,377
86,215
85,478
171,692		 2021-22
Unrestricted
Use
Restricted Use
Total
1,000
35,332
36,332
2,748
888
3,636
24,368
24,368
2,310
195
2,505
465
465
16,000
16,000
46,891
36,415
83,306
29,291
10,177
39,468
135
15,657
15,792
0
668
668
0
1,990
1,990
1,415
4,840
6,255
4,768
131
4,899
5,789
56
5,845
-5,703
5,703
0
0
5,894
5,894
5,818
0
5,818
357
1,066
1,423
324
5,144
5,468
42,194
51,326
93,520
4,697
-14,911
-10,214
70,338
63,263
133,601
75,035
48,352
123,387

Hale Community Centre Ltd Balance Sheet As at 31st March 2023

Current Assets
Prepayments
Debtors
Cash in Bank
Less:
Current Liabilities
Creditors and Accrued Charges
Net Current Assets
Representing:
General Reserve as at 1st April 2022
Unrestricted Use Surplus - year ended 31st March 2023
Transfer to provision for major refurbishment
Transfer to Provision for infrastructure upgrades
General Reserve carried forward
Provision for major refurbishment(note 2)
Provision for Infrastructure Upgrades(note 3)
Restricted Use Funds
Fund Balance as at 31stMarch 2023		 11,180
-2,400
24,000
15,000		 2023
2,975
5,443
168,619
177,037
5,344
£171,693
53,435
8,780
-15,000
47,215
39,000
85,478
£171,693		 2022
1,356
3,320
120,365
125,041
1,655
£123,386
51,138
4,697
-2,400
2,297
53,435
21,600
48,351
£123,386

`

Hale Community Centre Ltd Statement of Financial Activities Year Ending 31st March 2023

Notes to the Accounts

  1. The accounts for the current financial year have been prepared on an accruals basis. Specifically, amounts due from customers have been included as well as prepayments and creditors.

  2. A provision for major refurbishment, primarily roof replacement, has been created to set aside funds for this purpose when it becomes due. An amount of £2,400 should be put aside in each year.

  3. A need in the near future to upgrade aspects of the Community Centre's infrastructure has been identified. Accordingly a provision for the estimated costs of £15,000 has been set aside.

  4. Historic donations to the Community Fridge that have not been used to pay for direct costs (totalling £7,474) have been transferred to Unrestricted Use where they can offset the indirect costs incurred supporting the project, such as management, utilities and cleaning costs.

  5. A grant provider for Girlz Club has agreed to the unspent surplus of their 2020 grant be retained by the Community Centre for general support of youth activity. Accordingly the balance of £4,903 has been transferred to Unrestricted Use, but with spend monitored in a designated youth fund.