|Annual Report 2020-21|2| |---|---| |Arkell Centre financial statements 2020.21|6| |Internal Auditors report 2020.21|9| ## **Arkell Community Centre Charitable Trust** ## _**"The heart of Forest Green"**_ **www.arkellcommunitycentre.org.uk** ## **Annual Report 2020-2021** **Contact: Katherine Kearns Charity Secretary 01453 833592** Charity number: 1138668 The Charity is run by Nailsworth Town Council as sole trustee and the management committee (Trust Board) is made up of all town councillors. The Secretary role is undertaken by the Town Clerk and the Treasurer role is undertaken by the Deputy Clerk. Facility bookings and day-today issues of the building are dealt with by Nailsworth Town Council, supporting the Arkell Community Centre Trust. The Trust contracts out cleaning and caretaking duties. ## **Aims** The aim of the Centre is to provide a central point for community support, facilities for children, young people and older people, social and leisure activities particularly for the Forest Green area. The Centre is a place where people can make new friends, volunteer, receive advice, learn new skills and get support. We work with partners to meet those needs and respond to the needs of our community and use the centre to target support during emergencies. ## **Our partners include:** Stroud District Council, Home Start, Nailsworth Health Partnership, Nailsworth Youth Club, Gloucestershire Rural Communities Council (GRCC), Community Roots, SDC’s Neighbourhood Warden, FGR, Nailsworth Primary School, PSALMS and The Long Table. Commercial hirers and community groups form a valuable part of our community and the Trust is open to collaborations with them to support the people of Forest Green. ## **Report of the year’s activities** When the covid-19 pandemic locked down communities in the UK, the Arkell Community Centre, like many other places, had to dramatically change its focus. Before March 2020, the Arkell Community Centre hosted a thriving mix of groups providing community events and activities. Health and fitness classes continued to be very popular and it provided an affordable venue for children’s parties. Home Start was a firm fixture and their expanded activities were a vital support to families in Forest Green. In this final year of support from a grant from the Police & Crime Commissioner, Nailsworth Town Council was beginning to think of ways their work could be financially supported in the future. From April 2020, the first six months of the year was focused on maintaining the building and keeping the building safe, secure and ready for when it could reopen to serve the community. It was offered to local authorities and agencies for them to use throughout the emergency. Trustee meetings and projects were suspended while Nailsworth Town Council (as sole trustee) concentrated on providing a Covid Support Helpline, coordinating over 160 volunteers to deliver food, prescriptions and to talk on the phone to people who were isolated. Room hire is the main source of income for the Arkell Centre and for a while there were concerns that the loss of income would force drastic decisions about the building’s future. Nailsworth Town Council continued to be a major support the Arkell Community Centre Trust, contributing administrative support to the value of around £7,000 per year. In the event, as a charity, the Arkell Community Centre Trust were able to apply for a central government grant to cover the loss of income. This enabled the centre to look at ways of supporting the town further; addressing food poverty and holiday hunger. After negotiations with The Long Table, Community Roots, The Junction Youth Club and FGR, the Freezer of Love was set up in October 2020. Freezer of Love projects sprung up across the Stroud district in response to the pandemic and through the work of The Long Table in providing healthy ready meals on a ‘pay as you feel’ basis. The Freezer of Love provided a local outlet for these meals at a time when many people were struggling with low or no income. As the building began to open up again, priority was given to groups and hirers that benefitted the health and well-being of the community. Some activities, such as children’s parties, were considered too risky to go ahead before the vaccination programme was well underway. Activities targeted support for people to stay health (Slimming World), mental and physical health (yoga, gentle exercise, tai chi) and children’s activities (dance school). Homestart weren’t able to begin supporting families again until March 2021, where they gave out activity packs to families with children at home. The Trust was relieved to learn the Office of the Police & Crime Commissioner was extending its grant support for Homestart for a further year in the light of the pandemic. The Arkell Community Centre has proved its worth as a strategically placed asset for the town. The Secretary/Town Clerk has restarted work to change the Trust’s governance, with the help of a firm of specialist charity lawyers. We would like to offer sincere thanks to our donors and partners: Lawnside Stores, Stroud District Council, Homestart, Gloucestershire County Council and the Office of the Police & Crime Commissioner. ## **Our building** The Arkell Centre is bright, warm and well-equipped. The garden is maintained by a volunteer gardener and provides a welcome little area of outside space. There have been no major repair issues with the building although storage for food, groceries and equipment from the Freezer of Love and other partners has proved difficult. With the building closed to most of our usual hirers it has been easy for some of our partners to become accustomed to the extra space; it has been challenging to keep the building tidy, food secure and safe, and the building ready for others to use. This continues to be a challenge which requires regular and sensitive management. Covid-19 has brought extra costs with additional cleaning required. This continues to be reviewed as more groups return to the building and guidance – and expectations – change. ## **Challenges** The biggest challenge has been the uncertainty surrounding changing regulations due to covid19. Staff continue to work closely with hirers to manage their expectations while guidance is so different across other venues. As mentioned, there remains a challenge in keeping the building tidy. Storage space is at a premium and some users may not be aware that areas they use to store their equipment, food and deliveries might be needed by other hirers. It’s gratifying to know these users of the building feel at home, but this causes problems for other groups and staff which then needs to be addressed. ## **Into the future** The Centre will continue to meet the challenge of supporting the people of Forest Green through the pandemic and recovery, and to adapt to whatever use is most needed by the community. CHARrrY NUMBEIL. 1138668 ARKELL COMMUNtrY CEfffliE CHARrtABLE TRusr NANCIAL STATEMEpirs YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2021 TRUSTEE NAILSWORTH TOWN COUNCIL CIVIC CEKfRE OLD MARKEr NAILSWORTH GL6 ODU BANKERS LLOYDS BANK 12 ROWCROFr STROUD GL5 3BD THE ARKELL COMMUNrrY CElffRE INCOME & EXPE14DThURE ACCOUNT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31.03.21 2020 INCOME 2021 13,991.(Ml S,0￿. kings GTrnts tA)naik)ns Fundraising NallsvKrth Tcwn Coufhjl SuTrJry Ir￿rne 3,526.00 24,480.69 185.00 0.00 7,QM)O.00 7.73 7,9Crf).CQ 11.89 26,952.39 TOTAL INCOME 35,199.42 EXPENDrtURE Contratt aeaner Contract Girdaker 5,206.99 I,CKI5,39 8,644.27 6,212.38 BUILDING & mAIl￿ENA￿ cosrs ghting & heatir Water Rates Ckaning Material5 2,187.89 706.16 410.51 210.60 0.00 0.00 o.oo 345.30 0.00 270.00 101.02 iatchen EquiFrnt r Con Unlt Burgbr Njami re ￿arrn Sbjnage Property MaFntenarKe Waste Recyding & Coll 2,997.63 4,231.48 ADMINIsfRATION EXPENSES 8￿78.00 0.00 0.00 Events Telepho BroadbaThl tr Equlpnw)t prfnt1￿ Statioiw & Pl￿<￿1r￿j Sound & Vision PRS Llcen Professhjwl Fees misce11an￿uS Expenses Awards for A51 Grnnt 2020 0.00 0.00 0.00 343.44 0.00 318.00 4,055.90 13,070.35 13,933.74 24052.18 T￿rAL EXPENDrruRE 24,377.60 2,100.21 26 952.39 SURPLUS (DEFICln FOR THE YEAR 10,821.82 35 199.42 THE ARKELL COMMUNTfY CErirRE BALANCE SHEEf AS AT 31.03.21 2020 2021 26,825.23 31.1)J Balan￿ at Bank Detkn5 & paYn￿ts In PtharKe 38,363.07 26,856.23 38,363.07 CURRENf UABILrrIES (484.21) (2D).81) (200.81) 26 372.02 38 162.26 REPRESENTED BY 4,224. 1,369.83 2,100.21 7,694.84 Ac£umulated Fund BIFwd Transfer to Designated Reserves Add SurrAus (Defidt) f￿ 20121 6,912.37 (3,232.70) 10 821.82 14,501.49 14,501.49 Nallsworth Rotary Grant Sinknng FurKI P0K￿p Café Childrens HolKlay Actlvths Cwp Communlty GrBnt Growlng Ccrfnmun1￿ grdnt PCC grant vla ￿rC 12,077.04 263.58 61.82 12,077.04 263.58 61.82 0.00 5(K).00 5,OtK).00 2,742.88 (217.54) 3,232.70 51JO.¢)O 5,OCQ.00 2,742.88 (217.54) Thiiving C(Ynmunik% grant Awards for All Gr7nt 2019 - Se# 2020 Glos Coronavirus ￿p￿)It 28 122.91 38 162.26 The aco)unts were ap[￿ed at a meetlng cl the Tnthes ￿ 3KI Novem￿ 2020 and stsJn8J on their L￿ha￿. Trth of the Arkdl C(¥nmunity Cenire A￿l￿Or, I.c￿ FFA **THE ARKELL COMMUNITY CENTRE** **INTERNAL AUDITOR’S REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31.03.2021** I have examined the Community Centre’s annual accounts for the year ended 31[st] March 2021 and all the associated documentation. I can confirm that those accounts are a true statement of the Centre’s financial activities during the year. The balance sheet is a true representation of the state of its finances at the end of the year. Comments & Recommendations: None. Ian Crowe FFA. Date. 15[th] September 2021