## **A Trustees’ Annual Report for the period**
## **From 1[st] April 2024 To 31[st] March 2025**
## **Charity name: Gillingham Area Voluntary Car Link Scheme**
## **Charity registration number: 1138732**
## **Objectives and Activities**
|||
|---|---|
|Summary of the purposes of
the charity as set out in its
governing document|The objects of the organisation are to provide transport
facilities in Gillingham, Dorset and the surrounding SP8 area
for people who have special need of such facilities because
they are elderly, poor or disabled, people with young children
or those living in isolated areas where there are no adequate
public transport facilities|
|Summary of the main
activities in relation to those
purposes for the public
benefit, in particular, the
activities, projects or services
identified in the accounts.|The main activity is to provide transport for clients to hospitals,
doctor’s surgeries, dentists, and other medical facilities.
Transport is provided by volunteer drivers using their own
vehicles. Activities are managed by volunteer coordinators
working from their own homes.|
|Statement confirming
whether the trustees have
had regard to the guidance
issued by the Charity
Commission on public
benefit|The trustees are aware of the guidance on public benefit
issued by the Charity Commission.|
|||
|Contribution made by
volunteers|The volunteer drivers collect the clients from their homes, drive
them to the medical facility, wait while the treatment is
completed and then return the clients to their homes. The
waiting time for hospital appointments can often be several
hours.
Volunteer coordinators receive the transport requests from the
clients by telephone and then allocate the jobs to the pool of
volunteer drivers. They then notify the client of the pick-up time
and the name of the allocated driver. We are processing more
than 110 journeys per month.|
## **Achievements and Performance**
||Summary of the main
achievements of the charity,
identifying the difference the
charity’s work has made to
the circumstances of its
beneficiaries and any wider
benefits to society as a
whole.|During the year we conducted 1366 journeys covering 50,410
miles and served more than 130 clients. The average journey
was 37 miles round trip with some of more than 100 miles.
Without our services the clients would have to use commercial
taxi services which most of them could not afford, or fall back
on public transport, which is unreliable and, in many cases,
non-existent.
The NHS benefitted extensively from our services with patients
arriving on-time for appointments and avoiding more demand
for the already restricted and stretched hospital transport
services.|
|---|---|---|
||Achievements against
objectives set|Our primary objective is to provide the required transport for
each request we receive. We are occasionally unable to do this
due to either short notice or a lack of available drivers, but we
are successful in more than 99% of cases.|
|---|---|---|
## **Financial Review**
||**Financial Review**|
|---|---|
|Review of the charity’s
financial position at the end
of the period|The bank balance at year end stands at £26,528.80|
|Statement explaining the
policy for holding reserves
stating why they are held|We wish to reduce the reserves to approximately £15,000
which the trustees believe is appropriate for our needs. We
plan to do this over several years by adjusting the
recommended donations that we suggest for each journey
destination.|
|Amount of reserves held|£26,528.80|
|Reasons for holding zero
reserves|Not applicable|
|Details of fund materially in
deficit|Not applicable|
|Explanation of any
uncertainties about the
charity continuing as a going
concern||
|The charity’s principal
sources of funds (including
any fundraising)|Almost all funding is in the form of donations from the clients
who use the scheme. Only 2% of funding comes from other
donations and grants. We provide a suggested donation
amount for each journey but is up to the client to decide how
much to donate.|
|---|---|
|A description of the principal
risks facing the charity|The charity is entirely dependent on volunteer drivers and
coordinators to provide the services. Finding enough of these
to cover the workload is a major challenge and the Trustees
are very focussed on recruitment.|
|Other||
**Structure, Governance and Management**
|Description of charity’s
trusts:||
|---|---|
|Type of governing document|The Charity has a constitution which was last updated on
June 3rd, 2014.|
|How is the charity
constituted?|Unincorporated charitable association|
|Trustee selection methods
including details of any
constitutional provisions e.g.
election to post or name of
any person or body entitled
to appoint one or more
trustees|Trustees are appointed for a period of 3 years after which
they may stand for re-election at the Annual General
Meeting.|
## **Reference and Administrative details**
|Charity name|Gillingham Area Voluntary Car Link Scheme|
|---|---|
|Other name the charity uses||
|Registered charity number|1138732|
|Charity’s principal address|c/o Firle House, Dolphin Lane, Gillingham, Dorset SP8 4HQ|
**Names of the charity trustees who manage the charity**
|1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8|**Trustee name**|**Office (if any)**|**Dates acted if not for whole**
**year**|**Name of person (or body) entitled**
**to appoint trustee(if any)**|
|---|---|---|---|---|
||Robert Wellen|Chair|01/04/2025 – 24/03/2025||
||Norman Locke|Vice-Chair &
Principal Co-
ordinator|Chair from 25/03/2025 –
31/03/2025||
||Martin Wingrove|Treasurer &
volunteer driver|||
||Pauline Avery|Assistant Treasurer
& Client Support
Officer & Volunteer
Coordinator|||
||Philip Walker|Volunteer Support
Officer|Vice-Chair from
25/03/2025 – 31/03/2025||
||Suzan Walker|Publicity Officer &
Volunteer
Coordinator|Principal Coordinator
from 25/03/2025 –
31/03/2025||
||Peter Hurst|Secretary &
volunteer driver|||
||David Hancock|Driver representative
and volunteer driver|10/12/2024 – 31/03/2025||
||||||
**Names and addresses of advisers (Optional information)**
**Type of Name Address adviser** Auditor Mr T Kingsmill 20 Barleyfields, Gillingham, Dorset SP8 4UN ~~a~~
## **Declarations**
**The trustees declare that they have approved the trustees’ report above. Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees**
**Signature(s) Full name(s)** Peter Hurst ~~a~~ **Position (eg Secretary, Chair, etc)** ~~a~~ Secretary **Date** 07/09/2025 ~~[|~~
GillinghamArea Voluntary Car Linkscheme
clo jonquilla.wyke Rd. Gillingham, Dorset SP8
Reg. Charity number 1138732
WWbV.8i15in8hamcarlink.org.uk
Pagelof4
Independent Examiner's Certificate
I have examined the books, accounts and financial documents supplied to
me by Gillingham Voluntary Car Link Scheme
Given this, the attached Financial Statements reflect the financial activities
st
of the scheme's operations for the year ending 31 March 2025
Signed:
A.oM.A
Date: 29"
ge)a
GillinghamArea Voluntary Car Linkscheme
clo jonquilla.wyke Rd. Gillingham, Dorset SP8
Reg. Charity number 1138732
WWbV.8i15in8hamcarlink.org.uk
Pagelof4
Independent Examiner's Certificate
I have examined the books, accounts and financial documents supplied to
me by Gillingham Voluntary Car Link Scheme
Given this, the attached Financial Statements reflect the financial activities
st
of the scheme's operations for the year ending 31 March 2025
Signed:
A.oM.A
Date: 29"
ge)a