2024-03-31-accounts - Lutterworth Volunteer Centre Limited

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Annual Report & Accounts

April 2023 to March 2024

Lutterworth Volunteer Centre Limited

(A Charitable Company registered in England & Wales) Company No: 07798878 & Charity No: 1148255

Lutterworth Volunteer Centre Limited is a full member of The National Council for Voluntary Organisations and

The Community Transport Association

SUPPORTED BY

MEMBERS OF

PERSONNEL

TRUSTEE-DIRECTORS:

Chair: John Warren Treasurer: Rob Harrop Secretary: Paul Jackson Jane Beaumont Lewis Freeman Vice Chair: Simon O’Donnell _________ Independent Examiners: Crowfoot and Co. __________ STAFF: General Manager: Graeme Thomson Administrator: Nigel Essen Fleet Operations Support: Rick Allsopp (Retired 1 March 2024) Transport Co-ordinator: Inger Parsons _________ Office Volunteers: Sylvia Bills Anne Cooper Sue Goodwin Manisha Malegaonkar Millie Thomson Fiona Winton

MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE

TRUSTEE DIRECTORS:

John Warren—Chair

Past manager of Lutterworth Volunteer Centre for 18 years retiring in 2015. Set up the One Stop Shop with 10 organisations co-locating under one roof. A founder member and Chairman of Lutterworth and Villages Foodbank. Chair of Directors at Lutterworth College, a governor and Director for over years.

Rob Harrop—Treasurer

Rob joined Community Transport several years ago as a volunteer minibus driver and became a trustee in 2018. Prior to retirement he ran several HR consultancy and business support companies. His former career with the Automobile Association comes in handy when trying to understand the complexities of running a successful and safe community transport organisation.

Jane Beaumont

Jane spent 20 years in engineering followed by 17 years teaching. She ran the Community Computer Centre at the One Stop Shop and The Enterprise Centre next door for a number of years. Currently she is the Manager of the Academy for Dementia Research and Education and leads groups of teenagers doing their Duke of Edinburgh’s Award.

Lewis Freeman

Former teacher with Lutterworth College and the Enterprise Centre, currently a Volunteer bus and car driver.

Paul Jackson - Secretary

Volunteer bus and car driver since October 2019.

Simon O’Donnell- Vice Chair

Following an extensive career in Retail Management, Simon successfully developed several businesses. He is now a Management Consultant specialising in Customer Experience.

STAFF:

Graeme Thomson - General Manager

Appointed 1 November 2021, after retiring from Leicestershire Police.

Nigel Essen - Administrator

Joined as a volunteer in 1996 assisting in the Transport office. Employed as Administrator from 1998. Becoming Co-Services Manager in 2015-2021.

Rick Allsopp – Fleet Operations Support (Retired 1 March 2024)

Appointed June 2021, after retiring from 31 years as an electrician at Cavendish Nuclear.

Inger Parsons – Transport Co-ordinator

Joined in 2003 as a Co-ordinator for the Village Link Bus service after retirement from the Post Office Management Training Centre at Coton House. Now oversees the Social Car Scheme.

CHAIRPERSON’S REPORT

In my last Chairperson’s Report, I was pleased to report that we were continuing to get back to normality post COVID. I can now advise that things are back to normal and tremendous progress has been made thanks to all the staff, volunteers and trustees in the organization. 2 March 2020 seems a long time ago now.

A special thank you to the staff Graeme, Nigel, Inger and Rick who have done an amazing job with the support of the office volunteers Anne, Fiona, Manisha, Millie, Sue and Sylvia. Of course, without our amazing team of Volunteers in Community Transport in our community we would not be able to do the fantastic job on a day-to-day basis, transforming the lives of so many people who access our services.

This last year has seen the retirement of volunteer drivers Peter Swales, John Coughlan, Reg Linford and John and Bev Larosa. Their commitment has been vital and has been appreciated.

We are planning a get together and thank you event in September which will be the first time for a while that we have all got together. – I’m really looking forward to catching up with everyone face to face.

A special thank you is due to Rick who has retired. I remember interviewing Rick with Rob Harrop in the back of a minibus in the OSS car park in April 2021. We both instantly knew that Rick was going to be the right choice for us and it proved to be the case. He has done a great job and we’re so pleased that he’ll be available to help out if required. We all wish Rick well for the future.

We continue to work in partnership with a range of local groups and organisations which enable us all to make a difference in the community. These include Age Concern Lutterworth and District, The Academy for Dementia Research and Education (ADRE), Lutterworth and Villages Foodbank, Lutterworth College, Lutterworth High School and South Kilworth Primary School to name but a few.

And finally, a big thank you to our core funders who continue to support us, these being Leicestershire County Council and Harborough District Council. We have been successful in securing funds for a further electric wheelchair accessible vehicle with funds made available from the Leicestershire County Council Rural Transport budget courtesy of

Councilor Rosita Page and with the remainder financed by the Lutterworth Area Community Fund provided by the developers of Magna Park.

John Warren

Chair

GENERAL MANAGER’S REPORT

As ever, I must draw attention to the magnificent work carried out by our volunteer drivers and office staff.

Every week day on average our Social Car Scheme volunteers carry out at least 10 passenger journeys making sure that our clients are able to attend sessions at the Academy For Dementia Research and Education, or hospital, health centre or other medical appointments. The bare statistics don’t tell the whole story though of the commitment shown when the passenger is unavoidably delayed meaning our volunteer spends a lot longer sitting outside than they expected.

We run our own minibus trips every Monday, and then the “Market Trips” on a Thursday. Added to these are the weekly Gilmorton Lunch Club trips, at least 3 trips per month for Age Concern, 2 trips per week for the foodbank and usually something for another partner such as the U3A or Community Champions. Each of these drives is usually a minimum of a half day commitment from the driver, and possibly more. On “Party Days” for Age Concern we can often have 3 buses running and one of our electric cars picking up those that are less able.

Nigel also manages the “third party hire” where our minibuses are hired to other not for profit organisations. Regular clients include Lutterworth College, Lutterworth High School and South Kilworth Primary School. We are told that without being able to source transport at reasonable cost, their extra curricular activities would have to be curtailed. Other users include the Broughton Astley Volunteer Group, Rotary and several Scout groups.

All this could not be achieved without our team in the office, so special mention must go to Nigel, Inger, Fiona, Sylvia, Ann, Sue, Manisha and Millie, all of whom give of their time to make sure the organisation runs as smoothly as possible.

Running a fleet of vehicles has its own challenges and we have been extremely fortunate to have Rick Allsopp looking after them for the last few years. Thanks to Rick we have had no major problems as he has looked after all the maintenance issues and fixed most things before they became expensive. Sadly for us Rick has decided to retire at the end of the financial year, and we wish him a long and happy retirement. Thankfully, he has agreed to step in occasionally when his expertise is required.

A lot of effort this year has gone into making processes more efficient and therefore less expensive. Our computer services have for many years been looked after by a firm of consultants for a monthly fee. However, we

found that we could obtain free software licences for Microsoft products through Charity Digital and move our files onto the “Cloud” for set up costs that amounted to 2 months payment to our previous suppliers.

By now we also intended to digitise how we manage our bookings and record keeping with a view to becoming paperless and reduce the time taken to invoice our clients. Many hours were spent and I must thank Nigel, Sue and Manisha in particular for the effort they put into the project. Unfortunately, we found that as we tested each part of the software it needed to be re-written to make it work and after a year in development we agreed to part company with the supplier. We continue to monitor the market for an alternative solution, armed with what we have learned.

Our highlight of the year has been the purchase of a second electric wheelchair adapted vehicle (WAV) with funds supplied by Leicestershire County Council and the Local Area Community Fund. The rationale for this vehicle was that our original WAV was already in use up to 4 days a week with regular clients meaning that it was not always available when needed to take a wheelchair client to a medical appointment. We also made sure that the vehicle was flexible enough to carry passengers with other disabilities so we added a step to the side entrance and included a rotating front passenger seat that lifts the client into the vehicle. This is superb for those who struggle to get in and out of a normal car.

Graeme Thomson

Manager

COMMUNITY TRANSPORT

Social Car Scheme

A comparison of this year’s activities with the previous 4 years:

Passenger Journeys	2019/20	2020/21	2021/22	2022/23	2023/24
P&T Journeys1	1,793	322	833	1400	1921
Hospital Journeys2	628	119	279	693	583
Social Enterprise3	76	10	2	0	0
Totals	2,497	451	1,114	2093	2504

Note

1- P&T (Planning and Transportation) now defined as all non-hospital trips
2- Hospital trips now include trips to outpatients that are not necessarily at a hospital setting
3- Social Enterprise – trips paid for by Social Care agencies

Narrative

Having fallen to 18% of its pre-pandemic level in 2020/21, we saw a slow recovery in 21/22 and 22/23 to the point where in 23/24 we are now back to 2019/20 levels. The challenge ahead is to match increasing demand to the supply of drivers.

Community Transport Minibuses

A breakdown of revenue associated with the Minibus Fleet

----- Start of picture text -----
Minibus Revenues
16000
14000
12000
10000
8000
6000
4000
2000
0
Foodbank Gilmorton Outings Third Party Village Market Town Market
Lunch Club Hire Trip Trip
Minibus Revenues 22/23 Minibus Revenues 23/24
----- End of picture text -----

Third Party Hire makes up a significant proportion of our income, however a large amount of this comes from sources that complement our core objective of our Charity; ie the prevention of loneliness through social and rural isolation. Age Concern and the BAVG are included here, and both organise social events for their clients that bring people together. Without us, those that are unable to travel independently would be excluded from these events.

The large increase is attributed to our existing school clients increasing their extra curricular activities and increased marketing to other social groups such as the Scouts.

The traditional Thursday Market trips are now recovering well and we intend to go back to two separate buses once we have sufficient drivers available to guarantee the service. Though a small part of our revenue, we are determined to keep this service running to make sure our clients are able to get out of the house and socialise.

The Foodbank is now fully on to a pay per mile basis. Though revenue has fallen slightly we longer maintain a bus purely for this purpose.

Lutterworth Volunteer Centre Ltd Financial Statements forthe year ended 31 March 2024 Registered number 7798878 Registered charity number1148255 Registered Office Wycliffe House Gilmorton Road Luttetworth LE17 4DY Crowfoot & Co Accountants Ltd Lonsdale House High Street Luttetworth LE17 4AD email: enquiries@crowfootaccountants.com li

Lutterworth Volunteei Centre Limited Report tothe Management Committeefortheyearended 31 MarGh 2024 Th8 M8nagement Committee pr8sents its directors report and financialst8t&ments forth8 year 8nd8d 31st March 2024 Raf•r&nca 8nd admlnlstr8llva lnlorm8llon Charity name The Volunteer Centre Charity registration number 1148255 Company registration number 07798878 Registered off ice and Operational sddress wyCffe House Gilmorron Road Lutterworth Leicestershire LE17 4DY Executlve Commlttee J A Beaumont L E Freeman R Harrop P A J8ck8On S O'Donnell J G P W8rren Manager Grgerne Thorns0 Independentfin8nclal ex8mlners Crowfoot & Co Accountsnt5 Ltd Lonsdale House High Street Luttetworth LE17 4AD Bankars NATWEST Bank BarcLays Bank Hinckley & Rugby Building Society Solicitors Harv&y Ingr8rn Shakespear8S 20 NÈwWalk L8lCeSter LE16TX 12

Chartered Certified Accountants, reporttothe Board of Directors on the unaudited accounts of Lutterworth Volunteer Centre Limited In accordance with the engagement letter dated 17 March 2024, and in order lo assistyou to fulfilyour duties underthe Companies Act 2006, we have compiled Ihefinancial statements of the company which comprise the Profil and Loss Account and BaLance Sheet and the relaled notes from the accounting records and information and expianlations you have given lo us. This report is made solelyto the Company's Board of Directors, as a body, in a¢cordan¢ewth the terms of our engagement. Ourwork has been undertaken so thatwe might compile thefinancial statements Ihatwe have been engaged to compile, report lo the Company's Board of Direclorsthal we have done so, and stalethose matters th8t we have 8gre&d to stale tothem in this report and for no other purpose. Tothefullesl extent permilled by law, we do not accept orassume responsibilityto anyone otherthan the Companyand the Company's Board of Directors, as a body lor ourworkor lorthis report. We have carried outthis engagement in accordance wiihthe technical guidance issued by the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants and have complied wf(h tho ethical guidance laid down bytheAs50ciation relatingto members undert8kingthe compilation olfinanci81 statements. You have acknowledged on the balance sheet as at 31 March 2023your duty lo ensure that the company has kept proper 8ccounling records and to prepare the financial statements that give a true and fair view under the CompaniesAct2006. You consider that the company is exempl from ihe statutory requirementloran auditforthe year. We have not been instueted to carry out an 8ud(t olthe linanci£l statements. Forthis re8son, we h8ve not verified the accuracy or COTnpleteness ol the accounting records orthe information and explanations YOU have giv8n lo us and we do not, therefore express any opinion on tho financial statoments. Crowfoot & CoAccountants Lid Chartered Certified Accountants Lonsdale House High Street Lullerworth Leicestershire LE17 4AD March 2024 13

LutteThvorth Volunteer Centre Limited Income & Ex enditure Account for the ear ended 31 March 2024 2024 2023 Reslricled Uniesliicled Notes funds funds Tol81 Incomingresources Gian15 & donations 99746 99746 117,386 Communitytr8nsport 34368 368 25,364 Interest received 1088 1088 389 135,202 135,202 1,139 Expenditure Communitytrsnsport expenses Staff payrollcosts Staff iecruitmenl 30124 30,124 64208 64208 27,491 64,893 270 Premises costs Officec0515 Publicity Piofessionalfees Miscellaneous 7592 7,592 6311 6,311 2379 2,379 925 925 8,041 6,900 2,676 1,205 925 197 197 Depreciation 10591 10,591 122,971 122,971 12,2 124,644 SurplusllDeficrtlloilhe period 12,231 12,231 18,4 Funds broughilomard 180,864 180,864 193,095 193,095 162,369 180,864 Theslatemeni of linancialactivilies includes aiigains &losses inthe liOd. All incomingresoui¢es and resources expended deriveliom conlinuingaclNilies. 14

it Notes 2024 2023 Fixed assets 99194 59,930 Current 8ssets Bank Debtors 116,790 6,427 123.217 145,106 3,125 148,231 Creditors Net current assets 7,838 6,297 115,379 141,934 214,573 201,864 Unrestricted funds Generalfund$ Designated funds 59906 47,197 154,667 154667 214,573 201,864 214,573 201,864 These accounts have been prepared in accordancewith the special provision5 relating lo srnall companies within part 15 of the CompaniesAct 2006 and with the Financial Reporting Standard lor Smaller Entities (effective April 20081 Forthe linancialyear ended 31 March 2023, the company was entitled lo exemption from audit under section 4 Compallies Act2006 and that no notice has been deposited under section 476. The m8nagement committee acknowledge their responsibilities for ensuring th8t the company keeps accountii records which complywith section 386 of the Act and preparing accounts which give a true and lairview of the stale of affair5 of the company as at the end ol the year and ol ils profit or loss lorthefinancialyear in accordan with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006 $0 far as is applicable to the company Signed on behalf of the executive committee Treasurer Chair Approved bythe executive committee 20 March 2024 15

L.utterworth VolunteRr_CentLeLlmitsd Notes forming part of the Financial Statements forthe yearended 31 March 202_4 1 AccouThting Policies The principal 8ccountingpolicies are summarised below. The ac(yJuntingpolicies have been applied consistently throughoutthe period. a Ba$1$ of accountlnK Ttr financial eMentS have been prepared underthe hisioric Costconveniion and in accordance with the Companies Act 2006 and the Stst8rn8nt of R8comrnend8d PractlC8.' Aecountingand Reporting tycharities issued March 2QO5. b Fund accounting Unrestiictedfunds are available foruse atthe diseretion of the executwe in ffurtheran of thegeneral objectivesof the charity. D8signat8d funds are unr8Stricted funds 88rmark8d byth8 Ex8cutive Cornmitteefor particular purpos8s. Restricted funds are subjected to restrictions 0ntheirex1nditUre imposed bythe donor. c Incorningresourc Ail in¢ominere$our¢es are included inthe statement of finan¢i8la¢tivityeswhenthe charity 1$ entitled to, and virtually certain to re¢eNe, the income and the amountcan be ouaniiliedwith reasonable accuracy. The following POIleS are app&'8d to particular c8tegori8s of incom8'. In¢ome received byway of Érants and donations and is included in full in the Staiementof Financial Activities when receivable. Grants, where entitlement is not conditional on the delivery of specific P8rfNm8nc8 by th8 charity, 8r8 r8cognised when the charity becomes uneondition811yentit18d toth8 grant. In¢omefrom the provision of communityiransport sevi¢es is recognised whenthe seryice i$suppld. Investrn8nt incorne 1$ included when received. Incomingfesourcesfrotngrants, where related to performance and specific deliverables, are accounted for asihecharty eamsthe rightto consideration byiis performance. d Rgsourcg$ ¢xpendgd Expendiiure is recognised on an accrual basis as a liabl1Y is incurred. Expenditure includes VATwhich cannot be r8cover&d and is report8d 8s part of the expenditure to which it re18t8S. Communitytranspon cosis comprise thevehicle cosis and volunieerexpenses in prowdlngtrap¢rt seryice* Fixed 88set8 Fixed assets are stated at cost less accumulaied depreciation. The cost of minor additions costingbelow£l,000 8re not capitalised. Depreciation is provided at ratescalculated to write off thecostof each asset over its expected useful lrfe. Vehicles purchased neware expected to have a useful life of 7 years. The esiimated useful life of a second hand vehicle 15 reduced appropriately. Impairtnent reiewE are carried out as and when ewdence cotnes to light thatthe recoverable amount of a fixed asset is below its net bookvalue duetodamage or other relevani faciois. 2 Grants & donatlon$ 2024 Total 60.830 4,900 27,000 7,016 99,746 2023 Total 60,470 23,323 28,075 5,518 117.386 Restricted Unrestricted Lei¢ester8hire County Council H8rborough Districtcouncil OtherGr8nts Donations & otherincome 60,830 4,900 27,000 7,016 99,746 16

rthv I nt ntr Limit 2024 2023 3 Communltytransport Fares etc 34,368 25,364 4 Net Sneomlng resourc•s This is stated after charging: Depreciation 10.591 12.362 The average numberol employee8 durin8 the year was S Executive Committee Remuneration & Related PartyTransactions No members of the Executive Cornmittee recewed any rernuneration duringthe period. No members of the executive committee orother persons related tothe charity had any personal interest in anycontract or transaction entered into bythe charity. 6 Toxation As a charity, Lutterworth Volunteer Centre Ltd is exemptfrom corporation tax on income and gains 18Liingwithin p8rt 11 olthg Corporation tax 8¢t 2010 or $256 of the Chargeable Gains Act 1992 to the ext$ntthat they are applied to it8 ¢haritable obj8Ctives. No tsx charg85 h¥v8 8risen in the Charity. 7 Tangiblg Fix¢d As$ot$ Cost At 1 April 2022 Additions 167,247 56.716 41,000 264,963 Dispos8Ls At 31 March 2024 Depreciation At 1 April 2023 Added foryear Disposals At 31 March 2023 107,317 10,591 34.139 83,769 Net Book Value At 31 Narch 2024 83,478 59.930 At 31 March 2023 8 D•btor$ 2024 2023 Fares & bus hire income 6427 3,125 6427 3,125 17

rmin art f th Financi nt 2024 2023 9 Creditors f8Liing due within 1 year Trade credf(ors Social se¢urity Olhercreditors & accruaLs 380 5634 1825 7,839 128 5,269 900 6,297 10 An81ysis of net assets between funds Restricted Unrestricted 99,194 6,427 7,838 113,459 Total 99,194 6,427 7,838 113,459 Tangible fixed assets Current assets Currgnl abl1r[ieS Nel assets a131 March 2024 11 Movemènt in fund8 Brought forward Incoming Outgoing resources resources Transfers At 31 March 2024 Restricted funds There were no restricted funds during Iheyear Unresticted funds Designated funds VehicLe replacement fund 154,667 154,667 154,667 47,197 135,202 201,864 135,202 154,667 59,428 214,095 Generalfunds 122,971 122,971 Total funds 201,864 135,202 122,971 214,095 12 Purpose of restricted fund$ None 13 Purpose of designated funds Vehicle repLacemenl fund To replace vehicles atthe end ol their usefvl life. 18

Lutterworth Volunteer Centre Limited Cashflow Statement for the ear ended 31 March 2024 2024 2023 RECEIPTS Ce funding Fares 92730 7016 83692 27046 31983 388 143109 Other income 34368 Interest 1088 135202 PAYMENTS Salaries etc. Volunteer expenses Vehicle runnirYJ costs Premises costs 64208 63204 9012 30124 18784 7000 10038 112606 11586 109586 7592 offi & other costs Nel cash flow on unrestricted funds 22596 33523 CAPITAL COSTS New vehicles 56,716 Sale of vehicles Other assets Bank balan al the stsrt of the year 145,106 111583 Bank balance al the end of tIE year 116790 145106 19

TREASURER’S REPORT 2023-24

Firstly, I am pleased to report that despite a difficult year, we managed to achieve a slightly better than expected financial position. This was down to the hard work, perseverance and diligence of staff and volunteers. I must say a big thank you to Graeme and the team for pursuing new systems and processes to help improve our efficiency; some worked, some didn’t. Our fleet income was enhanced by additional minibus hire and this compensated for the slow return to passenger income. We continued to support the Food Bank and the social car scheme was very much in demand.

Whilst funding from our main providers, Leicestershire County Council and Harborough District Council remained the same as in previous years, in real terms this is now worth around 30% less than in 2013. As a consequence our reserves, set aside for vehicle replacement, have been partially used up to maintain the service. The cost of running the fleet of three minibuses and two all-electric vehicles increased due to fuel and energy cost rises. Staffing continued to be our highest cost.

On a positive note we were successful in acquiring funds to cover the majority of costs for a new all-electric wheelchair accessible MPV. Our oldest bus has been sold to make up part of the shortfall. One of our remaining minibuses is now well past its sell-by date and will need replacing as soon as we are able to find a suitable benefactor/funder.

Looking forward, Leicestershire County Council funding has been secured for 2024-25 at its current level, whilst Harborough District Council funding will be significantly reduced. This means that we will still be able to offer services to our current customer base but will likely require further support from our reserves. It remains to be seen how any future change of government will impact on the ability of local authorities to continue their financial support to us. It is recognised that our services are seen as a vital part of our community support, therefore I remain optimist for the future.

Rob Harrop (Treasurer)

RESERVES POLICY

As part of their responsibility for the management of the charity, it is acknowledged by the Trustees that funding is reviewed annually by the providers. Consequently, as a result of this inherent uncertainty that could impact on the charity’s ability to continue its various services and projects and/or meet its obligations, a minimum level of funds is required in reserve. This level is considered by the Trustees to be a minimum of six months expenditure for general operations and a greater level to ensure long-term continuity of specific projects.

In addition and in accordance with their ongoing policy of maintaining and improving the services and resources provided, the Trustee recognise the need for designated reserves in respect of specific capital expenditure.

"Takes away the worry knowing this SeiCe is available" 'Improved my life tremendously, I would be stuck without you" Social Car Scheme Volunteers use their own vehicle to take clients on: Medicall hospital appointments .1 would be a prisoner in my own home without community transport" "Given me a social life" Community Bus Services Weekly shopping trips Visits to places of interest Lunch clubs Transport for local community groups and charities using their own or volunteer drivers "I don't know what we would do without you" "Made a big difference. Hassle free transport" 22

CONTACT DETAILS:

General Manager: Graeme Thomson

Tel: 01455 555571 Email: graeme@luttct.com

Administrator: Nigel Essen

Tel: 01455 555571 Email: admin@luttct.com

All correspondence to:

Lutterworth Community Transport Wycliffe House Gilmorton Road Lutterworth Leicestershire LE17 4DY

www.luttct.com

Opening Times: Monday to Friday 9:00 am to 2:00 pm