## **BLACKHILL COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION** ANNUAL REPORT - May 2019 to May 2020 The last Annual General Meeting of the Community Association was held on 20 May 2019. The meeting re-elected John Worters as chair, Amy Hedley as treasurer and Kathleen Slater as secretary, together with an executive committee of a further six members. Up to the start of the COVID-19 lockdown in March 2020, the committee had met on seven occasions since the AGM. On 23 March, with the introduction of lockdown, the Centre was closed altogether and all activities ceased until September. Prior to lockdown, the Centre continued to be well used, the number of groups using the building remaining largely consistent throughout the year. 18 different organisations, local groups and classes used the centre on a regular basis, holding up to a total of 21 sessions each term time week. Ingeus made considerable use of the Centre, delivering sessions addressing the prevention of diabetes. In addition, there has been a number of one-off bookings for parties and meetings. The Association held a Winter Fayre on Saturday 16 November. As usual, several of the regular user groups and other volunteers organised and manned stalls and provided refreshments. £433 was raised towards the running of the Centre, slightly less than last year’s fayre. Particular thanks should go to Shotley Bridge and Blackhill Ladies group, the Bingo ladies and Blackhill Art Group for their contributions. “Compliance” requirements continue to be attended to. These include the regular maintenance of the boiler and its controls, emergency lighting, the roller shutter, automatic doors and firefighting equipment as well as maintaining a water hygiene risk assessment and an asbestos management plan. Extra cost was incurred for the five-year fixed wire testing. The committee had lengthy discussion about the automatic entrance doors. These have required some expensive repairs in recent years, as the control mechanism was obsolete. Having initially decided to replace them with manual doors, we finally chose to retain the automatic doors, replacing the operating mechanism. **Finance** : There has been a substantial increase in the year-end balance for 2019, primarily due to a significant increase in income from the letting of rooms. On the expenditure side, an increase in the regular compliance costs, mainly as a result of the five-year fixed wiring test, was more than offset by a decrease in other costs, including public utilities. As always, we need to maintain our income, primarily from room lettings and hire charges, to cover the cost of running and maintaining the building. The major costs are heating and lighting the building, cleaner’s wages and compliance requirements. The Association will continue to regularly review hire charges and look at ways of increasing the profile of the Centre, the existing activities and facilities and attracting new users. _John Worters - Chair, Blackhill Community Association 2020._ ANNUAL REPORT FOR MAY 2020 TO MAY 2021 Use of the community centre this year was significantly curtailed by the pandemic and the lockdowns that have been in place since March 2020. The committee met in August and September 2020 and again in May 2021, but the AGM planned for September 2020 was deferred indefinitely. After the initial lockdown and cessation of all activities in March 2020 there was a partial reopening and resumption in September 2020. This required putting in place a range of measures. New Covid-19 Conditions of Hire and a Centre Risk Assessment were prepared. Sanitiser stations and posters, including those for “Track and Trace” were installed at the two entrances. An extra cleaning regime, carried out by both the centre’s cleaner and individual users, came into force and all upholstered chairs were removed from use. The users resuming from September 2020 until the further lockdown at Christmas were Taekwondo, Rainbows (in the yard), Karate and Kalma Baby. Kalma Baby was able to resume again in April 2021, but other users were not able to restart until May 2021. During the year, a number of repairs and improvements to the building were carried out. These included repairs to two leaks in the central heating pipes, repointing to the coping and upper walls of the back porch, installation of new mechanism of the auto doors at the front entrance and repair and painting some plasterwork in the hall and Art room. In addition, the carpets in the Art room and Lounge were cleaned. While the income from hire of the centre was greatly reduced this year, the Association has benefitted greatly from Government grants which were available during lockdown and reopening. This allowed us to continue with the necessary Compliance measures throughout the year. JHW May 2021. ## **BLACKHILL COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION** ## **PAYMENTS Y.E. DECEMBER 2020** |Wages

Electricity
Gas

Compliance tests

Repairs

Water
Insurance
Covid compliance
Garden
Door Support
Allison Heatng service
Telephone
Cleaning
Postage
Sundry
|2,982.50
933.86
3,776.34
1,252.20
1,989.84
239.34
300.00
165.25
472.00
2,728.79
216.00
272.89
27.94
30.60
3.50
**£ 15,391.05**| |---|---|